How to Draw a Goldfish (Easy Step by Step Guide)
This tutorial shows how to draw a goldfish with easy to follow steps. It includes beginner friendly illustrated examples and basic instructions.
The goldfish shown as the example has a good amount of detail but overall the tutorial is not too complicated. As mentioned, the step by step breakdown of the drawing process should make it fairly easy to follow along (even if you are a beginner). You can see a preview of the included steps in the image above.
Start in pencil and use it for most of the drawing stages. You can darken your lines before coloring (in step seven). Before that try and keep them light to make it easy to fix any potential mistakes. The lines in the examples have been made dark in all steps just so that they are easier to see.
Step 1 – Draw the Body of the Goldfish
Start the drawing by outlining the shape of the goldfish’s body. Draw it wider near the middle and narrower towards the head and much narrower towards the tail.
Step 2 – Draw the Head
You can define the head in three curves. Draw the first one between it and the body. Add the next curve running down from the top of the body to define the upper part of the head. It should eventually curve back towards the body to create the mouth. Finally, define the lower part of the head with a curve running down form the bottom of the mouth towards the lower end of the body.
Make the head’s overall shape narrower as it goes out towards it’s front end.
Step 3 – Draw the Tail
Draw the tail curving backwards with a split in the middle. Make it fairly tall in relation to the body. Also, draw a little curve around it’s base.
Step 4 – Draw the Fins
Add the fins starting with the largest one at the top. It should have a taller section towards the the head and lower one towards the tail. Afterwards, add two fins on the bottom with one close to the tail and the other near the middle of the body. Finally add the last and smallest fin near the head. You can erase the part of the body that it overlaps.
For drawing other kind’s of fins see:
How to Draw a Dolphin Step by Step
Step 5 – Draw the Eye
Make the eye round and draw another smaller circle inside it to define the pupil. Inside the pupil draw a small oval shaped reflection to help make it look shiny and wet.
Step 6 – Draw the Fin Details
Draw some lines along the fins and tail in a way where they flow along the shapes of their respective parts (see example). These are the bones (called rays & spines) that are visible due to the fins/tail being semi-transparent.
Step 7 – Draw the Scales
Create a hint of scales by drawing some curves along the fish’s body. Draw some “stacked” together and a few on their own (as shown in the example).
Once done with the above, go over your lines with either a black pen/marker or darken them with the pencil. Afterwards, also fill in the iris of the eye with either black or dark pencil shading.
Step 8 – Color the Goldfish a Yellow Orange
To color the goldfish colored pencils can be a good and easy option. First, color its body yellow and create a gradient going from yellow to white along the tail and fins.
Step 9 – Add Some Red Along the Back & Around the Eye
To finish coloring first add a red/orange gradient along the goldfish’s back. Next, also add a bit of orange along the base of each fin that gradually blends into the yellow (maybe a bit hard to see in the example). Finally, also add some orange around the outer edge of the eye (that again blends into the yellow).
Conclusion
Drawing a slightly stylized goldfish like the one shown in this tutorial is not too complicated. A good approach is to start with an outline of the the major parts of it’s body and then to add the smaller details (as was done throughout the steps).
Hopefully you’ve found the guide helpful and easy to follow.
For more similar step by step tutorials also see the following:
