Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera is the first book to explore the meticulously composed and richly detailed photographs that Norman Rockwell used to create his famous artworks. Working alongside skilled photographers, Rockwell acted as director, carefully orchestrating models, selecting props, and choosing locations for the photographs–works of art in their own right–that served as the basis of his iconic images. Readers will be surprised to find that many of his most memorable characters-the girl at the mirror, the young couple on prom night, the family on vacation-were friends and neighbors who served as his amateur models. In this groundbreaking book, author and historian Ron Schick delves into the archive of nearly 20,000 photographs housed at the Norman Rockwell Museum. Featuring reproductions of Rockwell’s black-and-white photographs and related full-color artworks, along with an incisive narrative and quotes from Rockwell models and family members, this book will intrigue anyone interested in photography, art, and Americana.
Photography was an important tool for many illustrators working in the first half of the twentieth century. Camera studies were merely visual notes for most commercial artists, convenient and efficient aids for meeting deadlines.
Rockwell used live models for all of his work and could not paint without them. But "... as the hours passed, the expression would sag or freeze into a grisly parody of glee," he wrote in his autobiography. "There was a limit to the number of sketches I could make; not could I keep changing the pose." Eventually Rockwell had reached the outer perimeter of what he could achieve with professional models and it had begun to feel like a barrier. The solution to his problems was only too well known to him.
Though Rockwell had used a camera to make studies of young children and animals, he had not been willing to take the next step and cross what was, in his judgment, a clear moral boundary. "It had seemed a low form of cheating, a dishonorable crutch for lazy draftsmen, a betrayal of artistic principles," he explained long after the fact.
However, later in 1935 Rockwell had to turn to the camera as a logical aid, and his extensive use of photography came with a commission to illustrate a new edition of Mark Twain`s Tom Sawyer. He went public about his camera use in a 1940 magazine article. Nevertheless he confessed to feelings of guilt about using photography as a tool. Photography opened a door to the keenly observed realism that defines Rockwell`s art.
In 1946 artist and author Arthur Guptill published his first major study of Norman Rockwell`s art Norman Rockwell, illustrator, subdividing the artist`s creative process into no fewer than fifteen separate stages, but broadly speaking there are three: concept, photography, and painting.
"I know of no painless process for giving birth to a picture idea," he wrote. "When I must produce one I retire to a quiet room with a supply of cheap paper and sharp pencils. My brain is going to take a beating - and knows it." Sketch in hand, he would then sell the concept by acting it out for his editors.
He would then collect the exactly right props and costumes: "In my opinion," he said, "nothing should ever be shown in a picture which does not contribute directly to telling the story the picture is intended to tell." Then from behind the camera, Rockwell directed his models, altering the model`s positions, angling their head or hands, and adjusting their expressions over and over again until at last they matched his imagination. And photography sessions lasted from a few minutes to several hours.
Finally, he photographed important details individually. The arch of a wrist, a clenched fist, or a curved ankle might be isolated and shot against a plain white or gray board to delineate their outline.
To be continued...
This can be interesting:
Norman Rockwell - Wikipedia
Norman Rockwell Used Photography as Subject of His Paintings
Norman Rockwell’s American Dream - Vanity Fair
Breaking down Rockwell`s style
No comments:
Post a Comment