Light only pretends to obey the laws of physics. Painting does not emulate light well, only a more technological process can do that - but paintings can generate their own. In my own work I find that the more 'accidental' and uncontrolled the creation of light is in a painting, the more effective an illusion it is - it 'feels' more like real light if it doesn't 'make sense', which tells me a lot about 'real' light. But no matter what, I am happier with the process of painting than being a photographer. Painting does not only record an experience, it is one - and for the viewer as well.
Paintings are fetishes - primitive, magical, inhabited things.
Best of all, as a painter, I no longer have to spend so much of my time in dark rooms - I would much rather paint in a bright, sunny room than photograph one. I used to work with an electrician named Louie. He never wore sunglasses, even in mid-summer California. He was right. Louie was a wise man, and he hated having his picture taken.