DEMONSTRATION Under the Cliffs

STAGE ONE

I drew the shapes of the composition using a 6B pencil. To give the drawing a little structure I used broad shading for the main shadow parts

STAGE TWO

Working with a watercolour approach, I used a 1in sable/synthetic flat brush to cover the paper with colour. I diluted the acrylic paint with water, which the cotton watercolour paper took very well. Starting in the sky, I washed over cobalt blue, then into the cliffs using varied mixes on the surface of cerulean blue, yellow ochre and burnt sienna and continued the wash to the bottom, working quickly to avoid any dried edges

STAGE THREE

When dry, I began working on the painting with an oil-painting approach, by punching in the black values of the cliff using French ultramarine and burnt sienna with a size 16 short bright brush. I immediately added the surrounding darks of the shadows using cobalt blue, yellow ochre and titanium white. I really tried to blend the colours before they had a chance to dry, so using two brushes containing each colour was paramount

STAGE FOUR

I continued the process over the painting using size 16 and 14 brushes, adding darks first and working lighter, diluted paint washes up to them. This is the great freedom with acrylic in that you can use an oil and a watercolour approach