Beachy Head is the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain. Here the view to the west is shown, looking towards Newhaven and Brighton. Turner made several drawings of coastal rock formations early in his career and later developed an interest in geology. He probably had not visited this site at the time but rather based this drawing on a sketch by another artist. The muted blue and grey colours are typical of watercolours produced in association with Dr Thomas Monro’s ‘academy’, where Turner studied and copied drawings. Copying was considered a valuable exercise in learning to draw