How to draw the Northern Lights: create your own beauty

The most beautiful natural phenomena that attract a person’s eye include the northern lights. This colored "curtain" created by the Earth, the Sun and the air, has a bewitching effect, plunges a person into a state of aesthetic trance, bewitched. Most people are not able to see it with their own eyes. Therefore, we offer to draw the northern lights on your own and have the opportunity to admire it, whenever you want.

How to draw the northern lights with a pencil in stages?

Perhaps the most painstaking way of depicting the northern lights is to draw with pencils, because you have to hatch a lot and evenly. Aurora borealis can be represented with a simple pencil. In this case, all emphasis will be based on the intensity of the shade of gray, with which you can visually detect the color transition. How to draw the northern lights with a pencil in stages in color, see below.

1. Aurora borealis consists of zigzag or smoother wavy lines of different colors - from shades of blue to red. At the same time, the dark sky background, on which the radiance stands out, is of great importance.
2. First, you should depict the main lines of radiance with any of the selected colors. Usually it is blue, blue or turquoise. The lines should be long and go in one selected direction, for example, from the center to the upper right corner.
3. Then gradually add lines of other colors: yellow, green, orange. It is better to change the color intensity with a stronger pressure of the pencil. This will create the effect of transfusion and a smooth transition of shades.
4. The main part of the sheet will be occupied by the sky. To do this, it should be carefully shaded in dark blue or black. It is important that the edges of the northern lights stand out against the sky with lighter tones.

We draw the northern lights in oil

Before you paint the northern lights with oil, you need to collect the necessary materials and tools: oil paints, canvas, paint thinner, brushes, palette. Since oil is distinguished by its dense texture, all manipulations with mixing colors and finding the right shade are best done on the palette. So, a variant of the image of the northern lights using oil paints:

• mix white and green colors on the palette until a light green or turquoise (with the addition of blue);
• with the resulting shade, depict the necessary position of the northern lights on the canvas, do it better with hatching lines;
• mix dark blue, blue and green until a very dark indigo is obtained and shade the top of the sky with it;
• gradually brightening the color to blue and light purple, fill them with the middle and lower part of the sky;
• mix a light green shade with white and designate the center of the northern lights - its radiant part should turn out;
• with a dry brush to blend the borders of the northern lights - they should smoothly pass into the tone of the sky;
• to create the effect of color dispersion, the lower part of the northern lights must be shaded with vertical short strokes;
• the lower glow is painted with a mixture of white and yellow, the deepening of the radiance with purple, the bright highlights with white;
• at the end, white paint is sprayed in small drops on the entire canvas to represent the stars.

How to draw the northern lights in watercolor in stages?

Using watercolors to depict the northern sowing is easier than other methods. After all, they allow you to make the most smooth transition between colors and achieve the desired shades. Next - how to draw the northern lights in watercolor. Stages:

• work will be carried out on a black or dark blue sheet of paper; if this is not the case, the ordinary sheet should be tinted with an appropriate color and allowed to dry;
• with smooth movements, without taking their hands off the drawing, draw the northern lights in the main color (blue, azure or blue);
• in the same way, gradually add other colors for the northern lights (yellow, green, red, white), and it is desirable that the transition between the shades is smooth - for this, the paint at the joints can be more abundantly diluted with water;
• blend with a mixture of the main color with the white edge of the northern lights.

Tips & Tricks

Before you draw the northern lights, it is better to get a photo and a picture that will depict the desired picture. After all, this phenomenon can be more or less colorful, include additional elements (stars, horizon) or not.

To work with watercolor paints, you can take sponge from foam rubber, which is convenient to shade the color or fill the main part of the sheet with a shade. It is also much faster and more uniform.

To paint stars, you can use a regular, unnecessary toothbrush, which will distribute the paint in separate thin drops.

And finally: before you draw the northern lights, you should decide on the place where it is better to put a picture. An ideal option would be a zone intended for reflection (study, for example) or psychological relief. Such a pattern will contribute to this.