Research for self portrait - Norman Rockwell

http://www.auburnschools.org/carywoods/mawebb/intro-triple-self-portrait.jpg

Norman Rockwell's self portrait is another favorite of mine. He tells a story with just one painting. This painting really grabs my eye and takes it through the painting, and then back over it again and again to find little details that I didn't see the first time around. He gets the people and the things with them to look so realistic, and yet just enough of that cartoony feel so that it is playful and fun.

This work really shows Rockwell's identity because it shows how he works, and what is important to him. He very clearly shows how he works and how he views himself. The painting also shows how he does his work, and that is so much of who he is. If he saw himself as being the best fisherman ever, he would have painted his self portrait of himself in the middle of a lake, in a boat, with a fishing pole in hand. I think that a big part of identity is how we view ourselves, and even how we think other's view us. Norman Rockwell, from this self portrait anyways, seems to be very down to earth, and simply shows what he does and how he does it, and there isn't anything to hide from that.

I like this self portrait because I think it truely lets the view to see Norman Rockwell, and how he does his work. I had a friend tell me once that she thought it was really interesting to watch me make one of my ceramics project because she saw me be very comfortable and could watch the light bulbs go off in my head when I knew something to do next. I think that this self portrait is just like that. It gives a little insight of how he works, how he plans things out, how he over comes some kind of problem. I think showing that, and showing how he views himself is very interesting.