Lessons in the landscape

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

■ Follow an oil-painting process from initial blocking in to final brushstrokes

■ Practise mark making using brushes and painting knives

■ Add texture to your oil paintings

Summertime is a season of long and hot, lazy days with muted colours and hazy light. Most of us will spend some time on the coast, taking advantage of warmer weather and enjoying the wide-open spaces and big skies that seascapes can give you.

The sea can be a mesmerising and hypnotic subject to paint. Time spent just watching, looking and observing can be invaluable when approaching a seascape, and painting it en plein air will teach you even more. Dramatic seas can be exciting, but I love the peace that can be found in calm and tranquil seas, where the waves gently lap over and roll in with a fizz.