It was exciting to get a commission to make a floor mat featuring a rainbow trout for a customer who loves to go fishing. There were no guidelines except the size of the mat (36”x18”) and the specific fish. I researched rainbow trout and found that they can be many different colors in nature but all seem to have an iridescence.
They’re quite beautiful. So, when I started the process, I knew I needed to showcase the wonderful iridescent quality of the fish. I decided to use a neutral gray background so that the colorful fish would stand out. I then decided to put the fish inside a rectangular window which I often use in my mats to enclose a subject, give it definition and invite the viewer in closer. Because the subject was a fish, I felt it needed the illusion of water, so put a blue wash in the window.
The floor mat was created in the usual way using artist grade canvas I prepared by soaking in hot water, drying, pressing, creating a hem, priming and coating with two layers of acrylic paint. I use Sherwin Williams paint. In this case the initial layers were gray. I then used a homemade stamp resembling train tracks to create a border for the inside window, rolling black paint onto the stamp and pressing onto the mat in a measured-out rectangle. Then the blue wash was applied inside the rectangle with a broad brush that holds a lot of liquid after which I moved a corner of a terry cloth rag around to create some movement in the blue area to give the impression of depth and waves. After everything dried, I roughly sketched out the fish and began to apply color beginning with the golden color that would be underneath everything.
I used washes mainly to confer translucency to the fish. After the golden color I brushed on pink and turquoise washes trying to bleed them into each other. At this time the fins were also formed and the gills of the fish.
After that dried, I used a very skinny brush to add more saturated color and some gold sparkly highlights. I often use fabric overlay on my mats and decided to add some skinny wiggly pieces of a pink fabric I had to accent the center of the fish.
The eye came next and then finally adding black dots all over the fish as it looks in nature.
I wanted to bring the essence of a rainbow trout to the mat, the shimmery almost magical quality. As often happens, a commission will push my boundaries, inviting me to explore something new. In this case, the washes acted like water colors and I had so much fun allowing the bleeding to happen and loved the translucency and layers of color.
