Are Distant Shadows Always Lighter?
In landscape painting specifically, we are dealing with a spatial perspective most of the time. The general answer to the title is yes, but I have seen it where those distant mountains are darker shadows. That goes against the general idea that distant shadows are always lighter. They aren’t always lighter, they are just generally lighter. We see great distances in Arizona and there were days when I noticed a mountain 5 or 10 miles out that should be lighter, but it was darker. Sometimes, the cloud casts a shadow on a mountain and blows out the whole statement of lighter distant shadows. I have seen it plenty of times.
This images a perfect example of a rule not a law being broken. What I mean is the mountains generally get cooler and lighter as they recede, which is more of a rule, and it is clear in this photo that the distant shadows are darker.
It can be a beautiful effect when you have those darker shadows. Generally, you do have a lighter foreground when this happens. It might have the appearance of darker mountains since the foreground is light. Usually, when we have storms coming and going, I see the lit-up foreground and the dark background. The lighter shadows are not absolute. To say that shadows are always lighter as they recede is false, we can see this many times when pain from life.
I do like the effect of this because the foreground is much more accentuated with beautiful light and that dark background. Certain times if you have an approaching or receding storm, it lights up a foreground. It seems warmer and lighter because you have a really dramatic background behind it. You can use that knowledge when looking at your photo references. You can always change it up and darken a mountain if it works within the composition and value scale in the painting. Go for it! There is no right or wrong with this, it really just depends on what will function within the four corners of the painting.
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