[Colored Pencil] How to Draw a Sunset Sky and Sea

Hello! This time we're covering how to color a "beautiful sunset sky and sea" that you can use as a background.
If you're not confident with background coloring yet, check out the "Background Basics" video first — it walks through the basic coloring methods and how to create gradients in detail.

What You'll Need

• Colored pencils: Tombow colored pencils used here (about 24 colors is fine — whatever you have on hand works too)

• Paper: A plain notebook or drawing paper (one without too bumpy a surface is easier to color)

Preparation

1. Draw a rectangular frame (roughly 10cm x 7cm as a guide). A smaller size is recommended since a large one can be a lot of work.
   
   

1. Sky Gradient

1. Blue
   Start coloring from the top edge with small horizontal strokes, working your way down gradually. Darker at the top, lighter toward the bottom. Use the side of the lead and keep the strokes soft. It's fine if there's unevenness or gaps at first — you'll smooth it out with layering later.

2. Purple
   Layer this starting a bit lower than the blue, darker at the top and lighter toward the bottom. Extend it a little further down than the blue area.

3. Pink
   Starting even lower than the purple. Again, darker at the top, lighter at the bottom. Let the pink extend a bit wider toward the bottom.

4. Orange
   Lightly draw an oval "sun" shape around the lower part of the pink area and spread it outward to the sides. It doesn't need to be a perfect circle. The area where pink and orange overlap is what creates that sunset feel.

5. Yellow
   Apply more heavily inside the sun's oval, especially near the center, with the idea that orange circles around it toward the outside.

2. The Sea and Horizon

1. Draw the horizon line (purple)
   Draw a single horizontal line below the sun. Everything below it becomes the sea.

2. Base of the sea (purple → pink → light blue)
   Leave a bit of space open at the center of the sea surface (for the sun's reflection), and apply purple with a gradient, darker at the top and lighter at the bottom.
   Layer pink on top of that, keeping in mind a "horizontal gradient" too — slightly darker at the center, lighter toward the sides.
   Then layer light blue, spreading it downward over the lower part of the purple and pink.

3. Shoreline (purple)
   Draw the shoreline with a gentle, undulating line rather than a straight one.

4. Sand (gray)
   Give the sand area a light, quick pass of gray.

3. Reflected Light and Sunset Depth

1. Yellow (reflected light)
   In the "open" spot you left in the center of the sea surface, apply yellow a bit stronger at the top and spreading lighter as it goes down.

2. Red (reflections and sky accent)
   Layer red over the upper part of the sea to emphasize the sunset's reflection. Add a touch of red to the sky too, for extra depth.

3. Adjust overall depth (alternating blue, purple, pink)
   Deepen the blue at the top of the sky by another layer. Mix horizontal, vertical, and circular motions at the edges to reduce any gaps.
   Layer purple → pink → blue somewhat randomly, alternating between them, to avoid making it too uniform and keep the shading natural.
   *Coloring an even amount uniformly tends to create "stripes," so the trick is to introduce some fluctuation in the depth of color.

4. Adding Clouds

1. Cloud shape (purple)
   Use small circular strokes moving horizontally to build slightly elongated clouds (the shape is up to you).

2. Underside of the clouds (orange → yellow)
   Apply orange along the bottom edge of the clouds where the sunset light hits, then layer yellow along the outer edge to express the glow of light.

3. Cloud shadow (purple)
   Darken the top and central areas of the clouds slightly to add a sense of volume. If it feels like something's missing, feel free to add another cloud for balance.

4. Dark areas of the sky (red)
   Darken the sky slightly with red in the area further from the sun, creating the contrast of a sunset that gets darker the farther it is from the light.

5. Wave Highlights and Shadows

1. Wave highlights (yellow)
   Add sparkle to the waves with loose horizontal lines of random lengths. Avoid making them too perfectly even — aim for a natural rhythm.

2. Wave shadows (dark color)
   Adding a thin shadow just "below" the yellow lines from before gives the waves a sense of rising swell.

3. Light on the sand (orange, yellow)
   Mix in a little orange and yellow on the sand too, to express the light falling on it.

4. Deepen the darkest areas (black)
   Tighten up the shadows and contrast just a touch with black. Black is strong, so keep it "light and gentle" as a rule.

6. Final Layering

Looking at the overall balance, layer a little more color onto any spots in the sky, sea, clouds, or sand that catch your eye, to deepen the color, and fully color right up to the edges of the frame to round out the finish.

Bonus: Drawing Light with an Eraser

• Stick-type eraser
  Partially erase over the wave shadows to create "white sparkle" where the light is catching. If you erase too much, adjust it back with colored pencil.

• Electric eraser
  This lets you add even finer points of light, making it easier to express the "sparkle" on the sea's surface.

Summary

And that completes it! Changing up the color combinations lets you enjoy a whole different mood of sunset. It's easy to use as a background for coloring pages too, so please give it a try. Thank you for watching — we look forward to your thoughts and requests in the comments.