Norman Rockwell's Tom Sawyer, part 5

* TI list member Tom Watson takes over this week as I enjoy a short break from the blog - thanks Tom!

Continuing Tom's analysis of Norman Rockwell's illustrations for Mark Twain's Adventures of Tom Sawyer...

Illustration #6

This illustration immediately reminds me of when I was a boy, my mom gave my brothers and I a spoon full of Cod Liver Oil and a spoon full of Castor Oil every morning. The taste was pretty bad, and I have no idea if it was really a benefit to our health or not.. although it wasn’t harmful. But, I never quite understood at the time, why just kids were fed such “yuckie” tasting stuff! I can certainly relate to Tom’s expression of bracing himself for his “torture”, and his Aunt Polly determined to get it down his gullet. Actually he wasn’t really sick in the story, just depressed because he was worried about Becky Thatcher, who had been home sick in bed for several days. But, his Aunt was obsessed with quack remedies, and was trying everything in her arsenal to bring Tom back to his normal self.


Rockwell believed that a story illustration had to stand alone, even without a caption. It had to be clear and understandable what was taking place. That is the way he approached his magazine covers, which generally had no captions, and that is how he approached his advertising and story illustrations. And, in typical Rockwell fashion, with simple clarity and touches of humor, he describes a scene that many of us can relate to in our own lives. Rockwell had the understanding and skill to tie his main elements together, connecting them physically and emotionally. Aunt Polly’s body bent at the waist, is in an upside down “L” shape, vertically and then horizontally. Her forearm is parallel with her upper body, and the spoon is nearly connecting with Tom’s mouth. Tom’s body is also an ”L” shape, but reversed .. vertical upper body, horizontal lower body, bent at the knees, then diagonally back to the chair. Both figures are rigid, adding to the tension of the moment. The cat is curiously observing, probably wondering if he/she will get a spoonful, also.

The use of white is also particularly effective in connecting the two figures. The white apron connects to the white tablecloth, which connects to the white towel on Tom’s lap. Everything is rendered in solid muted colors, except for the blanket wrapped around Tom, which gives an accent in both color and pattern. It also helps avoid the larger shape of Aunt Polly’s dress from dominating the scene.


To avoid drawing too much attention to the cat, who was described as being “a yellow cat” in the story, Rockwell echoes the same color for Aunt Polly’s dress.


Picking out the right characters and props and then posing them, came after Rockwell had carefully composed the entire scene, by experimenting with a variety of approaches on paper first. Tying elements together and balancing the dark and light patterns to lead our eye, and counter change elements for clarity, were the less obvious ingredients.. yet every bit as important. And, they required a more subtle and sophisticated knowledge and understanding, that I find primarily in the truly great illustrators.

Notice the thicker paint texture on the floor, giving a rustic effect to the well used wood floors. Many illustrators would be tempted to show wall paper and more props that could be in the kitchen, but Rockwell distills it down to only a suggestion of the kitchen.


He uses his props to suggest the period in history, a sense of place and as a compositional device. He carefully places them in the composition to avoid distraction, and give visual balance. Notice how the chest behind Aunt Polly’s skirt is blended into the dark wall


... and the clock above it is just hinted at, nearly unnoticeable.


There is no horizontal baseboard showing where the floor meets the wall (purposely obscured in shadow) on the left side.. just a hint of baseboard under the table. All these decisions function to focus our attention on the important action of the scene. So many times I see illustrations that are over rendered with detail from corner to corner, an overabundance of dramatic color effects, and so much to look at that it boggles my mind and my eyes. Rockwell is an excellent example that when composing a picture “you can say more with less”, providing that you are selective and have a firm understanding of effective design.

Illustration #7

Well, I guess a lot of us can relate to this “universal” scene. My neighbor friend and I got caught smoking Sycamore leaves in our homemade tree house, when we were about 10. I was warned by my Dad if I ever did it again, I would “feel his belt across my bottom”! Later when I was an adult, he told me he was more concerned of the danger of starting a fire in the rickety tree house. My friend's Dad made him smoke a whole cigar as his punishment. Neither one of us were ever caught smoking again. Generally speaking, I guess that has always been a temptation for kids to show off by smoking with their friends and act like it’s no big deal.

Rockwell portrays a worldly wise Huckleberry Finn, enjoying a pipe full of tobaccy, which he did regularly.. and Tom and a friend are not feeling so great from not being accustomed to smoking. Again, Rockwell cuts right to the chase and only shows what is necessary to illustrate the moment.


The composition runs in a strong left to right diagonal and to relieve the movement, the boy on the left (I think is Tom) leans over, face in hands, giving subtle opposition to the strong diagonal direction.


The two boy’s pipes lay on the grass, as they are in obvious misery. Instead of becoming intrigued with the characteristics of the limbs and branches of an interesting tree (like in a landscape painting), Rockwell simply suggests a large gnarly trunk leaning strongly to the right. He has even avoided the temptation of including the detail of bark, or a hole from a dead limb. The focus is smack dab on the boys, specifically Huck.


Rockwell adds reflective green from the grass and leaves, into the tree trunk, clothing and subtle suggestions in the flesh tones. The well placed unit of the straw hat and stick, point into the composition, and break up an otherwise large mass of green grass.


Even the pipe stems point inward toward each boy, keeping our eye from wandering away from the subject.

I could comment that Rockwell was a master at facial expressions, which he was noted for, and I could also point out that he was brilliant at painting expressive feet and hands. But, unless this is your first look at the many Rockwell illustrations reproduced in his lifetime, you will already know that. That was his stock and trade, animated expressions, bare foot kids, expressive hands and a variety of lovable and very real looking dogs and cats.


Notice the red handkerchief shows up once again as a compliment and accent to all the green tones. And, once again, we see the cloth wrapped around the big toe of the boy on the right.. must have been before the invention of the Band-Aid.


Rockwell was quite clever at connecting his figures together, knowing how to give variety and develop interesting shapes. He analyzes every pose and every shape, determining the clarity and benefit to the overall design. Working out the concept, composition, costumes, props, models, careful drawing and a variety of color roughs, were all crucial in solving as many problems as possible before doing the finish painting. He insisted on it. For many illustrators, so much planning ahead would be too time consuming, and they would lose patience and inspiration. But, Rockwell never cut corners, and seemed to thrive on his exhausting procedure. His work ethic was amazing by anyone’s standards, and illustrating was literally his life. He was quoted as saying that there was nothing else he was good at, except doing illustrations. I would say, that in its self, is a mammoth accomplishment.

* Concluded tomorrow.

* Tom Watson is a retired West Coast illustrator, art director and educator. He has been a frequent contributor to Today's Inspiration and his storyboard work for film was a subject of a post on my other blog, Storyboard Central.

This week's images are © MBI/Heritage Press, Date (1936 or 1940) and are used with the permission of the Norman Rockwell Museum. This past weekend the museum featured the grand opening of a traveling exhibition, American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell.

Stephanie Plunkett, Chief Curator of the Museum would like readers to know that the Museum does travel an exhibition of signed lithographic prints from the Tom and Huck series to other museums and cultural centers. Stephanie writes, "We do have two upcoming bookings for that exhibition are listed below, so perhaps your readers will have the opportunity to visit if they live in the region."

Here is the information about the traveling exhibition:

Norman Rockwell's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn

Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale-Davie, Florida
November 14, 2009 through January 29, 2010

Averitt Center for the Arts, Statesboro, Georgia
March 12, 2010 through May 7, 2010

"It also might be interesting to note that the original paintings for the series are in the collection of the Mark Twain Museum in Hannibal, Missouri. The originals are beautiful. A study from the series will be on view in our upcoming exhibition, Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera, which opens on November 7, 2009."

Norman Rockwell's Tom Sawyer, part 4

* TI list member Tom Watson takes over this week as I enjoy a short break from the blog - thanks Tom!

Continuing Tom's analysis of Norman Rockwell's illustrations for Mark Twain's Adventures of Tom Sawyer...

Illustration #4

I guess today the schoolmaster switching Tom would be suspended and investigated for child abuse, but in those days the schoolmaster was appropriately named.  He maintained discipline with an understood authority. Rockwell was able to choose the scenes in the books according to whether they would make a good illustration or not, and making sure they were spread out evenly throughout the story. He noted that in Mark Twain’s stories, there was a good scene to illustrate on every page. He commented that it made his job easy and enjoyable, because Mark Twain was such a great writer.


The action in this scene is intense, compared to the rest of the illustrations, and Rockwell conveys that feeling perfectly. The large triangular shape of the dark jacket of the schoolmaster, is menacing and adds to the tension. It also functions to counter change the light background. As I look at this illustration, I can almost feel and see real movement in the two figures. It is so convincingly portrayed, that we can hear and feel the switch slapping against Tom’s pants and a convincing yelp. If the schoolmaster used his hand instead of a switch, Tom would hardly feel it, as his loose pants would shield him, having little effect. The humiliation of being switched in front of the whole class, was probably worse than the sting of the switch. Notice all the switches broken on the floor.


Again Rockwell uses the combination of angled figures (organic forms), and a flat background of horizontal and vertical lines (geometric forms). He liked the combination, and used it over and over to perfection. The lamp, the globe and the book on the floor create secondary visual interests. Rockwell never added props that were unnecessary, and never left out props that would explain the scene better. His understanding for clarity and authenticity, and his understanding of composition and design, were always compatible.


Rockwell combines an effective pattern of warm tones (map on wall, windows and frames, bench, schoolmaster’s pants, book on floor, the globe and the hair and skin tones).. cool tones are (the wall, lamp shade, Tom’s shirt and pants, schoolmaster’s jacket, student’s shirt and the floor). Warms and cools also function to counter change and separate the various shapes from each other. Again, he used the red handkerchief and the girls dress as red accents. Every decision Rockwell made was vital and functional.



Illustration #5

Norman Rockwell commented in his biographical book “My Adventures As An Illustrator”, that he didn’t always choose to illustrate scenes that were of major importance to the story. As mentioned in the previous illustration, he said he “picked scenes that would make good paintings”. That may sound odd, but often a key scene in the story, does not always come off visually. Rockwell instinctively knew what made a “good picture”. He said that sometimes it would, in fact, be a scene that was described in just a few short sentences, and rather insignificant to the story. The scene of Tom climbing out of the window is but a brief moment in the book. But, it says volumes about the kind of boy Tom Sawyer was, and his mischievous adventuresome ways. He had the ability to convey that, perhaps better than almost any other illustrator. Rockwell’s ‘cut to the chase’, ‘straight ahead’ point of view in most of this compositions, leaves no doubt what is being depicted. In my opinion, he was a master at visually communicating an idea.


Rockwell painted from live models and stubbornly refused to use the camera that would later (after 1939) give him more flexibility and latitude for his compositions. This scene was obviously painted from a model in his studio, in a situation where he had complete control of the pose and lighting. Maintaining the right expression enabled him to more easily change his point of view by looking at the scene from below or from above the subject. But would that have really improved this illustration? Since it wasn’t a tension-filled moment, like Tom falling to the ground, being caught sneaking out, or getting stuck climbing down to the ground, etc., a dramatic approach to the composition would have been overkill and misleading.

Even in the soft cool cast of moonlight, Rockwell shows as much clarity and resolve in the figure and clap board house as if it were broad daylight. He simply adds blue and green tones to all the hues, complementing them with an accent of bright yellow from the neighbor’s window and a hint of the angle on the neighbor’s roof, creates subtle opposing diagonals.


This helps relieve the stronger diagonals of the eves, the pipe and the tree shadows on the house. For the most part, the house and window are depicted in patterns of geometric horizontal and vertical lines, which Rockwell often used in his compositions.


The water pitcher, wash basin, soap and the strip of cloth wrapped around Tom’s toe, are typical descriptive subtleties that Rockwell became identified with for most of his illustrations.



* Tom Watson is a retired West Coast illustrator, art director and educator. He has been a frequent contributor to Today's Inspiration and his storyboard work for film was a subject of a post on my other blog, Storyboard Central.

This week's images are © MBI/Heritage Press, Date (1936 or 1940) and are used with the permission of the Norman Rockwell Museum. This past weekend the museum featured the grand opening of a traveling exhibition, American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell.

Stephanie Plunkett, Chief Curator of the Museum would like readers to know that the Museum does travel an exhibition of signed lithographic prints from the Tom and Huck series to other museums and cultural centers. Stephanie writes, "We do have two upcoming bookings for that exhibition are listed below, so perhaps your readers will have the opportunity to visit if they live in the region."

Here is the information about the traveling exhibition:

Norman Rockwell's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn

Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale-Davie, Florida
November 14, 2009 through January 29, 2010

Averitt Center for the Arts, Statesboro, Georgia
March 12, 2010 through May 7, 2010

"It also might be interesting to note that the original paintings for the series are in the collection of the Mark Twain Museum in Hannibal, Missouri. The originals are beautiful. A study from the series will be on view in our upcoming exhibition, Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera, which opens on November 7, 2009."

Norman Rockwell's Tom Sawyer, part3

* TI list member Tom Watson takes over this week as I enjoy a short break from the blog - thanks Tom!

Continuing Tom's analysis of Norman Rockwell's illustrations for Mark Twain's Adventures of Tom Sawyer...

Illustration #3

When I think of a Rockwell illustration, I think mainly indoor scenes, unless it was for a calendar, perhaps. Landscape paintings were not his specialty, and I suspect he may not have been as comfortable painting them. But, the background in this scene is rendered ideally for the situation. He has kept it simple and impressionistic, so it doesn’t compete with the literal detail in the figures. The scene is warm, inviting and just about everyone can relate to the atmosphere he has conveyed, either directly or indirectly... two boys, on a warm summer day in a grassy meadow, involved together in something very important to them.


Rockwell echoes the poses and attitudes of the figures from the first illustration of the boys whitewashing the fence. Instead of overlapping them, he separates them facing each other, but both visually complementing each other, in virtually the same manner as the first illustration. Never the less, whether overlapping or separated, Rockwell created one large effective shape of both boys combined.

The lighting is somewhat unique for Rockwell, showing an edge lighting effect from the bright sunlight. For the most part, the figures are in the shade as well as the upper half of the background, which gives special emphasis to the sunlit areas.


The dark shadows of the background counter changes the reflective light in the boys skin tones, their shirts and where the sun catches the edge of their forms.. dark against light and light against dark. Rockwell understood color and value relationships, and he masterfully created a mood and a sense of time and space.

The green from the grass reflects up into virtually every part of the figures and their clothing, tying the color scheme together throughout the entire illustration. The red handkerchief is a nice complementary accent, and a relief to the various tints of green throughout.


In his biography “My Adventures As An Illustrator”, Rockwell tells how he bought a tattered old straw hat off the head of a local farmer in Hannibal, Missouri, and I suspect the straw hat Huck Finn is wearing in the painting is that very hat.


Notice how Huck’s baggy ill fitting clothes add to the curved gesture of his body. Rockwell was able to include three props for Tom Sawyer, his hat, a chalkboard and a stick, and only show one arm and hand. That is vintage Rockwell, knowing how to add interest and credibility to his illustrations, and at the same time, strengthen the overall layout.


The spindly little foliage in the lower left corner helps direct us into the scene...


... and the wild flowers at Huck and Tom’s feet help anchor them to the ground.


Even Rockwell’s initials “nr” are carefully planned in the composition for balance on the lower right side. The sense of depth between the figures and the background is achieved through sunlight and shadow shapes and faint suggestions of light catching limbs, and sunlight gleaming between the leaves.


Once again, you can’t move, eliminate or add to a Rockwell composition, without negatively effecting the whole illustration, which was always a carefully planned, fine tuned, well balanced design.

* Tom Watson is a retired West Coast illustrator, art director and educator. He has been a frequent contributor to Today's Inspiration and his storyboard work for film was a subject of a post on my other blog, Storyboard Central.

This week's images are © MBI/Heritage Press, Date (1936 or 1940) and are used with the permission of the Norman Rockwell Museum. This past weekend the museum featured the grand opening of a traveling exhibition, American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell.

Stephanie Plunkett, Chief Curator of the Museum would like readers to know that the Museum does travel an exhibition of signed lithographic prints from the Tom and Huck series to other museums and cultural centers. Stephanie writes, "We do have two upcoming bookings for that exhibition are listed below, so perhaps your readers will have the opportunity to visit if they live in the region."

Here is the information about the traveling exhibition:

Norman Rockwell's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn

Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale-Davie, Florida
November 14, 2009 through January 29, 2010

Averitt Center for the Arts, Statesboro, Georgia
March 12, 2010 through May 7, 2010

"It also might be interesting to note that the original paintings for the series are in the collection of the Mark Twain Museum in Hannibal, Missouri. The originals are beautiful. A study from the series will be on view in our upcoming exhibition, Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera, which opens on November 7, 2009."

Norman Rockwell's Tom Sawyer, part2

* TI list member Tom Watson takes over this week as I enjoy a short break from the blog - thanks Tom!

Continuing Tom's analysis of Norman Rockwell's illustrations for Mark Twain's Adventures of Tom Sawyer...

Illustration #2

A boy and a dog was a familiar pair in many Rockwell Saturday Evening Post covers and calendar illustrations. Until the late 1930’s, he exclusively used live models to directly draw and paint his characters, sometimes including animals and birds, if they didn’t move too much. It was an important step in his procedure to get just the right pose and draw and paint directly from his models. Posing the dog just right with the right expression for the situation was paramount. He observed the gesture and body language of animals as well as people, with great care and concern.


I grew up with family and neighborhood dogs in my life, and over the years my wife and I also had dogs and cats as part of our extended family. Many times I have seen that gesture with the rear end up and the head and chest on the floor, and eyes wide open with curiosity. Once again, Rockwell wove a tight-knit cohesive composition that rapidly connects Tom Sawyer to the dog, which are the two main subjects. The entire composition could be a scene on a stage for a play, as though we were sitting in the front row of the theater. There is virtually no linear perspective, but we still get a literal sense of depth and space through a careful and accurate arrangement of tonal values. There are essentially three major levels of depth, the foreground (floor and dog), the middle ground (the pews, Tom and the man behind him), and the background (the two ladies next to Tom, the wall and window blinds). Tom’s body quickly leads us to the dog and visa versa.

Notice how vague the features of the two ladies are, as the bonnet nearly cover their faces. The blinds on the window also help obscure their faces so we don’t visually linger in that corner of the scene. The dark strip on the right at the end of the pew and the man on the right, effectively brings us back into the scene. Rockwell has cleverly connected two points of interest. Tom’s expression and the dog’s expression are both important to the scene, yet they don’t compete for attention.


Notice the clarity he painted in Tom’s face, showing a typical reaction of a boy being entertained by the dog eyeing the beetle. I sense he can barely hold back even a giggle.


Rockwell has distilled this scene down to it’s simplest and most direct form of communication. There is nothing superfluous or extraneous in a Rockwell illustration. It all functions to quickly and clearly describe the scene, with great visual interest and fine artistic taste. It takes sophisticated understanding of layout, design and composition, and Rockwell had an abundance of those qualities.

The colors are primarily mid and dark tones, rich in browns and grays, with muted dark cool reds in the bonnet, and brighter warmer reds in the carpet. The red carpet helps bring attention and contrast to the mostly white dog. Rockwell seemed to be attracted to the texture and modeled color of old worn wooden structures, such as the pews.


He obviously enjoyed bringing out the character and age of the pews with plenty of rustic detail. They were painted from sketches of the original pews in the church in Hannibal, that was described in Mark Twain’s book.

* Tom Watson is a retired West Coast illustrator, art director and educator. He has been a frequent contributor to Today's Inspiration and his storyboard work for film was a subject of a post on my other blog, Storyboard Central.

This week's images are © MBI/Heritage Press, Date (1936 or 1940) and are used with the permission of the Norman Rockwell Museum. This past weekend the museum featured the grand opening of a traveling exhibition, American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell.

Stephanie Plunkett, Chief Curator of the Museum would like readers to know that the Museum does travel an exhibition of signed lithographic prints from the Tom and Huck series to other museums and cultural centers. Stephanie writes, "We do have two upcoming bookings for that exhibition are listed below, so perhaps your readers will have the opportunity to visit if they live in the region."

Here is the information about the traveling exhibition:

Norman Rockwell's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn

Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale-Davie, Florida
November 14, 2009 through January 29, 2010

Averitt Center for the Arts, Statesboro, Georgia
March 12, 2010 through May 7, 2010

"It also might be interesting to note that the original paintings for the series are in the collection of the Mark Twain Museum in Hannibal, Missouri. The originals are beautiful. A study from the series will be on view in our upcoming exhibition, Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera, which opens on November 7, 2009."

Norman Rockwell's Tom Sawyer, part 1

* TI list member Tom Watson takes over this week as I enjoy a short break from the blog - thanks Tom!


Two books by one of my favorite illustrators, sit on my bookshelf, well aged and nearly worn out from decades of use. I can’t begin to fathom how many times I have looked at those illustrations, and to this day they remain an inspiration to me in every respect. Their timelessness never ceases to amaze me. I am referring to Norman Rockwell’s illustrations commissioned for Mark Twain’s classic novels, ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ and ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’. As far back as I can remember, those two beautifully illustrated books were part of my fife, and was a major factor in my choice to become an illustrator, over 50 years ago.


They were originally part of my parent’s small collection of treasured classic American novels, and symbolize a part of my past. My parents loved Mark Twain’s writings and they loved Norman Rockwell’s illustrations, whether on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post or on the pages of Mark Twain's two classic novels. The combination of two of America’s most popular and beloved icons in literature and art, could only produce what I consider, one of the all time great illustrated stories in print... the perfect combination, Twain and Rockwell.

I am certain that Norman Rockwell was destined to


illustrate Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, and the only scenario that could never come to be, was to get Mark Twain’s reaction to Rockwell’s depiction of scenes from the novels. My instincts tell me he would have been completely delighted, as many readers have been by the combination of Mark Twain’s storytelling genius with literary pen and pad, and Norman Rockwell’s storytelling genius with pallet and brush.

Let’s first take a close look at the illustrations for ‘The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer’. Norman Rockwell did eight major illustrations for Tom Sawyer, published by Heritage Press in 1936.


They were all painted in oils on canvas, which was Rockwell’s typical medium. He pulled no punches in taking on what must have been an enormous awareness of illustrating such a famous and revered storyteller as Mark Twain. That must have been intimidating, even for the seasoned veteran that Rockwell was at the time. Like virtually all of his major illustration assignments, he dove into the project with both feet, and even made a trip to Hannibal, Missouri, to make sketches, buy tattered old clothes and hats from the locals and soak up the atmosphere where Mark Twain and “Tom Sawyer” grew up. Of all the illustrators (and there


were quite a few) that illustrated those novels in the past, Rockwell was the first to visit Mark Twain’s home town. In typical Rockwell fashion, no amount of detail or research was ignored, faked or quickly glossed over. Simply stated, he created visual reality to a charming study of characters, their dress, mannerisms and physical appearance, so humorously and eloquently described in the words of Mark Twain. And, no one could interpret and illustrate the human condition like Norman Rockwell. However, he gave Mark Twain full credit for making his stories easy to illustrate, by providing plenty of visual detail in his writing.

Illustration #1.

The first painting in the book epitomizes the entire book, and is fitting to be the frontispiece. It is a tight-knit perfectly balanced composition typical of Rockwell’s style in the 1930’s. I can’t imagine this scene being portrayed in any other way, and be more effective.


Using an interesting combination of theatrical straight ahead profile for the figures, contrasted by a three dimensional linear perspective foreground and background, Rockwell cleverly and effectively stages a compelling and important opening illustration . The background is deceptively simple, suggesting a corner of a rustic small town clap board house, attached to the house is a crude homemade planked fence and just a little suggestion of clothes drying on the line in the backyard.


To stop the eye on the right side of the composition, is a corner of an old wooden barrel with a board covering the top. These simple yet charming touches are quite important in depicting period and location, yet not taking away attention from the main subject. No illustrator did that better than Norman Rockwell. He researched and selected props that not only tie together his finely tuned compositions, but created just the right atmosphere of time and place.


Rockwell knew the mannerisms and attitudes that kids normally display . Both Tom and his friend are convincing as typical boys, with convincing typical boy gestures. Rockwell’s powers of observation was truly remarkable, always finding the characters and the perfect gestures for a given situation. He was not afraid to exaggerate a pose or attitude of the character, in order to communicate his idea as clearly as possible. Throughout his career, he had a constant gnawing concern with virtually every illustration he did, worrying whether or not his concept would be clear to the viewer, which drove him to often correct, revise, change and even redo an illustration.


In profile, the two boys overlap creating one combined shape that dominates most of the painting. The extended direction of the arm and paintbrush in Tom’s hand holding the paintbrush, is emphasized by the two boys looking directing down Tom’s arm. Both are concentrating and looking very serious. Their body language complements each other, giving a strong design to the combination of the two figures, one semi-crouched and the other standing with his back arched, and both boy’s heads are perfectly level. It is certain that Rockwell planned every inch of his composition for design, balance and effective use of directional devices.

The background and foreground, for the most part is in full bright sunlight, depicting pale soft tones. And, the two boys are in a full range of rich tones that draws our attention to them. The freshly whitewashed fence directly behind the figures is very light in contrast to the deeper rich tones of the figures, adding even more emphasis on the boys. The shadow on the fence under the paint brush, cleverly leads down to the shadow on the ground, which leads to the boy’s feet. Even the corner of the board covering the barrel points to the two boys like an arrow. There is a nice balance of vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines and shapes, all working together to create interest, reality and strong compositional devices.


Rockwell effectively painted the figures in a more literal fashion while leaving the rest of the painting more simply implied. He applied semi-loosely painted strokes, with just enough detail to satisfy most lovers of literal realistic illustrations. Rockwell’s paint strokes are consistent and accurate, yet free from tight over-rendered polished realism.


As with many of Rockwell’s paintings, they convincingly dispel the myth that illustration and fine art (museum art) can not blend and be on the same level.

* Tom Watson is a retired West Coast illustrator, art director and educator. He has been a frequent contributor to Today's Inspiration and his storyboard work for film was a subject of a post on my other blog, Storyboard Central.

This week's images are © MBI/Heritage Press, Date (1936 or 1940) and are used with the permission of the Norman Rockwell Museum. This past weekend the museum featured the grand opening of a traveling exhibition, American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell.

Stephanie Plunkett, Chief Curator of the Museum would like readers to know that the Museum does travel an exhibition of signed lithographic prints from the Tom and Huck series to other museums and cultural centers. Stephanie writes, "We do have two upcoming bookings for that exhibition are listed below, so perhaps your readers will have the opportunity to visit if they live in the region."

Here is the information about the traveling exhibition:

Norman Rockwell's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn

Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale-Davie, Florida
November 14, 2009 through January 29, 2010

Averitt Center for the Arts, Statesboro, Georgia
March 12, 2010 through May 7, 2010

"It also might be interesting to note that the original paintings for the series are in the collection of the Mark Twain Museum in Hannibal, Missouri. The originals are beautiful. A study from the series will be on view in our upcoming exhibition, Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera, which opens on November 7, 2009."

Fred Ludekens: "...the trees grew tall enough to see."

Fred Ludekens was both a renowned illustrator and co-creative director of one of the world's most prominent ad agencies, FCB. He was also a founding faculty member of the Famous Artists School. In the following concluding interview excerpt from the Summer 1964 issue of Famous Artists Magazine Ludekens shares his expertise - advice and learned opinion that would benefit both illustrators and art directors today every bit as much as it was intended to benefit creatives nearly 50 years ago...

Q: If you were to define the single quality which a good picture possesses and a poor one does not - what would it be?


A: The right content designed to communicate attractively the meaning, clearly and convincingly to people. If it doesn't do this it isn't working. This is the objective, and the way to achieve it is wide open to any illustrator. It depends on you. An illustrator, as I said before, should have more than talent. A few brains, understanding and judgement also help. These are required to make successful pictures.


Q: How carefully do you plan a picture? Is your response to a subject emotional, intellectual, or a combination of the two?


A: Very carefully. I believe composition is the most forceful part of a picture. I try to make a cohesive whole out of many elements - the idea, mood, action, arrangement, color, and so on - as I interpret the problem. If I am illustrating a piece of fiction, I believe my response is emotional, influenced by some reasoning as to my audience and the publisher. With non-fiction illustration, I believe my response is just the reverse.



Q: What satisfaction have you gotten from art as a career? Can you imagine yourself in any other profession?


A: I wouldn't trade my work or do it differently if I had another try. There are problems of self discipline, control of work, the kind of work, and so on, but, all in all, the illustrator is "out of sight" and can pretty well control his time and energy. I have managed to do so.


Q: You have said, and I quote, "You make your own luck. Timing does it, so don't get ahead of yourself." Can you explain this further?

A: I guess I mean you don't get many chances to be wrong. To use a familiar expression, an illustrator is only as good as his last job. Now that is not quite true but pretty close. In my opinion many young artists make a mistake by trying to get the big jobs before they are really ready for them. One job hardly counts unless it will produce another. The immature artist, if he fails, seldom gets another chance with the same publisher.


With limited good outlets for illustration this is hardly something he can afford. Doing well means good selection and interpretation of the manuscript's most effective illustrative possibilities. Two fundamentals are necessary. First, to know what an effective illustrative situation really is. Second, the ability to draw it, regardless of the subject, its complication, its simplicity, or the time required to do it well. Without this approach the illustrator's chance of success over a period of time is doubtful.


An illustrator never knows what he may be required to do on his next assignment. His experience as a keen observer, a person of broad experience in travel, work, sports and so on helps him bring his understanding and feeling to the job. This is a requisite to success.


Q: You have also said, "If you plant the seeds and the trees grow tall enough someone will see them.: What did you mean?

A: I'll try to explain it. Many years ago I illustrated a book of yarns written by one of my friends. I did twenty-two full-page pictures and twenty-one small chapter headings, designed the hard cover and did the jacket in full color for a total sum of just three hundred and fifty dollars. This started me on my career as a fiction illustrator.


Here I believe "the trees grew tall enough to see." Directly from this group of illustrations I received an unsolicited assignment to do an eight-part serial for the Curtis Publishing Company. This was important in numerous ways, and was directly responsible for many years of good assignments on varied subjects.


Good assignments allow an illustrator to demonstrate his consistent ability to handle effectively a wide variety of subject matter which in turn furthers his experience and broadens and extends his career.


A career isn't a career unless it lasts. An illustrator isn't an illustrator unless he's illustrating. It's that simple. It takes years to get the right opportunity. Recognize its value and its hazards. Don't throw it away.

* My thanks to Harold Henriksen for providing the scans above from The Ranch Book and to Bruce Hettema for the photo of Fred Ludekens from April 1981. Fred Ludekens, born in the year 1900, passed away in 1982.

* My Fred Ludekens Flickr set.

Fred Ludekens: "Don't complain about the world being wrong."

Fred Ludekens was both a renowned illustrator and co-creative director of one of the world's most prominent ad agencies, FCB. He was also a founding faculty member of the Famous Artists School. In the following interview excerpt from the Summer 1964 issue of Famous Artists Magazine Ludekens shares his expertise - advice and learned opinion that would benefit both illustrators and art directors today every bit as much as it was intended to benefit creatives nearly 50 years ago...


Q: Why did you choose art as a career?

A: Because I like to make pictures.


Q: Must an artist have talent?

A: Yes. Most children have talent and like too make pictures. Its a desire to record what they see. Its a desire to say something. I believe talent is fundamentally a desire. If the desire is strong and compelling, the talent develops. To learn to draw and paint is hard, and to do so, the desire must be strong enough for the artist to go through the effort of development.


Q: What kind of training did you have?

A: None. If there is such a thing, I am self-taught. I had a strong desire to make pictures. My talent was limited. I simply developed it as best I could by plain hard work.


Q: Was there a turning point in your career?

A: I don't think there was a turning point. I just climbed the long ladder one rung at a time. I married young and had to make a living. I felt I could be a successful artist if I could make saleable pictures. I did. The career developed. At the time you were supposed to learn how to draw. No one I knew drew from photos. You thought it out and drew it. You learned to study objects and people and to transpose what you saw into pictures you made. Experience taught me the requirements. I formed very objective opinions as you can tell by the answers to these questions. And I have pretty well lived by them. This is hard work, but I survived.


Q: What illustrators influenced you most as a young artist?

A: When I started, Harvey Dunn, Dean Cornwell, Pruett Carter, Walter Biggs, Henry Raleigh, John LaGatta, Frank Hoffman and Gruger were the major illustrators. This was in the twenties. They influenced every young illustrator. How much I was influenced, others can tell better than I.


I think all of them influenced me in different ways.


Q: How did your style develop?

A: I really think it developed as I solved printing and mechanical problems.


Q: How important is originality?

A: I think you have to be yourself. Originality is not a specific term. I feel you have to rest your case on how you think. If you think good, you'll make it. If you are not progressing, you'd better re-evaluate yourself. Don't complain about the world being wrong.


Q: What does the illustrator communicate to his audience? More particularly, what do you try to communicate?


A: I try to communicate to the best of my ability the advertising or selling requirement clearly and convincingly. In fiction illustration, I believe the success of the picture usually lies in the selection of what you illustrate. It should be in character and show feeling for the story and be compelling in concept and treatment.


To deviate from this, I feel, is to be dishonest to the reader.


Concluded tomorrow.

* My Fred Ludekens Flickr set