Drawing mermaids

On this page you will find drawing tutorials to learn how to draw mermaids.

The best way to draw mermaids is to take beautiful photo templates of women (or even men) in aesthetic poses. To make the fish fin look believable, photo examples of real fish are helpful. Here are some very creative fin examples to follow.

Tools for drawing people

On the page about drawing people, you will find tips on drawing the human anatomy, including detailed depiction of the muscles. The action figures* offer interchangeable hands and feet. There are also versions available with accessories, primarily various weapon types.

These figures are great for showing poses and gestures, even from different angles.

Mermaid example tutorial

Here I show you step-by-step tutorials for learning to draw and paint mermaids, as well as some sample images. For a larger view, simply click on the image.

1. The Fin – start with a tear or drop shape.
2. The Upper Body – add a downward-pointing trapezoid for the upper body. Also, establish an initial marking for the fin.
3. The Arms – now it’s time for spheres for the joints and connections between them for the arms. The hands are already suggested. The fin is also shaped in this step.
4. The Head – an oval shape with markings for the eyes, nose, and mouth in the face.
5. Refining the Limbs – further develop the arms and hips.
6. Additional Details – in this step, I refine the face and some details and provide basic shapes for the fingers and thumb.
7. In this step, I add more details, including the hairstyle and the top.
8. Now it’s time for refining and adding fine details, which I drew with a fine liner pen.
9. Coloring – in this step, I apply the base coloration using my Touch Brush markers.
10. Shading – finally, I add shading with a darker marker color – done.

Mermaid drawing with photo template

If you want to be a bit more creative in pose and perspective, you can use photo templates, e.g. from royalty-free image platforms, and draw a mermaid (or merman) from a woman’s or man’s photo. Instead of two legs, draw a fish tail and add a fin from the feet. For the fin, photo templates of fish are a helpful reference.

Enclosed I have made two sample sketches using photo templates.

Squatting mermaid

I found this photo of a squatting woman particularly suitable as a reference for a mermaid. The perspective is quite exciting (sideways, slightly from the front) and she crosses her feet, which makes it easier to attach the fishtail.

The legs or buttocks can still be indicated in the fish tail to work out the muscles. The fish tail can be designed very individually. Usually it is at least as long as the lower legs, which makes a mermaid even bigger than a normal woman. This extra space must already be taken into account when sketching if you want to depict your mermaid completely on paper. Otherwise, a bleed is also suitable for creating tension in an image.

In my German blog I show in single steps how I colored this picture with colored pencils.

Mermaid on rock

For this example, I created a photomontage of a woman sitting on a rock and the tail of a goldfish. In the basic shapes, I then only took into account the angled, upright leg. Alternatively, I could have taken the lying leg for the fish’s tail – I decided otherwise, because of the tension in the picture.

Using the basic shapes it is easier to work out a sketch and with this sketch you can then draw the finished mermaid image.

Also with this picture I show in my blog how I colored it with watercolor crayons.

Mermaids sample pictures

Here you can find some older examples of mermaids I used to draw. Mostly I have colored my pictures with layout markers. With the theme of water, however, is also wonderful watercolor for the color design of the image.

Other Pages

• Head and Face
• Gestures & Body Language
• Hair and Hairstyles
• Shading / Drawing Shadows
• Drawing Perspectives

From the German Blog

• Postcard: Mermaid Painted with Colored Pencils
• Underwater Painted with Markers
• Watercolor with Salt Technique
• Marker Color Application: Multiple Mermaids with Sharks

From the German Forum

• Drawing Portraits – Tips
• Drawing Portraits – Proportions
• Shading the Nose – Tutorial
• Drawing a Portrait in Charcoal
• Shadow Tutorial