Friends--

These reactions are very welcome indeed...

Linda--Thanks so much. I enjoyed chatting with him about his career and the Law as we worked, and I guess that came through.

Alex--I never much felt on thin ice with it, but it's nice to know it all works okay. Thanks again for a great weekend--I learned a lot.

Sharon--This is terrific validation...I was feeling it could be a personal best, even in the middle of the work. So I slowed down and tried to absorb what I was learning. Thank God they didn't insist on a flag, but even with the lawbooks, which are notoriously busy and gaudy on the spines, I edited the detail to the bare essentials and shoved them way down into the shadows.

As to the space--I looked at DeCamp's public portraits frequently. He really let things breathe.

Tom, let me add my praise. It conveys the personality of the sitter and the rendering of the black robe is absolutely stunning.
A lot to learn here, thanks for posting
Ilaria

Tom,

Beautifully done. Those hands are as good as hands need to be.

This should at least get you out of any future speeding tickets.

Tom,
this is very well composed, I like the generous space around his head and the casual arrangement of the hands and the modest colors.
The best picture from your hand yet, in my opinion. :thumbsup:

Thanks, guys...

Ilaria and Allan, I appreciate the good words from two whose work I also admire.

Mike, thanks. I donate to the Police Benevolent Fund for the same reason. The painting's going to be hard to fit into the glovebox, though. Hee!

-T

Tom, the crowd is all in your corner and it looks good on you. Well deserved! This is, most certainly, a well executed painting and worth every cent. I truly wish you many more.

Tom,
Just saw this as I was away for a couple of days. I must add my congratulations to what has already been said. There is a very nicely established harmony between the greens and the blacks (which you handle very masterfully); and that well achieved feeling of space is very convincing. Needless to say the technique of someone who knows his craft is evident in everything from the hands to the well executed full-front head, to that robe.
He seems like a very benevolent judge.

Very well done.

Dear Tom,

I am so belated in seeing your portrait, it is really gorgeous. I feel that I could touch the robes and feel their crispness. Bravo!

Tom, it is I who should be thanking you, since you started it all by making the trip and getting me and Garth rallied. I was wondering whether seeing the show had any impact on the portrait--not that it looks like a Shanks in any way--it's all Edgerton. I always find something happens in my next or current work after I've seen some really inspiring art.

Tom - I agree with what others have already written, and have very little new to add, but will try, since I admire this very much.

I love how you've added interest with all the values in the robe, and then put similar interest into the background, by putting a flickering quality into those greens.

You're one of those artists I guess I thought was not able to get any better than you already were, (in other words, how to improve on "great"?)
But yet, this portrait shows another leap...