Freshwater fish populate all bodies of water, from small pools to large rivers and lochs. Scotland has over a dozen native species of freshwater fish with a wide diversity in size, shape and behaviour. They also play a huge role in the ecosystem and are a key member of food web!

The instructions below can help you create a colourful fish, but you could use the same technique for lots of other freshwater species too. Get creative and design an underwater display!

It’s exciting to use watercolour paints to mix different colours and using this wax crayon technique creates an extra WOW factor.

You can download our fish template, of a brown trout, of you can draw your own!

What you will need:

• Printed template (or plain paper if you want to draw your own fish)
• Pencil or pen for drawing the shape of the fish
• Watercolour paints
• Paint brush
• White wax crayon

How to make your watercolour rainbow fish:

1. Draw the shape of a fish or print out the template below.
2. Use the white wax crayon to draw a pattern in the fish. You could create some scales or add some fun shapes and designs! It will be hard to see the pattern you draw, so keep it simple and try to remember the areas you’ve drawn in to not overlap your design.
3. Use your watercolour paints to colour in the fish – you can use lots of colours to create a bright rainbow fish! Add water to your brush to help you blend the colours. You can always using some kitchen roll to dab up water if you have added too much as well.
4. The paint will sink into the paper but won’t be able to stick over the wax pattern. As you paint the wax pattern will come through and remain white. Remember to leave to dry.