This is my entry for #CreateArtHistory.
( This is the original square version. A version optimized for cards can be found HERE )

I was inspired by Isaac Commelin’s ‘Sea Creatures’ in the ‘Weird and Wonderful Creatures’ Category.

When you look closely at the drawing you can see these tiny letters beside each species. These letters presumably once corresponded to a key that would denote the name of the species being depicted, but since the key is missing, we are left with these mysterious letters floating around.

I found myself imagining these letters as part of the scene. Swimming around in the ocean. Following the animals. Herding them. Existing with them.

In my reworking I tried to capture what a dive photographer might see in this world. A huge shoal of fish, and their letters in tow, spot lit by the divers torch.

The original is acrylic on board. 75×75cm.