Step 3 - Establishing the value range
Using hard pastels and charcoal I applied the darkest darks and a little of the lightest lights, setting the upper and lower value limits for the rest of the painting. Working in both directions from the medium value ground, I start applying color. The ground or underpainting color is not only important for establishing the midvalue, it also interacts with the pastels as they are applied in areas of broken color. The vibrating interplay of complimentary colors and contrasts of warm versus cool colors produce exciting optical effects. Continue-