Susan;

I say keep the shadow exactly as it is. Also keep the shadows of the trees over and to the
left of it because they explain that there is something off to the left that is causing
the shadows (trees). And if there are trees casting a shadow on the building, then the
undefined dark shape must be a building that the viewer cannot see either.

But more importantly than the question of what is causing the shadow is the impact the
shadow makes on the composition. If you were to remove the shadow and complete the
building, I believe it would harm the composition. If you will look at it as if it (the
building that is in light) were an abstract shape, it is very strong.  Making it larger
(which is what you would be doing if you removed the shadow) it would lose its impact by
being too much of a good thing, if you know what I mean. Part of the strength of the
brilliant yellow shape is in its size in relation to the dark shadows. The huge dark
shadows allow the smaller bright shape to really shine. If you were to make them both
relatively the same size, then they would cancel each other out and you'd have a much more
bland composition.

So what I am saying here is your decision to eliminate the shadow or not should be based
on what it will do to the compostion, not on whether the viewer will understand what it
is. The viewer will forgive most anything if the composition is good.

Think in terms of simple design; a large dark shape, a smaller middle tone shape (the sky)
and three smaller, but much more brilliant yellow/orange shapes. It is an ideal
composition, full a drama and interest. The way the shapes intertwine around each other in
the bell towers is beautiful. I would keep the sky as it is also, plain with no clouds,
but I would make the top of the sky darker and cooler, growing lighter and warmer as it
moves down to the horizon. Cameras are seldom able to show this, but it is the way skies
really are.

Now a very important, but often overlooked point is the transition  between the bright
yellow/orange of the building and the dark shadows. That thin line is sometimes referred
to a the "bed bug line." It is that thin line that will give the painting life and
believability. The colors should not just jump from yellow/orange to the dark purple, but
should go through the same process as any other transition - around the color wheel.
Yellow/orange to red, to violet to dark purple/brown. These lines would be so thin as to
be caused by a bed bug crawling over your canvas dragging color behind it. They will be
wider where the transition is more gradual, as on a curved surface, or sharper as in your
example, but THEY WILL ALWAYS BE THERE. Try it on a  piece of scrap canvas and
you'll see what I mean.

Daniel Shouse