I’m one for using colored pencils for finishing touches. If you have followed any of my tutorials, you know this. It is an easy way to spice up your watercolor. Only one thing to remember: Draw gently. Smudge some colors, leave some for texture.
How to Paint a Golden Watercolor Sunset With Silhouette Trees
Who is not in awe of a beautiful sunset? It’s an easy task to watercolor provided you stick to yellow, red, and pink. These colors blend without any trouble. But the moment you include a blue sky along with these glorious hues, you’ve got an issue. When the blue and yellow watercolors flow into each other, the sky turns green. In this tutorial, you will learn how to paint a watercolor sunset that is part blue and part golden light. You will also learn how to watercolor silhouette trees to adorn the sunset.
Table Of Contents
- Step 1: Watercolor the blue sky
- Step 2: Paint a white buffer zone
- Step 3: Watercolor with yellow and pink to your heart’s content
- Step 4: Create light
- Step 5: Watercolor a brown foreground
- Step 6: Watercolor silhouette trees
- Step 6: Enhance the colors with colored pencils
Step 1: Watercolor the blue sky
My mobile phone camera is great for close-ups of flowers, but not for landscapes like the photo below. It did not do the stunning, breathtaking sunset any justice. So let’s use our imagination when we apply colors.
Instead of the dull blue, use a fresh, beautiful blue. Paint the whole area with water before applying color. Use a sponge or some tissue paper to soften the edge of the blue color.
When painting a watercolor landscape, it’s a good idea to define the space. I used a small square. Once you know how to paint this sunset, you can scale up to a larger painting.
In the free One Tree Art Club library, there are loads of outlines for flowers, birds, and more in the library. (Members: Please check your newsletter for entry info).
Step 2: Paint a white buffer zone
Before we paint the golden color, we are now going to create a wall of white color. With plenty of white gouache on your brush, paint the white wall. Let the white color bleed into the blue. I know, I know. This is an unorthodox way of painting a sunset. But it’s how I do it and you can too.
Painting a Bold Desert Sunset in Watercolor
If you love bright, colorful landscapes then check out this latest watercolor tutorial I created!
It’s a fun project that can be completed in an afternoon, and it’s suitable for beginning watercolorists.
You don’t need a photo reference either, since you can invent your own sunsets, mountain shapes, and palm tree silhouettes.
You can watch the full-length video below, or if you are short on time you can skip down and follow the written instructions.
Either way, I would love to see your paintings! Please feel free to post them at the end of this tutorial, along with any questions or comments.
Materials
Paper and Brushes:
Fabriano Artistico or Arches 140-lb cold press papers are recommended. This painting is done on Fabriano, but I use both interchangeably.
Da Vinci Cosmotop Sable Mix B Brushes in various sizes are economical synthetic/sable blends but work very nicely. I’ve been using the same size 8 brush literally for years! For this painting, I used a large wash brush, a medium round brush, and a medium flat brush.
Miscellaneous:
You will also need masking tape, a sturdy board to affix your paper to, and a small palette with separate wells. I’m using a round palette but these super cheap rectangular trays will work just as well.
The Process
Step 1
Cut your paper to desired size and tape securely to your board on all sides. Make sure the taped size will still be large enough to fit within your mat once complete.
Prepare your paints by squeezing them into your palette wells and adding water. Mix each to a smooth consistency–you don’t want lumps ruining your wash! Make sure you mix enough of each color so you don’t run out in the middle of your wash.
Step 2
Using my large wash brush, I wet the entire surface of the paper with clean water.
Step 3
While the paper is wet, I apply Permanent Rose with my medium round brush. I add this to nearly the entire sheet of paper, leaving some open spaces at the top to apply Winsor Orange.
I tilt my board every which way to get the colors to blend and soften, then I allow it to dry.
Step 4
Carefully re-wet the bottom of the paper without lifting too much of the rose paint.
Load the medium brush with Ultramarine Violet and just above your waterline, begin painting in the mountain peaks.
Let the paint flow into the wet area to avoid streaks. Keep adding violet to the mountain range all the way to the bottom until you achieve the desired intensity of color. Allow to dry completely.
Step 5
Lightly draw in your palm tree shapes and trunks with a pencil. Using the end of a flat brush, create the fronds of the palm trees by applying Payne’s Gray paint. Make sure your paint mixture is the right consistency–if you have too much water, it won’t work.
Carefully touch the flat end of the brush to the paper to create the body of the fronds, and use the corner to carefully sweep out to create the individual leaf-looking parts ( I don’t know the technical term!)
Use the flat end again to create slender trunks, and the corner of the brush to add the “spikes” to the trunks.
