Step 1. The set-up

Step 2. I painted the background loosely with mixtures of white, ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and yellow ochre, then drew the outlines of the horses and jockeys on top. Then I began to paint the main rider and horse.

 Detail of the painting so far.

Step 3. I’ve now added a few more riders and horses taking care to get the colours and especially the tones right, so that they appear to be further back

Step 4. Now for the two riders on the left of the painting. I’ve put down the local colour as an under-painting first and then added detail on top. Still using just the same few colours as in step two.

Step 5. Same again for the riders on the right. An under-painting first to get the rough tones and shapes correct.

Step 6. The finished painting. I spattered dots of colour across the ground and over some of the horses to create the broken ice that they were racing on.

To see a larger version of this picture click here.