Drawing Lessons from the Famous Artists School

Proof 1

Job: 11803 Title: #218076# Drawing Lessons From The Famous Artists School (Rockport)

DTP: GLP Page: 140

Drawing Lessons_126_143_11803.indd 140 16/2/17 3:54 PM

Text

USING COLOR TO EVOKE MOOD, CHARACTER, AND ATMOSPHERE

Beginning in the mid-1930s, Rockwell created color sketches by

photographing his detailed charcoal drawings, and painting in oil

on top of the photo. “I usually start my color sketches by rapidly

painting in the flesh tones of the figures in my picture. I do this

because I find that you can let yourself go in the color of clothes,

props, and even landscapes, but people must look human and

believable,” he wrote. “Of course, the flesh color varies with the

people and lighting in your picture. Naturally, flesh in moonlight,

firelight, and plain daylight is quite dierent but in a human

interest picture it must be realistic and convincing.”

(All images on this spread)

Norman Rockwell

Game Called for Rain (Tough Call), 1949

Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post,

April 23, 1949

Study (above) Charcoal on paper; color study (left),

oil on photograph; and final illustration (opposite)

Rockwell established his color palette on a photo-

graph of his original charcoal study, which served as

a structural and tonal guide. Blue is the predominant

color in Game Called for Rain (Tough Call), which

conveys a sense of overcast light and an impending

storm. Warmer colors permeate the composition in

both the color study and the final painting, connecting

the signage and buildings in the lower portion of the

picture to the gear and cloud in the upper center

and left.

140

Proof 1

Job: 11803 Title: #218076# Drawing Lessons From The Famous Artists School (Rockport)

DTP: GLP Page: 140

Drawing Lessons_126_143_11803.indd 140 16/2/17 3:54 PM

Proof 1

Job: 11803 Title: #218076# Drawing Lessons From The Famous Artists School (Rockport)

DTP: GLP Page: 141

Drawing Lessons_126_143_11803.indd 141 16/2/17 3:54 PM

Text

USING COLOR TO EVOKE MOOD, CHARACTER, AND ATMOSPHERE

141

Proof 1

Job: 11803 Title: #218076# Drawing Lessons From The Famous Artists School (Rockport)

DTP: GLP Page: 141

Drawing Lessons_126_143_11803.indd 141 16/2/17 3:54 PM

Proof 1

Job: 11803 Title: #218076# Drawing Lessons From The Famous Artists School (Rockport)

DTP: GLP Page: 142

Drawing Lessons_126_143_11803.indd 142 16/2/17 3:55 PM

Text

(Both images on this page)

Robert Fawcett

A Portrait Reversed [Artist in studio, south of France],

c. 1949

Story illustration for The Saturday Evening Post

Casein and pencil on board

In this story illustration, Fawcett used high-key colors

to evoke the warmth and friendly mood of an artist’s

studio in the south of France. “I tried to keep the

studio light and airy with no gloom,” he commented.

A magenta-violet light suffuses the atmosphere, linking

the composition’s foreground, middle ground, and

background, and contributing to the painting’s narrative.

Story illustration for The Network by Evan John

The Saturday Evening Post, July 10, 1948

Gouache and watercolor on board

Warm but less sunny in feel, this illustration utilizes oranges

and browns to convey a more ominous mood in an insular

domestic setting. All eyes are on the seated woman, who is

clearly the center of interest here. Her face and torso are

the lightest parts of Fawcett’s composition, and she is set

against her darkened shadow, cast behind her. The artist

breaks the scene’s monotony by placing touches of blue

in the man’s collar (left), woman’s sweater (center), and

chair (right), carefully moving the viewer’s eye through

the composition.

142

Proof 1

Job: 11803 Title: #218076# Drawing Lessons From The Famous Artists School (Rockport)

DTP: GLP Page: 142

Drawing Lessons_126_143_11803.indd 142 16/2/17 3:54 PM