Whimsical Goldfish in a Fishbowl

Capturing Form and Refraction

There is a quiet challenge in painting glass and water. The way light bends around a curved surface, altering the shapes behind it, requires a careful balance of loose brushwork and deliberate mark-making. With this piece, my interest lay in contrasting those cool, fluid blues with the solid, warm orange of the goldfish.

I wanted the fish to feel present and lively without losing the sense of containment within the bowl. To achieve this, the orange tones are built up with distinct, layered strokes, allowing the texture of the paint to give form to the scales and fins. The eye of the fish is a deliberate focal point—simple, wide, and expressive, anchoring the movement of the entire composition.

Around it, the water and glass are rendered with quicker, broader movements of the brush. You can see where the blues and whites mix directly on the surface, mimicking the shifting highlights of a reflection. The dark weight of the gravel and green weeds at the bottom provides a steady base, grounding what is otherwise a study in light and liquid transparency. It is an exercise in seeing how few lines it takes to make something feel entirely alive and familiar.