Four 9 by 12 paintings using atmospheric perspective in color and black and white

I began with the two black and white studies. I was interested in how texture impacted the perception of depth and used thicker paint on the darker one. I made one of the monochomatic paintings more random with the shapes turning in different directions. With the other one I started with small shapes in the back and gradually made the shapes larger as they progressed to the bottom of the canvas. 

   The color exercises started with the blue and orange. My intent was to find green in mixing orange and blue. Both beginning colors had some white and some black mixed in to create a more subtle and subdued mood.

   The last color study I used black in the red and then added white to the purple to play with extremes. 

   Of the four pieces, the black and white one was the most successful in creating a sense of depth and space. There is a broad range of value change from the bottom to the top and more shapes to create that range. The remaining three pieces have the same mid-value range and not as much contrast as the successful study. Particularly the second black and white painting has little to no range of value for the small pieces in the background. The use of color brought in another level of challenge as even though the red piece has a very dark, very warm background, it still isn't as dark as the more successful study and the red color quickly dominates the softer, purple color.