Commission for my boss at work as a gift for her son. It’s of his koi in his pond; or four of the 30 or so at least. Three of his favorites and then the Hi Utsuri which I thought was an exceptional example of the variety.

Blaze is the Yamabuki Ogon, and from what I’m told she dominates the favorites chart in his pond. Dragon is the Karasugoi and is one of two from what I understand. I wasn’t given the names of the Hi Utsuri or the Sanke. He apparently has a soft spot for sanke and showa koi so I was sure to include one.

I had a lot of fun with this piece overall. I love drawing koi. I admit I was also nervous since my boss is very critical, and I had to redo the background from what you see here (taking out much of the texture and lightning it up) but I didn’t take photos of the redone background as I didn’t have the time. Deadlines and all.

Probably about 30 or so hours of work.

11x14” watercolor and colored pencil on Bristol.

© A. F. Parker (Styx) 2009