Tropical Fish Watercolor
Art 1
Objectives
To create two realistic tropical fish.
To understand how watercolor pencils work.
To manipulate watercolor pencils skillfully.
To implement the concept of gradation in a watercolor painting.
Materials
12’X18” newsprint (for sketches)
pencil, eraser, Expresso marker
8”X18” watercolor paper,
various sized watercolor brushes
H20 container, paper towels
Watercolor pencils
Fish reference books from the library
Procedure
1. Peruse the reference books for fish ideas.
2. Create two complete sketches of two different kinds of fish
on the newsprint paper. Outline using an Expresso so drawing can
be seen from both sides of newsprint paper.
3. Once sketches are complete, tape sketch to window and trace
fish on watercolor paper holding the paper vertically.
Trace fish more than once even flipping sketch over to redirect the
direction of the fish.
4. Practice manipulating watercolor pencils on scrap paper.
5. Once practice is completed, students carefully outline and shade
the fish from the “top down” using water and the brush to “pull” the
paint down the fish and blending it into a lighter shade of the
colors. Suggest that students overlap analogous colors for greater
color interest and variance.
6. Once fish are completed, create a seaweed background with just
a few strands of seaweed to create depth in the painting.