A client reached out to me asking me to create a small king mackerel as a gift for a friend, as it was one of his friend's favorite fish to catch.

King mackerel are silver and blue with subtle striping. I wanted to bring a bit more color in while still having it feel aligned with how they look in real life. I decided to grind in those blue stripes and then add in a bit of gold and orange to have color throughout. I think it helped add balance to the overall piece. The blue was the first color down since it's the hottest heat patina, and then I ground back through to reveal the silver and carefully recolored to get those warmer gold tones. I love how such a compact metal fish sculpture can still have so much depth and detail!

Check out my other mackerel sculptures: Mackerel and Mackerel School.

This metal king mackerel sculpture is wall hanging, made entirely of stainless steel, colored using only heat patinas, and is safe to be kept outdoors!