# Draw a humpback whale in Aquarell: separate long flippers, dorsal fin and horizontal flukes

Language: en
Canonical: [Draw a humpback whale in Aquarell: separate long flippers, dorsal fin and horizontal flukes](<https://allluckly.cn/en/guides/aquarell-humpback-whale-pectoral-pair-horizontal-flukes/>)
中文：[中文 HTML](<https://allluckly.cn/guides/aquarell-humpback-whale-pectoral-pair-horizontal-flukes/>)
English: [English HTML](<https://allluckly.cn/en/guides/aquarell-humpback-whale-pectoral-pair-horizontal-flukes/>)
Published: 2026-11-15T00:00:00+08:00
Modified: 2026-11-15T09:26:47+08:00
Author: Bison

Trace an oblique body into the tail stock, attach both flippers laterally and keep flukes distinct from a fish tail.

English translation of the [Chinese original](<https://allluckly.cn/guides/aquarell-humpback-whale-pectoral-pair-horizontal-flukes/>), translated on 2026-11-15. Original publication dates, attribution, code and version notes are retained.

A humpback’s long flippers should not make its dorsal fin and flukes identical pointed shapes. Draw a complete submerged whale in an oblique upper view in Aquarell, retaining clues to paired flippers and laterally spread flukes. References inform exterior categories; pose, markings and water colours are invented, not individual identification.

## Establish one complete body route

Use an approximately 1900×1400 px canvas, head near left and tail farther right. Sketch a gently curving axis and body envelope tapering into the tail stock, leaving room for fins/flukes. Repair ball-and-string volume or an angular tail bend before detail. Pixels do not measure body length, and a foreshortened far end is not physically shorter. Keep the whale submerged without a surface boundary or blow plume that mixes different spatial states.

## Connect the broad head to the rostrum

Use a broad, somewhat flattened head connected to the trunk, not a dolphin-like pointed beak. Run the mouth line along the side without splitting detached shells. Place the near eye and omit an occluded far eye instead of putting both on one side. Revisit volume and mouth if fish-like; extra teeth are no remedy. Suggest selected tubercles along the surface, not multiple eyes. Facial details establish no age, sex or health.

## Extend paired flippers from the body sides

Mark a flipper root on each front-side body region: near flipper down/forward, far flipper partly visible up/back. Build broad roots tapering to tips, with clear basal overlap, not two fins from one belly point. Move wing-like dorsal attachments laterally. Shorten a far flipper resembling another tail and clarify its root. Long flippers are a referenced trait, but screen pixels give no body-length ratio. Keep attachment clearer than mottling.

## Keep the dorsal fin on the rear back

Place one small dorsal fin on the rear back, low or gently curved rather than flipper-sized. It may appear narrow in this view but stays dorsal, not a third lateral flipper. Reduce an oversized shark triangle and connect a floating root. Tone can separate it without an isolating black border. Shape varies; one invented silhouette is not a universal individual-identification feature. Add no hidden second dorsal fin.

## Join the tail stock to laterally spread flukes

Taper the stock into two laterally spread flukes with a central notch, not an upright fish tail. Unequal screen widths are possible; use a cross-stock checking direction before edges. Unite leaf-like separate halves at the base, and repair any half apparently growing from the dorsal fin. Use restrained irregularity, not identical sawteeth. Shade one coherent tail plane instead of incompatible halves later tied together with water marks.

## Keep markings and water colour within established forms

Use dark grey-blue with restrained invented pale flipper/belly markings, arranging visible fluke tones without copying an individual pattern. Let surrounding water fade without severing roots. Separate a hole-like white marking from ground and recover a lost pale flipper locally instead of black outlining everything. Suggest only visible lower-body grooves, not an exposed complete underside. Materials and water serve ownership of body, paired flippers, dorsal fin and flukes.

## Trace roots to tips to find extra fins

Hide markings/water and trace head to stock, then two flippers, one dorsal fin and two flukes. Correct counts still require correct roots; shadows and pale marks are not fins. Reveal a fully hidden far flipper through a revised invented view, not transparency. Repair a fish-like tail plane rather than labelling it horizontal. Restore detail without extra eye-like tubercles. This drawing check is no claim of underwater observation or tested swimming posture.

## Reopen and inspect tail plane and fin roots

Save native work, hide axes, export PNG and reopen. Check body-tail continuity small, then flipper/dorsal roots and central tail notch enlarged. Recover a lost far flipper locally without a third fin. Remove a stray tail guide in the original rather than covering it with water texture. Reopen editable structures/markings and note submerged oblique view with invented patterns. Success concerns exterior categories and positions, not full identification, individual tracking or automatic anatomical accuracy.

## Related tutorials and sources

[Paint underwater koi in Aquarell: separate body, markings and surface](<https://allluckly.cn/en/guides/aquarell-koi-underwater/>); [Draw a penguin in Aquarell: attach two flippers to the torso](<https://allluckly.cn/en/guides/aquarell-penguin-paired-flippers-belly-wrap/>).

Sources checked on 15 November 2026: the [official Aquarell App Store listing](<https://apps.apple.com/cn/app/id1591340577>) and [Apple public lookup](<https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=1591340577&country=cn&entity=software&timestamp=20261115>) show version 1.0.7, requiring iOS / iPadOS 15.0 or later. Draw manually with the published brush, colour, layer and saving capabilities. Dimensions, poses, colours and layer plans are original exercise suggestions; check controls against the installed version. Keep editable native artwork and PNG previews. Static structural checks are neither physical operation, scientific identification nor claimed completed device testing.

Morphology: [NOAA’s humpback biology profile](<https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/acoustics/whales/whale-biology-hump.html>) distinguishes long flippers, rearward dorsal fin, flukes and head tubercles; its [species page](<https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/humpback-whale>) notes individual colour variation. Invented markings identify no real whale.