In this quick tutorial you'll learn how to draw a Dace in 8 easy steps - great for kids and novice artists.
The images above represent how your finished drawing is going to look and the steps involved.
Below are the individual steps - you can click on each one for a High Resolution printable PDF version.
At the bottom you can read some interesting facts about the Dace.
Make sure you also check out any of the hundreds of drawing tutorials grouped by category.
How to Draw a Dace - Step-by-Step Tutorial
Step 1: Let’s start with the eye. Draw a circle with another circle inside of it. Then, draw another circle inside of that and color it black.
Step 2: To draw the head, draw an open cone shape around the eye. Add the gills by drawing a few smaller round curves on the open end.
Step 3: For the body, draw two long curved lines and connect them at the end. Make the lines closer together towards the end of the body, like in the picture.
Step 4: To draw the tail, draw two lines going outward, and then add a ‘V’ shape to connect them in the middle.
Step 5: Next, add the fins. The Dace has one fin on top, shaped like a triangle. Now, add three smaller fins along the bottom. The front fin is a bit longer. For the middle fin, draw a small line. The back bottom fin is also shaped like a triangle.
Step 6: To draw the patterns on the fins, draw several lines running through each fin.
Step 7: Next, draw a long line down the body of the Dace.
Step 8: Now let’s add the scales. Draw a lot of ovals all over the body of the Dace, everywhere except the head. To color the Dace, use Gray or Silver with a blue band along the top.
Interesting Facts about Daces
The Dace is fish that is part of the Cyprinid family, which is a word used for freshwater fish with no stomachs or teeth. Even so, fish like daces eat by moving their mouths in a way that crushes the food against a plate in their head. They eat worms, snails, insects, and insect larvae. Daces like clear gravel bottomed streams that are 39 to 72 Fahrenheit water temperature. They are found in streams in Europe and Asia. The biggest population is found in France and Germany. Daces are shiny silver with a dark blue band on top and may grow to be 15 inches long.
Did you know?
- Daces are normally a freshwater fish, but they can be found in brackish water. Brackish water is a mixture of freshwater and sea water.
- The normal lifespan of a Dace is 10 years.
- They migrate long distances to spawn in March – April.
- A Dace will not spawn until 3 years. This means they will only spawn 1 or 2 times in their lifetime.
- In Ireland the Dace is common fish bait.
Activity: Draw a line drawing of a Dace. Make copies and distribute to each child. Gather up art supplies like crayons, colored pencils, glue, and glitter, and then tell the children to color their fish. When the fish are colored, cut the fish out, and staple them to an ocean background on a bulletin board.
How to Draw a Dace – Step-By-Step Tutorial