Weird fishes

July 6, 2022 simonhoulton

Paintings of weird fishes and paintings with a nautical theme are something that I am also passionate about. I’ve thought a lot about where my fascination with drawing and painting fish and sea creatures comes from. Growing up in a fishing town with a small working commercial fleet that launches directly off the beach is certainly part of it. Since I’ve been able to walk, regular walks along the Stade have been a part of my existence. That part of the beach is always littered with dead fish and crustaceans, I always found them interesting to look at and even touch. In that specifically boyish way we would also touch them, dare each other to touch the dead eye, or throw them at each other, as teenagers we would even stuff them with ‘rookies’ and blow them up.

Rock-pooling further along the beach towards the pier, or in the other direction past Rock-a-Nore was also an entertaining pastime. Occasionally we would find some truly gigantic crabs, big enough that it would make us think twice about picking them up.

Fish markets

Fish markets are also a source of inspiration that inform my fish paintings, particularly these days as I am living far from the sea and wandering around the fish markets is about as close as I can get. I frequently photograph the fish I see on market stalls or at fishmongers in the city I live in, I rarely buy any (I don’t much like the taste) which leaves the Turkish fishmongers somewhat bemused. It is, I find almost impossible to walk past any of these places without stopping to look at the fish quite intently to suck in all the details. I suppose it is a somewhat macabre habit, and maybe motivated to some degree by an excess of morbid curiosity.

All of these things combined are maybe part of my motivation to paint these subjects, but added to this, I suspect that fish were some of the first things that I learnt to draw. When I was very young my father would draw the outline of a fish with some circles inside and then I would colour it in, and the result would be a random mix of brightness, pink with yellow spots for example.

some examples of weird fishes below

Octopus. An oil painting featuring an orange octopus on a bluish background, original still available. prints are available here. Eskisehir June 2021.

Black Sea Anchovies. Oil on canvas. This painting depicts Karadeniz hamsi seen at the Friday Bazaar in Eskisehir. Painted in Eskisehir March 2021. This painting is available to buy here.