Wandering Blue Lines - Largemouth Bass

The art of Tyler Hackett of Wandering Blue Lines is yet another example of someone who I've met through Instagram and it's been stellar to follow along with his process as an artist as he takes on new projects.

Recently Tyler and I traded a few emails and I asked if he would take the time to chronicle a new piece of artwork from sketch to print to application and cutout on plywood.  The largemouth bass is one of his latest offerings and this is how it's done.

Tyler wrote...  "Each print starts out as a drawing that is focused on each fish’s defining characteristics. The drawing is then transferred to a piece of birch plywood that has been stained dark grey. I then begin carving the plate; all of the areas I cut away represent areas that will remain white after printing. The plate is then sealed with shellac and allowed to dry. A roller is used to deposit a thin layer of oil-based ink on the plate, which is then run through the press with a piece of acid free paper. The resulting print is peeled from the plate and allowed to dry.

The dried prints are then individually hand colored, slight variations from one print to another make each of them one of a kind works of art. The colored prints are then cut out, and pasted onto a finish grade piece of plywood, the fish is then cut out once again. Each fish is then sanded by hand, mounted with hanging hardware on the back, and made ready for display."

Check out the Wandering Blue Lines website for more information and examples of Tyler's excellent work.  There are quite a few fish that are now offered through the Individual Fish Prints page.

Follow along with the latest art and shop work on Instagram and Twitter.