Muskie on the 180

On a visit to the Duluth aquarium, I sat to make a quick sketch of a very pale fish making his large sweeping path just off the bottom of the two-story cylindrical tank.  Just at the moment the fish began to make a 180 degree turn, I caught the overlap of the head and tail.  This resulted in a tremendously foreshortened version of the original 30 inch muskie, turning it into an albino carp.  The lighting in the surrounding area added to the mystical quality of the watery deep, and the result was an acrylic painting of a mystery fish.

I was so intrigued with this image, that I decided to also try to create the image in a relief print. 

Initial sketch for relief print Muskie on the 180- notice lines extending outside the block boundaries and the India ink modifications on Strathmore 400 series paper.

This sketch and modification provides the perfect example of how I transition from the initial idea to one that can be transferred to a block for carving.

Muskie on the 180 - Modifications to the original sketch for relief printing.  Pencil, India ink and FW white acrylic ink on Strathmore 400 series tan paper.

Because there were additional changes I wanted to make to the original sketch, I worked right on top of the original with both black India from a Pentel pocket pen and white FW acrylic ink with a small, liner brush.  I decided to work outside of the block boundaries on the left because there is a gap in the boundary on the right between the fish and the block edge.  It will probably take some carefully transfer lines to ensure a fit on the actual block prior to carving.

This sketch above also reveals one of the drawbacks of using a non-white ground for the initial sketch.  Rather than mixing a color that matches the Strathmore tan paper, I used white to reshape the location transitioning the body into the tail on the drawing.  Unfortunately, using the white makes the correction look like a highlight.  Of course, this won't appear in this way on the relief print.