Okinawa-based artist Yusei Nagashima has been fascinated by fish since he was a child and every Friday for the last three years he has posted a beautiful renderings of aquatic creatures on his blog. His water color illustrations are not only detailed but shows his fascination of their expressions, colors, and their motions through the water. An interview on Gestalten blog gives us his view on nature and his painting technique:

“There are no clear boundaries between our lives and nature. Even big cities exist entirely within nature. Though we live in it, we cannot see it. Living inside of nature isn’t just touching it when we have a moment, nor protecting it carefully. Rather, we must push back against nature sometimes, and sometimes we must care for its fragility. We must think about our position as hums in nature and we should live alongside nature. I think fish and fishing reveal such relationship.”

“I use the same techniques to paint any fish. First, I look at its parts carefully and deconstruct its colors based on my color palette. Next, I paint each color using a wet-on-dry method. By overlapping the deconstructed colors, the final palette emerges. What I keep in mind is not to be consumed by reproducing the object as it is in front of me, but to express it exactly as it felt in my mind.”

You can see more of his incredible work on his website, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram.

Images: Courtesy of Yusei Nagashima.