Cartoon Fish Drawing: Learn how to Draw Fish that Really make a Splash!

Cartoon Fish drawing #1 - Sparkle the Goldfish

Sparkle is easy to draw when you break him down into simple shapes. We'll start with, as usual, a circle. We're going to draw Sparkle as if he is facing us, but angled a little to the side. This angle will be a lot more interesting than if we drew him facing us directly.

Basic Forms:

Draw an oval. This will serve as our sphere. Think of it as being squished at the sides to give us a nice thin fish. Remember to draw lightly so that you can erase these basic lines easily later.

Extend a little rounded triangular shape off of the oval. This will be rest of the body. Because of the angle of Sparkle to the viewer, the body will seem to get smaller as it goes from the face back to the tail.

Add the fins onto your cartoon fish drawing. You can really use any shape you want for the fins, but for this I've chosen long thin fins. I chose this style because I think the slender fins help to sell the simple, good-hearted nature of the character.

Add in 2 circles for eyes and some curves above them for eye brows. The position of the eyebrows is very important to show the character's mood. Add in 2 curves for the mouth. The top of the mouth is less curved than the bottom. Add on another curve slightly below the top of the mouth to show the top teeth. Fill in the bottom of the mouth with black.

Add in 2 small curves along the side for the gills, and on curve on the bottom to show the belly. Erase your foundation lines and you should be finished!

Cartoon fish drawing #2
General 'Finn' Lee

The second fish is going to have a little more attitude than cute little Sparkle the goldfish. The General has a little more flair, and a little more attitude.

Start again with an egg-shaped circle. Keep your lines light so you can erase them later. The big part of the egg will make the face. Draw a small curve that cuts into the egg to show the front of the face. At the bottom of this curve draw another curve which will make the top of the mouth. Another curve at the bottom will make the bottom of the mouth. Add one last curve just below the top of the mouth to show the teeth.

Your cartoon fish drawing needs a tail, so add a rounded triangle shape to the back of the body. Add another fin to the top of the body. I've gone for a bit more stylized looking fin than in the previous fish. Lastly, use a rounded triangle shape to create the side fin.

Add one circle, and one half-circle to create the eyes. A simple diagonal line across the eye can form the eyelid. Eyelashes along the eyelid towards the back of the eye will help sell the attitude of the General. I added a dark circle around the eyes which helps make the face a little more interesting. Use two curved lines to add gills to your cartoon fish drawing.

The last step that will really give our character a bit of OOMPH, is adding in a wispy mustache and beard. I drew them to look as if they are floating in the water as the General slowly swims.

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