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Step by step coloring: Fish

Fancy a free coloring page?  Want a quick coloring tutorial?  Then this is the blog for you!  This month we have a step by step coloring guide complete with a free fish themed coloring page.  Color along or choose your own style – the choice is yours.

Free Fish Coloring Page

Follow the steps in thecoloringbook.club color along.  Download the free fish coloring page, dig out your coloring pens and settle in for a five minute fish coloring tutorial!

fish swimming among reef coloring page
This design is a nice page to dip your toes in coloring fish.

Download the free fish coloring page

Choose your colors

I decided to use three base colors in a small selection of shades, blue, yellow and orange.  These colors work well together and the limited color palette should make for a pleasing design.  Check out our article on the color wheel to get tips on which colors work well together.

Testing a color palette on a fish coloring page
Always test your colors work before applying them to your page.

Test your colors on your coloring page (or a separate piece of paper) to make sure you are happy with them.

Orange

I lay the base color on the fish.  As I do this I think about where my next color will go.  Generally I try to have colors alternate.

Fish coloring first color applied
Finding Nemo orange anyone?

Yellow

With three main sections of the fish I am settled on having each section a different color.  My lightest color, yellow, will look most effective when used in smaller areas, contrasting against a bolder color.  

Adding light colors to the fish coloring page
This color is so light it is almost lost against the paper. That will change when more color is added.

Blue

Look how the pale yellow stands out more when combined with the dark blue I add to the bottom half of the fish.  Because I try and avoid the same color touching each other I have the top fin alternate blue and yellow, which works nicely against the orange half of the fish.  Having a small amount of blue on the top half of the fish also helps balance out the larger area of blue used for the belly.

Blue color applied to the fish coloring page
The blue really works against the orange and helps the yellow pop!

Background

If the background was to use a color that I already added to the body of the fish then the design would look very flat and be in danger of having the fish lost amongst the background.  When adding a background it is a good choice to use a lighter shade of color, this will help the main focus of your design stand out.

Teal coloring of the water in the fish coloring page
Teal is a good choice for the water, contrasting well with the darker blue and orange.

Water

For the water lines I choose a brighter shade of the background color.  This brighter color blue, alternating with the darker teal, gives a simple translucent water like feel to the design.  Again, I alternate the colors making sure that no two colors of the same value touch each other.

Adding a lighter shade for the water in the fish coloring page
The brighter blue adds a feeling of transparency to the water.

Reeds

Sticking with my base colors I choose a lighter shade of the orange used on the fish body and alternate this with my original orange to color the reeds.  This balances the use of orange in the picture and helps offset the blue.

Adding a bit more orange to the reeds in the coloring page
I am happy with the reeds. That extra touch of orange works well in the page.

Bubbles

For the finishing touches I color the bubbles.  The lighter shade of blue is an obvious choice for those areas which lie on the teal background.  

Finishing the fish coloring page by adding light blue to the bubbles
Just color the bubbles and then we are done!

Finished Fish

And here is the final fish.  Simple block coloring and nicely balanced colors give a pleasing finish to this coloring page.  We could take it further by adding some white gel pen highlights to the bubble and fish body, or by adding some black fine liner scale patterns, but that can wait for another day!   

Finished fish coloring page
Our fish, swimming in a rhapsody of blue, yellow and orange!

Your turn

Download the free fish coloring page and share with us on Facebook.  Will you choose the same colors or mix things up?   Let us know in the comments below.

 

Do you want to try and experience the benefits of coloring for adults? Download this free coloring book:

Comments

  1. Rebecca Mullins says

    February 26, 2018 at 2:09 PM

    Great tutorial, thanks!

    Reply
  2. Ruby Reynolds says

    February 26, 2018 at 2:42 PM

    I really likedhouw you suggested the lighter and dark colours that was awesome and the fish likes good. Why not use dark and light green for the reeds that would be cool to. If i did it i would uses some pinks and purples maybe for my daughter if my son i would choose blues. Depending on who i colored it for.

    Reply
  3. Mary Diaz says

    February 26, 2018 at 8:54 PM

    Great tutorial for some who like to color but have no idea what colors to choose. I dither about what goes good together. The color guide was great.

    Reply

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