Angelfish Coloring Page

This fish looks like a kite with a face. Our angelfish coloring page shows the tall, flat shape that makes this river fish so easy to spot, with a back fin and a belly fin that sweep out into long points. Dark stripes run down its round side. Two small angelfish swim behind it, and broad leaves rise from the gravel around a piece of old driftwood.

Kids from 6 to 12 will do well with it. Expect about 30 minutes. The body has big open spaces, and the fins are split into long strips that take a bit more care.

A closer look at the shape

Trace the outline with a finger and you get something close to a triangle. The back fin rises from the top of the body and ends in a sharp tip. The belly fin mirrors it below. Two thin threads hang from under the chest, and they are real parts of the fish, called ventral fins. Kids often think these are bits of plant, so point them out early.

Three stripes cross the body. The first one runs right through the eye, so the white eye ring really stands out against it. Each stripe is a closed shape, so it can be filled in with one color.

Angelfish coloring page color ideas

Silver and black is the classic look. Leave the body white or shade it with pale gray, then fill the stripes with black or dark navy. The fins can alternate pale yellow and white, as we did in the colored sample.

Pet angelfish have been bred in plenty of other shades, so a child has lots of freedom here. Three ideas to try:

• All gold with orange stripes
• Pale silver with soft blue fins
• White with big black patches, like a marble

The plants look best in two greens, with a lighter one in front. Use a warm brown for the driftwood and add darker lines along the grain. Pale blue water keeps the scene calm and lets the striped fish stand out.

Tips for long fins

Long strips are hard to color evenly. Stroke from the body out toward the tip, in the same direction each time. This keeps the color smooth and stops it from going past the end of the fin.

Finish the stripes before you touch the body. Dark colors can drag, so work from the top of the page down and keep your hand on a scrap of paper. If you use markers, let the black dry for a minute.

The plants overlap, so pick one leaf at a time. Young kids can give each plant a single green and call it done. Older kids can add a darker line on one side of the center vein to make the leaf look folded.

What is true about real angelfish

The freshwater angelfish comes from the Amazon River Basin and many other rivers in South America. It stays in slow water with thick plants, and its triangle shape helps it move through them. Adults can reach 7 inches, yet a newly hatched fish is only about the size of a sesame seed. Parents stick their eggs to plants, roots or branches, and both the male and the female guard them.

Keep the learning going

Hold the page up and ask your child to look for shapes. There is a triangle in the whole fish, a circle in the eye and long rectangles in the stripes. Have them draw a tiny baby fish the size of a sesame seed next to the big one, just to see the difference.

For a class project, cut out finished fish and hang them on a blue paper wall with green paper strips for plants. Each student can write one fact on the back.

Find more fish

The betta fish coloring page has even longer fins to color. For a pet fish at home, open the fish bowl coloring page.

Questions