Oil Painting Notes, Tonal Relationships

The vanes of the windmill have been painted with great attention to tonal relationships. The upraised vane is light against dark (L/D). The one opposite that is dark against light (D/L).. The other two are subordinated. One is dark against dark (D/D)., and the other is light against light (L/L).. Each vane of the windmill represents one of the four possible tonal arrangements.The resulting effect marries the subject to the background in a way that both separates it and embeds it. In tonal terms.

Notes from International Artist Magazine by James Gurney