Painting: Koi Fish Swimming in a Shallow Pond

"Koi Fish in a Shallow Pond" - Acrylic painting on canvas (18"w x 14"h) - $275

If you have been following my work for a while you may have noticed that the style of painting varies widely. This painting represents a departure from my most recent work which incorporates an exploration of distressed textures. In this case, I’ve chosen to aim for realism.

Painting the reflections in this picture was the most difficult part. My goal in painting this image was to depict a fluidity to the surface of the water. As I painted, I noticed that when a reflection was over a dark area it was a dark navy color, but when it’s over a rock it takes on the color of the sky which is a gray-blue.

A vibrancy is created when you liberally choose a palette of contrasting colors. In this painting I’ve chosen to juxtapose a bright cadmium orange with green. To further promote the realism I follow a simple rule – Warm highlights, Cold shadows. For example, the highlights in the fish are a lemon yellow, whereas the shadows are a very cool cyan; giving the fish an iridescent quality.

Design also plays an important part in this painting’s composition. The fish are positioned so that your eye travels in a “Z” shape. While the big orange koi fish (just right of center) is the first thing that draws the viewer’s eye into the painting, the “Z” shaped composition stimulates the viewer to look at the whole painting.