Shadow shapes

I spent two hours this morning trying to figure out how light falls on tulips.  As a photographer, I try to spot the source of light and the patterns that light makes before I shoot.  It did not help me a bit this morning.  The camera does one thing.  My hands and eyes just don't seem to get it.  Right now, I'm trying to understand whether Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers" hypothesis on10,000 hours is what I am looking at if I want to paint well.

Vincent Van Gogh and his tulips

 One thing is sure, 10,000 hours or not -- I need to become more comfortable with the brush and with mixing color and understanding how to make different types of shadow shapes.  (Take a look at the master, above.)

So I will be converting a corner of my snug into a place where I can paint  every day, moving closer to the place where what I know I want to do and what I can actually do are the same.