I drew
the original inspiration for this painting from the magnificent
catch of a Black Marlin just off Cape Brett during the big
Tutukaka five day tournament in 2001. I had just arrived at the
club rooms to deliver some of my bronze marlin sculptures as
tournament prizes and came across a bloke lying exhausted on the
grass by the main entrance with a big grin on his face. He
turned out to be a TV3 cameraman and told me the full story of
the amazing footage he had just shot of this massive Black,
caught by Brian Firman on board Striker.
Later I had the opportunity to see the very same fish mounted as
a trophy head and by watching footage of the catch also, got a
fuller appreciation of the size of this monster.
In my research for the ideal shot I had in mind, I actually came
across a photo taken off the Cairns coast a few years ago by
Peter Bristow. With a few phone calls I found him overseas and
he kindly gave me permission to base the painting on his photo.
Of course there is a lot more to it than sitting down and
copying from a photo. We're talking about going through stacks
of game fishing magazines, whatever other photos I can lay my
hands on, watching video footage, studying specimens, doing
preliminary drawings, cross referencing information, and even in
some cases doing a small sculpture in wax to get the right
perspective information.
"Going Ballistic" is a watercolour painting reproduced as
a limited edition of 500 prints using light-resistant inks on
archival paper. Each print is individually numbered and
signed. Completing the presentation is a charcoal blue-black
timber frame, with glass and an off-white double mat-board.
Sizes: Framed (as shown) 737mm x 554mm
Unframed 688mm x 507mm
Prices: $425 framed
$325
unframed
owering
out of the water, the Black Marlin "Going Ballistic"
is the fourth in the NZ Billfish 
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