Ella Walter
Creating a sunrise background with pan pastels can be a rewarding and enjoyable experience. With the right tools and techniques, you can achieve beautiful and dramatic results. The process involves building up layers of colours such as blues, purples, oranges, and yellows to capture the vibrant and illuminating qualities of a sunrise. PanPastel Ultra Soft Pastels, for instance, offer a range of colours suitable for sunrise and sunset scenes. The immediate gratification of applying colours with pastels and their ability to be layered opaquely over previous applications allows for a sequential and controlled approach to developing your sunrise background.
Characteristics and Values Table for Creating a Sunrise Background with Pan Pastels
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Colors | Blue, White, Orange, Yellow, Purple, Pink, Green, Black |
| Tools | Pastel pencils, blending stump, Sofft knife, pastel paper |
| Techniques | Layering, blending, smoothing, multiple layers of colors for strong contrast |
| Elements | Sky, clouds, sun, horizon, trees, flowers |
| Style | Retro |
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What You'll Learn
Start with a base of orange, yellow and blue
To create a sunrise background with pan pastels, starting with a base of orange, yellow, and blue, follow these steps:
Start by covering the surface quickly with a base application of orange, yellow, and blue. You can use PanPastels for this initial step. Apply the colours to the lower portion of the sky, leaving more yellow and orange at the bottom and allowing the blue to transition to lighter shades towards the top of the sky. This will create a sense of movement and realism, capturing the subtle shifts in colour that occur during sunrise.
Next, you can begin to build up the colours, adding in other shades to create depth and contrast. Complement the warm tones of orange and yellow with cool tones like purple and soft green. You can also add in darker shades of blue at the top of the sky, blending with your finger to smooth the transitions and create a gradient effect.
To capture the glowing effect of the rising sun, start with a soft yellow or orange base and gently blend in lighter hues towards the centre. Gradually add touches of white to create a luminous glow. This technique will make the sun appear to burst forth from the canvas.
Finally, you can add in silhouettes of objects in the foreground, such as trees or birds, to frame the rising sun and add visual interest. Don't forget that light and shadow are vital components of a sunrise painting, so experiment with different lighting effects to bring life to your artwork.
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Layer and blend colours
When creating a sunrise background with pan pastels, layering and blending colours is essential to achieving a realistic and visually appealing result. Here are some detailed instructions to guide you through the process:
Start by choosing the right colours for your sunrise palette. Select shades that complement each other and reflect the warm and vibrant hues of the sunrise. Yellows, oranges, light creams, and light purples are ideal for creating a soft and dreamy sunrise effect. You can also incorporate blues to capture the transitioning sky as it moves from predawn twilight to the first rays of sunlight.
Begin with a base layer to establish the foundation of your sunrise scene. Apply colours like ultramarine, orange, and yellow to the lower portion of the sky, using PanPastels to quickly cover the surface. This initial layer sets the tone and provides a base for the subsequent colours.
Build up the colours gradually, adding multiple layers to create depth and contrast. Apply light purples, blues, and oranges, blending them gently with your finger or a blending stump for a smooth transition between hues. This gradual layering technique helps to intensify the light and create a sense of depth in your sunrise sky.
To enhance the illusion of light and make the colours pop, incorporate strong contrast. Use darker grays in the shadowed areas of clouds to deepen the value and strengthen the value contrast. You can also add touches of yellow-green to soften the darkness and create a more nuanced colour palette.
Finally, make any necessary adjustments to perfect your sunrise sky. Intensify the light by adding additional applications of orange, yellow, and light cream. A few strokes of light cream can also represent breaks in the clouds, allowing the morning sunlight to shine through. Remember, you can always adjust colours once they are on the surface, so feel free to experiment and make changes until you achieve the desired effect.
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Create contrast with light and dark
When creating a sunrise background with pan pastels, contrast is a crucial element that adds visual interest and draws the viewer's eye. Here are some tips to create contrast with light and dark values:
Start with a light base layer: Begin your sunrise painting by laying down a light base layer. This can be achieved by using light colours such as yellow, orange, or cream. This step is important because it helps establish the foundation for the subsequent darker tones.
Gradually build up with darker tones: After the light base layer is in place, start adding darker tones gradually. This step is key to creating depth in your sky and landscape. Use colours like dark blues, purples, and grays to build up the darker areas of the sky and clouds. Remember to leave some areas of the light base layer visible to create a sense of luminosity and contrast.
Layering and glazing: Create a luminous effect and enhance the brightness of the sunrise by layering colours and using glazing techniques. Glazing involves building up transparent layers to intensify colours gradually. This technique helps to achieve a smooth transition between light and dark values, creating a sense of movement and realism in your artwork.
Use light and shadow: Incorporate light and shadow into your sunrise painting to capture the interplay of light and darkness during this magical time of day. Observe how the rising sun casts long, dramatic shadows that interact with the warm hues of the sky. Experiment with different lighting effects to bring your painting to life.
Experiment with pastel pencils: Pastel pencils offer a different approach to traditional soft pastels due to their lower pigmentation. When using pastel pencils, it is generally recommended to start with the dark colours and then layer the light colours on top. This allows you to create a range of effects, from smooth transitions to sharp contrasts between light and dark.
Consider your painting surface: The colour of your painting surface can also impact the contrast between light and dark. Artist James Kasperek, for example, often works on a black surface, building up his pastel paintings from dark to light. This approach allows the black of the paper to serve as the darkest darks, creating a striking contrast with the lighter pastel colours applied on top.
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Use a pastel pencil for detail
To create a sunrise background with pan pastels, pastel pencils can be used for detail. Pastel pencils have a thin pastel stick inside their wooden casing, which makes them easier to control, cleaner to use, and less likely to break and crumble like a soft pastel stick.
When using pastel pencils, it is important to keep them sharp, especially when working on detailed areas. This is because pastel pencils rely on producing fine detail, and a sharp pencil will make it easier to work with darker colours. For example, when applying whiskers to an animal portrait, a sharp white pastel pencil can be used to draw over other dark colours. If the white pencil is blunt, the task will be more difficult and the end result may not be as neat.
When sharpening pastel pencils, it is recommended to use a single-edge safety razor blade or craft knife, as pencil sharpeners can lead to the leads cracking and getting stuck inside the sharpener. To sharpen a pastel pencil with a knife, hold the pencil with your thumb and use the knife to carefully carve into the wood, starting above where the colour strip ends. Always sharpen pastel pencils slowly and away from yourself. For a very fine point, use sandpaper after sharpening. Hold the paper with one hand and lightly twist the side of the pencil onto the sandpaper, keeping the pencil at a 10-15 degree angle from the surface. Rotate the pencil for an even finish.
When using pastel pencils, it is best to work from light to dark colours. This is because pastel pencils never dry and are translucent, so working from light to dark will create a more effective colour build-up. It is also important to avoid using too many colours, as this can lead to a "muddy" appearance. Instead, layer one colour onto another to produce a strong contrast, which will help to heighten the illusion of light in a sunrise.
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Add clouds and sky
To add clouds and sky to your sunrise pastel drawing, you can follow these steps:
Start by creating a base for your sky with blues, purples, and oranges. These colours provide a strong colour contrast and enhance the illusion of light in the background. You can apply these colours with PanPastels to cover the surface quickly and build up the landscape sequentially, starting with the background and then moving towards the middle ground and foreground.
Next, add depth and dimension to your clouds by using light purples, blues, and oranges. Apply darker greys to the shadowed areas of larger clouds to create value contrast. You can gently blend the colours with your finger or use a blending stump for more detailed areas and added control.
To intensify the light source, add additional applications of orange, yellow, and light cream. Use a light touch to apply a few strokes of light cream to indicate breaks within the clouds. You can also use a white pastel pencil to lighten values closest to the light source, creating a soft focus lens flare effect.
Finally, complete the image by adding stronger applications of orange to the bottom of the clouds. This will help to enhance the warm tones of the sunrise and create a sense of depth and drama in your drawing.
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Frequently asked questions
Blues, purples, oranges, and yellows are the best colours to use for a sunrise background.
You can apply pan pastels with opaque applications, layering colours on top of each other.
You can gently blend pan pastel colours with your finger or use a blending stump for more detailed areas.
You can create strong contrast by adding multiple layers of colour and using silhouetted elements in the middle ground and foreground to enhance the lighter tones in the sky.
Yes, there are pan pastel sets specifically designed for creating sunrise and sunset backgrounds, such as the Blue Knight Rubber Stamps set, which includes seven colours and a blending tool kit.
