Illustration - Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell was an American illustrator who obtained a realism based style with his own twist through the expressions and body language of his designs. Rockwell's work was so influential with his illustrations, to the point of debate whether or not Rockwell was an icon of the 20th century. His illustrations are beautifully made, through his use of colour and painted media, which gives a soft and realistic edge to his work and makes you clearly see how time consuming his work must have taken. Rockwell's work can be interpreted to be avant-garde, an artist who is innovative and includes themes of political and cultural context.


Freedom from want, 1943

This can be seen through these propaganda posters that were created during the second World War, propaganda that was made to make America feel at ease and remember what they were fighting for. Rockwell created imagery that reminded the public of the comforting American lifestyle, for example one of the posters depicts a family sitting down to a thanksgiving meal, every face smiling to show the audience what a good time it is with family, with the caption "freedom from want". This poster is matched with another three, "Freedom from Fear", "Freedom of Speech" and "Freedom of Worship", all of these posters aimed against the rise of war. These images became almost an delusional identity for American life through out the duration of both the great Depression and WW2.

After Prom photography reference

After Prom

It was interesting to see the difference with in the photography reference and the finalised illustration. I could see the small changes that he had made to the illustration, for example, the expression and body language of the chef/waiter as he leans in towards the flower, the position of his arm was bent, making the movement of him leaning in to smell the flower more fluid and less ridged. The body language of the two characters before the man, have changed also, through the slight position of the boy's arms and the angle of the girl as she shows the man the flower she has been given. These slight changes from the main reference works well within the illustration as it not only contains Rockwell's twist on his realistic style, but makes the design, in whole, more animated.

Rockwell's work is interpreted to be one of the last illustrators of the era, when artists and advertising were reliant of the illustrator for key ideas, however through the rise of contemporary art and modernism there has been a decline in illustration. I believe this is due to the advancement of technology, leading to computer generated illustrations and graphic design, and the process of photomontage, which has seemed to have engulfed most of traditional illustrators, much like Rockwell's work.



Image reference for Normal Rockwell and Quote:

http://onlinebrowsing.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/norman-rockwell-it-wouldnt-be-right-for.html

References:

http://underpaintings.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/random-inspiration-norman-rockwell.html

Context of Practice lecture notes