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The On The Beauty Of Lionfish

Good Essays

Lionfish come with red, maroon or brown stripes and specks on their body and flashy fins. Their beautiful long fins flowing gracefully in the water and dramatic colors are fascinating and inspiring. No doubt lionfish are one of popular aquarium fishes as well as painting subjects. As my final project, I want to create a captivating image, while enjoying exploration of the beauty and details of lionfish. For the underwater backdrop, I want to suggest a coral reef environment. A solid or simple blue underwater backdrop would be sufficient to show the beauty of lionfish, but it is too plain for my taste. I decide to paint underwater ripples along with a brain coral. The challenge is creating a background that doesn’t compete against the flamboyant and colorful lionfish, yet adds enough interest to the viewer’s eye.

Palette : new gamboge, quinacridone gold, phthalo green, cobalt turquoise, phthalo blue, ultramarine blue, Prussian blue, indigo, burnt sienna, brown madder, magenta, purple

1. I sketch out the Lionfish first on tracing paper. I have a few reference photos of lionfish, however none of them has a perfect form of their fins. After I select one which has a good body shape, I alter the imperfect fin shapes. Once I finalize the shapes of the fins, I draw the details of stripes on the body and fins. I also pay close attention to fin rays and specks. When I finish working on the lionfish, I draw the outline of the dome-shaped brain coral and a few lines across the

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