Norman Rockwell’s Photo Realism
© All photographs from the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum
Norman Rockwell’s rosy illustrations of small town American life looked so photographic because his method was to copy photographs that he conceived and meticulously directed, working with various photographers and using friends and neighbors as his models. “The Runaway” (1958) is one example from the recently published Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera (Little, Brown and Company, 2009). More about Rockwell’s photo realism, including an image gallery, is currently on NPR’s web site. The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusettes is also hosting an exhibition, and according to NPR, will put Rockwell’s digitized photographic archive online at the end of the year.
© Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum
© Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum
 © Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum |
 © Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum |
|
 © Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum |
|
 © Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum |
© Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum
© Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum
 © Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum |
 © Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum |
 © Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum |
 ©2009 Norman Rockwell Family Agency |
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 12:00 pm ET
by admin and is filed under Books, History, Photo Galleries, Portraiture.
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:46 pm EEDT
Really cool. I have always loved Rockwell’s work, obviously it hearkens back to a simpler time, when four cops could have coffee before shift and someone might even buy it for them.
Of course, the reality is that when Norman Rockwell was at the height of his career, we were fighting a war on several fronts, racism was far worse, religious intolerance was the norm and poverty was rampant.
All I know is that I worry for my kids. I don’t want them to grow up in this age of violence. I hope we can all do better to make our world a more Rockwellian place.
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:14 pm EEDT
To call this amazing artist/illustrator a “paint-by-numbers artist” is to negate the skill and talent required to reproduce a photograph with brush and paint – especially considering Rockwell went from black and white photos to a full color rendering.
There’s a reason they call this “photo realism” and it is a legitimate art form. “Tracing” an outline from a photograph is no different than using a projector or working from a photo layer in a graphics program – something that many artists employ in this day and age. It is simply a method of transferring your basic illustration quickly, a requirement for professional illustrators who had tight deadlines.
Note the many changes Rockwell made to position, expression and backgrounds to better suit his design. The photos were a starting point, one which he created and directed in the beginning by staging the photograph to match his vision.
This is creativity in process and it is a privilege to see how he went from first creative thought to final rendering. I thank the Norman Rockwell Family Agency for giving us a peek into the work process of one of America’s most beloved artists!
I am a big fan of Norman Rockwell and he was one of the artists that inspired me to become an artist myself.
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:54 pm EEDT
Letterman did a top 10 list of “Unpublished Norman Rockwell Paintings” actually quite a few years ago. The three I remember most were “Bad Clams, “Old Hobo’s Infected Toe”, and “Turn Your Head and Cough.”
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:26 pm EEDT
EvilGod, i hereby challenge you to a contest.
i would care to see you approach the level of talent Norman Rockwell exhibits.
feel free to paint by numbers.
Good luck.
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:28 pm EEDT
Still pretty amazing, if you ask me. Thanks…
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:52 pm EEDT
If anyone here is a fan of Norman Rockwell and hasn’t been to the museum in Mass, it is amazing. Some of the paintings there are incredible, like the larger than life line worker. You find yourself guessing if they really are photos or not.
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:14 pm EEDT
Rockwell’s technique isn’t unusual at all; the Canadian painter Alex Colville has a similar approach. The use of photos in no way detracts from their incredible talents.
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:05 am EEDT
Awesome collection. I’ve always been captivated when I look at his work, I never knew it was based on photographs. That’s pretty cool.
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:41 am EEDT
I prefer the photos by far!
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:34 am EEDT
#1 is the best pic of these.
gotta give credit to the man.
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:15 am EEDT
Rockwell was a hack…
J.C. Leyendecker…
that’s where it’s at…
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:38 am EEDT
Simply the best Illustrator EVER!
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:09 am EEDT
he had a thought-picked the models-photographed the scene- transfered the scene to canvas-then and only then did he start to render what he alredy had created from scratch.
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:46 am EEDT
So he was the original ‘shopper?
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:50 pm EEDT
Paint by number..? You have to be kidding me! Why because he is painting what he sees? Isn’t that what painters/Illustrators do? They paint what they see! Idiot…
December 3rd, 2009 at 4:17 pm EEDT
Rockwell’s painting talent is just the craftsman part, and it’s brilliant in its own right. His real genius is that his painting adds a human story that’s only hinted at in the photographs!
December 3rd, 2009 at 6:33 pm EEDT
The man was a talented artist, a genius and anyone who doesn’t get it, is a damned fool. Outside of that, have a lovely day.
December 3rd, 2009 at 6:35 pm EEDT
Brilliant..
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:40 pm EEDT
http://ww.spyadeal.com
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:49 pm EEDT
Norman Rockwell made some pretty significant changes while he was converting these pictures from photographs to the canvas, and I think that most of them are for the better. This is a good gallery of paintings, but I would like to see the paintings that were made from the last few photographs, though.
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:57 pm EEDT
Amazing, the transformation which took place from the photograph to the finished painting! The way the sailors hat moves from the top of his hat to the back of his head, for example. Faces become more mature, expressions more complex, yet even more quintessentially American. The way he warms up the scene in the Barber Shop, with the stove’s glowing embers in the dark, and the addition of the fiddler. (That lovely simplicity of the old shop makes me nostalgic for a better time in America.) Heck, I remember when The Four Freedoms actually came out on the Post magazine covers. I was a kid then, and WW II was going on. By showing us small town America, Rockwell showed us the best that America could be. It’s gone now. We are no longer innocent as a nation. (And Glenn Beck’s teabaggers won’t get it back. In fact, they are a big part of the problem!) In the same way, Michelangelo and Bernini encapsulated the best of their age. Rembrandt, Van Eyck, (whose name, btw, one can easily read on the shelf of The Marriage Councilor’s waiting room.) Daumier, Toulouse Lautrec, Degas— all Realists. Anyone who quibbles about the merits of Rockwell’s work in this post-modern era, is incompetent to discuss art at all.
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:49 pm EEDT
I love how the cop in the diner is more burly and broad-shouldered in Rockwell’s painting than in the photograph. It gives him the sense of a protector for the boy.
The criticisms of Rockwell’s work and process is just an example of the pretentious snobbery that occurs in the art world.
December 4th, 2009 at 2:47 am EEDT
Brilliant work!
December 4th, 2009 at 8:49 pm EEDT
norman rockwell – always one of my favorites – how delightful to learn more about how he executed his paintings – such meticulous attention to detail could only arise through careful planning, i can’t believe i never knew before exactly how he accomplished same. i’m marveling at how many photographs i could instantly recognize the painting, even when it wasn’t displayed. there are plenty of artists who tap into our dark side; in fact, one might say it’s easier in many ways. i’ve long been and always will be grateful to the man who showed us that there is light and beauty to complement the darkness, showed us both the humor and poignancy in life’s simple conflicts as well. There is pain enough in life – and Rockwell knew it well – in fact people in general in those times were better connected with life’s challenges and difficulties – the great Depression was not long behind them, and every day required a great deal of work with little assurance for most. They didn’t need to be reminded in art of those truths, perhaps; they weren’t split off from each other, the way we are today. They had family and community, and a sense of hope and direction for their future, even when life was hard; things too often lacking in our modern experience. It’s good to be reminded.
December 4th, 2009 at 11:17 pm EEDT
Things are this simple…..move to vermont
December 5th, 2009 at 12:03 am EEDT
I am not only lucky enough to grow up in the Berkshires, but i have also had the amazing opportunity to chat with Norman Rockwell’s son, who is quite the artist in his own right. Norman Rockwell captured not a generation, but in alot of ways, the entire feeling of Berkshire County even to this day in a way. Its simply a matter of noticing the simple moments like the ones he captured, studied and turned into amazing photo-realistic works of beauty.
December 5th, 2009 at 9:49 am EEDT
My mom used to love Norman Rockwell. Me, not so much. I can appreciate his skill and humor though.
December 5th, 2009 at 1:24 pm EEDT
i’ve had a print of that first one on my wall ever since i was a little kid. i also have another norman rockwell print that’s always been hanging beside it.
December 6th, 2009 at 8:24 am EEDT
Response to Lucas Dec 2nd 2009
The middle part of you post describes the reality of the times when Rockwell was working, yet at the end you say you wish we could return to rockwellian times. Face it buddy, your kids ARE growing up in the same environment as the kids in Rockwells time, just some of the details have changed.
Arabs/middle easterners for blacks
War in the middle east instead of Europe
Religious prejudice… well that hasn’t really changed any details.
We are still fighting all the same battles we were 80 years ago. so don’t sweat it, Luke, you’re kids are doing just fine.
December 6th, 2009 at 12:12 pm EEDT
I’m not sure why the shocker here. They are his photos. His tools.
The idea that using photographs some how negates his art is truly uninformed and an excuse for people who think that somehow using a photograph makes an artist’s job easier. Would it be more acceptable if he had kept his models seated for hours & weeks on end? The fact that he used and set up his own photographs is far more legitimate than using the photgraphs of others – and frankly – not unusual. A photo is a tool like any other. I’m not clear who makes up these “rules,” that an artist must create purely from their imagination and memory or only from life in front of them and of the moment. I would challenge anyone to do what he did as well as he did without photos or reference materials.
Mr Rockwell’s training at the Art Student League and his respect for and apprenticeship during the golden age of illustration (Leyendecker, Parrish and others) is evident in his ability to draft, draw and “art direct” the preliminary photos and subsequent paintings. His compostions are nearly flawless, with every detail worked out in many sketched roughs (drawn & painted), including accurate light sources and shadows, proportion and color. He was a perfectionist with high expectations of his results. Why would you deny him a tool?
December 6th, 2009 at 12:27 pm EEDT
And oh by the way – in case you didn’t notice, the photos are b/w & the paintings are in color. He had to recreate the color, warm & cool tones etc w/o help from the photos and make them so believable that no one’s even noticing. I assure you that’s hard to do.
If you haven’t already, I highly recommend seeing the paintings and sketches when you have the opportunity. They are stunning, larger than you think, and will give new appreciation for the man and his work.
December 6th, 2009 at 11:19 pm EEDT
Wow. Stumbled this. The photographs are so much more interesting!
God Rockwell’s work is obnoxious. Skill, sure, he’s a skilled illustrator. His work is like a set of knock-knock jokes you’re sure you’ve heard before even when it’s the first time.
December 7th, 2009 at 8:22 am EEDT
some were good some were not but over all i like it hope to see more thnks and merry xmas n a happy new year to yall
December 7th, 2009 at 10:20 am EEDT
He did not trace the photos. You can see the that in the final renderings. It is artwork and many artists work from photos to get overall proportions and then focus on detail. Many including myself do not use any kind of tracing. For many pieces it is hard to have the subject remain still. And, it is impossible to get accurate detail from memory for photo-realistic drawing or painting. This is art. If it does not work for you, that is ok. But, try sketching something…anything. I draw in pencil and people are surprised it is not a photo. It can take 50-60 hours to do a simple 11″ by 14″ image with no background. Better yet, watch an artist at work. The skill and talent need to be understood at times before they can be appreciated.
D
December 7th, 2009 at 10:24 am EEDT
Just to clarify. At times, he did use a projector but to say that is cheating or paint by number is just wrong. You would be surprised at the number of famous artists that trace to some degree.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:57 am EEDT
BRILLIANT!
December 7th, 2009 at 1:27 pm EEDT
Anyone here who says Rockwell’s not an artist because he uses a reference photo is not an artist themselves and is ignorant of the processes involved.
Artists use references. Whether it’s DaVinci painting the Mona Lisa (who was sitting in front of him, hello! reference!) or a still life on the table.
Would it have been MORE artsy-fartsy had he sat in front of these subjects and made them hold their pose for hours while he blocked everything in? Newsflash: if Da Vinci or Rembrandt or Van Gough would have been able to take photographs as reference, they would have.
December 7th, 2009 at 1:44 pm EEDT
Beautiful!!!
December 7th, 2009 at 2:20 pm EEDT
The third photo (with the little girl) is fuckin’ awesome.
So cute! ^^
December 7th, 2009 at 3:26 pm EEDT
rockwell did a remarkable job of giving life to a copied photo………..but ,of course, this keep hi stuff from being sugar aweet.
December 7th, 2009 at 3:44 pm EEDT
It’s really too bad these are black and white. They could have been awesome. Here’s hoping the originals are in color.
Black and white might work for scenery, and night shots, but it looks bad for pictures of people.
I know some people like them, to but to me it looks dim and dreary.
December 7th, 2009 at 4:08 pm EEDT
The use of photographs as reference…emphasis on REFERENCE by no means takes away from the talent necessary to compose and then create the painting from it. Rockwell was an American Great. I have produced charcoal drawings from life that were painstaking and what some thought to be photo realistic. I know first hand the difficulty in putting on canvas by hand what the mind desires. There is not other task in the world as difficult. Rockwell deserves our undying admiration of painting an America that was grand, grateful, respected its Creator and had flaws. As for CED, who’s language is very un-Rockwellian…I hope you grow up.
December 7th, 2009 at 5:29 pm EEDT
I had no idea he made his pictures form staged photographs
December 7th, 2009 at 5:53 pm EEDT
It’s no real news that Rockwell used photos, he was quite open about using refrence… it’s what helped make his illustrations so strong. The artistry falls into his compositions, that he set up. In the details, things like making all the characters shoes reflect who and what there were and did… He was a master at making a scene come to life.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:13 pm EEDT
Thank you ! I love this topic
December 8th, 2009 at 2:35 am EEDT
Does it matter if the guy was an anti-Semite?
December 8th, 2009 at 10:45 am EEDT
As an art student, one of the thing first things we learned was how to use photos for reference and how to shoot photos correctly to be used for reference. Most artists use photo references for many reasons. It’s virtually impossible to perfectly remember how a scene looked, it’s difficult and expensive to get models to sit for the hours and hours it takes to paint a picture with this much detail, it is hard to remember how the lighting was, and so on. Often the artist sketches out the scene he is envisioning, the sets up his models accordingly, and using the photos as reference he adjust the scene so that it works, and continues on in this manner. To state that using photos as reference was a weakness on Rockwell’s part or to reduce his work to ‘paint by numbers’ because of it is an inaccurate statement.
December 8th, 2009 at 4:47 pm EEDT
When the barbershop musicians picture ran, someone asked about the incorrect clarinet player hand position. The reply was something like ‘some amateur players do it that way’, which I always doubted.
Maybe the photo was flopped.
December 8th, 2009 at 7:41 pm EEDT
Did you know that most of his paintings are in the process of self destruction!
Being that the paintings were made to be photographed for the magazines and not to be hung in some museum, He lacquered the the paintings with thinner lacquer to bring out the brilliance in the colors, Unfortunately the lacquer is causing the original paintings to become brittle and fall apart. All of his exhibits are actually photographs of the original paintings.
On another note. None of the world that any artist produces really does exist. Does it?
I mean they all paint perfect worlds of happier and more innocent times.
In reality there never was such a time. The world has always had war and poverty at any given time.
So don’t misjudge the man. He painted what he wanted to see, Not what was going around at the time.
December 8th, 2009 at 7:53 pm EEDT
Does anyone know what font is on the door that reads “Marriage Counselor” ?
December 8th, 2009 at 9:25 pm EEDT
They had a re- enactment of his christmas on main street last week in Stockbridge. Some of his original models were there. The model who stood in as a mother washing her son in a bath tub for an ad was there and she had a copy of the $25 check he gave her. She said he told her that he would draw for the paycheck.. Found that a bit unsettling because I always thought of his work as art.
December 9th, 2009 at 7:55 am EEDT
Font on door is Avenir Light
December 9th, 2009 at 1:57 pm EEDT
I truly enjoy his work. There is so much misery in the world. His work shines a spotlight on the decent moments in life and on moments that cause a little chuckle.
I will never understand that minority who always want to negative anything that is clean, light, and cheering. Does it matter how the work was completed? Or what was used? He could do something many of us couldn’t begin to do. Create a picture.
Some of the art work being palmed off on us today looks like a house painter’s tarp that was used to wipe the floor and his behind. that doesn’t take any talent at all. Neither does standing back and throwing garbage at a canvas.
Regardless, Norman Rockwell was a talented artist and we won’t see his like again soon.
December 9th, 2009 at 4:25 pm EEDT
that is really neat, it would be fun to be the one taking the pictures
December 9th, 2009 at 6:04 pm EEDT
I’ve been a fan since seeing Post covers in the 50′s. Being in the UK it gave another view of the USA, not quite the one pictured in newspapers and newsreels. Recently added a copy of Norman Rockwell’s America to my books. To turn this discussion around, I’d like to see anyone recreate some of his images into photographic form. They’d never get the humour or provide the same emotional reaction that he gets by the minute attention to detail that makes your eye explore every square inch. Draughtsman? Yes, a great one. Check some of his portraits as well. Sentimental? Of course, and I’ve no problem with that.
December 12th, 2009 at 10:10 am EEDT
“Lucas” on Decemeber 2nd so succintly expressed all my feelings and yearnings about modern times vs. Norman Rockwell era so eloquently in a just a few sentences. We are in such a quandary, aren’t we, Lucas?
December 14th, 2009 at 10:00 am EEDT
Great site like the photos from ProfitableCapstone.com
December 16th, 2009 at 12:17 pm EEDT
Lucas, I am touched by your sentiment. I too worry for my kids but I hope that they would live in and embrace the world as it is and not as we would like it to be. Only then could we make this world like the peaceful world Rockwell painted
December 20th, 2009 at 7:56 pm EEDT
Loved the website. Could the pictures be placed next to one another so it would be easier to compare them?
December 23rd, 2009 at 12:21 am EEDT
“All I know is that I worry for my kids. I don’t want them to grow up in this age of violence. I hope we can all do better to make our world a more Rockwellian place.”
If WWII, Holocaust, segregation etc., wasn’t an age of violence then I don’t know what is. I’m tired of people acting like the world is so bad. There has always been problems in America, maybe Rockwell just decided to be positive and not a Debbie Downer.
December 23rd, 2009 at 3:12 am EEDT
It is just so cool
December 23rd, 2009 at 3:03 pm EEDT
These photos/illustrations touched a nostalgic nerve. My appreciation of his work began many years ago when his covers appeared on Post magazine. Our family would visit my Grandparents every other weekend and they always had the latest copy of Life and the S.E.Post. Reading these magazines taught me more about life and the world than my schooling and Rockwell’s illustrations have remained forever in my memories.
December 26th, 2009 at 1:46 pm EEDT
I have been an admirer of Mr.Rockwell”s artistic work since the 40s….and still is……….
January 2nd, 2010 at 5:32 pm EEDT
I’ve enjoyed Rockwell’s painting, since I was a child of the 50′s. When Rockwell was asked about his paintings, he said he painted not as things were, but how he wished it was.
January 13th, 2010 at 3:44 am EEDT
Great stuff! Great attention to details.
January 14th, 2010 at 1:34 pm EEDT
Great portfolio. Like that!
January 18th, 2010 at 7:35 pm EEDT
Glad to see the photos. Thanks for posting them.
February 2nd, 2010 at 5:21 pm EEDT
Hello! Was no one paying attention? Rockwell “conceived and meticulously directed (the photos), working with various photographers and using friends and neighbors as his model.”
These were, in effect, his photos. He knew what he wanted. He set it up. He posed it. Then he painted from the photos. So the entire process was Rockwell’s. This doesn’t tell us that he was painting by the numbers, or copying from anyone. It simply explains how he worked.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:58 am EEDT
so cool thanks
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:08 am EEDT
Hello!
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:12 am EEDT
Hello!!!
Don’t varry behappy…I am very love your website..
February 3rd, 2010 at 7:59 am EEDT
he is a great painter.his paintings are very nice.i love all those pictures.
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:11 am EEDT
I love Rockwell. We still call photographers artists right? Well this guy is is a good photographer and an illustrator. Why does these things have to be separate, he’s sort of a hybrid, and the result is beyond great. If he hadn’t arranged and taken the pictures himself it would be another issue, but it’s just a matter of technique to reach your goal.
Why go the long way if you can achive the same thing in a shorter time? This guy was smart, effective and talented.
Is the amount of time the measurement of art?
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:52 am EEDT
haaaaaaaPpyyyy Birthdayyyy …… :)
Hey ! I love ur all pintings thy r awesome …
especially the pic of
” young girl observing lovers” itzzz sooooo much well painted and very well concepted
itz just fantastic ….
keep up your good work …
good luck …
regards by
sweetie …
February 3rd, 2010 at 9:55 pm EEDT
Since I’ve got memory, I’ve always liked Norman Rockwell paintings and drawings. I knew he used a collection of photographs to help him in his compositions. What I didn´t know was that he also created the reality to create the image. In a way, this was done for centuries in painting, especially in much of the dutch painting of the XVIIth century: the painters “assembled” a lot of people, sometimes friends or relatives, and then painted the whole scene. But I think that NR was particularly fortunate, for his rendering of both photographs and paintings show an astounding quality on both.
February 11th, 2010 at 8:25 am EEDT
Are the people here giving opinions artists? Rockwell graphic work is really amazing but to claim that copying photos requires such an amazing skill shows simply a lack of understanding of the artist’s craft.
Many artists from the naturalist and realist movements used photos…that is why their paintings feel like photos and not like real human vision (I’m not qualifying here…their work is still great) They did that because it helps to achieve a, kind of, realist feel without having to hire models and create many drawing and painting studies from life…they did that because it is the easiest road.
And that is the point…the skill required to use a photo is less than the one required to achieve same realist results by hiring models and doing many studies from life to compose a complex composition…
So I take my hat to people who does not use photos and creates complex multifigure compostions still retaining some level of reality…Chilean master Claudio Bravo, or some new hot shots like American Jeremy Lipking come to mind.
March 13th, 2010 at 6:50 am EEDT
Good Grief!
To even think, let alone state that Rockwell ” painted by numbers ” is quite ludicrous.
To all you ” Arm Chair “artists making such absurd claims , I have only one thing to say : Let`s see YOUR WORK !
I cannot believe the unkind comments I have read here.
Rockwell labeled as a ” hack “…please …do better yourself and prove it!
Norman Rockwell was a master at his craft . As was Leyendecker.
( quote ) “The criticisms of Rockwell’s work and process is just an example of the pretentious snobbery that occurs in the art world.”( quote )
Well said , ( Clayvessel ).
March 13th, 2010 at 7:09 am EEDT
http://www.estatevaults.com/lm/%20%20Breaking%20Home%20Tiffs%20c.1954.jpg
March 17th, 2010 at 3:11 pm EEDT
Without any doubt, the 2 finest cover artists of the 20th century: Maxfield Parrish, and Norman Rockwell!!!
March 27th, 2010 at 1:37 pm EEDT
Excellent photoghraphy set ups resulting in wonderful artwork. This harks back to the debate concerning the use of reflecting / projecting devices used by artists for centuries. It doesn’t matter how the groundwork is done, so to speak, every artist has still to come up with viable creative ideas / objectives, and still has to paint the picture, which is where the real skill comes.
March 30th, 2010 at 5:46 pm EEDT
Fabulous photos!
March 31st, 2010 at 6:10 pm EEDT
I like yellow. And Elephants:]
April 7th, 2010 at 6:44 am EEDT
The very epitome of the American instititutution.
May 5th, 2010 at 4:11 am EEDT
I like black,do you ?
May 15th, 2010 at 4:21 pm EEDT
My art teacher studied with Rockwell. Rockwell was, in many ways, the Jan Vermeer of modern Americana – he captured the simple beauties of the world that he knew. Of course there are personal preferences about what is appealing about the subject matter. You can love or hate Rockwell’s subject matter, but his technical skills are irrefutable.
Regarding the use of a camera by artists: da Vinci describes the camera obscura in his notebooks, and probably used them for painting. In 1558 Giovanni Battista Della Porta recommended using a camera obscura as a drawing aid for artists.
Regarding being “just” an “illustrator” – Rembrandt was primarily “just” an “illustrator” of Bible stories. So far no one seems to have any objection.
In response to the concept that Rockwell is “cliche” – well, the reason he might be seen as cliche is that his work was so loved that it became the “norm.” Sort of the same way that we call all adhesive bandages “BandAids” , or all facial tissue as “Kleenexes”. Rockwell captured the heart and soul of Americana so fully that he actually became the American brand. Hardly trite.
(And just an aside about the comment regarding the black and white photography – color photography and processing didn’t become popular til a couple of decades after Rockwell took most of these photos.)
ALL artists use reference material of some sort – whether from a “morgue” file (old fashioned picture collection), google image search, actual models posing, or photographs. Even the images we might pull from our own memories are “photographic” images that we “filed” and later remember from a past event or place. They are simply filed in our brains instead of in Pendaflex folders, but are no less of a reference image because of the esoteric filing system. Artists through the ages have all used reference material of some sort or another.
And Rockwell painted all his paintings himself, which is more than some other artists have done, including Rubens, who hangs in most major museums, and who ran an assembly-line painting studio with his apprentices carrying out the work. Rubens himself simply “touched up” a bit at the end of the process.
Like the subject matter or not, Rockwell is a technical genius, and a credit to the Howard Pyle school of art, of which he considered himself to be a follower.
May 18th, 2010 at 2:38 pm EEDT
Nice to view you back again. And again with the interesting article.
June 8th, 2010 at 1:46 am EEDT
Very cool! My mom is a big fan of Rockwell, we have several pictures up by him.
June 9th, 2010 at 11:33 pm EEDT
adf
June 12th, 2010 at 3:14 am EEDT
Hello, I hope to be this big of help myself someday
June 12th, 2010 at 7:19 am EEDT
My lovely, sweet gang of friends have every right to torment my wife. my asian friend can too. and sweet blonde girl. we are all above her and have never done anything wrong. she deserves every bit of punishment we put on her. the first without sin WILL cast a stone at her.
July 14th, 2010 at 11:10 pm EEDT
I’d like to add two points. 1.) In Rockwell’s autobiography, he mentions he did not use a camera for the first 10 years or more of his professional career as an artist for magazines. Yet the skill and mastery of the paintings looks the same as those he used with a camera. I really saw no difference. Also, he used a camera to work with difficult as well as multiple subjects (sometimes as many as ten it looks like) which would have been impossible given the demands the magazines had for him to crank out so many paintings in a short time. 2.) An artist uses what she/he has at their disposal. If a Canon Rebel was available during the times of the master painters I’m sure they would all have used one. Rockwell was a genius!
July 26th, 2010 at 7:32 pm EEDT
really cool article, never really knew of his influence
August 9th, 2010 at 1:55 am EEDT
Wonderful pictures. I like this Site. Congratulations!
August 13th, 2010 at 1:38 pm EEDT
Really good article.
August 13th, 2010 at 1:39 pm EEDT
Nice article!
August 27th, 2010 at 12:46 am EEDT
Thank you Norman Rockwell Museum for sharing
August 27th, 2010 at 12:47 am EEDT
The article is very good…
September 25th, 2010 at 9:35 pm EEDT
woow:)
October 4th, 2010 at 4:03 pm EEDT
This time was no different or less violent than ours now. People just didn’t have the choice to talk about the way they do now. Rockwell brings out what I hate about this era—the fact that people just wanted to see and hear about the happy things in life; refusing to believe that things are tough all over. We can’t just gloss by things like hate crimes, rape, murder, or anything else that ran just as rampant back then as it does now. And we are still turning a blind eye to it by paying more attention to what Lindsey Lohan or Kim Karwhateverhernameis instead of caring that our country started an illegal war.
October 8th, 2010 at 2:19 pm EEDT
Love it…
October 10th, 2010 at 7:50 pm EEDT
Wow. I’m a big fan of this.
December 2nd, 2010 at 10:08 am EEDT
In response to the concept that Rockwell is “cliche” – well, the reason he might be seen as cliche is that his work was so loved that it became the “norm.” Sort of the same way that we call all adhesive bandages “BandAids” , or all facial tissue as “Kleenexes”. Rockwell captured the heart and soul of Americana so fully that he actually became the American brand. Hardly trite.
(And just an aside about the comment regarding the black and white photography – color photography and processing didn’t become popular til a couple of decades after Rockwell took most of these photos.)
December 11th, 2010 at 12:21 am EEDT
Yesterday I was in Washington DC and saw a collection of Mr. Rockwell’s owned by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. After reading the negative comments here, I’m trying to understand the issue with tracing. If he projected and traced his photos on canvass. If he altered them a bit, as any artist would do, and colorized them the way he did. Then what is the problem? I wish I could have the patients to do that to the scale that he did. It doesn’t matter how he did it. He was good at it and it made him a good living. Where’s your work? What is your name? That’s what I thought. No one has ever heard of you.
December 28th, 2010 at 10:42 pm EEDT
Rockwell got his big break in illustrator in 1912, yet he didn’t use photos until 1937. He was a professional illustrator for 25 years before he ever used photos. Rockwell was a classically trained painter who knew how to actually paint, unlike painters today, who are dependent upon tracing photos. Unlike painters today, in Rockwell’s time you had to learn to paint extremely well from plaster casts and living models before you were even allowed to do more “composed” paintings. Rockwell studied classical painting from the time he was 14, and mastered it by the time he was 17. Everything at this time was painted from observation, not photos. After he mastered painting from life, his teacher (another famous illustrator) introduced him to magazine art directors, which is how he got his career in the first place.
January 2nd, 2011 at 9:34 pm EEDT
I was fortunate to see the Smithsonian exhibit this week. I’ve always admired
Rockwell’s work and visited his museum, but I’d never seen his large oil paintings. They are absolutely fabulous. I was surprised at the size of the paintings. Because I’d seen them as illustrations I guess I assumed they were a much smaller size which given the detail would have been easier to paint. The color and detail are amazing. You can almost feel the texture in the clothing. I know how much time it takes to set up a fairly simple still life so the time and thought he put into his work is astounds me. The exhibit had full size drawings he did in preparation for each of his paintings. It was interesting to see the changes he made even from the drawings to the final paintings. Almost all of the drawings had personal notes to the person he gave the drawings to after he’d finished the painting. A very generous man. If you have to opportunity to see the exhibit don’t miss it.
January 3rd, 2011 at 1:18 pm EEDT
Unreal. The man was a genius yet so hard to ba acknowledge. The traveling show is at the NC Museum of Art in Raleigh..i hope to see his beautiful and imaginative works.
Anyone try composing a photo? If you view his painting vs his reference photo you will see he made changes corrections really.
Anyone try just painting a color photo identical period…try it and see how difficult. You can’t do it without creativity.
Anyone try to paint a color painting from a B/W photo…this is where his technical knowledge and skill shows.
Some of his paintings are not of the illustrative style and more fine art.
Very sad that Rockwell can’t even get respect tho he is dead.
January 3rd, 2011 at 1:25 pm EEDT
http://www.ncartmuseum.org/exhibitions/norman_rockwell/
January 12th, 2011 at 7:51 pm EEDT
תצפית טכנולוגיות הינה החברה הותיקה בענף האבטחה והמיגון אנו מתקינים מערכות אבטחה,מצלמות אבטחה במעגל סגור עם צפייה בשידור חי דרך האנטרנט, מערכות אזעקה ובקרה בכל חלקי הארץ.
January 12th, 2011 at 7:53 pm EEDT
אנו מתקינים מצלמות אבטחה ומערכות מיגון בכל חלקי הארץ, שיווק מצלמות אבטחה מהמתקדמות בעולם ולכל צורך ומטרה, לבקרה,מיגון,אבטחה של הבית או העסק.
אנו מתקינים מצלמות אבטחה בירושלים, מצלמות אבטחה בתל אביב, מצלמות אבטחה בחיפה, מצלמות אבטחה בקריות ועוד
January 12th, 2011 at 7:56 pm EEDT
מצלמות אבטחה בימנו הינן חלק יעיל ובלתי נפרד בניהולו התקין והשוטף של כל עסק, מצלמות אבטחה הן כלי שימושי לאבטחה ובקרה על העסק או הבית.
תצפית טכנולוגיות הינה החברה הותיקה בענף האבטחה והמיגון אנו מתקינים מערכות אבטחה,מצלמות אבטחה במעגל סגור עם צפייה בשידור חי דרך האנטרנט, מערכות אזעקה ובקרה בכל חלקי הארץ.
January 22nd, 2011 at 6:16 am EEDT
Love it especially the sailor with his girlfriends and ex-girlfriends – what a nightmare to have gotten into that…
January 27th, 2011 at 1:07 am EEDT
The real life models are at least as interesting as the finished paintings. Where did he fine all those archetypes?
March 17th, 2011 at 11:58 pm EEDT
What a gem of a post! As a children’s illustrator I pour over inspirational work like this. I have a small book on Rockwell’s paintings and I treasure it. It was fantastic seeing the actual photographs he worked from. What great models he had too. Their expressions are what made Rockwell’s work so wonderful. That and his skill of course..
March 27th, 2011 at 6:40 pm EEDT
Whether he traced the photos or not, which many well-known artists do today, for the sake of saving time, you STILL have to have the skill to do the rest, and complete the painting. Tracing the photo does not mean the rest of the process is going to be easy. Trust me. It’s a step to save time, to transfer the image, and most artists who do this, could draw the subject by hand if they wanted, but it takes a lot more time. There will be other problems along the creative process, that the artist will have to solve.
Any person without artistic skill, will not be able to trace a photo and make it look like Rockwell did. I don’t see the big deal about using photos. I’ve seen MANY artists do it.
May 10th, 2011 at 8:20 am EEDT
i should agree with this. dont forget strony internetowe gdynia
May 23rd, 2011 at 4:02 pm EEDT
what does it says on the tatoo?
June 22nd, 2011 at 6:42 am EEDT
without photos or reference materials.The real life
June 23rd, 2011 at 2:02 am EEDT
i like it – thanks
June 23rd, 2011 at 2:11 am EEDT
wow – great!
June 23rd, 2011 at 3:54 am EEDT
the truth way beyond our comprehension
July 11th, 2011 at 9:57 am EEDT
I have always admired Norman Rockwell, as a person and as an artist. We visited Stockbridge every summer for the Tanglewood music festival. It was like revisiting the scenes depicted in his paintings. And I was lucky to have met some of the people in town. The guy behind the counter in the famous painting with the cop and the little kid looked older and the soda shop more “shopworn” but I could still imagine the scene he photo-graphed. To me it matters not that he was aided by the photographs. The fact remains that his art was appreciated and loved by many. Each artist has a choice of technique, and Norman Rockwell chose his. Let no one fault him for it.
August 3rd, 2011 at 3:54 am EEDT
Great Pictures…
August 11th, 2011 at 8:56 am EEDT
שיווק מצלמות אבטחה מהמתקדמות בעולם ולכל צורך ומטרה, לבקרה,מיגון,אבטחה של הבית או העסק.
אנו מתקינים מצלמות אבטחה בירושלים, מצלמות אבטחה בתל אביב, מצלמות אבטחה בחיפה, מצלמות אבטחה בקריות
August 11th, 2011 at 8:58 am EEDT
מבצעים עבודות אינסטלציה, אלומיניום, עבודות גבס ועוד
August 11th, 2011 at 8:59 am EEDT
מבצעים עבודות אינסטלציה, אלומיניום, עבודות גבס ועוד
October 3rd, 2011 at 11:40 pm EEDT
I think Rockwell was amazing and he created great images. He was a master of storytelling color and a decent draftsman.
BUT!!! What about Leyendecker?
I think it’s sad that all these years later Rockwell is given more credit than his predecessor J C Leyendecker. For one Rockwell studied under him and people don’t recognize that most of Rockwell’s graphic compositions are directly related to Leyendeckers work. Second Leyendecker had a much better understanding of the human form and design. He was also responsible for creating the iconic images of Santa clause and the traditions of mother’s day. That being said if you don’t know about Leyendecker look him up you will be amazed by the parallels between the two.
October 16th, 2011 at 3:00 am EEDT
Supper …………
November 2nd, 2011 at 1:11 pm EEDT
The translation in between the picture and the drawing….. only a sensible and brilliant human have that chance…….
Thanks guys to share with us….
E
January 5th, 2012 at 7:20 am EEDT
very good and very interesting blog is amazing but is really sure I go back to visit you greetings
January 17th, 2012 at 3:37 am EEDT
Wow, I like your ideas excellent job thnx!
January 17th, 2012 at 6:52 pm EEDT
It is entirely possible to study and appreciate Rockwell’s great technical skill apart from the subject matter – and do so without writing churlish or immature insults at other people.
February 2nd, 2012 at 2:23 am EEDT
מעניין מאד!!!!
February 29th, 2012 at 3:55 am EEDT
The marriage counselor cracks me up! Thanx :-)
March 15th, 2012 at 3:50 am EEDT
thanks you teach me lot.you are living legend Truly inspirration for amateur artist.all your painting are mind blowing.