Getting started on “We All Swim Together”

Spotted Weever, by Susan Brubaker Knapp

I am very excited! I am finally getting started on a piece that has been in my head for several years. I’m planning to call it “We All Swim Together.” It will include fish from all over the world, both fresh-water and salt-water, and it is going to be a bigger piece than I’ve worked on for some time. I hope it will raise awareness about the amazing diversity of fish, and the issues affecting the world’s fish, particularly water quality. This is an issue I explored previously in “Running Deep,” which features Bear Lake Cutthroat Trout:

“Running Deep,” 17" x 22" (2008) by Susan Brubaker Knapp

Here are a few more fish that will be on “We All Swim Together.” I’m planning to sketch more — probably a lot more! — on my flight to teach in Australia next week.

Streaked Spinefoot, by Susan Brubaker Knapp

Narrow-barred Spanish Mackerel, by Susan Brubaker Knapp

For a while now, I’ve been sketching fish from specimen photos, and tonight, I enlarged some of the black ink drawings here and printed them out in sections, then taped them together:

 

Then I traced them onto a large piece of white fabric:

Three fish down, a bunch more to go before I can start painting!