Sunsets are a favorite subject for landscape painters because of their dramatic beauty and color. Learning to paint a sunset isn't hard, but producing one that doesn't look like it belongs on the wall next to a hotel bathroom isn't as easy as you might expect. Sunsets may appear generic or unimpressive if care and thought isn't put into the piece. As with most things, practice will improve the quality of your product. The more you paint, the better your paintings will become.
Instructions
1. Select a picture of a sunset to work from or, better yet, set up your materials where you'll have an excellent view of a real sunset. Sunsets are ubiquitous in nature, so producing one from memory or imagination isn't hard for most people. However, working from an image of a real sunset is recommended because imagined sunsets, when painted, tend to look generic.
2. Sketch onto the canvas the approximate location of the sunset and whatever large objects may appear in the foreground.
3. Working quickly (because acrylic paint will dry very fast) lay down a light, quick wash of warm tones where the sun is setting on the horizon. Acrylic paint is water soluble, so you may thin down the paint with water if desired.
This wash will be primarily warm tones, with an intense spot of white-yellow where the sun is over the horizon (or on the spot over the horizon where the sun just set, depending). As the wash gets farther away from the sun itself, the tones will become cooler and darker, moving from yellow to orange, orange to pink or red, then to violet and blue. Apply as fast as possible in order to blend the colors appropriately, and always refer to the sunset in front of you when putting down the paint. Paint what you see, not what you think you see.
4. Apply a dark wash over the objects in the foreground, which will mostly be in silhouette. This means that most of what you see will be either black, brown or dark blue, or highlighted in certain areas, depending on particulars of the location and the position of the sun.
5. Now the entire canvas should be lightly painted, all the way to the edges. With a flat brush, begin to apply a thicker coat of paint. Use long strokes. Don't be afraid to apply several layers. This may be especially necessary with acrylic because of its fast drying time.
You may need to use a lot of water to blend the tones of the sky appropriately. Solidify the edges of the clouds where appropriate. Puffy clouds will be more textured than the relatively smooth colors of the sky, so allow your paint brush to work in smaller strokes, and use a smaller, pointed brush. Some clouds will stand in stark contrast to the rest of the sky, whereas other clouds will be more wispy. The wispier clouds may require a flat brush.
6. Apply a harder edge to the line of the horizon where the land meets the sky, then a thicker coat of paint over the land in silhouette. Again, use longer strokes and a flat brush, but use a fine pointed brush for the edges and thinner lines of highlighted detail.
7. When you've finished your sunset for the time being, step away for a while and return later to fix any issues and add any extra details. This will give you a fresh perspective.
