Sometimes I need a bit of a kick in the pants to shake me up and get me a bit braver when it comes to using colour. When I think I’m getting a bit too safe I like to break out the acrylic inks and use them as an underpainting.

I’ve been pretty liberal in the cliffs with deep violet, turquoise blue and a dollop of yellow orange as well.I just lay it on with a soft brush and let it run and bend. Sometimes I just pour it straight onto the paper or canvas or add colour with the droppers.

I’ve used a lemon yellow in the water and mixed it with the turquoise to make a strong yellow, green underpainting. I give the sky a yellow ochre wash and I’m all set to be a bit braver when I start adding the acrylic paint.

Here I am part way through. I’m liking the cliffs although The Writer thinks the purple is  a bit strange. I often ask for a critique from various family members walking past ( and yes they do sometimes try and avoid eye contact!) I’ve found the best critic is The IT Geek who has an uncanny knack of homing in on the bit I’ve been secretly worried about whereas The Writer often homes in on the bit I’m quite pleased with.

I’ve still got a lot of work to do but I like where it’s heading . I ‘m trying for really sunlit cliffs and I think I’ve got that on the island. Sometimes it’s the small areas that draw the eye and I like the gap between the headland and the island. The beach area and it’s trees have a lot of work to do yet as well as the water needing some more glazes.  We’ll see what happens tomorrow!