fish_as_art

[RRSmith]

I'm not sure how many of you are on Instagram but if you are, you might want to check out fish_as_art which is the site for Canadian scientific illustrator Paul Vecsei. He's a fisheries biologist based out of Yellowknife, NWT. I've always been a fan of good scientific illustration and when it comes to fish (and particularly salmonids), Paul is about as good as they come.

I messaged him about doing an illustration and he provided information on what he would need if I wanted him to draw a specific fish. I wanted a coastal cutthroat from Devils Lake on the Oregon Coast. I went back and forth about whether to find one that was uniquely patterned or one that's representative of what I thought were the typical adfluvial/sea runs that were in the lake in the fall. I ended up going with a specimen that's typical of those that I catch as they begin to congregate around the spawning tributaries. Paul was great to deal with and I thought what he charged for the illustration was reasonable considering the time involved. I will probably have him do another.

If anyone has a hankering for a one of a kind original fish illustration - I would encourage you to reach out to Paul. Here's a write up in Loop Magazine about him and the link to his Flickr page.

 

[Greg Armstrong]

Impressive work… that’s truly beautiful.

 

[SilverFly]

Impressive indeed. I've dabbled a bit in fish art but no way I'd have the patience to do that level of detail.

 

[jeradjames]

I recently listened to him on some random podcast talk about Lake Trout which he has researched extensively and currently lives near or on Great Slave Lake I believe. Seems like a really cool guy.

 

[RRSmith]

He says he uses a combination of watercolor pencil, color pencil, graphite and burnishing to create the illustration. I get the feeling that he's just super passionate about doing this (in his spare time). I was so pumped about this one that now I want to get a crazy spotted one for him to draw. The problem (for me) is getting the right images for him to use. I have a photarium but it's a PIA to set up for photos - especially in my jon boat. He has other options for positioning fish for photos including using a cradle net. He has an extensive collection of images if a person just wants him to draw something cool.

He emailed me last night and said that he just got a bunch messages about drawing coastal cutthroat - probably from posting about the fish he drew for me. He also said he was just finishing up another coastal cutt that he says is spectacular and will be posted on his Instagram sometime next week.