Pouring and then painting

[gstours]

Here's a progress report on last year,s project.    After obtaining permission for cloning a jig a silicone mold was a project that's an improvement over what I was doing.
 

[gstours]

The mold poured great with the experimental side sprue,  as I may have made it over size.

[gstours]

The body was cleaned up and dipped in an oil based white enamel,  dripped dry,  then sprayed with an acrylic paint.  Eyes are hand painted.  Maybe too much bling,  but it's an experiment 🧪 to see if it will catch a fish.    Dave the science teacher 👨‍🏫 said contrasts are good for my fishery.
   A few variations are forthcoming,   Check back later.🎣

[gstours]

Another variation shown.

[Gobi King]

Gary,
is that paint or a powder paint?
looks great!

[gstours]

Reply.   Acrylic sprayed over oil based enamel.  A lacquer clear topcoat. 
   I've had some problems with the lacquer over coats wrinkling the enamel.   Especially if the topcoat is heavy.   
  Will lacquer affect the water based acrylic?   One of my next tests.   

[jurelometer]

You definitely have an artist's eye.  That looks more like fine folk art than something to drag over the rocks.

-J

[gstours]

Thanks Dave,  you're kidding right? .   Your jig cloner will be spread over the sea, like 🍞 bread in Yester years,   And whoever's on my boat 🚣‍♀️.    Just testing of coarse.
  Here's another for your inspection.   Butt?

[jurelometer]

Hey Gary,

I was definitely not kidding.  I am no expert on art, but your paint jobs seemed familiar somehow.  I looked around for abstract expressionist fish representations by famous artists, and found some similarities, but no matches. 

If you put your fish designs on ceramic plates like Picasso did, the world would beat a path to your workshed gallery.  But it might cut into your fishing time.  And if they find out that you are dragging these designs over the rocks, you could get in trouble with the Art Police. (Okay, I am kidding now, but just a little).


This goes for the whole current series of jigs you have been painting.  Really good looking stuff.



Getting back to tiny little fish brains and their appreciation of artwork, contrast should definitely be a key to having your designs be visible and comprehended at some level.  But that could be either better or worse for getting bit.  Having the entire profile contrast with the surroundings makes it easier for the fish to see the shape and decide that this might be food.  The biologists believe that stripes, spots, and repeating patterns are used to break up the profile, making it trickier for prey or or predator to make out the shape.

   But you never know.  It is hard for a lion to pick out a single zebra in a running herd, but a zebra all by itself sticks out like a sore thumb.  So it could work that way, too.

One of the things that I really like about the classic SoCal irons is that they have a relatively thin contrast stripe wrapping around  the edge on both sides, basically outlining the profile, instead of top of profile darker color, bottom of profile white (a real live fish has this  paint job to make it less of a target).  But it is hard to get folks to fish with the SoCal style paint  job on modern jig designs.  Even the SoCal irons nowadays are more often  sporting   "realistic" paint jobs or photographic wraps.

The fish get the  deciding vote.

-J