When I bought this little print on Ebay for a few dollars I had no idea what it was. And I had no idea what a mysterious and unknown world would be revealed to me. Printing from Nature is as old as mankind. Artistic examples are known from 13th century China.Everybody who has dried flowers and leafs pressed between (news) papers at some moment will have seen lucky impressions staying behind.
Googling one can find hundreds of examples of prints made by amateurs. But after a while everyone is perfecting his/her skills to be a specialist in this art form. Like the ones above by artists Lori Hatch and Jack Schwartz. These are definitely no lucky impressions.
All literature on the subject of Gyotaku started with this little book. Like Frank Morley Fletcher wrote his standard book on woodblock printing (see recent postings by “Modern Printmakers” and “Art and the Aesthete”, the links are on the opening page of this Blog), Yoshio Hiyama wrote his on Gyotaku. In 1964. Professor of Fisheries Biology at the University of Tokyo he was the founder of Gyotaku-no-kai (Association of Fish printing). Printing tools and materials very similar to a woodblock printing workshop. Except for the wood carving knifes. Kitchen knives are used after printing is done in this art form
Gyotaku or fish rubbing is a relatively new art form. It supposedly originated from Japanese fishermen who, making an impression with ink on paper of the fishes each caught, could later divide the catch or profits of the sale. A simple way of direct book keeping.
The wonderful little book is easily found (www.bookfinder.com) when interested. It is a simple and complete manual for beginners, 65 pages and many wonderful prints. Once you see the beauty of it the possibilities seem endless. Plants, stones (stone rubbing a popular Chinese variation), beach findings, shells, crabs, shrimp etc..
The Printers Catch, an Artist’s Guide to Pacific Coast Edible Marine Animals (1985), by Christopher M. de Wees, Marine biologist and American Gyotaku pioneer. The title suggesting eating your studio models afterwards is a great way to create art, have fun and have a nice meal in the end. Print it and eat it. Many wonderful prints and there is a manual inside to get started as well.
Gyotaku Fish Impressions (above) by Doug Olander (1994), who’s colorful impressions brought fish printing to another, higher level.
Antarctic Fishes, illustrated by Boshu Nagase (2006), the nestor of the Gyotaku printers, and text by Marine biologists Professors Mitsuo Fukuchi and Harvey J. Marchant. Using the Gyotaku fish printing method to illustrate this scientific publication. 130 pages of wonderful and strange fish printed in full color by the Master of fish print Boshu Nagase. A huge, scholarly and massive coffee table book (still) for sale at Amazon. Available "used" for an unbelievable 12 US bucks ! 
To close off, these two great compositions by wonderfull artist Jean Kigel showing this art form is still evolving from a simple method of keeping book into great art. Please take in mind that only one fish is needed for making compositions on a grand scale. Visit ! You will be amazed by some of here Chinese watercolors too.
And now my friends, Onwards, armed with ink, printing paper and recipe books, on to the market place !
I hope all wonderful artists will not have any objections of their work displayed in this Blog. Here are their www connections:
Jean Kigel: www.jeankigel.com
Lori Hatch: www.lorihatch.com/
Jack Schwartz: www.jaxsfishprints.com
Barry Singer: www.gyotakuartist.com
A very interesting and illuminating posting Gerrie. Well done. I am not really one for traditional Japanese and Chinese printmaking, but this was an opportunity for me to reappraise.
ReplyDeleteWow, a classic! We all know from experience how long it takes to get a post like this together. I have learned something. Weren't the first Chinese prints rubbings from stones?
ReplyDeleteThank you both for your interest and kind words of appreciation.
ReplyDeleteHi, I just discovered your blog and I am completely immersed in it. I am a woodblock printmaker (beginner) so the information here is just a treasure! I just wanted to say that I had the immense pleasure to meet Mr. Nagase about 13 years ago and he showed a group of us his technique. He was incredibly generous, and very happy to spread the principles of the Gyotaku technique, I think he worried a little about the technique 'dissappearing'. None of us spoke japanese but we found a way to understand each other easily. Thank you! Laura
ReplyDeleteHello Laura, thank you for taking the time and trouble leaving a comment. That is always very much appreciated. I was also very much impressed by the book by Mr. Nagasa, so I bought it instantly. Gerrie
ReplyDeleteYour blog is an eye-opener. I didn't know what I was seeing when I encountered these fish prints at galleries. Now if I can just remember the term Gyotaku. I feel so educated. Thank you, Gerrie.
ReplyDeleteYou should try it ! Great fun and great cooking and eating afterwards. Try finding one of those books cheaply in Amazon or Biblio.com through bookfinder.com. It's also great reading.
DeleteI found this article by chance when looking for something else on gyotaku. I studied gyotaku under Master Nagase Boshu. I still consider myself a disciple even though he gave me my artistic (Master) name Goushu many years ago. There are two basic gyotaku methods. The traditional method involves putting ink or paint on the fish and pressing paper on to it. This is usually monochromatic, but multiple colours can be used if done so quickly. These are primarily the images shown in this article. Nagase's method is the indirect coloured method, invented by his Master Inada sensei, where paper is put over the fish and the ink is then dabbed on in a strict order of colour to build up a lithographic style of print. It’s somewhat similar to a brass rubbing using different colours. The traditional method takes a few minutes. The coloured method can take 2 hours to get a more realistic looking fish in relation to physical detail and realistic colour.
ReplyDeleteI found this article by chance when looking for something else on gyotaku. I studied gyotaku under Master Nagase Boshu. I still consider myself a disciple even though he gave me my artistic (Master) name Goushu many years ago. There are two basic gyotaku methods. The traditional method involves putting ink or paint on the fish and pressing paper on to it. This is usually monochromatic, but multiple colours can be used if done so quickly. These are primarily the images shown in this article. Nagase's method is the indirect coloured method, invented by his Master Inada sensei, where paper is put over the fish and the ink is then dabbed on in a strict order of colour to build up a lithographic style of print. It’s somewhat similar to a brass rubbing using different colours. The traditional method takes a few minutes. The coloured method can take 2 hours to get a more realistic looking fish in relation to physical detail and realistic colour.
ReplyDeleteHello Goushu, thank you for commenting and explain further this wonderful technique.
DeleteHello Gerrie, happy to oblige. Nagase sensei will be most pleased to know that there are more people appreciating the art. I'm a zoologist by profession, trained in zoological illustration, and a keen angler. Needless to say when I met Nagase sensei and saw his work I knew that this was something that I needed to learn. It improved my Japanese too!
DeleteAgain thank you very much. I was so curious about this art form I bought every important book on the subject. Besides preparing, cooking and eating the model after using it in an artistic way is also a great way of getting to know your subject. Besides the fishes I particularly like the squid and crab impressions.
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