As long as you apply the light and dark values in a manner consistent with real life, you will be able to create a painting that the viewer will recognize.

It's a great practice to use black and white photos as reference because they make the shadows, midtones, and highlights obvious.

It won't matter what colors you choose- you could just go wild and crazy with it- and still your painting will resemble something that makes sense to the human eye.

Think about that: that means the possibilities are endless! Pretty awesome, isn't it?

Watch the full timelapse video here: https://youtu.be/p9eNaMbJvCY