Gyotaku (Japanese 魚拓, from gyo "fish" (say “joe”) + taku "rubbing") is the traditional Japanese method of printing fish, a practice which dates back to the mid-1800s. It is believed that fishermen used the prints to record their catches to enable competition between remote fishing campsites.  It has become an art form of its own. Paint or Ink is applied directly to a fresh fish and prints (impressions, rubbings) are made.   Much like Batik, imperfections are a part of the process.   
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First we catch the fish.  Both Craig and I love to fish.  We have fished in many exotic places and love targeting interesting species to print.  We take our printing supplies with us and often print in hotel rooms.
Craig and  I fished in  at least 3 countries before we finally landed a beautiful Rooster Fish.
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Cleaning the fish can sometimes be a challenge in hotel rooms. This is in the shower!
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Preparing the fish to print.
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While Craig is getting the fish ready, Nancy is mixing inks. Try doing all of this with a mini kitchen and a 40" round table!
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Nancy spends days at a time hand dyeing mulberry paper (MA) to have ready for backgrounds. When we go on trips, we have to take all the paper, ink and silk with us.
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Our prize Rooster Fish is almost ready to print. From here, DIRECT OR INDIRECT PRINTING can be done.


​​THE INDIRECT METHOD

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In the Indirect method, silk is being applied to fish. to the fish. Ink was applied using Tampos (hand made tools made of natural cotton wrapped in silk). This is the most time consuming method but it gets the best image transfer with incredible detail.
PictureThis is the Rooster Fish right after it was pulled from the fish. Touch ups will be done later.

THE DIRECT METHOD

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In the Direct Method, ink is applied directly to the fish. Then mulberry paper (known as rice paper) is applied to the fish. The paper is rubbed and an impression is made. Then the paper is peeled off the fish to reveal the image.