[Tom Edgerton]

Thanks, everyone. My wife likes this also, and she's seen them all.

In regard to the suit (actually a blazer...the slacks are a little grayer and contrastier in the painting)--I try to paint dark clothes in one pass if I can, to minimize color correcting later. If I have to work another layer onto it when it dries, I paint on a THIN layer of medium and work into that, to match color. I remember that the value range has to be very narrow: I'll usually put down a good working layer, maybe a value 8 to 8 1/2, which gives me a little room to go darker for the accents and slightly lighter for the highlights. Keep all the values tightly reigned in and don't overmodel with too many. And keep to the warm/cool or cool/warm light scheme--even though this coat is blue, it rolls slightly grayer as it rolls toward warmer light, and stays good and cool in the shadows.

If I'm working from photo reference, I have the lab make a full-density bracket of prints from dark to light, so I can see the detail in the drapery. You can't paint what you can't see.

Hope this helps, and thanks again--TE

(Oh, yeah--I've found I can feel the body under the clothes better if I paint most of the drapery with my fingers. I like my thumb.)