Commission Realistic, Fine Art Oil Portraits of Children, Family and Pets from Photo ~ Custom Oil Portrait Artist Jessica Rockwell

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To commemorate our first ten years in Clearwater, we held an Open House each Friday afternoon of June and July. Visitors were interested to get a tour of a successful portrait artist's studio, and one related to America's historically adored painter, Norman Rockwell. Everything from charcoal sketches to oil portraits in all stages of development were on display because, as you know, Jessica has had the pleasure to draw and paint portraits of many children, families and pets over the last ten years.

Husband and manager Gerry Chromoy walked guests through the different areas of the studio and showed how a portrait evolves. The visitors were varied and intriguing themselves, some wanting to share their own endeavors in the visual arts, and some bringing interesting tidbits of Norman Rockwell memorabilia.

One visitor came whose aunt was Norman Rockwell's personal cook. This unique access to Mr. Rockwell allowed the gentleman to visit and converse with the famed artist for short periods and get encouragement for his artistic efforts. He recalled that once Norman advised him, "Just take a photo and then go off and do the painting."

He also brought with him a tattered photocopy of a charcoal sketch that was one of the many stages of preparation that Norman was known to use before embarking on a final painting. The story goes that this particular charcoal drawing had been stowed away in a drawer as a discarded Saturday Evening Post cover idea. The subject of the preliminary sketch was a murder mystery that Norman wanted Post readers to be able to deliberate over to find clues that would reveal the murderer's identity. In the course of research for the one-picture-story, Norman traveled to Hollywood to photograph a rare poisonous African plant. Once out West, Norman was such a celebrity
himself that 20th Century Fox pulled their stars
off sets to pose for him. The drawing featured several of the famous movie stars of the 1950's: Ethel Barrymore, Loretta Young, Boris Karloff, Linda Darnell, Richard Widmark, Clifton Webb, Van Johnson and even Lassie. After spending a few weeks on the project (including 4 days with the actors), Norman sent the sketch to his editor who remarked that the public would be more interested in simply looking at the celebrities than worrying over clues within the piece. In his autobiography, Norman describes his reaction to his editor's response: he looked at the picture newly, thought that the clues were not that clear anyway, and scraped the whole project! All that remains is this lone, charcoal sketch of the master's discarded notion.

At the close of the tour a video of a 5-minute Emmy Award winning Fox News report of Jessica Rockwell was played. They had filmed Jessica developing one particular portrait from the photoshoot through the different stages of painting, to the surprise unveiling to the family in the studio, and then the hanging in the clients' home. It allowed guests to get an insight into the true passion behind a Jessica Rockwell portrait.

So with that, we would like to thank you for being a part of our first ten years in Clearwater. We are very excited about our next ten and about all of the new friends we will make. Our open house was a great success and we will be doing it again very soon so please stay tuned for that announcement.

As a reminder, you can always visit our studio for a free consultation or call to commission your very own Rockwell original by calling 727-442-5553. We would love to be a part in making your memories last a lifetime!

PROUD COUSIN TO NORMAN ROCKWELL, AMERICA'S FAVORITE ILLUSTRATOR