I am really having a great time painting tropical fish lately and I am thrilled with the way this painting turned out. I typically find gouramis body shapes extremely fun to paint—their appearance is on the quirky side. There are of course considerable variances within the species, which keeps things fresh and motivating. Their thin long ray-like fins stemming from the pectoral area are a really interesting characteristic. For this painting, I really enjoyed working up ideas on how to best capture the spotting found on pearl gouramis. I think the blue circles I painted playfully did the trick. Using a bright yellow for the gourami really stands out against the blue field color.
Dancing Kuhli Loaches
Dancing Kuhli Loaches was painted in 2016 during a period when I was revisiting tropical fish as a subject. Michelle and I had several Dojo Loaches when we lived in San Francisco. The Dojos are essentially the larger pink version to their striped cousins. I had Kuhli Loaches as a kid as did my childhood friend John Whall. Loaches are very active, so capturing them in such a balanced composition in nature would be highly unlikely, but that is the magic of art.
This painting is currently hanging in our A-frame cottage in Michigan.
