How to Paint a Glowing Candle

An important lesson about color mixing and light in painting.

Have you ever come across a painting hanging on a museum wall that looks like it is glowing from within? A version of the Frederic Church painting Cotopaxi that hangs in the Reading Public Museum comes to mind, for me. Paint usually doesn’t glow, so how do artists create this illusion of light? A surprisingly simple color rule does the trick.