How to Draw a Sunset - Easy Sketches for Children and Beginning Artists with Photo Examples
To draw a sunset you need a little patience and skill, and most importantly - the desire to create. The image of this natural phenomenon leaves no one indifferent. And novice artists want to convey with paints at least a small fraction of the natural beauty of the sky during the meeting of day and night.
Step by step drawing
The most frequently depicted sunset is at sea. For drawing the sky during the sunset, the best way (especially for beginners) is watercolor because of its feature of mixing tones: their smooth transitions into each other.
Painting on a wet sheet will also be appropriate. This allows you to depict the soft color shimmering of the sunset sky.
To begin with, arm yourself with the following items:
- watercolor paper;
- watercolor paint;
- a simple pencil;
- an eraser;
- a container of water;
- a scrap of cloth to wipe off the brush.
Before proceeding, the edges of the paper are covered on all sides with painter's tape. And after the work is done, carefully remove it. This action will help to get a beautiful frame-papartout in the form of indents from the edges of the paper sheet. Drawing a sunset is best done step by step.
Step 1.
Mentally divide vertically placed sheet of A4 paper into two parts in height and draw the horizon line (the place where the sky meets the sea).
Step 2
In the middle of this line draw a circle - it will be the sun. Since the sun is setting over the horizon, it should not be drawn as a whole circle: some of it should already be down. You don't want to make a perfect circle, it's better to make the outlines a little blurry.
Step 3
Make the watercolor sheet wet: dip the brush in water and move it on the paper. The colors will spread and mix a little, but this is exactly what is needed for the case.
Step 4
Start filling the sketch with color. The sun is left white (then you can go over it with a little light yellow). The first band in the sky extends from the horizon to about 2-3 cm upwards - yellow. Brush with paint smoothly lead on wet paper. Followed by an orange stripe.
If the tone went for the boundaries of each other - this is it. The main thing is not to make it too dirty and wet. The orange hue on the skyline adds twice as much.
The next turn is scarlet (red), not too saturated. Scarlet will transition to crimson, which in turn will end in dark purple with an almost black border.
Step 5.
Draw the sea. To do this, mirror the color scheme in the same sequence, but already on the water surface. Since this reflection is not in a straight projection, the lines must be curved, taking into account the pattern of the waves. All tones are stretched, spread horizontally on the surface of the water.
Step 6.
The picture is allowed to dry. And already on the dried one, make solar highlights on the surface of the sea. They will be white and yellow. Under the sun, neat strokes in an inverted triangle of irregular broken lines of varying thickness create a reflection of the setting sun.
From the triangle, neat strokes downwards from the horizontal line create a glare track.
Step 7
Add details. What can be added:
- Seagull silhouettes;
- palm trees;
- The outlines of islands;
- sailboat.
If you look visually at something in the background of the sunset, that something will be dark. That's why black is used to put the finishing touches to the painted sunset. Seagulls look like dark flying "ticks".
Mountains or an island are marked with curved and triangular lines. Palms "grow" in the right or left side of the picture: depict first uneven long poles, and on them - palm leaves.
To make the exotic trees appear in the picture, take care that there was a part of the sand, from which they will stretch into the sunset. For this purpose, the shoreline is marked.
The final touches finish the sea and other objects. If shading is needed somewhere, brown, purple or black should be added. The sunset in watercolor colors is ready!
Perhaps the first drawing is not very pleasant for the novice artist, but with each time the skill will grow. Of course, this is one of the easiest options for a sunset landscape. To diversify one's view of nature's most unthinkable sunsets, one turns to:
- to nature itself;
- to pictures and photos from the Internet.
On a walk in the evening admire the setting sun and its fiery trace on the celestial slope. In this case, inspiration is assured. The sequence of color palettes given in the example can also be different. Sometimes a blue band may be asked for between the orange and purple.
Also, the evening sky can be done in light colors: without the dark blue, crimson and purple. Or, conversely, add a blue and black frame at the very top with a scattering of stars.
How to draw a sunset on the sea - everyone decides for himself: imagination, real sky and examples of professional artists will prompt.
Working with colored pencils
For the work we will need:
- A sketchbook sheet;
- colored pencils (12 pieces or more);
- sharpener;
- a lead pencil;
- eraser;
- draft for painting pencils.
You can depict a sunset with pencils in a forest thicket. In this variant, step-by-step drawing is also used:
- The sheet is placed vertically. The horizon line is placed very low, and it will connect the sky and the earth.
- Just above the horizontal line will be the sun, almost a perfect circle shape. Above it, and from the horizon mentally divide the sky into strips and displays on paper, not pressing down hard on a simple pencil.
- At the third stage begins shading. Before applying color to the sheet, it is recommended to paint the pencil on a draft. Hatching is done horizontally from left to right in segments. First fill in the yellow color of the first bar, without touching the luminary. Then shaded alternately: orange, pink, blue and purple.
- At the very bottom with the help of brown, blue and black shades display the silhouette of the forest: trees and shrubs.
- Attention is paid to details: thin branches, flying birds, grass of different heights are drawn. The drawing is ready!
Sunset in gouache
- The work begins with the image of the daylight: in the central part of the sheet, brush strokes with yellow paint are applied bold dots (the shape resembles the dial at the clock).
- The next action is the second circle of red (having stepped back a little from the first circle).
- Circle #3 is purple gouache.
- Next, all three colors fade smoothly with a broad brush - a sunset is obtained.
- Then move on to the image of trees and mountain slopes. To do this, a horizontal slightly curved arc of blue is drawn below the yellow circle.
- After that, blue strokes of different sizes are made all over the horizon, and white drops are applied to them and the horizon band is shaded.
- This should be followed by a picture of spruces. To make them more realistic, the sketches start with vertical sections, and then the strokes of the branches are applied on the sides: short at the top and longer at the bottom.
- Next, the trees are shaded and highlights from the sunset are drawn on the spruce branches with white gouache.
- Next to the trees depict three-dimensional bushes, but without leaves. The picture of a spruce forest against a sunset sky is ready!
Acrylic sunset
It can be painted in several ways. And each artist independently chooses the one that he likes more.
Brush
To draw a sunset with acrylic, you need to take in your hands:
- A canvas or matte paper;
- Brushes of different sizes;
- a pencil for sketching;
- water in a glass;
- acrylic paints.
First, the future evening landscape is sketched with a pencil. Then a yellow layer of paint is applied, diluted by half with water. This technique is called glazing.
When the layer dries, orange is applied on top, and then red and lilac, but already in strips. The detailing in this technique, on the contrary, is brightly saturated: colors not diluted with water are used. The skyline - the forest and mountains - are made dark and acrylics are used in concentrated form.
Using a sponge
To paint with acrylics, you can use the "blotting with sponge" technique:
- Step 1. At the top of the canvas with a brush apply blue paint, diluting it with a gray shade. Then with a sponge (a regular dish sponge), they start pressing the paint - to blot it.
- Step 2: Below the gray-blue color, about in the middle of the sheet, yellow, orange and red are applied in turn. And again shaded with a sponge. It is not necessary to make the color borders clear: let the tones at the edges mix a little.
- Step 3: At the left side, in the transition from yellow to orange, make rays with broad strokes.
- Step 4. move to the horizon. To do this, add green paint to the bottom of the leaf with a brush and then spread it out again with a sponge. Gradually brown the trunks of the trees with a brush. The dipping-pressing technique is also used to depict the crown.
- Step 5: Drawing on the trunks with a thin brush with brown and black tones.
- Step 6. Shade the grass with dark green and brown colors and draw the falling shadows from the trees. Add sunny highlights on the crowns and grass. Applying final touches and contours.
The picture is ready!
Acrylic paintings can be kept for a long time because the structure of acrylic allows it. The sunset on the sheet A 4, folded in half or on special paper can be presented as a postcard. If you go over the image with a varnish beforehand, it will please you even longer.
Picture of a painted sunset
