This custom dog oil portrait was commissioned 
by a retired couple. Their dog was so cute and they knew it. They had a chest of drawers in the family room full of wonderful outfits for Buffy—mostly for holidays. For example, Buffy could greet trick or treaters with his puffed out orange satin pumpkin costume, he could go to a Christmas party in his Santa’s elf attire and he could appear Easter Sunday for egg hunting dressed like a rabbit. You can imagine that Buffy was loved by all of his neighbors who dropped in regularly too, and commented about Buffy’s gourmet diet. [continue reading…]
This original oil portrait commission came to me 
from a client who wanted to give someone a really big thank you. He bought 2 children’s head and shoulder portraits from me and presented this fantastic present in the form of a gift certificate. This lucky family came over to view my studio with their 2 boys. We got acquainted, looked at portraits on the walls and in portfolios, and then took photo references of the boys. The parents upgraded their gift certificate to 2 portraits showing, as you can see here in the older boy’s painting, the “three-quarter pose” which includes the hands (in pockets this time). [continue reading…]
This is a video slideshow of a children’s oil portrait that I made and posted to YouTube. It was put together from photos taken of my painting in progress each night. Then I finally lined up all the photos so that it became a movie. I’ve included the transcript of my running dialog here. Hope you enjoy it! Would love to hear from you! [continue reading…]
Here is a charcoal portrait drawing of a very 
composed little girl sitting on the grass. The couple who had me portrait their daughter for them in 2015, had actually found me 5 years earlier and had me sketch at that time from a baby picture that they loved when she was only 6 months old, out in her stroller for a bit of fresh air. You can see that portrait below.
Now the little girl has turned 5 and they thought it was time for another portrait. I couldn’t agree more! They had a local photographer whom they hired for an hour to take a series of pictures. [continue reading…]
Here is a custom painted oil portrait that I 
made for a family in New Jersey. We flew up there to make the photographs that I would use for my references. When we arrived, the girls had picked out some in-vogue teenage dresses. Their father wanted a classic, more timeless look! We went shopping with them to help them choose. For the photoshoot, my husband Gerry created a beautiful photo studio in their large garage. While we were photographing them, the older girl, who had not been interested up to this time, suddenly became fascinated with the lighting and how it worked while changing the whole look of a scene. She was now very pleased to participate in posing for her portrait. It was rewarding to see her as excited as her [continue reading…]
Looking at my cousin Norman Rockwell’s recent 
traveling exhibition brought me to contemplating how his brush strokes arrived on a canvas compared to how mine get there. The steps that we use are pretty different—at least on the surface. Most notably, he makes many successive pictures in charcoal and then paint before tackling the final canvas which contrasts to how I put all sketches and painting stages on the same canvas for my custom oil portraits.
To illustrate, for his largest client, The Saturday Evening Post Magazine, for whom he made 323 covers over 47 years, the first [continue reading…]
As a realistic oil portrait artist, I was 
thrilled to hear that the work of my cousin Norman Rockwell was being exhibited close by at the Tampa Museum of Art. This Norman Rockwell traveling exhibit showcased his work from when he was 20 till he was 76—that’s 56 years!
Called “American Chronicles, The Art of Norman Rockwell”, it started by touching on the earliest paintings that were done for stories in Boys’ Life magazine about Daniel Boone when he worked exclusively for the Boy Scouts. [continue reading…]
This portrait started when the father came to me in 
December and wanted to give his wife a surprise portrait of their 7-month-old son. We decided that the actual photoshoot would be done later when his wife could take part in it, but she would have it as her Christmas present now and it would be scheduled into my lineup as well. I gave him a packet of prints of my work which he wrapped in a box for her to open. After Christmas, she didn’t want to wait very long to get the photo reference done. We did a darling photoshoot when the little boy was about 9 months old. It didn’t come up in [continue reading…]
To all our family, friends, neighbors, and website visitors, we wish you spring greetings in 2015. We’re here for you if you would like an oil portrait painting for the ultimate commemoration 
of a special moment in time such as:
—Mother’s Day
—Father’s Day
—your anniversary
—an important birthday
—graduation
—retirement recognition
—Christmas
with portraits to show:
—the sweet innocence of young children
—older children bursting with energy to learn everything they can
—teenagers looking ready to put the world in gear
—adults with proud accomplishments (children, job, community)
—grandparents enjoying their grandchildren To joyous memories! All the best, Master Portrait Artist Jessica Rockwell and Manager Gerry Chromoy at Rockwell Portraits. [continue reading…]
Here is the second of the three little girls that was portrayed 
in a classic portrait in oil. This little girl had seen her older sister stand for the first reference photoshoot and knew it was her turn now. When it was done the family had two portraits on their walls. The mother told me this:
“I absolutely love it. I feel it is the ultimate gift to my girls…to see themselves as the beautiful children they were and to capture their innocence. These priceless gifts will be passed down through the generations as a wonderful testimony of our love for them. I think they will learn a little more about their parents and grandparents: who or what they were like by looking at the paintings. They mysteriously capture the [continue reading…]
