The Honorable James McGirr Kelly

[Lisa Ober]

I have just become your long distance shoe-kisser.

Excellent work, Garth. I would say more but my tongue was hanging out, dried up and fell off.

Wow.

[Linda Brandon]

Oh Garth, this is such a wonderful painting. You've brought a lot of sensitivity and wamth to a genre that too often can be chilly and staid. As always, I'm knocked over by your technical skills. (I keep looking at that brilliantly painted forehead and cheekbone as it turns to the shadow side.)

Congratulations again on another strong painting with great emotional appeal.

[Heidi Maiers]

Another excellent painting Garth.
I recently showed some of your work to a friend and her reply was that you should be living in a palace painting royalty. I couldn't agree more.

[Garth Herrick]

Originally Posted by Jane Bradley

This has so much more life than the photograph of him I saw. I can't believe you painted this beautiful piece so quickly.
I would be interested in knowing what your usual palette is - maybe you have mentioned it before, but I don't recall.

Dear Jane,
I am not sure if I ever shared specific colors on my palette, but why not! There are at least 40 colors I used regularly on this painting. Each painting is different, and I will vary the palette a bit. Having 682 tubes of paint, the palette changes from time to time. I love to hear what colors others are using too.

Going around the palette (from the bottom of the picture, clockwise):
1. Vasari Brown Ochre Lt.
2. M. Graham & Co. Ultramarine Violet (walnut oil)
3. Vasari Raw Umber
4. Old Holland Rauwe Omber #A69
5. Vasari Burnt Umber
6. Vasari Burnt Sienna
7. Vasari Caput Mortuum
8. Vasari Venetian Red
9. Winsor & Newton Light Red #120SL
10. Williamsburg Pompeii Red
11. Senelier Rouge de Venise
12. Old Holland Vleesoker #A343
13. Vasari Alizarin Crimson (the good stuff)
14. Mussini Kadmiumrotton #342 (cadmium red tone)
15. Vasari Cadmium-Vermilion Red Lt. ( yes, real vermillion)
16. Winsor & Newton Cadmium Orange #218SL (it's forty years old)
17. Gamblin Transparent Earth Orange
18. Vasari Rosebud
19. Gamblin Raw Sienna
20. Vasari Yellow Ochre
21. Mussini Neapelgelb Dunkel #232
22. Winsor & Newton Indian Yellow #319
23. Gamblin Transparent Earth Yellow
24. Vasari Flake White
25. Vasari Brilliant Yellow Lt.
26. Vasari Genuine Naples Yellow Lt.
27. Gamblin Cadmium Yellow Medium
28. Blockx Vert de Cadmium Clair ( cadmium green pale)
29. Vasari Cinabar Green Lt.
30. Winsor & Newton Sap Green #166SL
31. Winsor & Newton Veridian #692
32. Blockx Vert Turquoise (a cobalt turquoise)
33. Vasari Cerulean Blue
34. Gamblin Indanthrone Blue
35. Gamblin Dioxanine Violet
36. Williamsburg Courbet Green
37. Blockx Noir de Vigne (vine black)
38. Vasari Ivory Black
39. Old Holland Titaanwit (pure titanium white -no zinc!)
40. Vasari Kings Blue Ex Pale ( a nearly white tint of cobalt blue)

Hope that helps. I am in no way advocating the purchase of so many colors at once.

Garth

[Garth Herrick]

Dear Julie, Terri, and Kimberly, thank you so much!

Dear Linda E.B., I am so glad you were inspired to post your Judge portrait too. Welcome!

Dear Lisa, I have just notified 9-11 to rescue and restore your eloquent tongue. Thanks!

Dear Linda B., Thanks! It sure was nice visiting you last week!

Dear Heidi, Again, what a treat to visit out west! Thanks!

Okay you are probably wondering what that is all about. Last Friday and Saturday I flew out to Phoenix AZ, and saw firsthand, Linda Brandon's, Chris Saper's, and Heidi Maiers' Studios! They made me feel as though I were "living in a palace painting royalty" .

Below, we are gathered for a group portrait: Linda, Heidi, and Chris, treating me like a king! (I just wish I had combed my hair for the shot!)

Garth

[Lisa Ober]

I feel like a high school kid that isn't the cheerleader and isn't in the smoking lounge. I'm jealous of all of you and wish I had been able to take the tour. Was it Groucho who said, "I wouldn't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member?" Well I would bend that rule in this case. Looks like you had a great time and you all look so cute.

[Scott Bartner]

Dear Garth:

I know what you had to work from and the deadline they placed on you, and you still pulled off a portrait of the highest level.

A friend and I were recently looking at a Sargent and what becomes apparent is the simplicity of it, as if the head were comprised of merely a handful of well placed brush strokes. I see that simplicity and elegance here as well.

Well done!

Scott

[Mike McCarty]

Garth,

That is one beautiful painting. You seem to have the franchise on these important legal folk. Why would they want anyone else I wonder.

Are you sure you used all those colors? I can't seem to find number 21 - Mussini Neapelgelb Dunkel #232. No wait, there it is, sorry.

I too have been between those two beauties. My memory is of a beautiful outdoor garden cafe in California. The encounter raised my IQ a full 20 points, which brought it (briefly) up to a robust 110. Regrettably I have not had the pleasure of meeting Heidi.

[Linda Brandon]

Garth kept faking heat stroke and demanding cold drinks with umbrellas in them. He also made us fan him with giant palm leaves .

[Chris Saper]

Ah, so true. But at least he is keeping his word to say only nice things about us.

Hey, Garth, I have been out for the past week, and I am likewise thrilled to see this marvelous portrait. Congratulations!

P.S. Mike, that was fun. I will hunt around for pic of us in the garden.