This lesson is an introduction for the beginner. There will be so much information thrown your way that you may feel overwhelmed. Don't worry about it. As with everything else, it all takes time. I, the Captain, guarantee that the time will fly.

This lesson covers the basic idea of value. Value is not how much you spent for the paint, it is the relative lightness and darkness of any given area. Contrast is created at the juncture between light and dark areas. Our first job is to understand how to control this contrast; for within it are, light and dark, good and evil, joy and sadness, love and hate, old and young, yin.and yang. You may think this paragraph is flip, but as a more mature artist, you will look back and say, "I guess this is where it began."

And you thought you came to learn how to paint. You will learn how to paint. You will also be introduced to the person living in your body of whom you only thought you knew. Say hello to the inner self. The journey has begun.