Biography of Norman Rockwell, American Artist

Norman Rockwell and I never met. But his art had a lot to do with me becoming an artist.

My parents had two Norman Rockwell art books in the house when I was growing up, and I loved to pour over all the illustrations when I was young - as I got older, I spent more time learning about the mechanics of his artwork - how he took several photographs or live models and materials and combined them in his paintings. How he adjusted it all to make it fit.
I liked finding out which of the children in his illustrations were his, and which ones were his neighbor's kids...all that fascinated me.

Norman Rockwell was not well respected during his own time. Many of the art elite considered him a sell-out as an artist. Said he was 'too commercial.' They probably also disrespected him for working from photographs instead of just from live sittings.

He endured the loss of his studio due to fire (not only loss of art and supplies, but also of all his costumes and props that he collected over the years.)

Norman Rockwell has been an inspiration to me.
I also work from photographs, combining them to get the effect that I want. I think I developed a good sense of composition and balance in my art from looking at his exceptional paintings.