Fantasy Fish continuing development....

It's around 2 and a half weeks since I broke my finger on my drawing hand but thanks to a hand specialist doctor I've made considerable progress in the recovery and use of my hand. I won't be able to sculpt for a while yet because the compression pressure on the tip of the finger is too painful but I can gently hold a pencil and sketch. So today I returned to sketching fish in the hope of developing a striking image of a fantastical fish. Using a combination of my right and left hand I was able to continue roughly sketching out ideas.

Sketching in a loose flowing manner helps loosen up my wrists as well as capturing the feel of movement that I may incorporate into the final drawing. I'm interested in using fins to suggest movement hopefully without taking away from an overall grotesque look for the fish.

I am definitely drawn towards a large, fang-ridden set of jaws! I want this fish to be ugly and menacing.

 

I sketched and re-sketched the shape of the head and jaws to try and develop an overall design for the fish.

By re-drawing the fish it helps to establish elements of the design that are essential, the large eyes, the strong, teeth-infested jaws and an almost sullen expression to the creature.

Some sketches show what will work and some show what won't. The front view below is definitely not menacing! And the eye on the sketch below, on the right, is just too low, the fish ends up looking a little stupid.

But I am really interested in building in a sense of movement. Drawing the fish from above makes this easy but I want a face-on view. Maybe there could be more than one fish in the final image...

So below is one of the first sheets of quick sketches trying to develop a fantasy fish.

I'm still a long way off from the final design of the fish, so there'll be more sketches to come before I start sketching the final image. I'm not in a great hurry to finish this one, especially as I'm still hampered by not being able to use my right hand effectively and my left hand is not disciplined enough to achieve what's developing in my mind's eye, but at least I'm still sketching!

Fantasy Fish Continued...

Inspired by my growing ability to draw with my left-hand while my right-hand repairs itself, I decided to go back to sketching details of various fish with the intention of creating a fantasy fish looming out of the darkness. I'm using details of any fish that catch my eye, as yet I don't have a definite plan for what I want to create, I'm simply letting my interest and my observation sketches guide my imagination.

There's something fantastical about flying fish even before you add in any imagination. The bodies are torpedo shaped to streamline them in the water and air but its their fins that interest me.

They almost have a tattered look with transparent panels that look like holes in the fin. By sketching the fin it helps to lodge the image and details in my mind, more so that just by looking at the image, and hopefully will allow a stronger idea to develop in my imagination. That's the plan, and from experience it usually works!

So it seems fins are the attraction for me today!

I do like the overall shape of the Angelfish aside from their fins; it's a very geometrical shape, great for a starting point for creating something new. Another detail I picked up on was the eye. It was black and red with a black strip running down the centre of the eye, something I think I'll develop and incorporate.

 

Japanese Fighting fish have very dramatic fins, very elaborate, delicate-looking and flowing almost like silk, which belies their aggressiveness. I like the juxtaposition of visual qualities and the character of the fish, again something I want to incorporate, which will be a challenge to do in just on image. 

I'm starting to get some ideas of how this fantasy fish may appear, hopefully my left-hand won't let me down and I'll be able to express my ideas clearly on the paper. The next step is sketching out some of the initial ideas and not being able to sketch quickly in my usual practice with my right hand will prove a real challenge!

Fantasy Fish

Many influences feed into my art work, whether it's sculpting or sketching, and amongst those are television programmes and movies. I particularly like the Discovery Channel and so with this influence today's subject is fish. My end goal is to create a fantasy fish so to feed my imagination I take several images of fish that I find interesting, even if some are more than just a little peculiar, and sketch the parts that created the interest. For example, I started with the Handfish, so called because it looks like it has hands...

 

I'm not concerned with the rest of the fish, just the 'hands' but the patterning is striking and I may incorporate it so I put that into the sketch as well...

 

 Next is a fish I don't know the name of but it's fierceness in its appearance attracts me...

 

Already I'm starting to conceive a deep water creature looming menacingly out of the dark and although no ideas are set in stone yet I'm probably leaning towards reference material that will support that type of fantasy creature.

I love the name of this one, Sea Dragon, which sends my imagination off on another idea! I'm sticking with the prehistoric looking fish and just by observing and sketching them it helps create images that my imagination can use to create a new and weird creature.

There's definitely something gothic or macabre about my choice of fish to sketch but I think they are a rich starting point for hopefully developing a strong fantastical image. I will keep sketching and building my own reference of images in my imagination until I have a strong sense of the drawing I want to create.