Roy Friedman, President of Standard Oil of Connecticut, a portrait to remember!

Roy Friedman, the President of Standard Oil of Connecticut,    a portrait commission to remember!

On Sunday September 15th, I had the honor of attending the unveiling of my commissioned, 44 x 36 oil on linen, portrait of Roy Friedman, the President of Standard Oil of Connecticut, at Boothe Memorial Park in Stratford, Ct. What a truly wonderful individual Roy Friedman is: an man of quality, integrity and much loved by his employees and family. It was a wonderful and challenging portrait commission as I had to create a collage of sorts, beside a formal portrait, to represent the many accomplishments and passions of this extraordinary man.

 

"I wanted to thank you for the fabulous portrait you made of Roy Friedman, President of Standard Oil.  The portrait is very life-like.  You really capture his personality – his strength and honesty.    I would be very happy to provide a reference for you if you ever need one.                                                                                  Again, many thanks for a job very well done!"  

 David Cohen

    Executive Vice President     

Standard Oil of Connecticut



 

I will take you step by step on the creation and thought that went into Roy Friedman, The President of Standard Oil of Connecticut's portrait:

 

Because this was such a complicated portrait with a lot of detail, I first drew up a rough sketch idea for the composition and detail layout.



Since this was a surprise portrait it was a bit more of a challenge to find the right composition and head shot and pose.
First we had to find a good head shot to work the composition around...this one was perfect!

 

 

After presenting a  rough composition sketch, to the Executive Vice President of Standard Oil, David Cohen and the Friedman family, for their approval, I had Roy pose in his office for me,  in the same direction and  eye level that would work with the head shot, above.
(Now remember, this was all to be a surprise, so I had to come up with a story for why I was taking his picture).

This is a old photo of Roy's father with the original horse and buggy that was used in the early years of the company.  This  photo was to be painted in the background as a framed photograph.

Roy was on this Ship during World War 11, a terrible typhoon hit the ship and many crewman were last at sea.           Luckily, Roy survived but this horrific experience changed his life. This photo was to be added to the background also.

Of course, we had to have that great red Standard Oil truck in the picture too...I placed it on view in the painting out the Conference Room window.

Roy has had a love of horses all his life and is a great equestrian, so adding this sculpture from his Library was a good representation for his passions and sportsmanship.

              The final portrait, Roy Friedman, President of Standard Oil of Connecticut,                                      44 x 36 Oil on Linen

The  portrait unveiling at the 100th Anniversary of Standard Oil of Connecticut,  Sunday September 15th

 Boothe Memorial Park, Stratford Connecticut.

 

 

It was a lovely early fall morning when we dropped off the large framed portrait  to Boothe Memorial Park at 10;00 am. The unveiling was to be at 1:30, so we had to hide the portrait of Roy Friedman and the easel until it was set for the unveiling. 

 

The event was well attended with about 400 people including Senator Richard Blumenthal and the major of Stratford, John Harkin.

 

John Harkin, the Mayor of Stratford and Roy Friedman, The President of Standard Oil of Connecticut

 

 

The Friedman Family after the portrait unveiling

 

Roy Friedman and the artist, Susan Boone Durkee

TO SEE MORE PORTRAITS BY THE ARTIST VISIT: WWW.SUSANDURKEE.COM