Preparation

Prime the MDF board with three coats of Jackson’s gesso primer, then brown and black poster paint to the final coat to give a nice pink-grey mid tone on which to work.

It’s much easier to judge tonal values on a mid-toned surface, which also reduces glare on a bright sunny day.

Initial drawing

Set out the initial design with a couple of pastel pencils. Pastels can be wiped out easily if you change your mind and your initial lines disappear quickly once you begin painting.

Begin with a very pale grey to out the main shapes, then develop the drawing, working carefully from left to right, beginning with the beach hut furthest away and completing all the main shapes before moving on to the next one. Use a slightly darker brown pastel pencil for this.

Paint the sky using a mix of ultramarine and cerulean blue with titanium white.

Then mix grey for the clouds from burnt umber, ultramarine blue and titanium white, varying the quantities of each accordingly.

To create a nice cool grey, add more ultramarine blue and for a warm grey add more burnt umber.

Work from the left and paint the fragment of beach hut at the far left, adding a little alizarin crimson to the grey mix to create a pink-grey.

The brown beach hut follows with an orange mix of cadmium yellow, alizarin crimson and white, applied to its front faces. Use burnt umber, crimson and a little cadmium yellow mixes for the areas in shadow.

Move onto the H-shaped parts of the balcony painting a blue and brown mix for the sides in shadow and a lighter orange mix for the areas catching the sun.

Use the grey mix again to block in the roofs of the beach huts and vary a few areas a little with additions of white and crimson.

Move onto the two blue huts, painting the areas catching the sun with white first before moving onto the areas in shadow.

Use a lighter grey mix for the shadow areas varied with additions of crimson in places.

Use cerulean blue lightened with white to paint the parts catching the sun, such as the panels, stripes and fascia boards. This greenish shade of blue gives a nice contrast to the purple blues used in the sky.

Use a deeper shade of blue mixed from cerulean and ultramarine for the stripes on the side of the middle hut.

Block in the steps and areas under the beach huts using a Rigger and black mixed from all the darkest colours: ultramarine blue, burnt umber, alizarin crimson and phthalo green.

Add the stripes on the side of the right-hand beach hut using a Rigger.

Then added a little white to the mix for the edges of the steps.

The finished painting

Beach Huts in Summer, acrylic, (40.5x51cm)

To complete the painting suggest the gravel beach by using a large bristle filbert and a dryish mix of burnt umber and white, dragged and scumbled across the surface.

Then add a slightly darker mix using a smaller brush and finally add any lighter marks.

Paul Alcock studied at Camberwell School of Art and is now based in Southend on Sea, Essex, where he works as an artist and teacher. Paul runs workshops for Watershed Studio, Old Bank Studios, Old School Studio and Art and Craft Days.

Visit www.paulalcock.co.uk for details.

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