Creating a pastel watercolor sunset sky with soft, dreamy clouds is both exciting and wonderfully relaxing.
As Kerrilyn Cheah often shares with her students, capturing the gentle colors of a sunset is one of the most soothing exercises in watercolor.
In this tutorial, Kerrilyn Cheah will guide you through the entire process—from setting up your materials to adding those final, magical touches.
Whether you’re new to watercolor or a seasoned artist, this step-by-step lesson will help you create a stunning piece that beautifully reflects the calm and charm of a sunset sky. Let’s get started!
Contents
Materials the Artist Will Need
Before the painting begins, the artist shares the exact tools and materials used. Having the correct setup makes everything easier.
Paper Selection
The artist uses a 300gsm cold press, 100% cotton watercolor paper. The texture and absorbency are ideal for the wet-on-wet technique.
For this project, the artist chooses Canson Moulin du Roy and tapes the paper down on all four sides to keep it flat during painting.
Brushes for the Painting
Let’s talk about brushes next. The artist uses three brushes in this painting:
- A Hake brush to wet the surface.
- A size 12 sable brush (works like a mop brush).
- A smaller size 8 brush for detailed strokes later on.
A mop brush can also be used—the important thing is that the brushes hold enough water and paint for smooth blending.
Paints and Palette Setup
The artist prepares all colors ahead of time to save time while painting:
- Indigo
- Turquoise
- Light blue
- Naples yellow
- Cadmium yellow orange
- Red
Later, a bit of purple and orange is also used.
Warm and cool colors are prepared on different sections of the palette to keep them clean.
Water Setup
The artist prepares two glasses of clean water—one for cool colors and one for warm colors.
This simple step keeps colors fresh and prevents them from turning muddy.
Layer One: Building the Base Sky
With everything ready, it’s time to paint the first layer. This part is all about laying down colors while the paper is still wet.
Prepping the Paper
The artist begins by using a Hake brush to wet the entire surface of the paper, ensuring every spot is fully covered and glossy.
There should be no dry patches. Tilting the paper under the light helps check for an even shine.
This step is important because it allows the colors to flow and blend smoothly. The artist takes time here—it sets the stage for a soft, dreamy sky.
Mixing and Laying Out Colors
With the paper thoroughly wet, the artist begins laying down the base colors. This step moves quickly, so the paints are prepared in advance.
Cool colors—indigo, turquoise, and light blue—are mixed first for the top of the sky.
Warm colors—Naples yellow, cadmium yellow-orange, and red—are mixed next.
A generous amount is prepared beforehand to avoid stopping while the paper dries, which could leave harsh marks.
The paper is lightly rewetted, and the artist begins with indigo at the top, then transitions into turquoise, then into light blue.
More water is added to the brush when moving downward for a softer look.
Naples yellow is dropped in to warm the lower parts of the clouds. Additional soft yellow highlights are added with a clean brush.
The brush is washed thoroughly before returning to blue tones—this prevents muddy color.
Next comes red. The artist follows the reference and adds red where needed, mixing red and blue to create soft purples.
Purple is allowed to flow downward naturally by rotating the paper slightly, giving the sky a dreamy movement.
Add orange to certain areas
The paper remains wet enough to work in some cloud shapes. The artist paints red in the cloud forms, adds yellow for highlights, lifts out areas with a clean brush, and drops in more yellow.
As the paper begins to dry, a bit more purple is added using a dry-brush method—less water, more pigment—for stronger defined marks.
Once the first layer is complete, the entire sheet is dried with a hair dryer.
Layer Two: Defining the Clouds and Adding Shadows
With the first layer completely dry, the artist is ready to move on to the second one. But before starting, the artist makes sure to change the water.
Fresh water helps keep the colors clean, which is especially important at this stage.
The artist gently wets the entire paper just like in the first layer, using a Hague brush this time because it has soft bristles that don’t disturb the dry base underneath.
That’s important—the smooth blend from the first layer must remain untouched.
Once the paper is wet, the artist begins working on the darker values to define the shadows in the clouds. Purple is used first, followed by a bit of red to deepen the tones.
The artist also paints a small cloud near the top and lets some red flow out. At this point, the reference photo is no longer followed strictly. Intuition guides the process.
Color is added wherever the painting seems to need more contrast or detail. It becomes a more creative stage—less technical, more personal.
The artist also pays attention to the moisture of the paper. As it starts to dry, it becomes clear that the session must wrap up soon. The bottom area is darkened slightly for balance.
That’s it for the second layer. The painting is given a final dry.
And that completes the dreamy sunset sky painting.
Final Thoughts
The artist reflects on the enjoyment of painting this soft pastel sunset sky. Using the wet-on-wet technique, smooth blends and dreamy clouds were created step by step.
With the right tools, careful layering, and a sense of intuition, any sky can be brought to life. Continued practice, playfulness, and creativity will guide each new brushstroke.