Gyataku Art Lesson for all Ages and Abilities

Fish Prints using Japanese Calligraphy Ink, Banner Paper and Rubber Fish Molds

Gya means Fish and Taku means press or print.  This art form originated in Japan around 1870 as a way for sports fishermen to record the exact size and species of fish they had caught before the invention of photography.  Today, sports fishermen in Japan often display gyotaku as wall decorations in their homes, or they keep them as a sort of journal to document their success in the sport. Many Japanese fishing magazines hold contests each year for the largest fish caught for each species. The winners of these competitions are chosen from the gyotaku that were submitted.

In 1955, the Association of Gyotaku was formed, and the first exhibition was held at the Matsuya Gallery in Ginza, Tokyo. The first gyotaku exhibition held outside of Japan took place in 1956 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Supplies Needed:

Fish Mold

Black Ink

Lightweight paper such as Banner Paper or Rice paper

Colored Pencils

Background paper 

Glue and Scissors

After looking at examples of Gyataku printed with colorful ink I decided to try just using black ink, which dries very fast on the thin paper, then colored pencil over the ink.

Which ends up looking like it is under the ink.

First I put the fish molds on aluminum foil, then each artist covers the fish with ink using a brush.

I asked them to work quickly before the ink dries to get the best prints.

Also not to use too much ink, which will make the paper weak because it's too wet.

They need to carefully remove the paper because it sticks to the fish a little bit.

If the paper rips it's fine because they are glueing it onto a background paper.

Once they finish printing their fish and the ink is dry use the colored pencils to add bright colors, including layering colors.

Some artists cut an outline around their fish.  Others wanted just the white paper.

Others added an underwater scene for the fish to have an aquatic habitat.

I taught this to children, adults and Artists with Disabilities and they all did wonderful Gyataku!

What I liked was the simplicity of the one color of ink, but the colorful drawing over the top.  Easy to teach and easy to clean up!  Have Fun!

Grandma Moses Snowscape Art Lesson

 

I have always enjoyed the happy paintings done by Grandma Moses and it seemed like the perfect January art lesson.

I did add our bigger mountains and lake to make it more personal to where we live.

Grandma Moses' Art is a great way to introduce or reinforce Perspective and showing depth in art.

I used this video and also several images of her snowscapes to inspire my students.  We discussed what Folk Art is and also how amazing it is that she didn't start painting until later in life and became such a success.

We discussed the quote above and started with the sky, then the mountains, hills, houses etc...

I talked to them about how to make things looks closer or farther away, perspective.

They each had two pieces of paper, one for their final drawing and one to practice on.

There were a few key items I asked them to include:

Mountains or hills

Buildings

Fences

People

Trees 

They started drawing their background, mountains the then hills etc.. on their final paper.

We practiced drawing houses, small, medium and large, and where to put them in the snowscape.

The background, middle ground or foreground.

We tried different window shapes, different door shapes etc... on the practice paper.

Then they added buildings to their final drawing.

Then we did the same with trees, trees with leaves or evergreens and changing their size based on where they are in the snowscape.

We did a little practicing of drawing people and animals so they aren't stick figures on the practice paper.

Talked about what they wanted to put in their drawings - skaters, snowmen, skiers, farmers, horses, etc...

Then they added those to their final drawing.

At this point they were on their own to finish their snowscapes however they wanted.

We also discussed how to depict snow with soft lines and blue colored pencil on the white paper. 

I made sure to mention not to color the roofs of their buildings as they would be covered with snow.

Then I gave them the colored pencils to finish their drawings.

They came up with such charming and lively snowscapes!

I love them!