[Garth Herrick]

Ngaire, be careful there! I don't want to see anyone get hurt by a thumbnail! There is nothing particularly difficult in executing a painting like this. The main concern is just making sure all the various components fit together in a relationship.

Hi Tricia, it is good to have you on board here! Confidence is a fleeting thing with me. Sometimes even when it is a bit lacking, a fixed delivery deadline can take over that void! Just making oneself paint, ready or not, goes a long way.

Allan, I greatly admire your latest portraits, with their gestural, painterly style. It makes me want to see ways of introducing similar qualities in my work. I want to leave larger, bolder brushwork where it holds together. Frequently I will lose it by making fussy adjustments. It is important to sense when it is time to leave a passage alone, and move on. You are one who knows when.

Leslie, cheers to you too! That hand seemed to magically paint itself in a few strokes. I am not often so lucky.

Hi Michele. I believe I was commissioned at the end of March, although I had other paintings to finish first, and I did not realiy get a convincing start until a few weeks ago, after I first explored ways of fitting the robe on Judge Kelly. Even as late as two weeks ago, the painting seemed tentative, but somehow it got done despite a four day excurion to Arizona in the following week!

Dear Ilaria, thanks for reassuring me that deadlines can be a good thing! Being more painterly and editing out detail can give the subject more life and spontaneity. You are already a master of that!

Dear Alex, thanks so much for your kind words! You are already intimately familiar with this Courthouse, having a fine portrait of your own in their collection. Kudos! We will have to post a directory of all our various Distict Courthouse portraits: Courtrooms 8A, 10A (you), 17A, 14A(?), and another I have to locate.

Janet, such good questions: I tended to paint alla-prima on this and take it as close as I could to a resolution in one session. In truth though, this alla-prima is a great foundation, and retouching the cured paint a day later makes it no longer alla-prima, but I did glaze, scumble and wholesale repaint again, on the slightest whim of dissatisfaction. Taking breaks, even four day breaks is a good thing, to help me assess whether a passage is a finished statement or not. The most important thing is to summon the courage to paint even when not having all the answers yet in your head. Many problems will magically work themselves out, as if automatically, just by manipulating and pushing the paint around!

Thanks again,

Garth