A Judge in Pinstripes

[Garth Herrick]

Here is yet another posthumous portrait of a federal judge.

This one will be ceremonially unveiled on May 7, 2004, in Philadelphia. It is essentially complete, the court seems to happy with it. If anything really glares out that I can consider modifying within the coming week, let me know. The court feels it is breaking new ground depicting a judge in his favored suit intead of a black robe. He really liked his pinstripes.

Thanks,
Garth

[Allan Rahbek]

Hi Garth

No wonder that they are happy, you have made a very sympatic portrait again.

There are in fact a thing that hit my eye. But maybe you should wait and see what others have to say.

I like Churchill with his cold cigar.

It seem like the flag is in focus while the rest of the background is not. And the shadow of his shirt seem to be a bit light. But this could also be my PC that shows something wrong. What do you think?

Allan

[Jane Bradley]

I love the way you have incorporated the warm tones around him into the colors of his skin - it makes him really come alive in that space. Do you have any closeups?

[Geary Wootten]

Oh my gosh, Garth! Excellent skin tones and perfect job on his "pinstripes"....ha!

The only slightly distracting thing I notice is how the framed picture of FDR and Churchill is in spatial competition with his head. Perhaps even a bit more muting back there?

Gear

[Jean Kelly]

It has a lot of personality again Garth. My gut tells me that FDR and Churchill are very important to this judge and I love it. But I find the position or color of the frame distracting. It seems to connect to his hair. Think a color change might help? This only a minor, minor nitpick. Other than that I wouldn't change a thing. Beautiful job again.

Jean

[Garth Herrick]

Thanks Allan, Jane, Geary, and Jean:

Your insights are all valid and helpful. Allan, the posted photo may be a little washed out. The shadows in the shirt are slightly stronger than they appear. Jane, I haven't taken the close-ups yet. The reference photo was kind of blurry. Geary and Jean, you are so right; the frame bothered me too. I think it's fixed now. I muted FDR and Churchhill about 5%, and strengthened the judge's hair 5%. Now there is a clear separation of space. Allan, perhaps I need to sharpen up the elephant picture (you can tell which political party appointed him).

Thanks!!

[Sharon Knettell]

All in all a very beautiful job. These commissions are very hard to do and make the person still look alive which you have succeeded in doing.

A couple of suggestions. The state flag pops out too much, try putting a glaze on a transparent sheet of plastic to see if toning it down works. Because the reds are so strong, I would try the same test technique ( if the painting is dry enough) on his cheeks and lips to balance them. Stuart would overrouge his clients, even males. Somehow this works in paintings if not in life. When I work from photos , I usually glaze the cheeks and lips of the photo with a stronger color, until I think a healty look is achieved. You can see some examples of Stuarts' lively skin colors in the Boston Museum of Fine Art.

A piece to be proud of, I hope this helps.

[Garth Herrick]

Thanks, Sharon:

Part of the problem is that the posted photo looks slightly different than the painting (the reds reproduced too strong), but I see what you mean. I muted the red and gold in the state flag ever so slightly. I tried adding just a hint of jaune capuchine to rouge up the face, and then rubbed it off, although as you know, you can never get paint completely off. It looks about right after all this glazing and scrubbing.

Garth

[Elizabeth Schott]

You are also toooo good Garth!

And a busy beaver clapclap!

My thoughts here, which will be too late because you look like you are ready to wrap this one up. But I think there are two kinds of people in this world; those who like balance, ie: two lamps on the mantle, and those of us who are unbalanced (self explanatory). My focus on the lovely rendering of the Judge's face is a bit distracted by all the stripes. The chair stripes lead into the pin stripes, then the flag stripes.

I am stepping out of my comfort zone by saying this, so pardon if I am off base - it certainly wouldn't be the first time!

You're awesome!

[Mary Sparrow]

You amaze me. Your work is so wonderful, and I am no person to be giving someone like you a critique. I understand what you are saying about it looking different in person than on the monitor, mine always seem to look that way. But to me the first thing I see are the hands(which are awesome by the way) They are more vivid than his face, which is seems should be the other way around.