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Charcoals |
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I am often asked about the modeling process. "Did he make you just stand there while he painted?"
As you saw in the rare photographs section of
the web site, he used a photographer to capture
the pose. But, what came after that?
 Most people know Rockwell as the "guy who did
the Saturday Evening Post covers". While it is
true that these magazine covers were a major
part of his artistic efforts, he was first and
foremost a commercial illustrator. This meant
that companies of varying sizes would hire this
very famous artist to illustrate their print
advertisements. As the years passed by and as
his fame grew, it was indeed prestigious to have
Rockwell illustrate your ad. I personally
modeled for companies like Pan American
Airlines, Kraft Foods and Hallmark cards, to
name just a few.
Every advertisement starts with an idea or a
concept. The company that Rockwell had
contracted with would have their advertising
agency explain the concept of their particular
advertising campaign to Rockwell either by phone
or mail. It was then up to Rockwell to convert
their concepts and ideas into a visual medium.
Imagine how difficult and challenging this must
have been.
 So, after Rockwell conceptualized the concept in his own fertile mind, the process started. Any of you who have seen an original Rockwell painting knows the incredible detail that went into it. Therefore it was unrealistic for Rockwell to do an oil painting as the "first draft" of the advertisement. Instead,
 to save time, he created a sketch either from pencil or, more often, from charcoal. Rockwell would then submit the charcoal sketches to the company that he was working for to see if he had captured their concept. Usually there were changes to be made or, in some cases, he had to start all over again. When the company was finally satisfied with the sketches, he would create the final oil painting.
 The charcoals that are displayed on this page are, as you will recognize, what have come to be known as the "Boy and His Dog" series – all except for one. Can you identify which one? In fact,Rockwell originally created these charcoals for the Brown and Bigelow Company located in St. Paul, MN. They were, and continue to be, in the calendar business. Brown and Bigelow used the "Four Seasons" theme for quite a few years and used Rockwell as their artist for all of them.
Believe it or not, Rockwell didn’t think that his charcoals were a big deal. It was not unusual to see them strewn about the floor of his studio. He was very generous about giving these to friends and models. He also threw many of them in the trash. One of the guys I knew while growing up in Stockbridge was the garbage collector and he used to have fun picking and choosing the ones that he wanted to keep as he sifted through Rockwell's garbage.
Right now, an original Rockwell charcoal drawing can sell for as much as $40,000.00!
Talk about Trash to Treasures! |
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