• 60 ideas
  • Checked October 2026

Sun and Moon Painting Ideas

Three ideas, each a sun and moon picture, its warm and cool colors and the one step it needs.

Sun and Moon Painting Ideas

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  1. One disc painted half blazing sun, half cratered full moonOrange, yellow, pale gray, navy. Trace a plate, rule it in half and sponge the craters in two grays.
  2. Moon balanced on the tip of the sun's tallest rayYellow, orange, pale gray, teal. Paint the sun low and the crescent tilted above it.
  3. Closed-eye sun and crescent moon in profile, nose to noseOrange, yellow, pale blue, navy. Paint both shapes flat and add the faces with a liner brush.

Next step Draw more pairs of oppositesDraw a folk-art sun face

All 60 ideas

Split down the middle 15

  • Black moon sliding over a gold sun on a sky split in two Black, gold, sky blue, navy. Paint the gold disc first, then overlap a black one a finger off-center.
  • Canvas in quarters: suns and moons in opposite corners, grounds swapped Orange, yellow, navy, pale blue. Tape a cross and paint warm discs on cool squares, cool on warm.
  • Crescent moon hugging the curve of a round sun, sky split behind Orange, yellow, pale blue, navy. Trace one lid twice, the second shifted, to get the crescent.
  • Diagonal split: sun rays above the line, crescent and stars below Gold, orange, indigo, white. Tape corner to corner and dot the stars with a cotton swab.
  • Half sun and half moon meeting at a taped center line Yellow, orange, navy, white. Tape the center, paint the sun half, let it dry, then move the tape.
  • Heart split in two lobes, one a sun and one a moon Coral, yellow, violet, white. Fold paper to cut a heart stencil and paint each lobe a different sky.
  • Mountain range across both halves, sunrise at one end and moonrise at the other Peach, orange, navy, gray violet. Paint both skies, let them dry, then one dark ridge across.
  • One disc painted half blazing sun, half cratered full moon Orange, yellow, pale gray, navy. Trace a plate, rule it in half and sponge the craters in two grays.
  • Sailboat on the center line, one sail sunlit and one moonlit Yellow, white, navy, gray blue. Paint the mast on the line and one triangle sail on each side.
  • Sun above the horizon, moon as its reflection in the water below Orange, peach, navy, white. Paint the sun, then the same disc below in white with broken edges.
  • Sun half in thick warm strokes, moon half in smooth cool blends Orange, yellow, ultramarine, white. Dab the sun side thickly; blend the moon side wet with a soft brush.
  • Sun of orange dots facing a moon of pale blue dots Orange, yellow, pale blue, navy. Dot both discs with a cotton swab from the center outward.
  • Sun rays that turn into stars as they cross the center line Yellow, orange, navy, white. Pull each ray to the line, then finish it as a row of shrinking dots.
  • Two swirls chasing each other, one sun gold and one moon silver Gold, orange, silver gray, navy. Paint both spirals from the center out with one loaded flat brush.
  • Wavy split like a river, sunny bank and moonlit bank Yellow green, gold, navy, silver gray. Paint the S-curve in white first and fill each bank up to it.

Two canvases 15

  • Arc of the sun from dawn to dusk on one canvas, arc of moon phases on the other Orange, yellow, navy, white. Pencil one curve on each and trace a coin along it.
  • Canvases hung corner to corner: sunburst from one corner, moon glow from the other Yellow, orange, indigo, white. Start each from the touching corner and fade outward.
  • Gold sun on black beside a black crescent on gold Black, metallic gold. Paint one ground of each, let them dry and trace the same lid on both.
  • Half a circle on each inner edge: hung together, one sun-moon disc Yellow, orange, pale gray, navy. Push the canvases together and trace one plate across the gap.
  • One horizon line running across both canvases, sun left and moon right Orange, teal, navy, white. Lay the canvases side by side and rule the horizon across both.
  • One window painted twice: sun through the first, moon through the second Yellow, pale blue, navy, white. Rule each frame with tape and paint the sky inside it.
  • Rooster shape under the sun, owl shape under the moon Orange, red, navy, cream. Paint each sky first and the bird as one flat dark shape on a fence or branch.
  • Same hills twice: all warm colors under the sun, all cool under the moon Orange, ochre, teal, navy. Trace one hill line onto both and swap the palette.
  • The same lake at noon and at midnight Sky blue, green, navy, silver gray. Paint the noon canvas, then repeat it with every color darkened.
  • Sun canvas with rays to every edge, moon canvas with stars to every edge Yellow, orange, navy, white. Pull rays from the disc outward; dot stars with a cotton swab.
  • Sun half hidden by a white cloud on one canvas, moon by a gray cloud on the other Yellow, white, pale gray, navy. Paint each disc, then sponge the cloud across its lower half.
  • Sun in thick palette-knife strokes, moon in thin washes Orange, yellow, gray blue, white. Spread the sun with a knife; thin the moon's paint with water.
  • Sun over one bed, moon over the other: a pair for a shared room Yellow, coral, lilac, navy. Keep both discs the same size and letter a name under each.
  • Twin squares with one jar-lid disc each: sun in gold, moon in pearl gray Gold, orange, pearl gray, navy. Trace the same lid on both so the discs match when hung.
  • Two tall canvases: sun low on one, moon high on the other Peach, orange, navy, white. Blend each sky top to bottom and add the disc last.

Faces in the sun and moon 15

  • Closed-eye sun and crescent moon in profile, nose to nose Orange, yellow, pale blue, navy. Paint both shapes flat and add the faces with a liner brush.
  • Crescent moon in a nightcap beside a yawning sun Yellow, orange, pale gray, red. Paint the cap as a floppy triangle with a white pom-pom.
  • Crescent moon reading a book by a small sun lamp Navy, pale gray, yellow, orange. Glaze thin yellow over everything the lamp light touches.
  • Folk-style sun with wavy and straight rays in turn, a moon face inside its circle Mustard, brick red, navy, cream. Outline every shape in navy once the fills are dry.
  • Metallic gold sun face on deep blue with a silver moon face below Metallic gold, silver, deep blue. Paint the ground dark and matte so the metallics show.
  • Moon balanced on the tip of the sun's tallest ray Yellow, orange, pale gray, teal. Paint the sun low and the crescent tilted above it.
  • Moon pulling a cloud blanket over a dozing sun Peach, yellow, white, dusk violet. Sponge the cloud over the lower half of the sun.
  • Single front-on face, left cheek a sun and right cheek a crescent Orange, yellow, silver gray, navy. Draw one face first, then split it with a curved line.
  • Sun and moon on a seesaw made of cloud Yellow, pale gray, white, sky blue. Tilt the cloud plank so the sun sits lower.
  • Sun face in warm dots and moon face in cool dots, cheeks touching Orange, yellow, pale blue, violet. Dot both with a cotton swab and leave the eyes as bare ground.
  • Sun face the right way up, moon face upside down below it: reads either way Orange, yellow, navy, pale gray. Finish the top half, turn the canvas around and paint the other.
  • Sun in sunglasses beside a moon in a sleep mask Yellow, black, pale gray, pink. Paint both discs flat, then the glasses and mask in one dark color.
  • Sun with rays like a lion's mane, small moon peeking from behind Gold, orange, cream, navy. Pull each ray outward in one stroke and let them overlap.
  • Two faces in one circle: the crescent's profile fitted against the sun's cheek Gold, orange, silver gray, navy. Trace a plate, then draw the crescent's inner curve freehand.
  • Winking sun handing a lantern to a smiling moon at dusk Orange, violet, navy, yellow. Blend a dusk sky first; the lantern is one yellow dab with a glow.

Day sky and night sky 15

  • Beach with a sun umbrella on the day side and a lantern on the night side Sand, turquoise, navy, yellow. One shoreline crosses both halves; only the sky and water change.
  • Bird flying out of the day sky into the night sky, half lit and half in silhouette Sky blue, navy, black, orange. Paint the bird on the join, tail half orange and front half black.
  • City rooftops under a sky that is day at one end and night at the other Sky blue, orange, navy, black. Blend the sky, then paint the buildings as one black strip.
  • Clouds lit gold on one side by the sun and silver on the other by the moon White, gold, silver gray, dusk blue. Sponge the clouds white, then edge each side with its light.
  • Desert with a low sun over the left dune and a crescent over the right Orange, sand, violet, navy. Paint the dunes as overlapping curves, warm on one side, cool on the other.
  • Field of sunflowers by day on one side, the same field silver under the moon Yellow, green, navy, silver gray. Paint the day half, then mix every color with gray for the night.
  • Kite flying between a low sun and a pale half moon Sky blue, white, yellow, red. Paint the moon in thin white so the blue shows through it.
  • Lighthouse in the middle, one side sunlit and one side moonlit White, red, sky blue, navy. Paint the tower on the join and shade its night side gray.
  • One hill, two skies: blue noon on the left blending to starry night on the right Sky blue, violet, navy, green. Blend the sky wet across the middle, then add the hill.
  • Pond with the sun on one bank's water and the moon on the other, lily pads between Green, yellow, navy, white. Paint both reflections as broken discs and float the pads over the join.
  • Round sky wheel: day at the top, night at the bottom, dusk on both sides Sky blue, orange, navy, white. On a round canvas, blend around the circle like a clock face.
  • Sky fading from sunrise peach to midnight navy, sun and moon at the two ends Peach, pink, violet, navy. Work edge to edge in four bands and blend each join while wet.
  • Sun setting on one horizon while a full moon rises on the other Orange, pink, gray violet, cream. Keep the moon pale and low; its side of the sky is cooler.
  • Wave curling from a sunlit crest into a moonlit trough Turquoise, white, navy, yellow. Lighten the top of the curl and darken toward the base.
  • Window of four panes: morning, noon, dusk and night Peach, sky blue, orange, navy. Tape the frame as a cross and give each pane its own sky.

How it works

Seen from the ground, the sun and the moon are about the same size, so one jar lid traces both discs. Color sets them apart: reds through yellows are warm, blue greens through blue violets cool.

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Warm sun, cool moon

Warm colors are said to come forward in a painting and cool ones to sink back, so a gold sun looks nearer than the pale moon beside it. Orange and blue are complementary, and side by side they contrast strongly. That pairing carries most split canvases here: orange and yellow on one side of the tape, navy on the other.

Sun and moon art ideas for two canvases

Lay both canvases side by side and trace one lid on each, so the discs match when hung. For one disc shared by two canvases, push them together and trace a plate across the gap. For the same hills twice, trace one hill line onto both and swap only the palette: warm under the sun, cool under the moon.

  • Mixed wet, orange and blue dull each other toward gray. Let the sun half dry before the navy goes on beside it.
  • Stars are dotted with a cotton swab; no picture here flicks paint.

Questions and answers

What colors do I need for a sun and moon painting?

Navy is in 44 of the 60 palettes, orange in 37, yellow in 33 and white in 23. Those four cover most of the list; pale gray or silver gray is the usual fifth, for the moon.

Which sun and moon acrylic painting ideas are easiest to start with?

Half sun and half moon meeting at a taped center line: tape the middle, paint the warm half, let it dry and move the tape. Easy first pairs, under More filters, holds 21.

How do you paint a sun and moon with faces?

Paint both shapes flat, let them dry and add the features with a liner brush. Closed-eye sun and crescent moon in profile, nose to nose is the plainest of the 15 faces; Sun in sunglasses beside a moon in a sleep mask is the silliest.

How do you paint day and night on one canvas?

Blend the sky from one edge to the other. Sky fading from sunrise peach to midnight navy, sun and moon at the two ends works in four bands, each join blended while the paint is wet.

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