Who doesn’t love a sunset? We love to look at them, and we love to color them, too. They evoke romance, tranquility, and closure with the promise of renewal. As Turkish playwright and writer Mehmet Murat Ildan once wrote, “Sunset is so marvelous that even the sun itself watches it every day in the reflections of the infinite oceans!” Sunsets are an excellent way to work on shading and blending techniques, which can be applied to other shading elements in a drawing.
To color in a sunset, first start by identifying where the horizon is, identify where on the page you want the setting sun to be located and identify if you want the sun to be seen above the horizon, then decide the blending you want to try.
Sunsets: the descent of the sun below the horizon in the evening. The characteristics of sunsets are the yellow/orange glow of the setting sun below a fixed horizon, with shades of darker and darker sky emanating out from the yellow ball. Sunsets are a perfect way to hone your shading and blending skills. This tutorial will detail three ways that you can color in a sunset using colored pencils. You can take these tips and apply them to other areas of your drawing to take your adult coloring book design to the next level!
Before you begin, identify these three areas:
Regardless of which shading and blending technique you want to try, you should begin your sunset coloring by identifying three things:
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- Start by identifying where the horizon is. Your horizon may be flat or shaped with a hillside, buildings, or trees in front of the horizon. If you’re working with a coloring book, this should probably already be sketched out for you.
- Identify where on the page you want the setting sun to be located. In adult coloring books, this may or may not be identified. You may have been given a blank sky to do whatever you want with. If it’s blank, identify where you want the sun to be located. Remember that your subsequent shadows and shading should reflect the placement of the sun.
- Identify if you want the sun to be seen above the horizon. Figure out at what stage you want the setting sun to be visible. If it’s above the horizon, you may want to sketch out gently a half-circle to define the shape of the sun.
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Next, decide what kind of shading or blending you want to try.
Shading and blending help to give your picture depth, dimension, and a sense of realism. There are several ways you can go about this in your sunset picture, including these three ways:
Dry Blending
This is where you layer your colors, one on top of the other. Sometimes the layers can be the same, which will make your color appear darker. Sometimes you can add colors on top of each other to create a new color (i.e., yellow + blue makes a green hue, and red + blue makes a purple hue, etc.). Sometimes, you can see the individual colors in the dry blend, which makes for an exciting look.
Smudging
Like dry blending, you can layer colors on top of one another and then use a product to smudge the colors together. Smudging is useful in combining colors, but the downside is that it can also make the picture seem a little blurry, like an out-of-focus camera. It takes careful practice to do smudging realistically and enhance a picture, which it can certainly do. Sunset pictures are a great way to practice smudging techniques. Products you can use to smudge your colors include blending stumps and tortillons, both of which are artist products most commonly used with graphite drawings. You can save some money and try to use a paper towel or bathroom tissue if you start.
Solvents
Using solvents is an effective way to blend your layers and colors. However, before you begin, make sure your paper is thick enough to hold up to the solvent you plan on using! I recommend testing the preferred solvent on a spare page in the coloring book, using the same colored pencils you plan to draw your sunset. See how the solvents hold up to the paper and the pencil wax. Three common solvents you can try using include rubbing alcohol that’s 70% proof or less, orderless mineral spirits (like baby oil), and turpentine (paint thinner). You can use cotton balls, cotton swabs, bristle brushes, or soft brushes to apply the solvents. Experiment with the different types to create the desired sunset effect.
Sunset with Regular Color Pencils and Dry Blending
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- Begin your sunset picture using lighter colors (yellow, then orange) where the sun is at, either above or below the horizon.
- Use a horizontal movement with a colored pencil. Layer a darker yellow on top of a lighter yellow without being precise about covering the layers 100%.
- Reach outwards with the yellow. By outwards, I mean horizontally and vertically, but be sure to keep your pencil stroke moving in the same horizontal movement as in Step 2.
- At the horizon line, add a few scribbled layers of darker orange, keeping the same horizontal pencil stroke. Work this layer up to the top of the page slightly.
- Now let’s switch to the top of the page. Add your chosen dark colors at the top of the page, such as dark blue or grey. Again, keep the same horizontal pencil stroke going.
- Slowly “fan” the dark color down the page, using light pressure, until it slightly overlaps the yellow color. Don’t feel like you need to be overly precise; feel free to have a lot of open white space on the page.
- In the center of your sunset, where it’s still yellow, start adding some orange to the top of the page in a very non-precise way. Slowly taper the orange color down towards the horizon, and with a very light touch, blend it up into the darker color.
- Just like you did with the orange, now begin adding red. Don’t feel the need to touch the orange areas, but gently add the color downward and upward. Add a few orange and yellow layers in areas where you want the color to appear darker and richer; keep the layer simple and light in the areas where you want the lighter sunshine to be located.
- Add just a few horizontal strokes of purple at the horizon, giving your horizon some clear definition. Now, let’s add some shadow to the landscape coming towards you from the horizon. Lightly work your purple color downward towards the bottom of the paper.
- If you want, add some red in this same purple area below the horizon. If your sun is visible above the horizon, you should reflect that on the horizon; layer the red over the purple as a reflection of the sun in the same circular pattern. Now, slowly fan out to the bottom right and left of the page. The color should get lighter as it moves outward.
- Add just a little yellow in the space at the bottom of the page to the right and left.
- Add shades of grey or lightly use black in the bottom areas to create dark shadows.
- Add any colors and gaps into your sunset as needed by layering colors on top of one another.
Sunset with Regular Colored Pencils and a Blending Solvent
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- This time we are going, beginning with the dark color (i.e., grey or purple) at the top of the page. Use a light touch. Use either horizontal strokes or vertical strokes, but be consistent in the strokes throughout the sunset.
- Add another layer of your dark color. Blend with your desired solvent. (See the section above to see what solvents you can try to use.)
- Add a third layer of dark color. Press firmly. Keep the strokes going in the same direction.
- Use your solvent to blend again.
- Now try adding some reds and pinks to the page. Overlap areas of the grey, but begin to work towards the center of the sunset but not reach the center.
- Use a solvent to blend the colors.
- Add some grey lightly to darken the colors and give some depth, as desired.
- Use a solvent to blend the colors.
- Now start applying yellow and orange colors, working towards the center of the sunset. Overlap the red and pink a little, and work your way to the actual center.
- Blend.
- Add purples and reds with another layer, where desired in the picture. Try making this layer a little “splotchy” like spots on a frog.
- Blend.
- Add more layers from the outside—making a dark outside, with a lighter “sunsetting” middle.
- Blend.
Check out our more in-depth blending techniques in our article here!
Sunset with Watercolor Color Pencils
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- Unlike Tutorial Option 2, this time, we are going to start light to dark. Find the center of your sunset and apply your lightest colors (yellow or light orange). Use light-medium pressure with a pencil. Create even colors. I recommend using a horizontal stroke to begin and keep that stroke consistent throughout the sunset.
- Activate with water. Work from light to dark and stroke your water with a brush across the paper horizontally. Use a broad, soft brush. Note: The colors will get darker after you add water. You will want to blend with water quickly to avoid streaks. Start with a small amount of water, to begin with, and add more water if needed.
- Wait until the water has dried before proceeding.
- Now, add pink and red colors, overlapping the yellow a little and reaching outwards to away from the center of the sunset circle. Feel free to play with how firmly your pencil is on the page. Try some light areas as well as tight areas.
- Activate with water, working horizontally, as described in Step 2.
- Wait until the water has dried before proceeding.
- Now start adding some blues and purples as you move further to the outer reaches of the sunset. Overlap the pinks and reds a little to play with how that looks.
- Activate with water.
- Wait until the water has dried before proceeding.
- Repeat as necessary until you get the desired blend and darkness.
These are three very different ways you can experiment with drawing a sunset in your coloring book. With luck, you’ll find one technique that appeals to you that you feel confident in using throughout your design. You can apply the same blending, layering, and smudging techniques in other areas of your coloring drawing to create shadows and light effects, which will give your artwork a feel of depth and dimension.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you use water to blend colored pencils?
Yes and no. It depends on what kind of colored pencil you are using. An oil-based colored pencil is not going to mix well with water. You know what they say—mixing oil and water doesn’t work very well. But if your colored pencil is made with a wax binder, then soaking your pencil in water can help soften the wax core, giving a richer color on the page. Adding water and smudging the wax after it has been applied to the page can also work but will likely require some practice and good paper.
Are solvents safe?
You want to keep all solvents away from small children and pets in your house. Rubbing alcohol and turpentine are toxic if ingested and can create burns on the skin if spilled. Even mineral oil should be kept safely out of the reach of children and pets. While mineral oil isn’t considered toxic, if it’s inhaled, it can cause lung damage, and if it’s ingested, it can cause diarrhea.
Will solvents work on my adult coloring book?
Absolutely, and you should give them a try as you work on your blending technique! I recommend that you use a practice page in your coloring book to make sure you know how the solvent is going to look with the colored pencil you are using. It would help if you also experimented with how many solvents to use. The thickness and type of your paper will determine how well the solvent looks and what kind of end look it will produce.
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