How to Paint a Cloudy Sunset in Watercolor
The key to painting a cloudy sunset in watercolor is keeping the sky bright. Let the bright orange sky dry completely before you paint any clouds, so the color stays vivid and the clouds do not muddy it.
Why This Matters
In a sunset or sunrise painting, the sky should be the brightest part of the piece, and it is easy to muddy the bright orange where the sunset glow is meant to be. Leaving that orange bright and letting it dry fully before you go in with any clouds keeps the glow clean.
The same idea shapes the rest of the painting. Because the sky needs to be the brightest part, everything else, including the grass and the foreground, is dulled down a little. The dark color of the clouds can come from mixing a blue with a red, so a small palette goes a long way. This piece used only four colors.
Keep the sky the brightest part of the painting, and let the bright orange dry completely before you paint any clouds.
Try This
- Paint the bright orange of the sunset sky and keep it bright.
- Let it dry completely before you add any clouds.
- Mix the dark color of the clouds from a blue and a red.
- Dull down the grass and the foreground a little, so the sky stays the brightest part.
Want to Go Deeper?
If you'd like help planning the clouds before you paint them, you may find this related Quick Tip helpful. It shows how to sketch clouds in perspective using a simple grid, which is the step that comes before painting them:
How to Sketch Clouds for Watercolor Using a One-Point Perspective Grid
Ready to Keep Building Your Color Mixing Skills?
The dark clouds in this painting come from mixing a blue and a red, and the Free Color Mixing Workshop is a good place to keep building your color mixing skills.
👉 Join the Free Color Mixing Workshop
If you're curious about my overall approach to teaching watercolor, you can find that on my about page.
