Past Works in Progress

(Click on an image below for an enlargement)

I just love Dolphin Fish. Their colors are vibrant and so fun to capture in a painting, and they certainly give a good fight when you're trying to catch them. For this piece I'm working in acrylic on a mid-tone grey, gesso-primed, 18X24 panel.

Posted September 15, 2006:

My preliminary watercolor study of a bull Dolphin Fish. My initial inclination was to capture the fighting action of the fish, while hooked, as he's battling to shake off the lure.


A rough charcoal outline, based on the preliminary study, slightly angled to add more interest.	I've started to put in some washes of faint color to establish values.


Here I'm adding more color and detail.	Somewhere along the line I decided to make this an underwater scene. . .the more I looked at it, it seemed to want to go in that direction. I also decided to add a cow (female) Dolphin Fish to add more interest to the painting (it's an artist's prerogative to change his mind frequently during the creative process!). And, often these fish can be found in pairs or schools. Since the cow is behind the bull, I'm simply showing a faded representation of her image and not as much detail as in the bull.

I've added some ballyhoo and a weed line at the surface. I'll soon put in a tilefish, baby tripletail, and other little creatures that typically feed at, and hide in, the weeds.	The final piece, with added highlights, more washes and little details.

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