How to draw a goldfish — easy step by step drawing ideas

Goldfish drawing ideas are some of the most popular in the studio, because so many children have a goldfish at home — or want one — and a goldfish is one of the easiest animals to draw. It is a plump orange blob with a face, a big flowing tail and a few fins, and it swims happily in any picture you put it in. Learning how to draw a goldfish is really learning how to draw a chubby shape and then giving it the most beautiful tail in the pond.

I especially love the tail. Most fish tutorials give you a simple forked tail, but a goldfish's tail is like a silk scarf trailing behind it, and children have a wonderful time drawing those big soft curves. Add a few scales and some bubbles, color the whole thing bright orange, and you have a fish that looks like it is about to swim off the page.

In this tutorial we will build a cheerful bright-orange goldfish in six easy steps, following the practice sheet below. I will share the pro tips I use when teaching it, the mistakes that trip up nearly every beginner, and quick fixes for when your goldfish starts looking like a lemon or a balloon. Grab a pencil and an orange crayon, and let us draw.

The 6 steps to easy goldfish drawing ideas

Step 1 — Draw the body

Start with the body, in the middle of the paper and a little to the left, because the big tail will sweep out to the right. Draw a plump rounded shape lying on its side, like a fat lemon or a chubby egg: fuller and rounder at the front where the face will go, narrowing gently toward the back where the tail will attach. Let the very front come to a soft, slightly pointed nose.

Make the body generous and round. A goldfish is a chubby little fish, and a plump body is what makes the finished drawing look cute and well fed. Keep the pencil light; you will darken the keeper lines at the end.

Step 2 — Add the face

Now the goldfish gets its personality. Near the front of the body, a little above the middle, draw one big round eye with a smaller dark circle inside and a white shine dot in the corner. Because the fish is drawn from the side, only one eye shows, so make it big and friendly.

Below and in front of the eye, right at the nose, draw a small curved smile, and add a soft blush circle on the cheek just behind the smile. That is the whole face, and already the lemon has become a fish with a personality.

Step 3 — Add the tail

Here is the step that makes a goldfish a goldfish. From the narrow back end of the body, draw the tail: two big soft curves sweeping back and outward, one going up and one going down, like two flags waving in the wind, and join their ends with a wavy, scalloped edge. The tail should be nearly as big as the body, and it should flow rather than stick straight out.

Let the two lobes be slightly different — the top one a little longer, or curving a touch more — so the tail looks like it is moving. Inside the tail, add a few long curved lines fanning out from where it joins the body, for the rays of the fin. Keep them light and few.

Step 4 — Add the fins

Now the fins. On top of the body, a little behind the middle, draw a small curved fin like a soft triangle leaning backward. On the side of the body, just behind the blush cheek, draw a side fin: a small rounded flap pointing down and back, like a little leaf. And underneath the body, near the back, draw a small fin pointing down.

Keep all three fins small and soft, with rounded tips, and angle them all backward, the same direction as the tail flows. Add a couple of tiny curved lines inside each one for the rays, if you like. The fins are supporting details — the tail is the star.

Step 5 — Add the scales and bubbles

Now the finishing details. On the body, behind the side fin, draw a few short curved lines like little smiles arranged in rows — three or four in the first row, two or three in the next, overlapping like roof tiles. These are the scales. Keep them to the middle of the body, and do not cover the whole fish; a few suggest scales, a hundred look like a net.

Then draw three small bubbles rising up in front of the nose, getting smaller as they go up, each with a tiny curved shine inside. The bubbles put the goldfish underwater and give the picture a little movement.

Step 6 — Finish and color

Darken the lines you want to keep and erase the light scaffolding underneath — the bit of body outline hidden behind the side fin, and any guide lines. Then color: fill the body, tail and fins a bright orange, going a little darker orange on the fins and along the fin rays if you have two shades, and color the bubbles light blue with a white shine.

Add pink to the blush cheek and leave the shine dot in the eye uncolored so it sparkles. Then give your goldfish somewhere to be — a round fishbowl drawn around it, some green weeds, a little castle, a few pebbles at the bottom. Sign your name in the corner; every finished drawing deserves a signature.

Common mistakes to avoid

A small, straight tail

This is the mistake that turns more goldfish into ordinary fish than any other. A little forked tail sticking straight out the back makes the drawing look like a fish-shaped cracker.

Make the tail nearly as big as the body, with two soft lobes that sweep up and down and a wavy edge. It should look like it is trailing through the water.

A slim body

A long thin body makes a goldfish look like a sardine. Goldfish are round and plump, and that roundness is a big part of their charm.

Draw the body almost as tall as it is long, fullest at the front, tapering gently toward the tail.

Too many scales

Covering the whole fish in scales is a lot of work and makes it look like it is wearing chain mail. It also hides the lovely bright orange color.

Draw a few curved scales in the middle of the body only, in two or three overlapping rows, and leave the rest plain.

Troubleshooting

“My goldfish looks like a lemon”

Add the big flowing tail, all three fins and the eye with a shine dot. A lemon has none of those. Make sure the front comes to a soft nose with a smile.

“My goldfish looks like it is not moving”

Angle the tail and all the fins backward, make the top lobe of the tail a little longer than the bottom, and give the tail edge a wavy curve. Add the bubbles in front of the nose to show which way it is swimming.

“The fins look stuck on”

The fins are probably meeting the body at sharp corners. Erase the joins and redraw each fin so it curves smoothly out of the body outline, with a soft rounded tip.

Key takeaways

FAQ

What age is this goldfish drawing tutorial for? This is one of the easiest tutorials on the site, perfect from about age 4 with a grown-up nearby. A goldfish is a blob with a tail and fins, and most kids around 6 and up can follow the sheet completely on their own.

How do I draw the flowing tail? Draw two big soft curves sweeping back from the end of the body, one up and one down, like two flags waving, and join them with a wavy edge. Make the tail nearly as big as the body; a big flowing tail is what makes a goldfish look like a goldfish.

What materials do we need? A pencil, an eraser, paper, and crayons or markers in bright orange for the fish and light blue for the bubbles. A slightly darker orange for the fins and pink for the cheek are nice extras.

How is a goldfish different from other fish? The round plump body and the big flowing tail. Most cartoon fish have a slim body and a simple forked tail; a goldfish is chubby, bright orange, and has a tail like a silk scarf trailing behind it.

That is your goldfish! Whether the tail came out silky smooth or a little bit wobbly, you built a whole pet out of a lemon and a scarf — and that belongs on the fridge. Keep the sheet handy, draw a whole bowl full of goldfish in different colors, and come back tomorrow for a new tutorial.

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