Caught Up In the Paint Color

I wanted to try a new color, manganese,  on a piece in class. I used it in the shadow side of a terracotta urn.  It turned out to be the compliment to the light side of the urn. It was a fight from the beginning trying to keep the shadow  from going to a dull, unforgiving grey. The instructor helped me by suggesting a few colors to mix on top of it.

9x12 oil with palette knife on gessoboard - Class piece

It certainly taught me not use that color for this subject, again. But without thinking, I got caught up in the pretty paint color and not with what I was actually seeing.
If I were to paint this, again, I would use magenta on the urn's shadow.