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How to Draw a Boxfish
Draw a boxfish in 12 easy steps, about 9 minutes. Free, with a printable worksheet.
Each picture adds one red line. Draw that line, then scroll to the next picture. Rub out any dashed helper lines at the end. First up: box body.
Step 1: Box body
Start on the right. Draw a soft-cornered shoe box lying flat, narrowing to a back stalk. Stop under the start.
Tip Flat top, flat front, flat bottom. Leave the right end open.
Step 2: Eye high, smile low
Draw a big round eye high in the front corner. Start a small smile low down, stopping under the eye.
Tip The eye and the smile are a whole box face apart.
Step 3: Fan tail
From the stalk draw a small fan tail: up and back, down with a dip, and back to the stalk.
Step 4: Tiny fins
Near the back draw a tiny fin from the top line up to a point and back. Same underneath.
Tip Boxfish fins are tiny flappers: the box does the swimming.
Step 5: Gill and side fin
Behind the eye draw a gill bowing to the tail. From its middle, loop a teardrop fin back to it.
Step 6: Spots
Over the box draw round spots, scattered and never in a neat row, keeping off the eye, fin and lines.
Tip Scatter like sprinkles: different gaps, no 3 in a line.
Step 7: Bubbles
In front of the eye draw 3 bubbles floating up, each bigger than the last.
Step 8: Sand and seaweed
Draw a wavy sand line across the bottom, edge to edge. Stand 3 tall pointy wavy seaweeds on it.
Step 9: Colour the boxfish yellow
Colour the box and stalk yellow, leaving the eye, fin and spots white. Colour a cheek pink.
Step 10: Sandy floor, blue bubbles
Colour the floor under the sand line sandy and the bubbles light blue.
Step 11: Orange fins
Colour the tail and all the fins orange.
Step 12: Green seaweed, black spots
Colour the seaweed green and every spot black. Go over your lines and your boxfish is done!
Your finished drawing
Follow the steps above and this is where you end up: a boxfish, drawn by you.
Every step in one picture
