Sunset Coloring Pages

• Beach sunsets: the sun half sunk in the ocean, with a path of light across the waves.
• Palm trees: leaning trunks and fronds drawn as dark shapes against the sky.
• Mountains and lakes: the sun dropping behind a ridge, repeated in the water below.
• Desert: a tall cactus in front of a huge low sun.
• City skylines: towers in outline, with rows of windows to light up.
• Savanna: a flat-topped tree and a giraffe at dusk.
• Boats and piers: a sailboat crossing the sun, or a pier running out toward it.

A sunset sky moves from warm colors near the sun to cool colors high above. Work in bands, and let each band overlap the next.

1. Yellow around the sun and along the horizon. Leave the sun itself white or the palest yellow, since it's the brightest thing on the page.
2. Orange above the yellow. Color lightly back over the top edge of the yellow so the two mix.
3. Pink or red above the orange, blended the same way.
4. Purple, then dark blue at the very top of the page.

With colored pencils, use light pressure and several layers. With crayons, color in small circles and rub the seams with a tissue.

Clouds at sunset are lit from below. Color their undersides bright orange or pink and their tops gray-purple. Water repeats the sky upside down, so put a stripe of yellow and orange straight under the sun.

Anything standing in front of a sunset turns into a silhouette. Color palm trees, boats, birds and hills solid black or very dark purple.

Why is a sunset red at all? When the sun is low, its light crosses much more air to reach you. The air scatters the blue light away, and mostly orange and red get through.