The size of the painting area will fit an 18"x 24" mat

The first step in a painting is to lay down paint (PASTEL in this case) in increments of color from dark at the top down to lighter at the bottom or at a place where the sky will be engulfed by clouds in this case. That combination will cause a gradation of sky color in the background. When I finish laying down the basic colors for the sky I will use my fingers to blend the colors together by using a small circular motion blending dark into lighter working from the top left corner down to the lower right corner of the sky.