Only the Shadow Knows..what?

My cat taught me that the most interesting things happen in the shadows. And for me that is true. My paintings are full of light but the secret to painting thatlight is not the color or the value of the light. Paying attention to only that aspect of light just gives you "bright". To really paint a sense of light there needs to be a contrast. Looking at the painting above, if you can visualize the painting with out the shadows cast by the clothesline, you will have a bright painting. The colors take care of that. But by adding in the shadows, and getting the right amount of darkness (called value), the light comes through.

Another thing I love about shadows is that they have their own distinct color. Its not enough to take the violet and add more purple to make it darker, nor does it work to just add black. You really have to look into the shadows to see the colors, sometimes determined by the intensity and type of the light and the reflected colors.
Also, it is important to remember that the lightest part of the shadow is always darker than any color that is in the light; this includes black.

Currently, I am working on another cup stack painting. Interestingly, most of the painting is in the shadow. I am enjoying observing and painting all the strangest in-nominate colors, like greenish orangey yellow grey. I will post more about that next week.There are little patches of light and bright but I am bring most of my color sense into the shadows. The shadow knows where the light in comes from.