When I draw a fish step by step, I don’t begin with a formula for turning circles and triangles into a fish. I start by looking closely at the actual fish and working from the largest visual relationships toward the smallest details.
Fish are especially interesting to draw because their silhouettes vary so much. A tuna, angelfish, betta, parrotfish, and pufferfish don’t simply look like variations of the same basic symbol. The proportions, fins, body depth, mouth, eyes, texture, and way each fish moves are different.
My process is therefore less about memorizing what a fish should look like and more about learning how to see the particular fish I’m drawing.
I’ll walk through that process below from choosing a reference to adding the final scales and details.
The Fish Drawing Process
| Stage | What I concentrate on |
|---|---|
| 1. Reference | A clear pose with useful light and visible fins |
| 2. Overall shape | Length, height, silhouette and direction |
| 3. Proportions | Head, eye, mouth, body and tail relationships |
| 4. Fins | Placement, angle, overlap and flow |
| 5. Light and shadow | The large value shapes that give the body volume |
| 6. Texture | Scales, markings and surface changes |
| 7. Final accents | Selective detail rather than outlining everything |
Step 1: Choose a Fish Reference You Can Actually Read
Before I start drawing, I want a reference that clearly shows the fish’s shape.
A dramatic underwater photograph can be beautiful but still make a poor drawing reference if the fish disappears into murky water, the fins are hidden, or the lighting makes its structure difficult to understand.
I look for an image where I can clearly see:
- The complete or nearly complete silhouette
- The relationship between the head and body
- Where the major fins connect
- The beginning and direction of the tail
- Enough light and shadow to understand the volume
A side or three-quarter view is usually easier for an initial fish drawing than a fish coming directly toward the camera.
I also like comparing several photographs of the same species. One image may explain the fins while another makes the head structure much clearer.
For more on that process, see my guide to finding and using animal drawing reference.
Step 2: Study the Overall Shape Before Drawing the Fish
I spend a little time looking before making the first marks.
I’m trying to understand the fish as one large visual shape rather than immediately separating it into an eye, mouth, fins, scales, and tail.
A few questions help:
- Is the body long and narrow or short and deep?
- Where is the widest or tallest part?
- Does the back curve differently from the belly?
- Does the body taper gradually or abruptly toward the tail?
- Is the fish straight, turning, or bending through the water?
If I can capture those relationships, the drawing can already begin to resemble the species before I’ve added a single scale.
Step 3: Establish the Main Proportions
Next I start comparing the major landmarks.
Instead of deciding that the head should have a particular predetermined shape, I ask where it actually ends in relation to the whole fish.
I compare things like:
- Head length compared with total body length
- Eye position relative to the mouth
- The height of the body at its deepest point
- Where the dorsal fin begins
- Where the body narrows into the tail
- The size of the tail relative to the body
These comparisons are especially useful because fish species vary dramatically.
An angelfish has a very different body-to-fin relationship from a trout. A betta’s fins can occupy much more visual space than its body. A tuna’s silhouette is dominated by speed and streamlining.
I let those differences determine the drawing rather than forcing every fish through the same template.
Step 4: Find the Flow Through the Body
A fish can look stiff very quickly if I concentrate only on its outline.
I look for the direction running from the head through the body and into the tail.
If the fish is turning, that direction may curve strongly. If it’s cruising steadily through the water, the body may appear much straighter.
I try to capture that movement before refining the edges.
This becomes especially important when working from video. Pausing on a frame where a fish is actively changing direction often gives me a more interesting pose than a perfectly flat profile.
Step 5: Place the Fins by Comparing Angles
I don’t treat fins as decorations added after drawing the body. Their placement and direction are part of the fish’s gesture.
I first establish where each visible fin attaches, then compare its angle and size to the rest of the fish.
Depending on the species and pose, I may be looking at:
- Dorsal fins along the top of the body
- Pectoral fins behind the gill area
- Pelvic fins beneath the body
- The anal fin farther toward the tail
- The caudal or tail fin
I only draw what is actually visible from my viewpoint. A fin that disappears behind the body doesn’t need to be forced into the picture simply because I know it’s there.
How I Draw Fish Fins Without Making Them Stiff
Fish fins often have a combination of structure and softness.
The rays may create obvious directional lines, while the tissue between them bends, folds, or becomes nearly transparent.
I look first at the entire fin shape. Then I add only enough internal lines to suggest how it is constructed.
I don’t need to draw every fin ray with equal emphasis.
With flowing species such as bettas, the direction of the fins can carry much of the movement in the drawing. If you’re working with that subject specifically, see my how to draw a betta fish guide.
Step 6: Use Light and Shadow to Make the Fish Look Three-Dimensional
Before adding scales or patterns, I establish the larger value structure.
One trick I use is squinting at the reference until most of the small information disappears.
Then I look for the shapes formed by the darkest and lightest areas.
Maybe the belly falls into a broad shadow. Maybe the back catches a band of light. A shiny fish may contain abrupt highlights while a matte surface has much softer transitions.
I think about the shape of the shadow, not simply “shading the fish.”
Those value shapes help describe volume without requiring a heavy outline around the entire animal.
Step 7: Add the Eye, Mouth and Gill Area
Small shifts around the head can change the character of a fish dramatically, so I slow down here.
I compare the eye with the overall head instead of automatically drawing it as a large dark circle.
I also pay attention to the mouth angle and the visible edge or shadow around the gill cover.
These features vary enormously between species. A parrotfish, angelfish, trout, and betta shouldn’t end up with the same generic fish face.
Add Fish Scales After the Form Is Working
I almost never begin by drawing individual scales.
Even on a fish where the scales are prominent, I want the body to feel three-dimensional first.
Then I look at where the scale pattern is actually visible.
Sometimes a small group of overlapping marks is enough to establish the texture. Elsewhere, the scales may disappear almost completely because of light, distance, or the way the surface turns.
If scales are the part you’re trying to solve, I have a separate tutorial on how to draw fish scales.
Don’t Forget the Fish’s Markings
Stripes, spots, patches, and color changes can make a species recognizable, but I try not to treat them like flat stickers placed on top of the body.
The markings follow the form.
If the body turns away from me, a stripe may narrow. A pattern crossing the belly may distort as the surface curves underneath it.
Thinking about the pattern as something wrapping around the fish makes it much more convincing.
How to Draw a Fish With Pencil
A soft graphite pencil works well for fish because I can gradually build the value structure without committing to every edge immediately.
I vary pressure depending on the surface and value I’m seeing rather than shading everything uniformly.
A dark cast shadow under a fin can receive a stronger mark while the transition across the side of the fish may remain much softer.
If you want to explore graphite across other wildlife subjects too, see my animal drawing in pencil guide.
How I Sketch Fish With Ballpoint Pen
Ballpoint pen is another medium I like for animal sketching because I can make both faint exploratory lines and darker accents with the same tool.
I don’t worry about hiding every early mark.
Instead, I let some of those lines remain visible as the drawing develops. That keeps the fish from feeling overly polished or mechanical.
I can use hatching for darker areas, broken lines around softer edges, and a few stronger accents where I want the viewer’s attention.
Easy Fish to Draw When You’re Starting
I don’t think there is one universally easiest fish, but certain subjects have clear silhouettes that make them useful for practice.
- Angelfish: useful for studying a strong silhouette and dramatic fins.
- Betta: useful for flowing fins and gesture.
- Parrotfish: good for studying body volume and distinctive markings.
- Trout: useful for a streamlined body and subtle value changes.
- Tropical reef fish: useful for bold silhouettes, patterns, and color.
If you want to focus specifically on reef shapes and markings, continue with my tropical fish drawing tutorial.
Common Problems When Drawing a Fish
The Fish Looks Flat
I check whether I’ve relied too heavily on the outer contour. Large light and shadow shapes usually do more to establish volume than another dark line around the edge.
The Fish Looks Generic
I go back to the species reference and compare the head, body depth, fin placement, tail, eye, mouth, and markings.
Usually one or more of those relationships has become too generalized.
The Fins Look Stiff
I stop drawing individual fin rays and look at the overall fin shape and direction again.
There Are Too Many Scales
I simplify them.
I don’t need to prove that the fish has scales by rendering every one. A few carefully observed areas can suggest the texture across the rest of the body.
The Drawing Feels Stiff
I make another version quickly and concentrate only on the direction of the body and fins.
A one-minute study can sometimes reveal the movement that disappeared while I was concentrating on details.
Practice Fish Drawing With Short Studies
I don’t think every fish sketch needs to become a finished drawing.
A page of small studies can sometimes teach me more because each drawing can solve a different problem.
- Draw the same fish from three different angles.
- Make a one-minute gesture sketch from video.
- Draw only the silhouette.
- Make a study using only light and shadow.
- Draw only the fins.
- Make a separate page studying scales or markings.
These smaller drawings let me concentrate on observation without expecting every page to become something finished.
A Step-by-Step Process Doesn’t Have to Be Formulaic
I think that’s an important distinction with this kind of drawing.
I can follow a clear sequence without deciding in advance that every fish must be built from the same collection of geometric shapes.
The steps are really checkpoints:
- Look carefully.
- Get the overall shape right.
- Compare the major proportions.
- Find the movement.
- Place the fins.
- Establish light and shadow.
- Add only the details the drawing actually needs.
That gives me enough structure to work methodically while still responding to the particular fish in front of me.
Where to Go After This Fish Drawing
Once you’re comfortable drawing one fish from beginning to end, the next useful step is studying how dramatically fish change from one species to another.
My main fish drawing guide is the hub for those tutorials, including more focused lessons on fish scales, betta fish, and tropical fish.
The more species I study, the less useful the generic symbol of a “fish” becomes. That’s what I like about observational drawing: each new subject gives me a different set of shapes, proportions, textures, and movement to solve.