#200 Fish The Thornback Ray

#200 Fish is a community project coordinated bt Biff Vernon. It aims to highlight the issues regarding declining fish populations in the Atlantic.  Open to all people were invited to choose a fish from the list of two hundred found around Britains coast. Having chosen a subject, people were asked to submit a drawing or painting to be included on their web page This will then become a resource for others to use, raising awareness about diversity and the state of our oceans.

My contribution consists of an artist book about the Thornback Ray. it is an interesting fish to draw. The marbling and spots, along with thorns, appealed to my love of texture and pattern. The pen drawings were done over a sea chart which had been painted with a wash of ink.

I found a description of the fish from an account published in 1834 - Oliver Goldsmiths A History of the Animated World and Nature. It was written before we had developed a clear system of classification. Therefore creatures are described as "...of the Ray kind" or even more amusing, they are referred to as "tribes". This was written pre Darwin and seems to be of another age. It is so easy to take the vast amount of information available to us today with just the click of a button! 

For more information concerning the project 
http://transitiontownlouth.org.uk/bell6.html