Photo: supplied
When Tim Li was growing up in Taupo, his parents owned a fish and chip shop and he spent many, many hours looking at the Seafood New Zealand poster, and drawing the different fish.
He and the family would trout fish in the Waikato river, and later go on regular fishing trips to Te Kaha on the east cape, where Tim's love of the ocean began.
He went on to study art and design at university, and after a teaching art in high school for years, has drawn together his love of marine life and art into a career.
His hyper-real, larger than life, graphite drawings showcase and celebrate the underwater world.
Tim also practices the ancient art of Japanese Gyotaku printmaking where ink is applied to the fish and the image transferred to rice paper.
