Guidelines for Creating Vibrant Sunsets/Sunrises in Art, Featuring Exemplary Masterpieces to Inspire You
Top notch sunset (and sunrise) artwork never fails to impress me. During these hours of the day, the divide between light and dark becomes more prominent, the finer details start to fade, and all sorts of colorful shades come to play.
This post will delve into the steps involved in crafting a gorgeous sunset painting, showcasing some celebrated masterpieces as well. Let's dive in!
Step 1 - Scan the Light Source
The initial move in creating an eye-catching sunset painting is observation. More specifically, you need to figure out the lighting situation at hand.
- Where's the light coming from (where's the sun positioned)?
- Is there a lot of direct sunlight or just some?
- Is there lots of diffused light (bouncing around in the scene)?
- Are there any clouds (that might dilute the light)?
Every sunset has its own unique twist depending on the conditions, so it's essential to observe all the elements and not make assumptions. For example, generally, the color temperature in a sunset is warm; however, it could be a stormy day, and the clouds may be diluting all the light, creating a more overall cool temperature.
In the reference picture below, the light is coming straight at us and is low on the horizon. This creates silhouettes of any objects (the boats and land). The clouds diffuse much of the light and spread it across the scene.
Step 2 - Build a Solid Platform for Highlights
The next phase in creating an aesthetically pleasing sunset artwork is laying a solid foundation in order to showcase the highlights (usually the sunlight itself).
Why is this crucial?
Because you can't actually paint light. That's just one of the limitations of pigments. Yet, with clever utilization of the tools at our disposal, we can create a reasonably accurate representation of light.
It's all about relativity.
Since we can't hit the brightness of sunlight, we may need to emphasize the dullness and darkness of the surrounding area. By doing this, we can boost the sunlight in our painting.
This is why it's important to lay a solid foundation for the highlights in sunset paintings. Without it, you'll never be able to accurately portray the sunlight you're trying to depict. It will always seem weak and lifeless.
Here's a quote I once heard from an artist: "You must earn your highlights." I'm not exactly sure who said it, but I'll give credit if I ever find out.
Step 3 - Add the Brilliant Highlights
In my opinion, one of the most enthralling aspects of painting sunsets is the challenge of capturing the evasive sunlight with the same intensity and brilliance. In a way, this is something I could never fully achieve. But we can come pretty close if we lay down a solid foundation of darks and mid-tones.
A few tips for the highlights:
- More intensity often equals more power than mere lightness. Be mindful of how much white you're adding to your highlights. The more white you add, the less saturated your colors will be.
- Try using a palette knife to apply the highlights in an impasto fashion. This contrasts nicely against a soft foundation of darks and mid-tones.
- Sometimes less is more with the highlights. The perfect highlights could be nothing more than a thin streak of orange to indicate light peeking through clouds.
A Word on Architecture
The tips in this post primarily apply to landscapes and seascapes. If you want to paint a cityscape at sunset, then your painting will be much more complex.
At sunset, there's a sharp contrast between the lights and the darks, and long shadows are cast on any objects. When architectural elements are involved, the light source may create a complex arrangement of light and shadow, which could be challenging to render.
Try not to get hung up on the details and do your best to generalize all the shapes. Here's an example of painting a cityscape at sunset:
For Watercolorists
One advantage of oil painting (and acrylics to an extent) is the ability to achieve rich and deep darks and mid-tones. This allows for stunning sunset paintings. However, with watercolors, your darks and mid-tones may not be nearly as strong.
That's not to say you can't create stunning sunsets with watercolors, but it might require a different approach to what's suggested in this post. Here are some examples by renowned watercolorist Winslow Homer:
Master Pieces
Here's one of Vincent van Gogh's simpler paintings. There's a general haze in the scene as the light is diffused by the clouds. Observe the sharp contrast between the vivid sun and the rest of the artwork, which is mainly in the mid to low-value range.
Here's a more complex and vibrant painting by Vincent van Gogh. I love the contrast between the dull violets and saturated yellows.
This is a very basic painting by Renoir that demonstrates some striking use of color and vibrant brushwork.
This is one of my favorite sunset paintings by Mykola Yaroshenko (another brilliant Russian artist). There must be something in the water over at Russia that allows them to produce so many amazing artists.
Check out more of his work here.
This is a beautiful demonstration of using a narrow value range and relying only on subtle changes in tone to create the illusion of form.
In this painting, John Grimshaw uses a sharp contrast in value to draw attention to the sunset. He also includes a high level of detail even in the darker areas (which is not easy to do).
Here's an example of creating a very tranquil painting using high-key colors. The high-key colors create an almost glimmering effect, especially when contrasted against the dark foreground.
On the other hand, here's an example of using a bolder color palette:
There's a beautiful contrast here between the saturated reds and the very dull green-grays.
Frederic Church painted some incredibly realistic paintings. In this painting, the yellow almost glows as it's nestled between the dark clouds and land.
This is a beautifully soft painting by Claude Monet. It's painted in a generally high-key, with a pleasing balance between warm and cool colors. The sun is a much higher saturation than the colors in the rest of the artwork.
Not every sunset painting needs to be warm and dramatic. Here's a relatively cool and gloomy sunset, with a mix of green and blue-grays contrasting against the yellows of the sunlight.
Observe how Claude Monet uses more detail in the foreground compared to the background to create a sense of depth.
Here is one of Claude Monet's most dramatic paintings. A far cry from his harmonious paintings of water lilies:
This is perhaps the most vibrant painting in this post. The highly saturated reds and yellows contrast sharply against the black in the foreground. This is a simple but effective composition that showcases the strength of color.
Finally, here are two very warm landscape paintings by the great Albert Bierstadt. As usual, he painted these with an amazing level of detail.
Demonstration
If you're seeking a sunset painting demonstration, check out the video on YouTube: "How I Painted This Striking Sunset", or its written version here.
Learn More?
You might be interested in my Painting Academy course. I'll walk you through the tried-and-true fundamentals of painting, perfect for beginners to intermediate artists.
Cheers!
I hope you enjoyed reading this post, and I hope you found it helpful. Share it with friends!
Happy painting!
Dan Scott
Draw Paint Academy
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- The use of oil painting can create rich and deep darks and mid-tones, which are essential for achieving stunning sunset paintings, as demonstrated by renowned artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Frederic Church.
- Landscape paintings, like acrylic and oil sunset paintings, can showcase lifestyle and home-and-garden elements by embedding them in the setting, enhancing the overall impact and immersing the viewer in the scene, as exemplified in paintings by artists like Mykola Yaroshenko and Claude Monet.
