Fish as art's photostream  

This shot was so unexpected that I did not have time to set the camera accordingly. The result was an over-exposed image with blown highlights. But so what? The shot works. And the look of awe in my daughter watching the dog, just adds even more to the image.

Nikon D90
Nikkor 12-24mm zoom lens
Fill Flash
200 ASA

The Shortjaw cisco was once common throughout most of the Great Lakes but is now disapeared from all but Lake Superior. A few inland lakes have isolated populations of this species. Recently, we have documented the presence of Shortjaw cisco in Great Slave Lake.

Drawing such fish is quite difficult. This was one of my smallest size originals, barely a foot long. I think it worked out okay. This was one of the larger specimens we captured during a deepwater survey of the East Arm, Great Slave Lake. The minute the net came up, I knew we had something very different.

This project was done with Dr. Andrew Muir while he was working with me here in Yellowknife. Andrew is an expert on cisco morphology.

View larger on black

This huge Atlantic salmon was caught by Olaf Bruggen while fishing on the Morrumsan River. For me, this individual fish is of particular interest since it represents the extreme of shape and colour change undergone by pre-spawning Atlantic salmon. I also noticed that there exists no extremely detailed and morphologically correct illustration of male Atlantic salmon when they are in this late phase of development.

So how was this drawing done? It was a disaster from the start. I had to re-learn everything since the methods I typically used for Char could not work on this illustration. I combined a base layer of watercolour pencil (brushed to spread) followed by a build-up of colour pencil layers. The problem was in working the details over a burnished background.

This is a rare example of seeing a fish and finding it so spectacular, that I had to draw it (not done under a contract). I don't think I want to part with the original but I may do a run of numbered prints in the near future.

So I went out and purchased the 3 most expensive cream soda bottles they have here in town. We did a taste test with 3 kids and myself as judges. Winner was Real Brew but everyone raved about the sweetness of Stewart's. The Jones was very good but a bit too sophisticated for this audience.

Oscar (right) looks on, unimpressed.

Nikon D90
Nikkor 20-35 mm f2.8 Aspherical zoom lens
Lens set at 20 mm
200 ASA

A stunning example of coloration seen in some southern Canadian populations of Bull Trout. The status of Bull Trout stocks throughout B.C. vary considerably. Without careful catch-and-release, these fish don't stand a chance near more populated areas.

Please, no inquiries, this illustration is sold.