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A sunset is one of the most satisfying things you can draw with colored pencils. You need no drawing skill for the sky. It is all color, layered and blended until it glows. This tutorial follows a video by Arts Core, who builds a purple, pink and orange sky inside a small circle, then adds a dark beach and two palm trees in black marker. The circle keeps the drawing small, so you can finish it in one sitting.
Colored pencil looks flat and scratchy after one pass. The color comes alive on the third or fourth. Start every color with light pressure. You are only staining the paper. Each new layer fills more of the paper's tooth, and the white specks disappear. If you press hard on the first layer, the wax seals the paper and nothing else will stick. Patience is the whole trick here.
Real sunsets run from cool at the top to warm at the horizon. Keep that order and the sky will look right even if your strokes are loose.
| Area | Colors |
|---|---|
| Top of the sky | Violet, then a touch of blue |
| Upper middle | Hot pink and magenta |
| Glow band | Lemon yellow, then white |
| Horizon | Orange, with magenta at the edges |
You do not need blending pencils or solvent. Where two colors meet, color over the seam with the lighter of the two. Orange over magenta softens it. Yellow over orange warms it. A white pencil on top burnishes everything into a smooth, glowing finish. Small circles blend better than long straight lines.
Swap the palm trees for a lone pine, a lighthouse or birds in a V. Draw the sunset over water and add a reflection with these water tips. Add streaky clouds, or learn more pencil basics in how to draw with colored pencils. Prefer a brush? See how to paint a sunset.
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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.
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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.
Tape the paper to the table first so it does not slide while you trace.
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.
Hold the pencil further back on the barrel. It keeps your pressure light.
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.
Overlap each new color with the last one. Gaps between colors are hard to fix later.
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.
Sunsets are rarely even. A little more color on one side looks natural.
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.
Sharpen the yellow often. A sharp point fills the paper tooth better.
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.
Blend with the lighter color on top. It smooths the edge without dulling it.
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.
Use the blue sparingly. Too much turns the purple grey.
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.
Wipe the white pencil tip on scrap paper often. It picks up color as you go.
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.
Outline the edge of the circle first, then fill toward the middle. The edge stays neat.
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.
Draw one tree taller than the other. Uneven heights look more natural.
Keep going
How to Draw With Colored Pencils (Layering a Realistic Pear)
10 steps · about 12 minutes
More on this topic, picked for this sunset with colored pencils.
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How to Draw a Sunset With Colored Pencils
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