From PDN Photo of the Day:
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.
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2 Comments so far. Leave a comment below.I have had a Norman Rockwell calendar each year for probably 10 years. The facial expressions on his characters are the best, though that is part he usually added himself, after the photo.
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This doesn’t detract from Rockwell’s skill as a commercial artist.
Vermeer (and many earlier painters) used a camera obscura to achieve their eerie paintings.
Disney’s animators have always used live action reference for their more human animations. The process continues today with MoCap (motion capture).
There is good live action reference, and there is BAD (I’m looking at you, Robert Zemeckis, Polar Express, cough cough). Rockwell used the photos as a base, but didn’t copy them slavishly (indeed, he directed the photography). Note how he “pushes” the poses, and changes key elements to suit his final vision. It may not be apparent to a non-artist, but there’s a gulf between what NR does, and what 99.99% of other painters would achieve. That’s why work of this level is so rare.
Not dealing with the high-art/commercial art debate. Pointless.
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