I coated a 16 x 21in (40.5 x 53cm) hardboard panel with Daler-Rowney System 3 Acrylic Primer into which I had dropped a few grains of red ochre pigment.  This tinted the panel to a soft terracotta colour.  The tint of the panel should be sufficiently deep in tone to allow white to ‘tell’ against it.

Having allowed this to dry thoroughly, I began mapping in the drawing of the subject using dilute burnt sienna paint applied with a No.0 round ABS Reflex brush.  I added some darker toned areas with a Reflex No.4 flat, to remind me of the tonal masses when I went into colour.  I also added some highlights in white. You can see how well these read against the tone of the primer.

The addition of the pigment to the primer made it a little more absorbent and the paint took well to the panel.  I kept it very dilute at this stage because I didn’t want it to mix in with superimposed colours.

I was particularly careful to make sure that the horizon was parallel to the top edge of the painting.  Nothing looks worse than a seascape with a horizon that dips at an angle.

Working from the back of the painting forwards, I first established the sky with a No. 8 Reflex flat, using cerulean and white for the uppermost part, then bringing in yellow ochre more and more as the sky went towards the horizon.  As it neared the horizon I added permanent rose to the mix.  This warmed the colour up as I took it down to the horizon line. 

During all this time I had used the paint without diluting it with water.  It is important not to over-dilute these colours.  Using them fairly dry helps when it comes to over-painting, as they pull up much less.

It is important that mixed colours relate to one another, so I used the cerulean/permanent rose/white mix for the distant sea.  Into this I broke a touch of yellow ochre.  I then softened the line between sky and sea.  Once this was done, I tackled the land.

Using the same colours I emphasised the blue, strengthening the tone by using less white. As the colour came forwards I added phthalo green (blue shade) to the mix. The rose and green make a good ‘distance’ colour when mixed with a little white. The mixed colour was made more ‘green’ as it came closer, and when it had been brought to the edge of the foreground wall, I went back over it with a permanent rose/yellow ochre mix to indicate the rippled quality of the undergrowth. The light areas within the landscape were modelled primarily with yellow ochre and white, broken with the other colours so far used.

I began with the green of the bank on the upper right mixed from phthalo green and yellow ochre with a little permanent rose. The wall beneath it was then darkened before lightening the mix with white and subduing the left-hand wall.  A dry mix of cerulean and permanent rose was then scrubbed into the tall wall on the right, and dark green placed to underpaint the areas of scrubby vegetation.

Using yellow ochre, a touch of permanent rose and a lot of white, I brushed in the paths, softening their edges.

I began by using the No.0 round Reflex brush with a stiff mix of white, broken slightly with yellow ochre to indicate the stones on the top of the walls.  With a No.2 Reflex flat, I then used a mid-toned mix of yellow ochre, permanent rose and white to put in the stones of the walls.  Here and there I varied the colour with a white mix or by adding cerulean.  Then I worked on the gate pillars, defining the stones and making sure that, tonally, they read against the landscape beyond.

With a mix of cadmium yellow and cadmium red I indicated the dry grass.  Into this I broke a mix of phthalo green and yellow ochre.  Moving onto the large wall, I indicated the random stone, making sure that I didn’t get the tones too light and lose the wall’s shaded effect.

During this final stage I made the distant sea a little more blue and worked on the foreground grasses, adding cadmium yellow and red to try and recapture the brightness of the light.  I also added the darks of the foliage on the large wall, and reworked warmer lights into the paths.  I then put in the gate with the No.0 Reflex round, first with burnt umber then softening it with paler colours from the palette.  The final touches were the seed heads in the grasses, dotted in with a white and cadmium yellow mix.

I kept the paint fairly stiff throughout, only diluting it with water sufficiently to maintain a good painting consistency.