Rainbow Trout for Dad

We painted these beautiful rainbow trout for Dad or Grandpa or whoever might need a Father's Day hint to take a child fishing!

First, we observed the shape and details of a trout and we sketched it lightly in pencil on a 12" x 18" sheet of 130 lb watercolor paper. Then we went over our sketch with a black Sharpie, adding additional details like spots and lines in the fins, and we erased any stray pencil lines with a big soft eraser.




Next, we observed how the rainbow of colors are distributed in the trout, starting with green along the top and ending with green at the bottom. 

We worked on blending and lightening our colors using water, and we created new colors in our palettes.





We painted the head and fins as desired, using many of the colors that we created earlier.








To complete the painting, our artists could simply paint in a watery background and sprinkle it with rock salt, or cut out the fish and glue to piece of black sulphite paper. 

Our thanks to Apex Elementary Art for this awesome art project idea!