Sunlight and Deep Shadows in Duras, France

Bright sunlight in a village square creates a wonderful puzzle for us as painters. The light hitting those pale French building walls makes everything feel warm and still. When I painted Duras, France, Place du 11 Novembre, my main focus was capture the sharp contrast between the light surfaces and the rich shadows on the road. Strong sunlight is not just about bright yellow or white paint, it is about how dark you dare to make your shadows.

To get that feeling of bright sunshine across the ground, I used cool blues like ultramarine blue mixed with cobalt green in the shaded areas. Notice how the deep blue shadows across the street make the light on the wall seem much brighter. A touch of warm yellow ochre on the stone buildings gives them that sun baked look. I kept the green leaves simple with viridian green and cadmium yellow so they do not take away from the main shapes.

Getting the balance right with dark shadows can feel tricky when you start a painting. A good trick is to connect your dark shapes together so they form one big path across the paper. Here, the shadow from the blue van links right into the cast shadow across the road. That keeps the scene strong and simple rather than messy.