Watercolor on wood – a fish tale …
It has been quite some time since I have had any commissions of this magnitude. This particular project was peculiar because the cabin owner wanted to use a tree that was in situ (yikes I know) – still attached to the root. While the outcome over the long term will mean this is an ethereal work that will pass away sooner than later, it turned out grand.
Filipino master carver Eddie Canano carved this giant rainbow trout at a fishing cabin and I “painted” it. Eddie and I had worked on numerous other carving/staining collaborations in the past, but in all those cases the wood was kiln dried and very stable. This was a new venture for both of us.
I took my limited knowledge of water coloring, painting, and staining and set out to make layer after layer of color wash on this giant fish. I used exterior grade water based stains. It was tricky! It has been sealed with marine varnish -- the fish is still standing after three years of extreme Ohio conditions – with no ill effects – yet.
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