1. Begin by covering the canvas with dioxazine purple, which is an excellent base colour, as it provides tonal depth and warmth.

2. While the canvas is still wet, use a damp brush to lift out the basic composition.

3. Allow this to dry before blocking in the first light of the dawn sky.

4. Use only a slight dilution of the tonally softer tinting (pearling) white to paint the mass of the sky. This provides a heavy-body covering into which you can add and mix colours for a longer time.

Working with pastel lemon, pastel coral, pastel mist, pastel Arctic blue, cerulean blue and a touch of dioxazine purple, jaune brilliant and tinting white begin adding the soft and light colours of dawn. At this stage you are just establishing the palette.

1. Block in and form the large trees to the left of the view using jaune brilliant mixed with pastel lemon.

2. The distant fields were painted with pastel mist and a touch of forest green and, at the same time, I developed the tree line on the horizon with tones of forest green.

Carefully look at where the main highlights and values of light on the river are to be found and using the same palette as the sky – cerulean blue, pastel mist, tinting white, pastel lemon and pastel coral – begin painting the first reflective touches.

1. Now is the time to balance the overall painting so begin blocking in the larger areas. Working with the previous colours plus green black and indigo (blue-black), observing carefully where the light hit the high points, shadow down the values under the trees.

2. Start the retaining wall with raw sienna and tinting white, with a touch of forest green in the river where tree reflections will later be established.

1. Paint the large trees on the left that are silhouetted against the dawn sky using forest green, indigo and dioxazine purple.

2. Then work across the piece, increasing the strength of colour and tonal values as and where it seems appropriate.

3. Start painting the houses and add to the banks on both sides of the river.

1 Work on the sky to develop the unveiling light.

2. To show how the light of the sky reflected itself in the flowing river, begin adding additional light to the right-hand side of the riverbank and highlight the distant bank on the bend of the river, thus achieving distance to the view.

3. Behind the Rivendale estate houses, to the right of the view, paint in the hillside of trees, ensuring that the area behind the estate showed as dark as possible. To accomplish use green black, indigo and dioxazine purple.

4. Then continue along the right-hand bank, painting the tall grasses that define the edge.

1. Add highlights into the bank on the left-hand side to form its ridges.

2. Begin painting the wall in front of the houses that had collapsed into the river.

1. Do not rush to finish your painting. A lot of time should be spent adjusting colours and tones at this stage. Add more light into the trees on the hillside. Still working with the same palette as used for the sky, take time to develop the reflections in the river.

2. Add a little detail to the houses.

The finished painting

Dawn, Atelier Interactive acrylics on primed canvas, (40.5x51cm)