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Howard Friedland

Different Strokes for Different People!

Howard Friedland · Jun 18, 2018 · Leave a Comment

Favorite Spot 24x36 HFriedlandOPAM
“Favorite Spot”
Howard Friedland OPAM AIS
24″x 36″ Oil
I bet you thought I was going to say “Different Folks”!
Well, that’s my point! You can, and should be different, folks! No one wants to see a second rate Sargent or Sorolla. People want to see who YOU are in YOUR work. I’d be willing to bet that your favorite painters have their own strong unique way of painting and that is one reason you love their work so much. I tell my students, “you bought the paint, you bought the canvas, you get to use them the way you want”! There isn’t a “right way” to paint”!
 
Yes, we all have favorite painters that inspire us. However, you can’t crawl into their skin any more than they can into yours. For every glorious canvas that they have produced, there are hundreds if not thousands that didn’t make the cut. The old trope is true, it does take miles of canvas before producing anything worthwhile. Each person has his or her own level of motivation and ambition to achieve higher technical ability and skill. It’s a personal journey of growth and fulfillment and every person has different goals and different ways of getting there.
Quiet Reflection16x20 HFriedlandOPAM
“Quiet Reflection”
Howard Friedland OPAM AIS
16″ x 20″ Oil
I have found the best way to achieve growth in my work is to make it as easy to practice my craft every day as possible. This means having an available space and the available time in my life to set aside to “just do it”! Also for a boost of motivation I like to peruse books about my favorite painters and perhaps scroll through Instagram, Pinterest or Facebook. Seeing all the wonderful work inspires me to get to my easel and get started.
If you are striving to improve your traditional painting chops, there are great workshop teachers that can point you in the right direction but beware of those who want you to paint exactly like them. It’s fine to pick up tips on materials, work habits and learning techniques from them but, again, developing your own vision is key to fulfillment as an artist. Picasso didn’t even want to copy his own style. That’s why he kept changing it! I guess he was easily bored.
Howard Friedland OPAM AIS
“Hollyhock Lane”
Howard Friedland OPAM AIS
18″ x 24″ Oil
Here are a few of the concepts I have found helpful in strengthening my work. Practicing my drawing skills helped me to see accurate shape relationships and develop design ideas for my paintings. Focusing on my understanding of how light functions enhanced the veracity of my work. It also has informed my knowledge of my color palette and how color temperature comes into play. It is very important to be honest with yourself and do what is necessary to work on areas that will help you communicate your vision more clearly.
At times, I, myself, have taken a workshop from an artist whose work I admire when I needed a jumpstart or felt they had a skill set that I needed to get a better handle on. However, when all is said and done, it is still up to me to put in the time with the brush in my hand that matters most. After all, it is best to have the brush in your hand when genius strikes! The old saying that “practice makes perfect” is only half true! “Perfect practice makes Perfect”!
So, take a deep breath of “I can do this” and “DO YOUR OWN THING”!
Waiting for the Master 14x18 Oil by Howard Friedland OPA AIS
“Waiting for the Master”
Howard Friedland OPA AIS
14×18 Oil
Morning in Giverny 24x30 Oil by Howard Friedland OPAM AIS
“Morning in Giverny”
Howard Friedland OPAM AIS
24″ x 30″ Oil

Please check out my brand new FASO website at www.howardfriedland.com for more images and information about my paintings.

The Nature of Oil Painting

Howard Friedland · Dec 20, 2015 · 2 Comments

Scott Gellatly
Scott Gellatly

As an artist that has been working with oil paint for over 40 years, I am still trying to understand as much as I can about this wonderful medium. It seems like every year, new improved and safer products are being developed by paint companies to make artists lives easier. With these new technologies, a greater variety of colors are also available. It is important to keep up with the current solvents and mediums as well so we can attain the highest quality of work. It is critical that artists be confident that these new products are stable and archival. That is why I was so glad that Scott Gellatly from Gamblin Artists Colors agreed to speak to the participants at this year’s OPA convention in May.
Scott is very passionate about passing on the heritage of oil painting to “millennials.” Oil paintings, he says are “authentic, natural, relevant and enduring.” Gellatly believes that it is vital to convey the message that “slowing down and taking the time to make art” will give balance to the fast-paced lifestyle of the “Internet generation.”
Note: Below are just a few of the topics that Scott shared with us. For more information, Scott is happy to answer any questions that you may have about Oil Painting materials and the process of making them. You can contact Scott Gellatly, Product Manager at www.gamblincolors.com or 503-235-1945
Friedland-2Oil paint is basically made with pigments, linseed oil and, when necessary, a minute amount of driers. These ingredients are mixed and then run through a series of passes in a milling machine until the desired consistency is achieved. The oil is derived from the flax seed. Flax is the same plant that fine linen canvas is made from.
Some of the benefits of oil colors are: Luscious working properties, Unique wetting properties, Depth of Luminosity of transparent oil glazes Ability to be cleaned and restored over centuries.
Friedland-3Studio Safety and personal precautions for the artist was another topic that Scott felt was crucial to talk about. It is important to read the labels on the tubes to be aware of the ingredients. Some popular colors, which are very toxic, such as Lead White, Vermillion, Emerald Green, Cobalt Violet etc. are made using harmful ingredients like Lead, Arsenic and Mercury.
They are good colors but can be dangerous to use (or misuse) for any length of time. Suitable replacements now exist for traditional lead-based colors, for those painters who no longer wish to work with lead. Vermilion (mercury) and Emerald Green (arsenic) are largely obsolete. Some painters choose to wear gloves while painting, as it makes clean-up easier. However, it is not necessary to wear gloves while oil painting. Skin contact is not a route of entry into the human system for oil colors. Oil colors can be easily removed from hands with soap and water.
Health of the Environment Proper disposal of paints, solvents and mediums.
Image: Gamsol, Galkyd painting mediums, Gamvar
“The days of turpentine are over!” Gamblin has developed safer solvents and mediums like Gamsol and Galkyd among many others. Now they even make a Solvent-Free Gel. He even advocated using the sludge from the bottom of your thinner to make an all-purpose grey to use when you block in your start….hmm interesting idea! Gamblin uses the remnants of all the colors in the manufacturing process to make and tube-up something they call Torrit Grey.
Health of the Products ensure longevity. Building a painting and varnishing it properly avoids cracking or blooming issues down the road.
LABELING
I am not a chemist! I love to paint! Therefore, I am very happy there are folks like Scott Gellatly (also a fine painter in his own right) who have the expertise and willingness to share his vast knowledge with us so we can make the wise decisions about which materials will give us the best results and which ones we might avoid.
Thank you Scott for an enlightening and entertaining talk.

Fasten Your Seat Belts He’s a very Jovial Gent

Howard Friedland · Nov 18, 2013 · 1 Comment

Notes from the Harley Brown, Allan Duerr Interview

By Howard Friedland

AllenDuerr and HarleyBrown InterviewAttendees at the 2010 Oil Painters of America National Show in Scottsdale were treated to an informative and extremely entertaining experience. I don’t use the word “experience” lightly, because being in the presence of Harley Brown (a legend in the field of representational art) cannot be expressed by using any other word. Allan Duerr who is the co editor and publisher of Art of the West Magazine had the pleasure of interviewing Harley. These two chaps go back a long way, so there were high expectations in the air, and boy were those expectations met!

Harley Brown, Allan Duerr Interview 2
Allan Duerr
Harley Brown, Allan Duerr Interview
Harley Brown

Allan: Harley, when did you know that you want to become an Artist?
Harley: I remember a moment, at seven years of age, while sitting on the floor drawing. I knew then that I wanted to be an artist. As I was growing up I was a visual savant, I wasn’t much good at anything else. His mother played the piano and encouraged him to take lessons. He later would become a professional musician.
While mentioning that his father was an artist, he suddenly leapt up and left the stage excitedly to grab a painting that was on display at the front of the stage. It was a painting that his father painted of the actor Ronald Coleman. Showing the portrait to the audience he declared, “This painting is my prized possession”.
From that point on, Harley became more and more animated. He moved gracefully down from the stage to cast his spell on the audience. He just as seamlessly popped back up on the stage to resume his interview with Alan. He made the room come alive.
Allan: Did you ever consider giving up?
Harley: No, I never felt like a failure or a success. I didn’t much care what others thought. I had “Tunnel vision”.
Allan: When did you get the recognition?
Harley: Recognition doesn’t really happen in reality. I don’t think about it. It’s fake.
I did a portrait of Ronald Reagan. I got only one commission from it. Life is fickle. People are fickle.
Harley Brown, Allan Duerr Interview 2Harley then proceeded to tell us about “The Three Harleys”. First he picked up a self-portrait of himself as a young “Serious” Harley. The style and color clearly showed the determination and seriousness in his demeanor. Next he showed us the second self-portrait that was painted later in his development. Cranky Harley the “Hyper-Ego” period. This is the time that he considers a “Tipping Point’ in his life. The Third self-portrait he called “Happy Harley”. This is a more self-assured, jovial look. He said that at this point in his life he says whimsically that he doesn’t “look down” on people for not having aesthetic values.
Allan: You are a member and invitee to Prix d’ West and Cowboy Artists of America. How do you keep the shows and the galleries supplied?
Harley: I have learned to say NO!
Harley BrownTo interject some fun, Harley livened things up with his impression of John Wayne, followed by the same impression only in reverse, as if it was on a film being played backwards.Harley’s huge smile and warmth are infectious and his quick wit and antics were hilarious. He has the ability to convey his enthusiasm and wisdom about art by spicing it up with pithy and humorous stories. One such story was about a time when he was starting out. He was married with kids and was working in a studio in a fellow’s basement. The janitor that worked there became his “Art Dealer”. Harley began painting glitzy pseudo-modernistic portraits with graphic backgrounds and Elvis paintings on velour. To do this, he reinvented himself as the artist “Belenofski”(a pseudonym, the name Brown simply didn’t have the glamour). The problem was that Brown was becoming jealous of Belenofski. It seems that Belenofski was selling his paintings for more money and faster than Brown’s paintings. The people just loved Belenofski! Harley created a life and history to go with Belenofski. Belenofski was a white Russian who was married 5 times. To get rid of Belenofski when Harley didn’t want to paint more of these pot boilers, he had made up the story that Fleur, (Belenofski’s last wife) came back into is life and Belenofski and Fleur disappeared together.
Allan: What does respect mean to you?
Harley: It could be just a little word from a friend. Years ago I had a two man show with Ramon Kelly. Ramon was really established already. The show was in Denver and most of his paintings sold and I only sold one. Ramon said to me “Don’t worry about it, your stuff is just too damn good”. I love giving respect. When I see good work I love telling the artist. Once I was watching a little kid draw. I saw that he had so much talent so I told him “If you don’t continue drawing and growing, I will haunt you!”
When I was young I used to talk a lot about being an artist. One day my father said to me “You’re a big talker; you are just a lot of talk. Make your mind up. I will support you and send you to art school. Sign up tomorrow. If you don’t, I don’t want to hear about art any more”. God bless my father for making it happen.
Harley’s teaching style:
HarleyFrom what I gathered from watching and listening to Harley I can imagine that a student would have to be on his or her toes to capture the essence of what he is saying.  He will interweave topics that are seemingly unrelated to painting such as movies (Harley is a big fan), classical and jazz music (he is an aficionado), what is the best pizza (Harley wants one named after him), etc.  At times there would be those who didn’t like his rambling style and thought that he was “wasting time”. Harley considers them “Spoil sports” and devised ways to “Hunt them down”. The truth is though that Harley was an extremely dedicated teacher. So much so that his classes would go on day and night.
Some things that he stresses are; never put detail in both the light and shadow equally. If the model is primarily in light, keep the detail in the light and not so much in the shadow. The same is true if the model is cast in more shadow than light. Keep the detail in the shadow and then the light side will be bleached out with less detail.
Harley pointed to the work of Donald Teague and Rembrandt to talk about the importance of design and correct values to a painting.  He stated,” Values are an artist’s best friend”. The more you know the values the stronger the color. It’s not just throwing on color.
On another subject, he remembered being shocked by a painting that he saw in London. It was a painting of flags by Jasper Johns.
To make a point he picked up one of his most valued drawings to show to the audience. It was a charcoal drawing that he did years ago of the actor Boris Karloff. He then proceeded to slowly and deliberately tear the prized work in half, and then in quarters, over and over he tore the drawing until it was torn to bits. There was a collective gasp that was heard from the attendees. Harley said “because of the shock value, this spectacle will most likely be the only thing about the interview that will stick in your visual memory.” He called it “Memory value”. We remember the out of the ordinary, the shocking. The Jasper Johns flag painting. The composer John Cage’s composition where he sits by the piano for an hour without playing a note.
Allan: Harley, you have had a number of memorable quotes.

Harley Quotes:

  • “An artist’s greatest attribute isn’t skill it is attitude.”
  • “I had average talent, I worked my butt off”.
  • He then screamed,
    “I WANT TO BE AN ARTIST – Not for the money.
    TO MAKE ART!”
  • “Draw everyday from life not just photos.”
  • “Value drawing is the artist’s best friend. Be religiously faithful to values, it will take you to another level.”
  • “There is a moment when you are on your own.”
  • “Allow your sub conscious to do the work.”
  • “The painting is finished before the artist knows it is.”
  • “Feel the portrait’s heart beating.”
  • “Leave well enough alone.”
  • “Learn the rules first then say,’the heck with it!’”
  • “Go as close as you can to Mother Nature.”
  • “Be yourself! You won’t become the artist that you want to be
    until you become yourself. That takes time.”
  • “James Dean was influenced by Brando, Brahms by Beethoven.
    We are all influenced.  You will get to the point when you don’t think of other artists. You will let it flow and let it pour out of you. That’s a magical moment.”
  • Harley told us about his two imps. One imp is on his left shoulder and one on his right shoulder. One imp whispers “put that in the painting” the other good imp implores “No, No, No, Don’t do it!” The first imp hollers “SELL, SELL, SELL!”  The other shoulder good imp advises “Have fun and explore”.
  • “My hope is to live in a little log cabin, some trees, a creek, listen to the birds and have a few shows. If I never sell another painting I could be happy.”

I know that this OPA member will not soon forget this “jovial gent” and his sometimes-outrageous ways of communicating his love for art and artists.

 

A summary of Scott Burdick’s presentation entitled “The Banishment of Beauty”

Howard Friedland · Jul 24, 2013 · 8 Comments

Summary by Howard Friedland OPA, based on “The Banishment of Beauty” by Scott Burdick

Scott Burdick
Scott Burdick
In the second half of the Twentieth Century, the general public has, in great measure, “bought into” the misconception that skill, craft and — yes, even beauty — is to be disregarded when it comes to fine art. This phenomenon is evident in every art form. We can hear it in music, see it in our television programing and witness it in paintings. Most of us just accept and bare it.
Scott Burdick has taken the lead in the effort to wake us up and remind us that execution is at least as important as concept.
Scott and his wife, artist Susan Lyon, are two of America’s leading proponents of representational painting. They travel all around the U.S. and the world painting and photographing the beauty they see around them.
Burdick was kind enough to share with us his talk and slide show on “The Banishment of Beauty” at Oil Painters of America’s 2013 National Convention and Exhibition.
 

Note: Scott’s talk is too robust to include in full, and it would be an injustice for me to edit this important document, so I have chosen to provide a summary. Click here to view the presentation in it’s entirety.

Here is some of what the attendees saw and heard:
 

Art – Beauty and Truth – The Banishment of Beauty

by Scott Burdick
We’ve all heard of the great clash between abstract and representational art; how museums have become bastions of the abstract and realism has fallen out of favor. Here we have several paintings hanging right next to each other at the North Carolina Museum of Art that seem to illustrate this monumental conflict perfectly. On the left are three works from 19th Century artists — Robert Blum, Henry Mowbray, and Thomas Dewing — contrasted with four abstract paintings by Joseph Albers from the middle of the twentieth century.
Banishment of Beauty
Dewing’s paintings, especially, are full of emotion, exquisite craftsmanship and firmly tethered to the aesthetic tradition of realism going back in time to the beginning of art itself. Dewing — along with artists such as Sargent, Zorn, Sorrolla, Thayer, Gerome and other familiar greats — epitomized the height of what realism had attained in the 19th century art world.
Joseph Albers, on the other hand, is the epitome of the “modern” twentieth-century artists’ rejection of the representational form and all that can be called traditional in art. He famously said, “Abstraction is real; probably more real than nature.” A student and, later, teacher at Germany’s Bauhaus School, he was one of the leaders in the abstract revolution that was to transform the modern art world.
Albers’ work can be summed up with one word: Squares. I don’t know if any of you have seen the John Malcovich film, “Art School Confidential,” but Joseph Albers reminds me a lot of the artist/teacher Malcovich played, except all his paintings were triangles, instead of squares –- you can see one of his works in the background. One of my favorite lines in the film was when John Malcovich brags to a student that he was, “one of the first to paint triangles, you know.”
So there you have it. Out-of-date realism, versus cutting-edge abstraction. One half-expects the paintings to jump off the walls and start fighting right there in the museum. Squares versus Angles! Certainly, to judge by the vitriol on both sides of this artistic divide, one would expect no less.
Continuing on through the Museum, this all-out battle seems confirmed by one abstract work after another in the 20th Century section of the museum. Most include pretentious and, to my mind at least, ridiculous explanations to go with them. Here’s one example among many.
Titled “Blue Panel” painted in 1980. Quote, “Ellsworth Kelly reduces art to an essential geometric form to create an object that queries the definition of art and art making. His panel paintings are never just simple forms – the geometry is always skewed or irregular – and the shapes are inspired by chance encounters with the everyday world: an open door or window, a shadow cast by a tree, the spaces between things. In Kelly’s hands a painting becomes a sculptural form with volume and substance, and the architectural space around it becomes part of the work. As he explains, “By removing the content from my work, I shifted the visual reality to include the space around it.” His shaped, monochromatic canvases distill painting to pure abstraction, immersing the viewer in a visceral and voluptuous field of color.”

Blue Panel by Ellsworth Kelly
Blue Panel by Ellsworth Kelly

Wow….! Well, I don’t buy it, but one has to admit that he put a lot more effort into crafting the explanation of the painting, than in creating the painting itself. And the proof of his genius is that he’s hanging in a world-class museum, run by experts with impressive degrees in Art History, Art Theory, and far more qualified than me to say what is a masterpiece worthy of spending public funds to acquire and display.
But if that’s all there is to it – either you are an out-of-date realist who just can’t understand the “shifting of visual reality to include the space beyond the bounds of the canvas”, or a modern abstractionist who has progressed beyond realism in the same way the bronze age supplanted the stone age, then there really isn’t much to talk about. How can one really argue that one is better than the other when they are so completely different? Surely all of it just comes down to a matter of opinion and taste. Some people like angels and some squares, simple as that.
 
To see and read the entire “The Banishment of Beauty article by Scott Burdick please click on the link below.
Click here to watch Scott’s one-hour video, “The Banishment of Beauty.”
It is in 4 parts, but they should automatically play one after the other.
Thank you Scott for an enlightening and encouraging lecture. Hooray for our side!!!

Making Your Own Linen Panels

Howard Friedland · May 20, 2013 · 14 Comments

Commercially made linen or cotton canvas panels are available, and they are very nice. However, making them yourself will save you money and they really don’t take very long to make.
Here are the materials that you will need with step by step instructions (and photos) on how to mount linen or cotton canvas to board.
There are various surfaces to mount linen or cotton canvas to, depending on how light you want them to be. For general use I like Gator Board. Gator Board is similar to Foamcore, however the outer substrate of Gator Board is a harder material and will not bend, Foamcore will bend so it should never be used to mount canvas. Gator Board comes in various widths and in white, natural (tan) or black. If you are traveling and want a thinner panel you can use 1/8th inch Birch plywood, Masonite or Hardwood boards. Another extremely light and thin option is Media Board sometimes called Non Buckle board. It is very thin and you can stack numerous paintings if you are going on an extended painting trip. When you get these panels back to the studio you can then support the Media board with a heavier backing or Foamcore when it’s time to frame the painting.
Note: I recommend that you start making small sizes at first 6×8 to 16×20 until you get the technique and drying time down, then you can better handle larger panels 18×24 and larger.

Materials you will need:

MountingCanvasToPanels1

  • A Roll of Pre primed Linen or Cotton Canvas
    • I prefer linen but you can use cotton canvas if linen is too expensive.
  • Gator Board, Masonite or Birch plywood. (Not Foamcore!)
    • I use 3/16 inch Gator Board for smaller sizes and ½ inch Gator Board for large panels. To find Gator Board or Media Board/Non Buckle Board try an art supply store or on line. For Masonite, Hard Board or Birch Plywood try your local lumber yard.
  • Miracle Muck Glue
    • Miracle Muck is water soluble (cleans up easily with water and it is also “heat re-activating”, which means that the low to medium heat of an iron or hair dryer, will allow you to peel up the canvas even after it has dried, if you need to remove the canvas from the board.

IMPORTANT! Be careful that the iron is not too hot or you can scorch your painting. Get a gallon of it from SourceTek. They will only ship when the outside temperature is safely above freezing. If they have a problem sending it, you can try your local art supply stores and see if they can get it.

  • Small 5 inch wide foam-rubber house painting roller with reusable (green flocked) rolls
    • These rolls may be sold separately. They give you a nice even smooth application of glue which is very important! Any paint store, or Hardware store should have it.
  • Large Utility knife
    • I use the kind that has segmented blades that I can snap off when they are dull.
  • Long metal straight edge for cutting
  • Roll of Masking Tape
  • Heavy Laminate Roller
    • The kind that they sell for pressing down Formica to counter surfaces. Hardware stores carry them.
  • Paper Towels

The Procedure:

Step 1
 With a pencil, mark the Gator Board a bit larger than you want the finished panel to be. Example:

  • For an 8×10 inch panel cut it to 9×11 inches.
  • For small canvases an additional 1/2 inch all the way around is fine.
  • For larger sizes I recommend 1 inch all the way around. After the canvas is glued down and dried, this makes a nice, clean edge once the excess is trimmed off. However, if you have pre-cut boards to the exact size and don’t have any excess trim, it is not a problem.

Using the pencil lines for a guide, cut out a piece of Gator Board with the utility knife and metal straight edge. Make several passes of the blade until it cuts all the way through. If you are cutting Masonite or plywood, you may need a table saw to cut the material.

 

MountingCanvasToPanels2
Step 2
Cut a piece of Canvas to the same size as the Gator Board in Step #1 and lay them side by side.
Note: If you cut the canvas from a roll, you might have to tape down the corners so it doesn’t curl up when you apply the glue.

 

MountingCanvasToPanels3
Step 3
Pour some Miracle Muck out onto the raw side of the canvas and work it evenly into the canvas with the foam roller to get a thin and even coat with no puddles or dry spots.
IMPORTANT: You want a thin, even coat of glue rolled out from edge to edge.

 

MountingCanvasToPanels4
Step 4
Pour a small amount of the Miracle Muck from the bottle onto the Gator Board.
Using the foam roller, roll out the glue evenly over the entire surface of the Gator Board. You won’t need to pour out as much glue because the board is not as absorbent as the canvas. (Make sure that there are no puddles or dry areas on the surface).
IMPORTANT: You want a thin, even coat of glue from edge to edge.

 

MountingCanvasToPanels5
Step 5
Take the glued Gator Board and flip it over onto the glued canvas surface adhering glue side to glue side. You must do this while the glue is still wet. You will still be able to slide it around or lift up the board to adjust it if necessary.
Line up all the edges as best you can, so when mounted, the weave of the canvas is not crooked. Press lightly over the Gator Board with your hands so that both glued surfaces make good contact.
Then, turn the panel over to the canvas side (removing the tape from the corners of the canvas).
Gently pressing down with your hand again, (this time on the canvas side) starting at the center and moving toward the outer edges, smooth out any air bubbles that might still be between the canvas and board.

 

MountingCanvasToPanels6
Step 6
Take the heavy roller and bray down the canvas to the board (roll from the center out to the edges again).

 

MountingCanvasToPanels7
Step 7
When the mounted canvas is flat and smooth, turn it face down and put some books or other heavy flat object on top to keep the panel flat over night. Be sure to weight the whole surface.
You can stack several of them under the weights. If you are mounting a variety of sizes at a time, put the larger ones on the bottom of the stack.

 

MountingCanvasToPanels8
Step 8
The next day you can trim off the excess ½ inch of material from the panel with the utility knife. Trim them to the finished size you want. It may take several passes to cut through but you will get a nice clean edge.

 

MountingCanvasToPanels9Once you do it a few times and get the feel of how much glue to use it should be a breeze to make a bunch at a time with no problem.
Good Luck with your project!

 

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