Val Kells' WATERCOLORS

Hundreds of paper fish hang in a sea of air from the ceiling of Val Kells’ studio.

The black and white silhouettes might be likened to cocoons from which emerged beautiful colored versions of the fishes. Each of them, from albacore to zoarces americanus [ocean pout], are featured in the new book, “A Field Guide to Coastal Fishes From Maine to Texas.”

Kells and ichthyologist Kent Carpenter coauthored the book published by Johns Hopkins University Press. It’s the first comprehensive field guide to the marine and brackish water fishes of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts to be published in nearly a quarter century.

“There are 1,079 illustrations in the book,” said Kells, who painstakingly painted each of them. “About two years into the project it was wintertime and I had a mountain of work ahead of me.

“It was cold, dark, depressed. I had a conversation with my sister and she said, ‘Val, don’t think about everything you still have to do. Think about what you have accomplished.

“ ‘Every time you finish a painting, take the preliminary drawing and stick it on the ceiling.’ Slowly the ceiling started to fill. Then I turned a corner, and then another corner and it went all the way around the studio.”

For more than 25 years the Albemarle County artist has worked as a freelance marine science illustrator. To flourish as she has in such a demanding profession, one must be able to paint with an exactness of detail that can be breathtaking.

As the book dramatically shows, coastal waters teem with species of fishes that vary greatly in shape, size and color. Kells’ challenge was to create illustrations so meticulously rendered as to look lifelike.

“My job is to be true to the subject and not interject any interpretation,” Kells said. “It is what it is.

“As a scientific illustrator there’s no leeway for cartoonism. You have to do the subject justice. You have to put your heart and soul into it, and you don’t make it up.

“For example scale patterns vary from species to species and family to family. If you were to superimpose gar scales on a squirrelfish, it’s not a squirrelfish.”

Kells came up with the idea for the book 15 years ago while visiting the Virginia Marine Science Museum. She was there to see a sea turtle exhibit she had contributed artwork to.

“Of course every museum visit ends in the gift shop,” Kells said. “I buy books about fishes and I thought, ‘Why in the world can’t anybody come up with a field guide to fishes that’s organized like a field guide for birds?’

“At the time I was not prepared to undertake this project, but it was something I felt had to happen. About five years ago my husband suggested it might be time for the book, and here it is.

“It was a great project to work on, and I had a great team to work with. My editor, Vincent Burke, was absolutely a dream to work with, and he gave me carte blanche and let me run with it.”

Although the 448-page book has been available for only a few months it has already created quite a stir. Some of the most excited people are ichthyologists who are interested in every aspect of fishes from their structures to life histories.

“There is a Peterson field guide [to Atlantic Coast Fishes] out there, but it was done a long time ago, and the illustrations in it are small and not very precise,” said Carpenter who is a professor in biological sciences at Old Dominion University in Norfolk.

“So in terms of filling a need, yes, this guide is definitely filling a void, because the previous one that was available is outdated. Val obviously did all the illustrations, and in fact drafted all the text for it.

“My role as a professional ichthyologist was specifically to do fact checking and help with the research that was needed to get all the facts for Val. I’ve talked with other ichthyologists who really know their fishes, and all of them were quite impressed with the quality of the illustrations, and that says a lot.”

The mother of two works almost exclusively in watercolor, which is a very difficult medium to master. She says it took her almost 20 years to reach a level of proficiency with watercolors that allowed her to go forward with confidence with the ambitious book project.

As challenging as working with watercolors can be, the artist said the medium allows her to create any combination of colors with her palette. Watercolors also give her renderings the density and transparency needed when creating subtle shades and bold tones.

“I go through certain colors a lot more than others,” said Kells. “Surprisingly enough, green is the least common color of fishes in the ocean.

“Blues are common and there’s a lot of reds. The color of fish correspond to their habitat and their needs for survival. Everything about them is about survival.”

Kells is one of three students to be the first to graduate from what was then the fledgling science illustration program at the University of California Santa Cruz in the mid 1980s. Her observable talent was already at a level that right out of school her first client was the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

In addition to providing illustrations for permanent and temporary exhibitions for a number of aquariums, Kells has also generated a lot of printed material. Her art and words have appeared in more than 20 books.

Carpenter said all the ichthyologists he has talked with about the new book agree that it has definitely created a new standard. In addition to being an invaluable resource for scientists, students, divers, naturalists and fish enthusiasts in general, it’s also a magnificent book of art.

As Carpenter pointed out, there are good reasons why paintings in a guide book on fishes are preferable to photographs.

“The advantage of having an illustration as opposed to a photograph is that if you have a really good eye as Val does, you can render a species in an ideal way,” Carpenter said. “When you use a photograph, typically the fish is dead and it’s probably been discolored.

“If it was an underwater photograph, invariably the individual will be at a certain angle that might not capture the full detail of the fish. Val was able to integrate all the information necessary into very accurate renderings.

“Many, many illustrations you look at kind of look like a certain species, but you can’t be sure. But Val’s illustrations are spot on, and you know immediately which species you’re looking at.

“I would say Val’s reputation was up and coming until this book. I had heard of her before, and I had known of some of her work before, but I really didn’t take notice until I saw these illustrations.

“With this book her reputation is now very firmly established.”

Kells had been accustomed to large projects, but nothing of the magnitude of the book. She said she never got sick of fish, but did get pretty tired of painting the same type fish day after day.

“The flounders are very challenging and very drab for the most part,” Kells said. “And they’re very complicated, and there were quite a few of them.

“I knew the section was coming at the end of the book. So I decided to start pecking away at it about six months in advance, and designated Fridays as ‘Flounder Friday.’

“When I got to the flounder section all the artwork was finished, and all I had to do was the writing and designing. But when I was working on the flounders I sure did miss the sharks.”