A whale shark painting looks simple until you start. It is one large grey-blue animal in a lot of blue water, and almost every decision is about the surface of the body and the light on it. This guide covers how to paint one, and how to end up with one on your wall if you would rather have the numbers done for you.
One thing first, so you don't search the shop for nothing: we do not sell a whale shark kit at the moment. What we can do is a custom kit from your own photo, and below you'll find the whale and ocean kits that are closest to the subject.
Quick picks
- A whale shark exactly as you saw it: a custom kit from your own dive or snorkeling photo.
- The closest ready-made big animal: Humpback Whale Among Colorful Fish.
- Deep blue and moonlight: Blue Whales.
Planning a whale shark painting
The whale shark is the largest fish in the sea, and it feeds by filtering water rather than hunting, which is why it cruises so slowly. That calm pace is what a good painting should show. The animal is long, flat across the back and often seen from slightly below, so it reads as a dark shape against a lit surface.
Decide where the light comes from before you touch a brush. In most underwater photos it falls from the top of the frame, so the back is the darkest part and the belly is paler. Keep that rule across the whole animal and it will look solid, even with very few colors.
Layering the blues
Water is not one blue. Start at the top with a lighter turquoise, let it deepen through the middle and finish with a dark navy at the bottom. Where the water meets the body, soften the edge with a slightly different blue so the animal doesn't look cut out.
The body itself is a blue-grey, never a flat grey. Mix a little of the water color into it and the shark belongs in the scene. Work from dark to light on the back, then let the belly fade to a pale grey-blue. If you paint on a numbered canvas, this is exactly how the numbers are laid out, so follow the sequence and keep each area dry before the next one touches it.
The spots and the light from above
The pale spots are what everyone remembers. They form rows of small pale dots and lines along the back and flanks, and they follow the curve of the body. Paint them last, with a small round brush and a clean, slightly warm off-white, and keep the dots uneven in size. Perfect spacing looks fake.
Then add the light. Faint bands of brightness slanting down from the surface, a few pale strokes on the back where they land, and some small particles floating in the water. Keep these soft. Too much light flattens the whole scene.
There is no whale shark kit yet
To be direct: you won't find a ready-made whale shark canvas in our catalog. If you want one, the shortest route is a custom kit. We turn a photo into a numbered canvas with matched paints, so the animal, the angle and the water are yours rather than ours.
A whale shark from your own photo
If you've swum with one, your photo is the best reference there is. Send the sharpest one you have: the long side of the animal clear, the light coming from above, and no heavy filter. We need at least 1500 px on the short side, and 2500 px if you choose the 50x65 cm canvas. Our guide to custom paint by numbers from a photo explains what makes a photo work.
For this subject we'd suggest 40x50 cm with 36 colors, the usual choice. It leaves enough room for the spots without making each number tiny. Choose 50x65 cm with 48 colors if you want the finest spot pattern. The frame isn't included. You mount it yourself.
Ocean kits we do sell
If you'd rather start painting now, these are the nearest ready-made kits. Humpback Whale Among Colorful Fish gives you a large whale in layered blue water. Blue Whales is the moonlit, deep-blue version. Whales and Girl is more of a storybook scene, and Nursery Whale and Stars is gentler and suits a child's room.
For other big sea animals, look at Sea Turtle Gliding over Coral Reef, Glowing Jellyfish in Deep Blue Water or Tropical Fish and Sunlit Coral Reef. All of them teach the same skill a whale shark needs: moving through blues without losing the shape of the animal.
Where to go from here
Browse the animals collection or the seascape collection for more. Our roundup of the best ocean and beach scenes covers the rest of the water range. Each kit ships in 1 to 3 business days, and the price shows in your own currency, with shipping calculated at checkout.
