WHALE HARBOR FANTASY | Niki Butcher

Islamorada, Florida Keys © 1989

Photographic Story We were spending some time down in the Keys and stopped by Whale Harbor to check out the boats. I came across this scene and couldn’t resist taking the photo and then painting all the fish a different color. FUN! Of course lots of folks say the fish were caught by the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant and that is why they are so strange. The Art of Hand Painting Black and White Photographs Niki prints her images on fiber-base black and white mat surface paper in the darkroom, then using Q-tips and cotton balls, she applies a thin coat of oil paint over the surface allowing the image to gently be seen through the oil paint. Archival Print Making Niki’s open edition gicleé artwork is printed on Sunset Bright Velvet Rag matte finish paper using eight archival inks. A state-of-the-art Epson Stylus Pro printer creates deep, rich dark values that hold subtle detail in the shadows as well as bright vivid colors that are truly tropical.