Using a graphite pencil, draw the composition to scale on a sheet of paper the same size as the canvas. It is easier to erase and make adjustments to the drawing on paper rather than on canvas.

1. Place the drawing on the canvas and secure it with masking tape along the top edge.
2. Slip black transfer paper face down under the drawing.
3. Using a ballpoint pen, trace only the sun, horizon line and largest cloud bank.
4. Remove the drawing and transfer paper then stick masking tape directly below the horizon line to prevent overpainting of the sky colours into the ocean.
5. Make lots of blue and sunset sky mixes as you will also need to use these in other parts of the painting.
6. For the top part of the sky, mix the darkest blue with cobalt blue and titanium white, greyed off slightly with a touch of burnt sienna.
7. Lighten this blue-sky colour with more titanium white as you work your way down the canvas.
8. The golden sunset colours begin just below the main cloud bank. Start with titanium white in the centre of the sun, blend lemon yellow around the rim then blend cadmium orange around the edge of the yellow.
9. Add white to this mixture to paint the area above the sun, add burnt sienna for the area to the left of the sun at the horizon and add blue-sky colour to the area above this.

1. Paint the mountain range brown by adding a little of the darkest blue-sky colour into the darkest sunset colour then highlight the left-hand side of the mountain ridges with smudges of cadmium orange.
2. The cloud colour is also made from these two sky colours.
3. For the high clouds that are grey, mix more of the blue-sky colour with less of the orange sunset sky mix plus titanium white.
4. For the browner clouds that are closer to the sun, mix more of the sunset sky colour and less of the blue-sky colour plus titanium white.
5. Use a Round brush and a circular motion to create the puffy shape of the clouds.
6. Apply some of the light sunset sky colour to highlight the underside of the clouds.
7. Remove the masking tape to reveal a clean horizon.

Block in the whole area below the horizon with black mixed with cobalt blue. As this underpainting needs to dry before you go on to the next stage, to speed up the waiting time you can do this underpainting using acrylic paint even if you are doing the rest of your painting in oils.

1. Position and tape the original drawing on top of the canvas again.
2. Place black transfer paper face down between the top half of the drawing and the canvas.
3. Trace the palm tree over the sky.
4. Place white transfer paper between the bottom half of the drawing and the canvas and trace the trunk of the palm tree, rocks and water’s edge.
5. Remove the drawing and transfer paper.

1. Mix a deep blue ocean colour by adding a small amount of black into some of your medium blue sky colour.
2. Use the chisel edge of a small flat brush to paint waves, making sure to leave some of the dark underpainting visible between brushstrokes.
3. Use horizontal brushstrokes in the distance and add choppier movement as you work down the canvas to the foreground.

1. Lighten the blue ocean colour with titanium white and apply another layer of waves.
2. For the bright reflection of the sun, tone down some of the orange sky colour with the blue ocean colour and apply a layer of ripples to the water directly below the sun.
3. Gradually widen this reflection towards the foreground.

1. Paint the trunk of the palm tree and rocks with burnt umber.
2. Leave some of the dark underpainting visible on the left-hand side as shadows.
3. Using a fine liner brush, paint the leaves with phthalo green darkened with black.
4. Start at the top of the trunk and paint a curved line for the mid-vein of each frond then, starting at the base of each frond, flick outward from the mid-vein with a gentle curve.
5. Note that leaves are sometimes only visible falling to one side of the mid-vein.

The finished painting

End of Day, oil on canvas panel, (61x46cm)

Go underwater as you paint a sea turtle in acrylics with Elena

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Elena is a professional artist, international art tutor and author of the empowering book, Survival Guide for Artists: How to Thrive in the Creative Arts, available via her website and Amazon.

For more information about her work and online painting tutorials visit www.elenaparashko.com or email [email protected]

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