Skip to content
Our Writers

Art Thief: Draw a mermaid

Mermaids and mermen are just folklore, of course, but they're fun to draw.

Amy Raudenbush
There’s something fishy about this girl
The myth of half-human sea creatures has been around for thousands of years and been evident on every inhabited continent. Christopher Columbus reported having seen three “mermaids” off the coast of Haiti, but said they were “not half as beautiful as they are painted.” What Columbus actually saw were manatees, a slow-moving aquatic mammal with doleful eyes and a face like a sad puppy.
Our mermaid is a youngster, so we will be careful to give her the proportions of a child, rather than those of an adult. This means her head will be larger in proportion to her body, her arms will be shorter in proportion to her body and her features will rest lower on her face.

1. Hold your paper sideways. We will start the mermaid with the shapes that make up the body and the lower half of the head. Look at the body; the bottom curve is shaped like a "U"  and the top curve is sharp (almost like a "V"). The face is like a half-circle, with a little bump on the bottom for the chin. Be careful to leave plenty of space for the hair, tail and arms!

2.  We are drawing a child’s face, so the features are lower on the head than if she were an adult. The curved guideline beneath the eyes will help you keep them aligned. The arms are gently curved and get narrower at the wrists. Keep the hands simple.

3. Your mermaid’s flowing hair doesn’t have to curl exactly like this one’s. Just be sure that the top of her head is far above her features. Now, look at how the tail is constructed. There is a simple curve near the body and a more complex bracket shape at the end. Give our girl a little sea shell on her bodice. Now gently erase any extra pencil lines.

4. Ink in your drawing with permanent marker. When the marker is completely dry, color your drawing with watercolor, marker or colored pencil. If you choose watercolor, don’t be afraid to leave some of the white paper showing through. These white areas will give your painting sparkle.

You have completed the mermaid!

Art Thieves are invited to send or email copies of their work to Amy Raudenbush, our professional artist. Phone pictures are fine. One drawing weekly will be selected for publication on Sept. 3, and the selected artists will receive a prize.  Be sure to include your name, age, mailing address and email or phone number.

Email: art@phillynews.com

Or mail to:
Amy Raudenbush
Philadelphia Daily News
801 Market St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Recent winners: Carl Williams, Kieran Usher, Tykira Brown
Next week’s heist: A whale
    Amy Raudenbush
    Dr. Timaree Schmit has a Ph.D. in Human Sexuality from Widener University, where she now trains future sexologists and clinicians. Her passion is bringing rational, empirically-based sex-positive information to the world, empowering others to celebrate their bodies, build intimacy and experience pleasure.