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STEP#1:
Drawings, Patterns & Cutting

Cynthia said she was lucky because she knew an artist, Lisa Studier, who was a member of Art & Science Collaborations, that had created a large series of wonderful reductive woodblock prints of fishes that she really admired. She contacted Lisa and asked if she could use them for "inspiration" and Lisa said "yes." So Cynthia did some improvising, and created her own versions that fit the rectangular size that she needed. Without this, she might have relied on the fish photos that she later discovered in the global, online database at www.FishBase.org


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computer print-outs selected from 
Lisa Studier's reductive woodblock prints
[click here for larger image]


   
    small drawing of anchovy design (8.5"wide x 3.5" high)
[click here for 10-inch image size]
Send a request for almost full-size pattern.
Final Size: 44.5" wide x 14" high


There was no small drawing for the Sea Bass,
its proportions were perfect, no shape changes
Final Size: 45" wide x 17" high


   
     small drawing of catfish design (8.5" wide x 4.75" high)
[click here for 10" image size]
Send a request for almost full-size pattern.
Final Size:  44.5" wide x 17" high

DRAWING & CUTTING PROCESS:

1)  Drawings made by soft #2 pencil [so can easily erase] on white poster paper [or even "shelf" paper] that comes on a roll. 

2)  When you have the outside shape that you want, add the interior detail lines as a guide for the painted areas that will go onto the cardboards. 

3)  Carefully cut-out on the outside lines of the paper pattern fish shape. The line should be smooth, not jagged after cutting.

4)  The paper fish pattern [in the "final" size that you want] is placed onto the corrigated cardboard and traced around the outside edge with white chalk.

5)  [This part requires an EXPERIENCED ADULT!] Place a separate large cardboard onto your work surface to protect it from knife cuts. Practice cutting curvy lines onto a scrap piece of cardboard with the sheet-rock [or "box-knife"]. Do not try to cut all-the-way-through on the first cut. It's best to use 2-3 knife-passes over the same line.  "Over-cut" two lines coming from different directions when making turns in order to get a clean cut.

6)  Now you will have your fish carboard cut-out shapes [do all the cutting at one time] and be ready to paint. 

From this point onward, it's really an "assembly-line" system where you do the same process to all of the same fishes, before moving on to the next fish type.  This way you save time and effort in washing brushes/rollers with same color, and the process is more consistent.  Unless you want each one to look a bit different... that's up to you!

Click here for Step#2: Creating Stencils