A Step-by-Step Guide to Painting a Goldfish in Acrylics

Introduction

This acrylic painting tutorial offers a straightforward approach to creating a vibrant goldfish within an underwater setting. It covers useful methods like dry-brushing for translucent fins and painting realistic bubbles. This project can also be adapted into a couples' painting—simply mirror the fish on two canvases to make them face each other. A traceable outline is available, and the instructions also explain how to sketch the goldfish freehand. Let's dive in and enjoy the creative process!

Required Supplies

Canvas (11” x 14” or your preferred dimensions)
Chalk pencil or regular chalk
Optional: Pre-drawn traceable and white graphite paper
Acrylic paint brushes

Paint Colors

Mars Black
Titanium White
Prussian Blue (can substitute Phthalo Blue)
Turquoise Blue
Primary Yellow
Cadmium Orange Hue
Burnt Sienna

Recommended Brushes

3/4” Flat Wash Brush
#12 Bright Brush
#4 Round Brush
Small round bristle brush (or a bundled Q-tip)

Color Substitutions

If you are using craft paints like Apple Barrel, consider these alternatives:

Bimini Blue for Turquoise, Navy for Prussian Blue, Bright Yellow, Jack O’ Lantern Orange, Black, Nutmeg Brown, and White.

Quick Overview

The painting progresses from background to foreground: start with the watery backdrop, outline the fish, block in base colors, add details like fins and scales, and finish with bubbles and texture.

Detailed Instructions

1. Create the Watery Background

On your palette, place Prussian Blue and Turquoise Blue. Dampen your 3/4” flat wash brush with water, then dip it into both colors. Cover the entire canvas using vertical strokes, allowing the blues to blend partially while keeping some visible streaks for an abstract water effect. Thin the paint slightly with water if needed—this first layer should be transparent.

2. Sketch the Goldfish Outline

Ensure the background is fully dry. Use a chalk pencil to draw the goldfish. If using the template, transfer it with white graphite paper.

Draw a large oval for the body, approximately 5” wide and 3.25” tall.
Add a slightly curved line for the mouth.
Sketch a curved line about 1.5” from the mouth to define the gill.
Draw the top dorsal fin, the pelvic fin, and two smaller pectoral fins beneath the head.
Outline a long, flowing tail with an upper and lower section.
Finally, draw two concentric circles for the eye.

3. Apply a White Base Coat

To make the orange and yellow hues pop, first paint the fish shape with Titanium White using the #12 bright brush. Use smooth, contoured strokes to fill the body solidly. For the fins and tail, use a dry-brush technique: load just a tiny amount of white on the brush and apply light, feathered strokes following the fin directions, letting the background show through at the edges.

4. Paint the Fish’s Body

Rinse the brush. Load it with Cadmium Orange Hue and paint the inner sections of the fish’s body, following its curved form. Then, without cleaning the brush, pick up Primary Yellow and blend it into the orange area, focusing on the center of the body. Keep some distinction between the colors. Next, add subtle white curves along the body’s side and on the gill line for highlight and dimension.

5. Add Color to the Fins

Using the same dry-brush method, sparingly apply mixtures of yellow and orange over the fins and tail. Let some of the white base layer remain visible. Use long, flowing strokes for the tail, employing either the full brush width or its edge for finer lines.

6. Paint Seaweed and the Base Layer

Mix Prussian Blue and Turquoise Blue. With a #4 round or your flat brush, paint wavy lines of varying heights to suggest seaweed. Then, darken some of the blue mixture with a little Mars Black and paint additional seaweed strands for depth. Lighten another portion of the blue mix with Titanium White to paint lighter seaweed, creating contrast.

7. Create the Gravel Texture

Use a round bristle brush (or a Q-tip bundle) to stipple a mixture of blues, black, and white onto the canvas bottom, forming a textured gravel bed. Dab without over-blending, allowing the colors to remain varied and natural.

8. Detail the Eye and Scales

With the #4 round brush, paint a small black circle for the pupil. Mix Burnt Sienna with orange to paint rows of small, curved scale lines along the body, starting near the gill. Stagger them like bricks. Add a touch of black to some lower scales for shadow. For the eye, blend white and brown to paint a ring around the pupil, then add a tiny white highlight dot in the upper right.

9. Paint the Bubbles

Dilute Titanium White to a watery consistency. Paint several translucent circles of different sizes. Let them dry slightly. Then, using Prussian Blue, paint the inside of each circle, leaving the outer rim white and allowing some white to show through the center. Once dry, add a small white curved highlight on the right side of each bubble. Finally, add a faint yellow reflection on the side facing the fish.

10. Define the Fins with Lines

Using Mars Black and the #4 round brush, paint delicate, fading lines along each fin and the tail, following their natural flow. Keep these lines subtle so the underlying colors remain dominant.