Purple Mountains Majesty ...a monochromatic painting

'Purple Mountains Majesty' 8x10 pastel

This week we worked on doing some monochromatic paintings. We removed the challenge of choosing the right colors so we could concentrate on values. When I began painting I read and heard so much about the importance of value but to be honest I never really understood what it was or why it was important. When it finally did click for me everything made so much more sense. I think that when we are learning something new such as how to paint...there is so much information for us to process. We don't always get everything at once but with study and practice it will all fall into place. Monochromatic studies have been a great tool for me to learn to control the values in my paintings.