A New Work in Progress

I started a new painting last night in my pastel class. For this painting, Marsha...our teacher...wants us to take it sloooooow. Instead of diving right in, we are going to be thoughtful and try to resolve any problems up front. So to begin, she had us choose a landscape photo. I decided to do this one I took at Arches National Park a few years ago. She had us first do a thumbnail sketch but only in dark and light so we could be sure the painting would have pleasing shapes and a good design. This is my black & white pencil version. This will be a good experience for me since I tend to want to paint fast!!! It will be hard for me to leave it alone until next week!