top of page

Goldfish



Hi everyone, today I’m sharing this step by step tutorial with you all on colouring this goldfish image using coloured pencils. This photo/image is by Lotus Studio and the line drawing I used is available in the Anna Mason Online School. Now, with that being said, let’s get started!



Step 1:

I created this page for my junk journal and the paper I’m using is Strathmore “Toned Tan”, which is A4 in size. I first traced the goldfish drawing onto the Toned Tan paper and than added the text using a graphite pencil first, followed by the brown 03 Spectrum Noir ARTLiner from THIS set.



Step 2:

I slightly lightened the lines from the drawing using a kneeded eraser. Now I can start adding in the area’s that I feel contain the highlights of the image (and that I see in the picture that is provided in the Anna Mason School) using a white drawing pencil.



Step 3:

With my highlights added I can now add in my darkest tones which I feel are the red tones, for this I use the Spectrum Noir ColourBlend coloured pencil in the colour “Flame Red”. I also add the eye using the pencil in “Black”.



Step 4:

Next I’m adding in some brighter yellow tones using the colour “Mustard”. You see how I haven’t even used the orange colour though in our perception a goldfish is orange?



Step 5:

Now that I have my basic colours in I’m working in more detail on the head of the goldfish until I’m happy with it. The completed project took me lots of hours, mostly spent on the head and the body of the fish.

I used the colours mentioned previously and also “Nectarine”, “Bumblebee”, “Canary”, “Earth” and “Espresso”. So I didn’t use a ton of colours on the entire project, just mixed and matched them to create the hue and tone that I was looking for.



Step 6:

For the body I used the same colours as mentioned before and next I worked on the small front fins for which I only add the “Buttercup” colour. I worked on the body of the fish until it looked 3D enough for my liking.



Step 7:

After stepping away for the project for a few hours I felt that the body (mainly the the light part next to the head) was to harsh so I added in some white drawing pencil to tone the lines down a bit. I also used the white drawing pencil in the entire drawing whenever I felt I lost my highlights or I wanted to add some more details. Lastly I finished working on each remaining fin, looking closely at the picture which parts where in front and which parts curved.


I added in more details until I was happy with how my fish looked!


You can find all the SN ColourBlend coloured pencils that I used on today’s project HERE!

The specific colours that I used on today’s project are from the following sets: Primaries, Essentials, Florals, Bold Brights and Naturals.


Detail picture:



This was my first project where I used coloured pencil in combination with a picture and it was really fun to do.


And that is it for today’s colouring project, I wish you a creative day!



bottom of page