[Tom Edgerton]

Thanks again, all--

I'm very pleased that folks seem to think the composition works well, as I was juggling a lot of material required in the commission--most notably the missile image.

To respond to Chris' request, here are some of the thoughts I had, both in advance of the photo session, and while painting.

The Admiral requested that the missile image be included, as it was a prominent phase in his varied career. It also became evident that he wanted it prominently displayed, and perhaps as a part of the background space behind him, montage fashion. I felt this would have opened up a lot of spatial and perceptual confusion on the part of the viewer, so I suggested treating it as a piece of art, not as an "event," which thankfully, he agreed to later. (Fortunately, he didn't want a lot of clutter on the desk/credenza too.) I knew from the beginning that the danger was in the image's drama overtaking the whole painting, so framing it "corralled" it and kept it in check. As I played with the scale of it, it suggested some directional lines within the composition, such as the line of the exhaust cloud connecting with the line of his shoulders. The quality of the "clouds" also suggested some of the form and edge treatment of the Admiral's shadow on the wall, for balance.

Also, the blue matte around the photo in his office suggested the background, as I wanted the image to become as subordinate and non-contrasty as I could make it. The rich cobalt blue of the sky suggested a deep, cool shadow, which could de-emphasize the weight of the dress blues in relation to the lighter coloring of the Admiral's head. I also was careful to keep the lightest value in the photo darker than the shirt, and I grayed down some of the vividness of the "fire," so the eye would still go to the head first as I hoped.

Linda, I'd like to claim a lot of innovation in the lighting, but it's really classic portrait lighting--45 degree main light on our left, fill light for shadows behind the camera to get detail in the desk and dark uniform. I did use a "skim" light over his right (our left) shoulder to rim light the hair and shoulders and hopefully to give the cookie-cutter silhouette of the dress blues some added form. Ideally, I'd have set all of this up in his office and experimented more, but I only had thirty minutes with him for photos and we had to use a borrowed conference room and table, so the final compositional space is created later in the painting. Thus I had to use a "bulletproof" lighting scheme that I had a lot of experience with. We did try a seated pose, but he's a very tall man, and I wanted some sense of his height. But the horizontals in the lower half also help to balance the verticals in the upper half, and the pose on the edge of the desk helped make a very formal situation less so--for his prominence, the Admiral is a very accessible man. Too, I only had a three-quarter size format to work in, so this compromise in pose let me sneak in a little more of his height in a limited frame size.

I've gone on too long, but these are some of the things I was thinking, as you all have done in your own work. As usual, there are aspects I might have handled differently, but I'm glad and reassured that you guys think it works as well as it does.

Enough from me, but thanks again.--TE