How to Draw a Mermaid

In this drawing tutorial, we are going to show you how to draw a mermaid. In mythology, a mermaid is a female demonic character, mainly associated with water.

Our mermaid will be kind and radiant, just like in the Disney cartoon! The upper part of the mermaid’s body belongs to a young and mischievous girl, and the lower part consists of a fishtail covered with shiny scales. Let’s proceed to the tutorial on how to draw a mermaid, to send her sailing!

How to Draw a Mermaid Easily

Step 1 – Sketch the Head, Ribcage, and Pelvis

Previously, sailors believed that mermaids could be found near the banks of rivers and seas. Their mesmerizing appearance and magical singing are actually fraught with many dangers, at least as they believed in antiquity. Mermaids swam to the surface of the water, leaving their tails in the dark depths of the sea, because of which the sailors mistakenly believed that they were ordinary women. So we will draw a mermaid, which, as it were, floats out. Let’s make three circles of the same size and arrange them as if they are pushing each other up.

Step 2 – Sketch the Spine and Arm

The mermaid, although she lives in the water, is still more human than a fish. Therefore, it is characterized by human anthropometry with posture. Draw the spine with a line. Draw a line below until you realize that the tail is already long enough. You also need to draw arms – make three dots and draw a line between them.

Step 3 – Sketch the Guidelines and Torso

Draw two crossed lines. Draw the chest with a firm and clear line. Next, move on to the torso and make a nice thin waist. Just taper the lines as you get closer to the tail. To indicate the hips, draw an extension towards the lowermost circle we drew in the first stage.

Step 4 – Draw the Arm of the Mermaid

Now is the turn of the arm. We do not see the opposite side of the mermaid’s body. Therefore, we draw one hand. Use simple geometric shapes to sketch out the arms and joints. Do not make the arm too tight, because it is primarily a woman’s hand. Mermaids are beautiful creatures, it is not for nothing that beautiful legends were made about their beauty in the old days! The arms should be no less graceful.

Step 5 – Draw the Tail of the Mermaid

Draw the lines so that they follow the trajectory of the long line that was created at the beginning of this mermaid drawing tutorial. These lines should be long and flowing. As a reminder, you can always check the correctness of your mermaid drawing by looking at it through a mirror.

Step 6 – Draw the Fin of the Mermaid

If you have an aquarium at home, that’s just fine! Come closer and see who is there. Probably some kind of ornamental fish! Take a close look at its fin at the end of the tail. This is such a powerful engine for every fish – due to it, both the fish and the mermaid can confidently and quickly move in the thickness of cool waters. Save the image of your fish’s tail and repeat it with lines in the drawing.

Step 7 – Draw the Face of the Mermaid

It’s time to return to the surface of the water and put beauty on the face! Earlier, we drew lines on the face so that we got an intersection in the very center. Using these guidelines sketch out the eyes, a small and neat nose, and plump lips. The emotionality of the look depends on the shape of the eyebrows – you can bend them so that the mermaid looks like a dangerous creature.

Step 8 – Draw Mermaid Hair

Mermaid hair should be lush, beautifully styled, and light brown. Therefore, we will make the hair as natural as possible. Dense and thick lines run down the length of the head and fall over the shoulders. To add fluffiness to the curls, make the hair lines bulging and rounded. We will do another curl in the background, this will give the impression that our mermaid’s hair is lush and long.

Step 9 – Add Details to the Mermaid

Use a simple rounded line to detail the chest. A couple of strokes at the elbow of the outstretched arm will make the drawing more accurate. Add a light touch to the belly – this will highlight the athletic relief of our sea beauty. Draw a couple of lines on the wrist to separate the fingers. Add a couple more thin lines in the lumbar region.

Step 10 – Draw Mermaid Clothes

The mermaid is not yet ready to swim into the depths of the sea. Despite this being a mythical creature, it must be dressed. Using simple curved lines, draw the outlines of the clothing on the torso.

Step 11 – Erase the Guidelines

Great! Difficult work, but worth it. We see a beautiful mermaid, she has a thin waist, a long tail, a beautiful fin, lush curls, and most importantly, our sea companion will look great in the gallery of your drawings! Let’s remove all the guidelines and leave only clear and correct shapes.

Step 12 – Color the Mermaid Drawing

Color the mermaid as you wish. You can color your mermaid drawing with the colors shown in our example, or come up with your own color palette. You can add shadows to make your mermaid look more voluminous and realistic.

How could a human ever be born with a fishtail? Interesting isn’t it? In fact, similar zoomorphic myths appeared in different parts of the world among the most diverse peoples of the world. For example, the Hindus believed in the existence of the Naga people – their women, and some men had snake tails! Do you remember Medusa Gorgon? And in this case, it is exactly the same tradition to combine the features of an animal with a person and give birth to a monster.

Do you believe in the existence of mermaids? Some believe that sea animals were mistakenly considered mermaids since in the distance it was not clear whose head was sticking out on the surface. It used to be understandable, the fantasy was stormy, but if you now read articles on the Internet, then it becomes not so difficult to believe in mermaids at all.

But let’s take a look at our mermaid drawing! Can we believe the picture is actually a mermaid? Which was more difficult to draw – hair or tail? By the way, we would like to invite you to choose any mythological creature and tell about it in the comments. And we, in turn, quite possibly, will create a lesson on drawing this very creature!