Create a gold fish painting in acrylic

This lesson is about learning how to paint a beautiful goldfish, using acrylic glazing techniques to capture translucency, and a little gold leaf to embelish the details of such a delightful sea creature. So join Mont Marte Joe for this underwater artists journey.

Step 1. Background.

Squeeze out some Viridian Green onto the Canvas in a round spiral pattern. Take a rag and with circular movements blend this into the canvas. Let this dry and give it a second application. Let this dry.

Step 2. White under base.

Into a deep well plastic palette squeeze out some Chinese White into 1 bay and into another bay squeeze some Acrylic medium gloss. First lay in the opaque pure White let this dry and then lay in the White mixed with the medium gloss into the fin areas.

Step 3. Applying the Yellow.

Squeeze out some Lemon Yellow into the Deep Well Plastic Palette. Paint a coat over the fish and the fins as well. Make sure the coat is quite thin.

Step 4. Applying the Orange.

Squeeze out some Yellow Orange into the palette and paint this over the body of the fish. Refer to the image on this PDF and remove the parts of Orange from the fish with the rag. Once the body of the fish is done. Dip the rag in some paint and lay it onto the fin areas. For a lighter Orange dip the rag into water first.

Step 5. Applying the Scarlet.

Squeeze out some Scarlet Red into the palette and apply it onto the fish, refer to the PDF for guidance of where to put the Red.

Step 6. Adding the Darks.

Create a dark tone from Viridian Green and Scarlet in equal proportions and paint this into the eye. Lay some colour in along the body, dipping the brush into the water first.

Step 7. Applying the Gold Leaf.

Squeeze out some leafing size into the deep well plastic palette. Apply this size with a paint brush to any areas you wish the gold leaf to adhere to. Let this dry. Remove the booklet of Gold Leaf from the packet and peel back the tissue paper interleaving and place it over the dried size. Use a clean soft brush to remove any loose leafing.