Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera

Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera is a book that brings you behind the scenes to look at how the legendary artist uses photographs for his paintings. It's filled with paintings and the reference photographs from the Norman Rockwell Museum. Apparently, Rockwell used live models for all of his work. Every model will be meticulously costumed and posed until he could get his perfect composition. Preparing the shot almost seems like an art form itself as he tirelessly puts in all the details required, sometimes to the extend of staging elaborate settings, like deciding the items to display on the table behind models. Every painting is well conceived and composed in his mind even before he lays paint on canvas. If you've read any biography of him, you won't be surprised by his dedication. Included in this book is a great selection of his paintings and the photos he used, put side by side for comparison. The author Ron Schick has done a great job providing commentary to all the illustrations, through interviews with people who have worked with Rockwell. There's plenty of insight and a few lessons to be learned on posing models. You'll see what are the details Rockwell retains and those that he leaves out. This is an inspiring book recommended to all admirers of Norman Rockwell's paintings, and to artists who want to learn more on using references from the master painter. (More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

This was a birthday gift for a friend who is an artist and loves Norman Rockwell. The photographs and insightful text made it a great gift.

The book arrived ahead of schedule and in very good condition better than expected. Very good book reseller (the NPS Store) and excellent book , both 5 stars!

He made you laugh and made you think . Art has a great way of communicating and his art has tremendous eloquence w/o saying a word . He was a major piece of the greatest generation.

There have been many books on Norman Rockwell over the years, but Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera is the first to shed light upon the reference photographs from which he often painted. Published in 2009 this book features a selection of images from among some 18,000 black and white negatives that are held by the Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Admirers of Rockwell's art should consider this book unmissable, given the fresh ground that it covers. It will also have some appeal to illustrators and portraitists, because of the description and examples provided on Rockwell's working methods. Why did someone with such a sharp drawing and drafting ability take such heavy recourse to use of photography? It should be understood that Norman Rockwell laboured under huge pressure to produce paintings at a rapid rate to meet deadlines of magazine editors and to satisfy other lucrative commercial commissions for his art. To spare time from doing dozens of preparatory drawings for each painting, Rockwell eventually began instead to use photographs and select among them before choosing a final composition. The photos did not displace the need for models, costumes, props or any of the rigour of painting preparation, like sketches and colour studies. But these snapshots did ensure great efficiencies: they saved re-sittings by models, avoided movements of sunlight; and made possible a far more phenomenal output in one man's career than otherwise could have been conceivable. Author Ron Schick, an expert in photographic art, explains the considerable efforts that went into composing the photos and what Rockwell was aiming to conjure up. It is a tale of an artist scouting locations, assembling props, and amusingly positioning and directing the models like actors in a play. This book shows some of the tricks used by Rockwell for getting the best out of life models, including using stacks of books to support the feet of figures as they feigning leaps, running, or other exertions "in motion". We also see how folding screens in varying shades were used to help the artist accurately capture the tones and outline of a model, without distraction from background clutter. The book is well designed. The author and publishers juxtapose paintings opposite source photographs, sometimes showing how several separately photographed models might be assembled on canvas into one composition. It becomes apparent how the artist selectively modified and spliced poses, or added or varied details in clothing and props, to drive the narrative power of his final paintings. The visual extravaganza in this book is well supported by pithy and pertinent stories about the featured artworks, spiced up with quotes from Rockwell, his models and other associates (Rockwell was a little abashed at his use of photography, but he has written several accounts of his working methods for the benefit of fellow illustrators who have sought to learn his secrets). Schick threads the book together with writing of his own that is informative and perceptive. The book is a good length at over 200 pages, but Rockwell was such a prolific artist that it is hard not to wish for even more of his paintings in this enjoyable monograph. This is an abridged review from my Art Book News blog at blogspot.

Before this book, I was only aware of Norman Rockwell as the artist who did the covers for Life Magazine. There is so much more to him than that and this book explores one part of his artistry, showing how he created the images for his paintings well before they were fully realized. This is a fascinating and fun book. It will surprise and delight you.

This book is great for anyone who is interested in the practice of illustration and particularly the work of one of it's masters, Norman Rockwell. This book talks a bit about his creative process, but the bulk of it is devoted to displaying some of his reference photos alongside of his final work. He devoted a great deal of time constucting poses and props of his reference photos. But when it came time to paint, he didn't mechanically copy his photos, he masterfully reworked the images into well designed, emotionally compelling images. For anyone interested in more detailed exploration of how to use photos as reference for creative work, I'd recommend reading Andrew Loomis' "Creative Illustration."

La plupart des livres de Rockwell montre ses œuvres, mais pas les photos dont il s'est inspiré. Ce beau livre comble cette lacune. Je regrette juste que quelques photos que j'ai beaucoup aimées n'ont pas montré de peintures correspondantes. Cependant il n'y en avait pas beaucoup dans ce cas, mais pour une ou deux c'est dommage, parce que les peintures qui auraient du correspondre aux photos, on ne les trouve pas dans les autres livres non plus... Cependant on ne peut que recommander un tel livre, qui complétera agréablement n'importe quel ouvrage de peintures de cet artiste.

Per gli appassionati di Rockwell dentro questo libro c'é tutto, e la qualitá delle immagini é ottima.

O melhor livro que comprei em 2018. Mostra de maneira simples o processo criativo do artista usando fotos como referência, os modelos e truques. E tudo isto nao diminui o trabalho dele, pelo contrário, aumenta, pois sem capacidade não importam as referências, não se produz arte decente. E Rockwell mostra que dominava o que fazia com maestria. Se você é artista sério ou ilustrador, este livro vale cada centavo.

What a gorgeous book. It's very inspiring.

ノーマン・ロックウェルの制作工程が丸見え！ これがアメリカの心。という作風のロックウェルの作品は綿密な計算と、 ハートウォーミングな演出で作成されていたことがビジュアル中心で知ることのできる 英語がわからなくても十分楽しめます。 とってもおすすめです。