How to Draw a Sunset With Markers? (Step-by-step Pictures)

Step 1: Draw the horizon line

This is where the sky and sea meet. Simply draw a straight line across your paper. Enlist the help of a ruler.

Step 2: Draw in mountains

Next, create some mountains with curved lines to make them look more natural, starting near the center of the horizontal line and working your way outward. The mountains can range in height.

Step 3: Add the sun

Now, draw the sun. It should be an enclosed circle, with the bottom touching the horizontal line you drew in the first step.

Part of it is supposed to be concealed by the horizon line. You can draw a full circle, then erase the lower part.

Step 4: Add the sun’s reflection

Once you have the sun, add its reflection in the sea. The best way to do this is to use shading strokes. It would look like an upside-down triangle. Together, the sun and reflection resemble an ice cream cone.

Step 5: Draw palm trees

To take your sunset simple drawing up a notch, draw in some palm trees. You can have them emerge from the mountains you have drawn earlier. Add pairs of curved lines for the leaves.

Step 6: Draw in birds and ripples

Add in smaller details, like birds and ripples in the sea. You can draw a curvy upside-down W or a 3 lying on its side for the birds. Make sure it is not too big.

For the ripples, make wavy lines. There should not be too many details, though. You do not want to clutter up your drawing and distract from the sunset.

Step 7: Color everything

Up until now, you have been doing your drawing of a sunset in pencil. But it will only be completed with colors. So, go ahead and fill in your easy sunset with markers, crayons, or colored pencils.

The typical sunset colors are yellow, orange, red, and purple. The sea can be different shades of blue. The mountains, palm trees, and birds are backlit, so they should be black.

Step 1: Sketch the meadow

Begin by outlining a meadow at the bottom. Draw a wavy line about ⅙ of the page.

Step 2: Sketch the sunset

Then, sketch a sunset. Make a semi-circle, with the edge touching the meadow outline you previously drew. It should look like the sun is half hidden by the grass.

Step 3: Add a tree

Next, draw a tree on the side of the page. Give it several branches to make it more realistic. Have the leaves extend over the semi-circle, like an arch.

Use swirling circles for the leaves or lay down feather strokes. If you are working with Crayola markers, the former will be easier. The latter is preferable if you are using brush pens.

Step 4: Color the meadow and tree

Color in the meadow and the rest of the tree with black. As you fill in the meadow, add feathered strokes to the top to mirror the grass. Do not make these strokes too uniformed to ensure that they look realistic.

Step 5: Add some birds

Add in a few birds on the side opposite to the tree. You can draw thin, wide Ms; each M will be a bird. Be sure to also use black for these.

Step 6: Complete with colors

Complete your beginner sunset drawing with colors. Use yellow, orange, and red. The sun should be yellow, while the sky should be a gradient of orange to red. Go from light to dark, from bottom to top.

For this, you can draw a sunset background drawing. The focus will be more on coloring.

Step 1: Sketch the city skyline

First, draw a city skyline. Add several vertical rectangles of different heights across the page. Use a ruler to make sure they are all straight. These will be the buildings of the city.

Step 2: Fill the city skyline in with black

You can spruce up the buildings with triangle and circle tops if you want. Then, fill them in with black. When you are done, they will look like silhouettes.

Step 3: Color the sky

Now, grab your colored markers. We recommend using Copics, as they can be blended easily. Pick out yellow, orange, red, pink, purple, and blue.

Layer these colors on your paper using horizontal strokes. Start with yellow at the bottom, then proceed through to blue. Blend the colored layers for natural, seamless transitions. You can use a colorless blender or some rubbing alcohol for the blending.

In this Copic marker sunset drawing, the colors demonstrate the sun setting. However, if you want to have the actual sun in your work, consider something like this:

You would repeat the same first step as above. But instead of layering several colors, you just use one orange color for the background. Add a circle for the sun behind the buildings. Again, the circle will not be fully round, as parts of it are hidden by the city skyline.

There you have it! Three easy drawings of a sunset!