Let’s draw a vibrant sun to brighten your day!
Julia – one of our museum volunteers – shares how she imagines adding some personality and color to the sun in her latest drawing. We hope it inspires some creativity as you make your own vibrant sun at home.
Gather your tools!
You’ll need:
- Sketchbook or some paper
- Colorful drawing instruments, such as marker or colored pencils
- Imagination
Note: Julia typically first sketches her fish with a pencil, then outlines with an illustrator pen (both 0.1 and 0.5 point). She adds color using some of Tombow acidfree water-based markers.
Draw!
First, grab your sketchbook – a notebook works, too – and your colored pencils or markers. Settle into a comfy space, then tap into your imagination and start drawing.
If you are having difficulty getting started, you might look at some books or websites with illustrations of suns. Ask yourself:
- What kind of sun will I draw? Is it a morning or evening sun?
- Where is this sun located? In space, shining down on Earth or in a fantasy world?
- How does this sun look (silly, serious, warm, colorful)?
- What kind of rays (if any) does my sun have? Are they bright, sparkly, geometical?
- What’s my sun’s personality? Does it reflect on his/her face or in the background scene?
- Are there other items to include in your sunny scene?
Remember, you should draw your sun the way you imagine it. And don’t worry about it looking “perfect” – focus on having fun.
Tip: If your child gets frustrated because his/her drawing doesn’t look a certain way, you might share the book Ish by Peter H. Reynolds. We love that the main character discovers the fun in creating after realizing his art doesn’t need to look exactly like the thing he was trying to draw. Ish is awesome!
About our volunteer
Julia is a student at Arizona State University studying biology. She draws to relax and think. You might find her at the museum helping at an event, but she’s often behind the scenes helping input data and prepping sample artworks for marketing events.