Now the next masterpiece, The Fishes of Pohjola, is in the works. In the exhibition of Gallery Illustration, you can see the original illustrations of the upcoming book: hand-painted species identification pictures of the fish species of the Northeast Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean. The line-tailed herring kingfish, rainbow-colored goldfish, club-shaped black cod, small redfish, hake cod, isomer cod and many others have become immortalized. In addition to the technically masterful print, what makes Yrjölä’s project special is that the illustrator has been collecting and documenting species on the spot. The colors of the fish start to change immediately after being taken out of the water, which is why it is important for the illustrator to capture the catch fresh, scale by scale. “Hunting” fish in their areas of occurrence also provides important information about the ecology of the species.
Sakke Yrjölä’s fish illustrations are at the same time functional species identification images that meet the needs of fishermen and skillful illustration art that presents the endless wonder and diversity of endangered marine nature.
