Draw a Koi Fish

If you’d like to learn how to draw a koi fish, why not take an extra step and learn how to paint him too? Watercolor and crayons are all you need.

Use the transparency of watercolors to your advantage, when painting your koi fish. By simply creating an under layer of yellow, your fish will have a lovely golden glow.

Tracing the fish with crayons, by the way, will not only add some extra color and texture, it also creates a little wall between the colors. (Sometimes it’s fun to see colors run together, but in this case, a nice bright orange fish is what you are going for.)

Be sure to press hard with the sharp crayon to make dark lines that you can see. Faint ones will not show up, especially when the watercolor is added.

If you like this tutorial, there are many more like it in my “Botanicals, Fish & Insects” ebook in my PDF Shop. Just click on the link or photo to learn more.

MATERIALS

• Koi Fish PDF Tutorial
• Watercolor paper*
• Watercolor paint, I used this Sargent brand*
• Crayons
• Crayon sharpener

*The above product links are referrals. If you click through and take action, I’ll be compensated a small amount, at no extra expense to you.

 

DIRECTIONS

1. Draw center guidelines lightly in pencil. They will help you draw your fish in proportion to the paper.
2. Draw the fish lightly with a pencil on the watercolor paper, according to the tutorial.
3. Trace the drawing with a dark crayon. Use the sharpener to keep a nice sharp tip to make fine lines.
4. Paint the koi fish with a layer of yellow paint.
5. When it is dry, paint again with orange.
6. Draw bubbles in the background with a white crayon.
7. Paint the background with blue watercolor paint. Take care not to create any puddles so that the blue does not run into the fish.