Summary
A calm, follow-along drawing lesson: Rob (and usually one of his kids) shows how to draw a koi fish step by step -- starting from simple shapes and building up to the details. Pause and rewind so a whole class can keep pace. Free on the official Art for Kids Hub YouTube channel -- a natural art-time companion to a ocean animals unit.
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Discussion
Talk about the artist's choices before, during, or after you draw.
- What simple shapes did the lesson start with to build the koi fish?
- Which details tell you this is a koi fish and not another sea animal?
- How did the kind of line you used -- thick or thin, curved or straight -- change your drawing?
- A koi fish lives in ponds and garden pools. What could you add to your picture to show its home?
Quick work-a-long
Art words: shape, outline, proportion, detail, texture.
Try it: 1) Follow along and draw your own koi fish, pausing the video at each step. 2) Add a background that shows where a koi fish lives (ponds and garden pools), then label one part of the animal (fin, tail, eye, or body).