I’ve always loved the graphic quality of medieval heraldry and Celtic designs. Using one of those out-of-copyright books on Celtic designs from The Dover Bookshop in London, I chose my favourite subject of fish as my inspiration. And as much as this design would look fantastic as a clean black and white linocut, I thought I’d paint it in gouache to keep the design tonally interesting. The gouache, in various states of dilution, conveys a rich, painted glass-style quality. The background is actually a deep violet colour, which doesn’t come across very well in the scan. Winsor and Newton white gouache on 160gsm deep violet Daler Rowney Murano pastel paper.