These complex works are created in stages. Alan begins by painting the canvas with multiple colours and layers to build in texture and dimension in a technique he describes as coloured-camouflage. He then finishes the background with a solid base colour before carefully hand stencilling on the figures one-by-one - between 300 and 1500 figures in each piece. He then hand-paints each figure with a shadow giving the work an extra depth and realism, and finally adds clothes, faces and other details to create character and narrative.