Gyotaku artist Naoki Hayashi displays one of his original Hawaii fish prints. His artwork is custom-framed in koa.

Not long after that, Al Lagunte wrote an article for HAWAII FISHING NEWS about a fellow named Naoki Hayashi, whose passion for gyotaku and diving was helping him start a successful art business, Catch of the Day. Recently, I was inspired by some eye-catching prints of an ulua and a school of kumu that Naoki displayed in Barnes and Noble Booksellers in Kahala Mall. I finally contacted him, and we met at his workshop that doubles as a gallery.

Unfortunately, I no longer had a nice kagami for him to print, but I was truly impressed by the quality and diversity of his work. Naoki has a very dynamic personality, and the enthusiasm he has for his work is contagious. But what is even more fascinating is his unique philosophy in approaching his art.

As I looked at the pieces displayed in his workshop/gallery, I thought readers might be interested to know how Naoki's art has evolved and grown since HFN last visited him. He has expanded the range of his print subjects to include big-game fish, of which the most amazing are large ahi. How he is able to get an accurate impression of a bullet-shaped animal onto a flat piece of paper is just mystifying.

Naoki has also been successful at depicting scenes of marine life in works that use multiple images and panels. In addition to framed originals, limited-edition prints and T-shirts, new forms in which his artwork can be obtained like greeting cards, surfboards and home furnishings are in the works or are already being produced and have become popular with customers.

With the art form gaining popularity and others starting to provide gyotaku works of reef fish, Naoki decided to concentrate on printing pelagic fish. In doing so, he filled a niche in preserving trophy catches for clients of local charterboats. Boat captains are always explaining to their charters why an angler can't keep his catch to stuff because it's a valuable food fish and part of the boat's income. This practice seems unique to Hawaii. Naoki's artwork is produced through a relatively fast method, and it is one way to keep both parties satisfied. So far, Naoki has provided trophy prints for happy anglers on the SWEET KIMI II and the NORI II with other boats signing up soon as formal clients.

A 100lb marlin caught by Naoki during this year's Ahi Fever Tournament was the perfect size for him to print.

Naoki has done some experimenting with his art form. Some of the things he has incorporated his gyotaku artwork into are surfboards and home furnishings, like coffee tables, shoji screens, lamps and fishing pole racks. Creativity, according to Naoki, is the result of the level of fun he has while doing his artwork. These opportunities have him bursting with new ideas. He is presently looking at selecting a surfboard maker to work with, and he has already teamed up with James Tannehill of Hawaiian Lumber and Mill Co. to do the custom koa and mango woodwork to which his art is laminated.

Naoki recently accomplished one of his ultimate goals of printing a billfish. Capturing one in the 70- to 100-lb range was high on his priority list, not only for himself but also for a client as a special request. Although he has printed many ono, mahimahi and ahi to date, obtaining a marlin of the right size for printing has not been easy. Earlier this year, he was successful in capturing one that was the perfect size at 100 lbs.

Naoki could get almost any size fish by going to the auction house and buying one, but his philosophy compels him to take a different approach. As an experienced troller and an accomplished blue-water and reef free-diver, Naoki draws upon his personal interaction (or that as conveyed by his clients) with the marine environment in producing his artwork. To Naoki, the entire experience, beginning with the activity of gathering fish from their natural surroundings (in his case by spear fishing or trolling), producing the artwork and finally eating the fish, becomes part of the artwork that he creates.

Many of Naoki's customers are anglers and divers who wish to have a trophy print made up of their prize catches. Other admirers of his art are often from distant locales and not as familiar with the Hawaiian marine environment. Naoki tries to share his appreciation for our ocean and local culture by choosing to print only fish that are considered good eating and a lot of fun to catch.

While other gyotaku artists focus on ornamental fish, Naoki has been successful at evoking the stunning beauty of Hawaii game and food fish. This is a direct result of his desire to depict the subjects as if alive in their natural habitat. He portrays the fish as he recalls actually seeing them. For example, he may portray a school of menpachi nervously darting about or a pair of moana-ukali slowly cruising the bottom. That is why his first advice when giving demonstrations of his style of gyotaku is to become involved with the entire process required to make a print: Get out in the ocean. See the fish in their natural state as when catching them. Appreciate the ocean and its gifts.

This custom longboard boasts a mahimahi gyotaku print.

Naoki also discourages killing for art's sake. That is why he will not print something that will not be eaten: Take only what you eat, and use the artwork to tell a story about your experience.

To emphasize his conviction that to appreciate the art one must be part of the experience, Naoki offers to let clients join him on fishing or diving excursions for an additional fee. In addition to purchasing the artwork, clients have the opportunity to catch their own print subjects by fishing or diving or simply assisting Naoki on trips that can be customized to suit a client's desire. While these trips are not meant to be fully catered charterboat services (more like spending a day with the artist), they do afford clients a chance to see everything that leads up to a finished print hanging on the wall.

As a bridge between his passion for the sport of free-diving and his artwork, Naoki also crafts spearguns as a hobby, producing only six to 12 a year. His first love is blue-water diving, so the guns that he creates are for big game and are modeled after Riffe guns. The stocks are koa planks, vertically laminated and custom shaped to 60-inch lengths. Koa is the material of choice because it is familiar to work with. (Naoki also custom frames his prints with koa that comes from a good source, which keeps framing costs economical for clients.) Fitted with Riffe components, his guns are tuned and balanced to Naoki's preferences through trial and error.

Naoki's creations have become very popular over the years, and he is flattered that some of the more notable names in the sport have asked him for one.

A 100lb marlin caught by Naoki during this year's Ahi Fever Tournament was the perfect size for him to print.

While Naoki style of gyotaku is his own interpretation that definitely reflects local culture, it differs from traditional gyotaku fundamentally in that Naoki incorporates vivid colors necessary to convey life. The traditional style is strictly a black and white print, and the final image is clearly a dead fish. As I was told by Naoki, the art form developed out of a small coastal fishing village in Shikoku, southwestern Japan, where fishermen wanted to record their catches.

I asked Naoki if he had any formal training, assuming gyotaku was something you needed to learn from a gyotaku master, as with so many of the other classic Japanese art forms. I was surprised to hear he had no training and had learned through trial and error.

I was also surprised to learn from Naoki that gyotaku is only a little more than 100 years old, contrary to my initial thought that it was a cen ries-old practice. Naoki is definitely helping to evolve the art form for the better!

Naoki has already improved the longevity of his prints by using modern materials: I would like to assure my clients will enjoy their artwork for a lifetime. Through experimentation with different materials, he has found a way to increase the life span of his pieces significantly. Naoki explained that his clients can be confident that his images will last because he uses synthetic media that will not naturally decompose. Unlike those prints made with traditional sumi ink and rice paper, both organic materials, Naoki's prints should not fade or discolor.

Each original gyotaku print is signed by Naoki who includes the client's catch date and location information as well..

I suggested he use tako ink for prints, because I recalled an incident where a friend inadvertently created a wonderful image after throwing an ink-covered tako down on the sidewalk. Naoki ad vised me, however, that the image would not last due to the ink s organic composition. (Funny, I ve never seem to be able to get ink stains out of my dive shirt.)

The process Naoki goes through to produce his art is a lot more deliberate and thoughtful than my idea of slapping down a tako to get an image. Much time and thought is put into each composition, and creative arrangements are required for subjects like tako or octopus. Some of the more dynamic compositions are those that use multiple prints of either the same fish or a combination, suggesting movement of a school or a predator hunting its prey. Sometimes, a three-dimensional quality can even be captured by manipulating the paper to take impressions of both sides of the fish.

The first of five basic steps is to obtain the subject. Whether Naoki catches it or one is provided by a client desiring a trophy print, there is one key requirement. To obtain a good image, the ideal subject should be as fresh as possible, less than two days old. (Naoki suggests neighbor-island customers send their catches packed in dry ice.) Because his prints are composed to tell the angler's or diver's story, clients will many times also bring the bait fish that was used to make the trophy catch. For instance, if a menpachi was used slide-bait style, a scene in which several of these are chased by a pair of omilu might be created. For the marlin mentioned earlier, prints of several iheihe, or ballyhoo, were composed to imply they were being chased.

Using the fish intact for the second step, Naoki will make several impressions on paper with plain, nontoxic, black acrylic paint. From the broad, well-defined scales of an uku or io to the fine hair-like scales of a marlin, the texture of each type of fish varies immensely, and the way paint reacts is always different. Knowing the right amount of paint to use on the subject is critical: it can mean the difference between achieving incredible detail and ending up with a blob of black ink. Multiple prints are made so that clients can select one that appeals to them the most.

The third step involves applying color and texture to the base print. This is where Naoki's experience in and on the water helps him achieve lifelike images. The process is similar to a watercolor artist's technique of applying paint to a wet or damp surface. Naoki's selection of colors is based on experience of seeing the fish and their behavior in natural surroundings.

Taking a fine brush and adding the eye is the fourth and most critical step in bringing life to the print. Naoki believes all of the life in living things is conveyed through the eyes, and, therefore, he takes extra care during this step to insert a crisp, lifelike representation.

Washing the fish, cleaning, preparing and finally consuming it are all included in the final step. Because Naoki works fast and the inks are water-soluble and nontoxic, the fish is completely edible. Relative to other forms of preserving trophy catches, this method definitely has its benefits in not being poho (wasteful) and not requiring structural modifications to your home for display purposes.

Gyotaku is also reasonably priced. Naoki's custom prints start at $40 for reef fish and the "sky's the limit" upward for big-game fish and diptychs or triptychs (art world terms for double- and triple-panel prints). Koa framing and custom matting can be provided, and the additional cost is very reasonable, as Naoki does his own.

A 100lb shibi from Midway. Naoki has found that tuna and other odd-shaped creatures are the most difficult to print.

Naoki's work can be found at notable galleries around town, and he is often set up at craft fairs or other special events. If you have a trophy catch to print or perhaps you would like a memory of your child's first fish, you can contact him at Catch of the Day, (808) 395-3833, or through his website, . Keep an eye on your local cable channel as Home and Garden TV will be featuring Naoki and other local artists in an episode of their Modern Masters series in October. It promises to be exciting, like the work of Naoki Hayashi, artist. ...

Article by: Brian Funai