Block out the white of the canvas board with a thin wash using a light colour. In this case Alan used one that was already on his palette.

In order to capture the beautiful crystal clear light, leave the support as transparent as possible with your initial wash, as a more opaque ground will make this more difficult to achieve.

Draw out the basic rock structures using a small round brush using a thin mix of raw umber.

Set the horizon line fairly near to the top of the composition, leaving just enough space for a narrow strip of sky. The rocks were to be the star of the show, not the sky!

Finally, scrub in those all important shadow areas on the rocks using an old worn hog brush.

Start adding a touch of colour, using both phthalo blue as well as phthalo green, but still keeping everything fairly thin and transparent.

Use washed mixes of the two colours above, plus ultramarine blue, roughly cover the *whole canvas using a piece of kitchen roll, leaving the lighter areas of the rocks and reflection untouched.

Use a mix of unbleached titanium white with a touch of Naples yellow light to highlight the lighter areas, and then mix up a warm grey for the areas of shadow on the rocks.

Finally, apply a few vigorous directional brush strokes to the water to give the impression of movement.

*Don't try cutting around objects in a composition, it’s not necessary; always better to get the whole canvas covered from the outset.

Drop in some more colour by introducing warm pinks and oranges to the rock formations.

Add a few low-key cloud formations to the narrow strip of sky, using a mix of cerulean blue plus a touch of the previously mixed warm grey. Then introduce the pinks and oranges used on the rocks and reflections to create a kind of harmony throughout the painting.

Add more heavy body-colour to the sea area using a repetition of directional brush strokes in the water - fairly strong and bold strokes of phthalo green are used here.

Beef up the warm grey shadows which cast the interesting shapes across the rocks.

The painting should be starting to gel together nicely at this stage.

Now to pull the whole thing together!

Alan says, 'At this stage I pretty much re-worked over the entire painting, giving more solidity to my already bold mark making. I was reasonably pleased with the rocks, but the reflections needed a bit more colour and brush work to add a touch more impact and movement. Be careful not to get too carried away here and make it look overworked or fussy, which is easily done.

'The painting needed a focal point to drag the eye up from the rocks, so I loosely dropped in those small yachts to the upper right of the painting - these definitely helped to achieve this!

'Finally a few strata lines were scratched in (sgraffito), using the end of a small brush, being careful not to overdo things. I felt that it was time to call this one complete - it’s never easy to know when to stop, but we need to avoid starting to ‘fiddle’ at all costs!

'I was reasonably satisfied with the end result of the finished painting - I had captured the effect of clear light on an early spring morning that I was initially after'.

Finished painting

Old Harry Rocks, Dorset, oil on board 40 x 50cm

Alan's conclusion

'There is obviously a lot more brush work and colour combinations gone into this painting than I’m able to mention, but this short demonstration is there as a guide, it isn’t necessarily there to try and copy exactly what I’ve done, but to give you a starting point on how to approach a studio oil painting using layers.

'One important thing to remember is that layering thick oil paint over thick oil paint just doesn’t work - you’ll end up with a stodgy mix of desaturated colour that is unworkable.

'By building up slowly in layers, remembering the fat-over-lean rule, (thin to thick), you WILL be able to achieve the end result that you strive for. Start with thin paint using a touch of distilled turpentine, then add a small amount of linseed/stand oil or other medium during the final layers when you’re adding thicker paint'.

Alan writes regularly for The Artist  - see our latest subscription offers.

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