I'm loving this session--things are really coming together now. You can see on the right side I have added a dark bush to pop the horse's face which I have lightened. I've changed some values along his chest as well. The color and value of the dirt in the arena has basically been determined.

My methods are a little different from most artists who do a value sketch before they even start painting. That's good, but I could never get the hang of that. I like to do backgrounds last and make adjustments to values as I go. My training was in fashion illustration where we always worked in black and white, adding values behind the figure last to create just the right pop. 

Now, here's a test. There is something drastically wrong with my composition. Tell me what you think it is.