Does anyone have any suggestions on painting reproduction fish. I'm going to be doing one for my brother in law. But I dont want to mess it up. Any advice on paint colors and techiques and what type of reproduction fish is the best to buy. Its a 8lb largemouth bass. Let me know. Does anyone have a fish blank there not using and could spare. I need something to practice on. Josh
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If you don't like it, clean the paint off and start over. No need for a seperate "practice" blank.
...it cannot be stressed enough: Have as many reference photos on hand as you possibly can. Seek out pictures that have specific parts of the fish shown. If the reproduction is meant to show a specific fish, even if you do not have a detailed photo, you can still pick up general characteristics: Darker or lighter? How defined are the markings? Things of that nature. A lot of fish, and bass certainly, can show color variances for a so many reasons. The bottom line is to have a lot of reference to look at. For myself personally, I make use of magazines that feature good photos, photos that I have taken myself and, of course, the internet. I have been known to haul the computer out and put it on the workbench in front of me when doing new or unfamiliar species. And there is no lack of photos online out there to use- you just have to put in the time to find them. Just my $0.02 and what works for me. Good luck Josh.
is to clean the blank with thinner. Then comes attaching fins, setting eyes ect. The first step as far as paint for me is to use a dark color such as black, brown or black grean, thin down 50% with thinner as to color the fish. Let it dry then take steel wool or a scotch brite and lightly sand off dark on top of scales but leaving outlines of scales. You can then apply the colors and markings. The more you do the better you will get. Dont be affraid to try differnt things like colored pencils or crayons and keep the paint minimal, the last thing you want is too much paint! I think my first fish was painted and stripped about ten times and it got easier and looked better each time. Also, for a bass try those stencils, I think Rienhart or WASCO has them. Good luck and stick with it!
Hope your brother-in-law pays better than mine (my wife's actually). The sorry SOB has brought in 3 deer in the last 2 years and always has some excuse for not being able to pay right then. The first 2 are sitting untouched. The last one is a 150 class and I told him I wouldn't touch it without a deposit. It has been done for 4 months and I have told him about a dozen times to get his money and his ass into the studio and pick it up. I'm about ready to sell all his crap on eBay for storage fees. Sorry about venting.
The advice above is right on. Most of us have a tendancy to put way too much paint on our fish mounts. Set up a good base coat to get the skin tone down then paint it just like a regular fish. You might be interested in buying a video of Dennis Arp painting repros at a past World show. It may be from 2002. WASCO has it.