Let’s draw an abstract fish step by step. Tools needed: paper and colorful pens.
Tutorial Video
Step-By-Step Images and Instructions
1.
Begin by taking an orange pen, and drawing a smooth, curved line on the left hand side of your page, with the curves pointing downwards.
2.
Next, add another line, this time with the curves pointing upwards, beneath the first, so that you end up with an “eye” shape. Do not connect the two corners for the moment.
3.
Move to the right hand corner of your “eye” shape, and draw a long, flattened “S” shape moving out to the right, and up towards the top right hand corner.
4.
Return to the right hand corner of the “eye” shape, and add another curved line, this one heading out horizontally.
5.
Then, add a short curve inside the shape, towards the left hand side.
6.
Move to the top curve of your fish, and draw two curved lines parallel to this, inside the top line.
7.
Now, repeat this on the bottom, adding two curved lines parallel to the bottom line of your fish.
8.
Move to the top “S” shape you created, and add two shorter, parallel lines on either side of this.
9.
Then, repeat this on the horizontal line, so that you have six lines in total emerging from the right hand side of your fish – this is the tail!
10.
Switch to a yellow pen, and add a small circle just in front of the short curved line you drew earlier – this is your fishes gill – to create an eye.
11.
Now use the yellow pen to add another curve to the “gill”, this time just in front of the first one.
12.
With the same yellow shade, add three lines in between the parallel lines you created at the top of the fish’s body, resulting in a repeating pattern of orange and yellow curved lines.
13.
Repeat this on the bottom of the shape, so that you end up with a colorful outline at the top and bottom of your fish’s body.
14.
Then, repeat this process on the lines at the top of the tail…
15.
And finally repeat this on the bottom. Your fish should now have a clear, bold outlines, made of a blend of yellow and orange lines.
16.
Switch to a red pen, and add two red lines to the top of your fishes body, following the original curve around and down.
17.
Repeat this on the bottom, with two curved lines following the bottom curve.
18.
Next, add similar lines throughout the top and bottom of the tail.
19.
Return to the curved lines you used to create the gills, and add a single, slightly curved line to the right of this – this should extend down and across to the right, peeking out from the bottom of the body.
20.
Use the red to add another curved line to the gill of your fish.
21.
Grab a purple pen, and use this to add another curved line to the very top of the shape, above the others you have already created.
22.
Now use the same purple to add another line to the gills…
23.
And another line to the “whisker” – this single line you drew extending from the bottom of your fish.
24.
Then, use the purple to add another couple of lines to the bottom of the fish, adding this to the lines you have already established.
25.
Now, take your purple pen, and add another, slightly shorter line just beneath the eye, on the inside of the bottom collection of lines.
26.
Add some purple strands to the bottom of the top section of the tail…
27.
And a few purple lines to the bottom section, giving you a real range of colors and shades here.
28.
Now, grab a cyan pen, and add several shorter lines to the top of your shape -these should get shorter in length as they go upwards towards the top of the page.
29.
Repeat this on the bottom of your shape, bringing the cyan lines out and across slightly.
30.
Now, add cyan lines to the bottom of the whiskers, so that you have four or five lines in total here.
31.
Then, add a cyan line to the gills – there should now be five colors here.
32.
Add a few stands of cyan to the tail…
33.
And then again to the bottom to complete the look.
34.
Switch to a light blue pen, and carefully add a few strands over the cyan lines you created at the top of the fish. These can extend out past the original cyan lines.
35.
With the same shade, do the same with the lines at the bottom of the fish’s body – add your lighter blue pen over the original cyan lines, bringing the ends out slightly.
36.
Next, repeat this technique with the lines of the whiskers, once again bringing it down and out.
37.
Now, add the same pale blue lines to the tail, to really finish off this section.
38.
Finally, use a variety of colorful pens to add some texture and color to the eye of the fish – make this bold, bright and colorful!
And in just a few short steps, you have successfully created a stunning, colorful abstract fish – perfect for brightening up any page!
Did you know that humans share the planet with around 20,000 species of fish? The majority of pour planet is covered in ocean, and these are teeming with life – from the largest species of all, the whale shark, which grows to over 50 feet long, down to the tiny goby – these rarely reach longer than half an inch by the time they reach adulthood.
In addition to their prevalent numbers, fish have the added advantage of super long lifespans – these range from 40 years for the Acadian redfish – the longest living fish in the North Atlantic – to the orange roughly, which has a lifespan of over 100 years.
Scientists and experts can work out the age of a fish by counting growth rings, known as otoliths, which are located on the ear bones of fish. Just as with the rings present in tree trunks, these otoliths mark seasonal changes in the fish’s growth – the material added with each growth changes color depending on the season. In summer, the rings are whiter and thicker, while in the winter, rings are thinner and more translucent. Growth rings can also be seen on scales – a series of small, fine rings appear as the scale continues to grow, and each pair of rings indicates one year of life. In the summer, the rings are wider apart, and move closer together in the winter – fish grow more slowly during this time
Fish are fascinating creatures, with plenty of unique and absurd facts and quirks. To help celebrate them, let’s learn how to create an abstract fish drawing in just a few short steps with our drawing tutorial above.
