How does an artist address a subjects fixed color with its appearance in a world of shading and perspective?

A red ball is perfectly black in a room with no light. But the fact remains it is still very much a red ball.

It seems to me reality is made up not of objects with subtle shades, but rather that the way light plays on the set color objects is what changes their color and makes their capture in a painting so appreciable.

For a realist I imagine making something akin to a photograph is the truest way to address the issue.

But there is something more here to me. It seems like when the artist reaches to the palette to color the red ball nearly black on one side, it is not unlike a lie. The inspiration of the ball might have a shadow on it, but the ball is still red all around.

Is the subject then the shadow that is on the ball?