Draw a jellyfish in Aquarell: separate bell, inner space and tentacles

Fading an entire layer does not establish a jellyfish. Its bell, inner space, rim and tentacles need selective information and depth. Draw a fictional simplified jellyfish rather than reconstructing a species, establishing it without an automatic glow before restrained temperature changes suggest an underwater setting.

Set proportions of bell and hanging forms

Use an approximately 1400×1800 px portrait canvas with a bell above centre and space for tentacles. Build a gently asymmetric dome and shallow opening arc. Separate far tentacles, bell and near tentacles. Lighten a heavy inverted bowl or add opening depth to a flat mushroom-like form before changing colour.

Use paired arcs to explain the rim

Separate outer rim and opening arcs modestly, clarifying the near side and hiding parts of the far side. Avoid two complete dark rings. Check endpoints and occlusion before strengthening contrast. Uneven rim movement may help, but repeated identical petals would replace thin softness with a decorative pattern.

Retain water colour through the bell

Keep muted water variation visible through a pale blue-grey or violet-grey centre, with selected stronger edges. Opacity assists but does not create a cavity. Reduce opaque central lights in a crystal-like bell, or strengthen a small near rim when invisible instead of filling the whole dome white. Decide transmission and coverage locally.

Keep internal forms quieter than the rim

Suggest a few pale curved internal forms gathering near the underside centre without claiming anatomical accuracy. Keep them lower contrast and partly veiled. Test the bell without them. Simplify a flower-in-a-bowl appearance through fewer, quieter forms with coherent inward direction rather than arbitrary internal decoration.

Group tentacles into main paths

Begin with three to five unequal descending paths drifting slightly one way. Add limited branches from beneath the bell, not through its top. Hide far roots and overlap a few near roots at the rim. Preserve water gaps, removing comb-like spacing or correcting tangled-wire directions before fading marks.

Vary width and curl with depth

Give one or two near tentacles broader curling ribbon sections and simplify farther ones. Establish ribbon width before small curls and weaken lower crossings. Reduce rope-like dark borders and contact shadows: these suspended forms rely on direction and density rather than heavy tabletop-object shading.

Keep selected lights from becoming neon

Concentrate brighter marks on a bell-top area and selected near tentacle, keeping other edges grey. Test structure without them. Broad hand-painted background temperature shifts may suggest water without a required filter. These are illustrative colour choices, not a claim about the species’ actual bioluminescence.

Check tentacle crowding through negative space

Keep one broad water gap and smaller channels among tentacles. Review proportion small, near/far grouping normally and accidental root breaks close up. Quiet internal darks or move one principal group before adding detail when forms merge. Transparent subjects still need hierarchy; negative space makes their structure readable.

Test whether colour is hiding weak structure

In a copy, use related greys while retaining edge hierarchy to test opening and tentacle depth. Repair shape and overlap before relying on violet-blue colour transitions. Preserve the original and compare a diagnostic version, even of only the confusing half, rather than changing every colour and path simultaneously.

Keep an unaccented version and vary the pose

Keep outline, unaccented and finished versions with separate near/far tentacles. Next, tilt only the bell and rebuild its opening and tentacle roots under the same overall downward drift. Rotating the entire image would not test that change. Record the key altered overlap and describe the subject as fictional simplification, not biological research or automatic simulation.

Related tutorials and sources

Underwater layers, Selecting transparency cues.

Checked on November 3, 2026 against the official Aquarell listing and Apple’s version lookup: version 1.0.7, requiring iOS / iPadOS 15.0 or later. This exercise uses public brush, colour, layer and saving capabilities. Form, materials and light are drawn manually; dimensions and palettes are suggestions. Check controls in the installed version. No step-by-step physical-device testing is claimed.