BEHIND THE CAMERA

"I like to do a picture which, instead of depicting a single incident or single moment in time, traces the course of an action over a period of time. Here one can see that the salesman got out of his car, took off his clothes but not his shoes (his feet are tender), spread a newspaper on the grass, and laid his glasses on it; then, at the water's edge, took off his shoes, waded in and just before submerging carefully laid his lighted cigar on his shoe, ready to be puffed the minute he emerges from the stream."

-Norman Rockwell, 1961

I got the chance to check out a collection of his artwork at the Brooklyn Museum, which ends April 10. Norman Rockwell wasn't your typical painter/illustrator. As cameras became more advanced, he would work with photographers and directed the shoots carefully to capture the details of his paintings that he would later combine.

In this particular painting, Swimming Hole, Rockwell poured buckets of water over his model's head to get the idea of how his reflection would look in the water.

Other works:

LAST THOUGHT: "Commonplaces never become tiresome. It is we who become tired when we cease to be curious and appreciative" -Norman Rockwell