{"title":"How to Draw a Sunset With Colored Pencils","canonicalUrl":"https://www.craftingstepbystep.com/drawing/how-to-draw-a-sunset","category":{"slug":"drawing","name":"Drawing"},"creator":{"name":"Arts Core","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwDrTA8MzdO4yaSQ4px93WQ","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvI8CeJiR28"},"tldr":"How to draw a sunset with colored pencils: layer and blend violet, pink, yellow and orange, then add palm tree silhouettes.","quickAnswer":"How to draw a sunset with colored pencils: layer and blend violet, pink, yellow and orange, then add palm tree silhouettes. An easy project: about 1 hour. You need 7 things, including colored pencils, drawing paper and black paint marker. The 10 steps start with trace a Circle for the Sunset Drawing, shade the Top of the Sunset Sky With Violet Pencil, add Hot Pink Under the Violet Sunset Sky and deepen the Left Side of the Sunset With Magenta.","totalDurationSeconds":676,"videoDurationSeconds":676,"difficulty":"easy","project":{"difficulty":"easy","projectMinutes":60,"waitMinutes":null,"totalMinutes":60,"estimatedCost":null,"yield":"1 sunset drawing"},"tools":["something round to trace","pencil","pencil sharpener"],"materials":["colored pencils","drawing paper","black paint marker","fine black Sharpie"],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Trace a Circle for the Sunset Drawing","text":"Set a roll of tape, a jar lid or any round object on your paper. Hold it steady with one hand and run a pencil around the edge. Keep the line light. The circle frames the whole sunset, and a small one is quicker to fill with color. Arts Core uses a tape roll about three inches across, which is a good size to start."},{"number":2,"title":"Shade the Top of the Sunset Sky With Violet Pencil","text":"Take a violet colored pencil and start at the top of the circle. Use light pressure and small strokes. Make it darkest along the top edge and let it fade as you move down. This is only the first layer, so the paper should still show through. Leave the middle and bottom of the circle white for now."},{"number":3,"title":"Add Hot Pink Under the Violet Sunset Sky","text":"Switch to hot pink and color lightly into the middle area, overlapping the bottom of the violet. The two colors start to mix on the paper. Keep your strokes going the same direction as the violet so the sky looks smooth. Stop about a third of the way down the circle and leave a white gap below."},{"number":4,"title":"Deepen the Left Side of the Sunset With Magenta","text":"Take magenta or another dark pink and color the left side of the sky. This gives the sunset some depth, so one side looks further from the sun than the other. Work it into the hot pink with short strokes. Keep the pressure light. You will come back with more magenta on the right later."},{"number":5,"title":"Fill the Center of the Sunset With Lemon Yellow","text":"Pick up lemon yellow and fill the white band you left across the middle. This is where the sun glows brightest, so keep it clean and bright. Let the yellow run up into the bottom of the pink. Below the yellow, color a thin orange band and move downward toward the bottom of the sky."},{"number":6,"title":"Build the Orange Horizon Band of the Sunset","text":"Go back in with orange along the lower edge of the sky. Add magenta again on the right side, then take orange and blend the two colors together where they meet. Use small circles. Follow with lemon yellow across the middle to soften the line between yellow and orange. The sky now runs from purple to pink to yellow to orange."},{"number":7,"title":"Layer Pink, Violet and Blue Into the Sunset Sky","text":"Add a second layer of hot pink across the top. Then put violet on the upper left and a little non-photo blue over it. The blue cools the corner furthest from the sun. Add more violet where you want it darker, then color hot pink over the whole upper section to blend it all together. The white specks start to disappear."},{"number":8,"title":"Burnish the Sunset Glow With a White Pencil","text":"Take a white colored pencil and press firmly over the yellow and orange areas. White lightens the color and pushes the layers into the paper. The result is smooth and almost shiny, like the light is coming through. Work slowly over the glow band, then lightly across the pinks where you want them to fade."},{"number":9,"title":"Color the Ground Below the Sunset in Black Marker","text":"Draw a bumpy horizon line across the bottom of the sky with a black marker. Small hills look more natural than a flat line. Then fill the whole lower part of the circle with black. A paint marker gives solid coverage in a few passes. Let it dry before you draw the trees."},{"number":10,"title":"Draw Palm Tree Silhouettes Against the Sunset","text":"From the right side, draw two palm trunks rising from the ground with a fine Sharpie. Make them curve a little and add short notches down each trunk. At the top, draw a few long curved fronds. Then flick tiny strokes upward from each frond for the leaves. The black shapes make the colors behind them glow."}],"commonProblems":[],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-10-26T13:42:54.752Z","published":"2026-10-26T13:42:54.503Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit Show Me Step by Step with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure. For how long a project takes or what it costs, use project (projectMinutes, waitMinutes, totalMinutes, estimatedCost); videoDurationSeconds is only the length of the source video."}