Welcome to the 57th #W2DTogether drawing challenge!
(If you are new here and would like to know more about this challenge, you can take a look at these 2 posts (post 1, post 2) that explain everything.)
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This week, I wanted to choose a theme that gives you almost unlimited freedom to experiment with your imagination.
And since there is an entire world beneath the surface of the water, I thought... why not explore it?
This week's challenge is: DRAW SOMETHING UNDERWATER!
Your goal is simple: Draw anything you want, as long as it is underwater!
That's it!
It doesn't have to be an ocean. It doesn't even have to be a particularly deep body of water.
It could be a swimming pool, a lake, a river, an aquarium, or somewhere completely imaginary.
The only important thing is that we should be able to tell from your drawing that the scene is underwater.
Your drawing could include:
- A fish swimming underwater
- A beautiful coral reef
- A jellyfish
- A sea turtle
- A shark
- An octopus
- A mermaid
- A diver exploring the ocean
- A school of tiny fish
- An underwater cave
- A treasure chest at the bottom of the sea
- A sunken pirate ship
- An abandoned boat resting on the ocean floor
- A mysterious underwater city
- The ruins of an ancient civilization
- A strange aquatic creature hiding in the darkness
- A terrifying sea monster
- A skeleton sitting at the bottom of a lake
- A giant eye looking out from an underwater cave
- A person floating beneath the surface
- A submarine exploring the deep ocean
- A completely imaginary aquatic creature
- An entire underwater fantasy world
Or anything else you can imagine!
Seriously, you can make this challenge as simple or as complicated as you want.
FROM PEACEFUL TO TERRIFYING... IT'S UP TO YOU! 👀
One thing I really like about underwater scenes is how completely different they can feel depending on what you decide to draw.
For example...
You could draw a tiny fish swimming between a few plants, with sunlight coming through the water.
Something simple, cute, and peaceful.
Or you could go in a completely different direction.
Imagine an enormous ship that sank hundreds of years ago, now resting at the bottom of the ocean, covered in seaweed, with a mysterious creature living inside it.
Or a diver discovering something so enormous in the darkness that we can barely see what it is.
You could even make it funny!
Imagine a fish sitting on a couch watching television at the bottom of the sea. 😂
There is no specific mood or story you need to follow.
Your underwater drawing can be:
- Cute and cartoonish
- Peaceful and relaxing
- Realistic and detailed
- Dark and mysterious
- Creepy or horror-inspired
- Epic and cinematic
- Magical and fantastical
- Funny and completely ridiculous
- Surreal and dreamlike
The choice is entirely yours!
BUT MAKE SURE WE CAN TELL IT'S UNDERWATER!
This is the one thing I want everyone to pay attention to.
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And if you want to challenge yourself, you can experiment with underwater lighting, perspective, depth, and the way objects appear beneath the surface.
WANT TO MAKE IT HARDER? 👀
Here's an optional challenge for those who want to take things a little further!
Tell an entire underwater story without using a single word!
Instead of drawing just one scene, try creating a short comic strip or manga-style sequence, using several panels (little squares or rectangles) to show how your story unfolds.
The idea is to make us understand what's happening through your drawings alone, without dialogue, captions, or written explanations.
For example:
- A diver discovers a mysterious treasure chest, opens it, and finds something completely unexpected.
- A tiny fish gets chased by a shark, only for the story to end with a funny twist.
- A submarine explores the ocean floor and suddenly encounters an enormous, unknown creature.
- A mermaid discovers a strange object that has fallen from the world above.
- A sunken ship slowly reveals a secret hidden inside it.
u know what I mean it could be literally anything!!
Your story could be funny, emotional, mysterious, terrifying, or anything you want!
You can use 3 panels, 4 panels, 6 panels, or as many as you need to tell your story.
The challenge is to make each panel lead naturally to the next, so that someone looking at your drawings can follow the events without needing a single word.
And obviously, this part is completely optional!
If you prefer drawing just one underwater scene, that's absolutely fine too! 😊
TRADITIONAL AND DIGITAL ARTISTS CAN BOTH PARTICIPATE
You can use pencils, pens, markers, colored pencils, or any drawing materials you normally work with.
Digital artists are equally welcome!
You can experiment with color, lighting, textures, and all sorts of underwater effects.
And remember, you don't need to be good at drawing water to participate.
A few bubbles and some seaweed can be enough to establish your underwater setting.
The important thing is to have fun with the theme and create something of your own.
So basically:
Draw anything underwater.
It can be an animal, a person, an object, a creature, a sunken ship, an entire scene, or anything else you want.
Make sure we can recognize that it's underwater.
Keep it simple or make it incredibly detailed.
Make it cute, creepy, funny, realistic, mysterious, or epic.
And if you want the extra challenge, try telling an entire story through your underwater scene!
That's it!
Cartoon, anime, manga, realistic, semi-realistic, sketchy, surreal, stylized, digital...Any drawing style is welcome! 😊
Rules
- Must be YOUR drawing.
- Drawings only: pencil, pen, colored pencils, markers, or digital drawing tools.
- No paintings.
- No AI art.
- All skill levels are welcome: beginners, intermediates, experts.
- Your drawing must be related to the underwater theme.
- It must be visually clear that your subject or scene is underwater.
- You can draw anything you want as long as it follows the theme.
- Traditional and digital drawings are both allowed.
- You must share AT LEAST ONE drawing.
- To be part of the competition, your drawing MUST be posted in the comments of this thread. You can also make a separate post in the subreddit using the #W2DTogether flair, but the official entry needs to be here in the comments if you want it reviewed.
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How We Pick the Winner
After one week, we'll hold a community vote to decide which drawing best captures the theme. The winner will be showcased in the sub with their artwork.
If the winner shares an art link (Instagram, portfolio, website, etc.), we'll also include it so they can get recognition and maybe even new followers.
Time Frame
This challenge is timeless. You can participate anytime, even years later.
Review Date:
For community feedback, we'll gather and review all submissions on Sunday, 18 October 2026, so make sure to post your entry before 4:00 PM UTC that day. Drawings posted before that date will be part of the review session.
Note: If you are new here, you can check out last week's challenge here or see all the challenges collected here
