Norman Rockwell Study

Last year, I studied Norman Rockwell’s “Jolly Postman” (1949) to challenge myself with gestures and a broader color palette, as shown above. This year, I chose an earlier piece, “A Drum for Tommy” (1921), for its different textures, like the brass trim on the drum and the fur on his hat and coat. The original drawing used as a reference is below. I’ve noticed many color variations for the same drawings online, perhaps due to printing and copying variations of the original works.

Note: I couldn’t understand what was in his bag, so I left that out of my study.

First, I started with a graphite drawing. Initially, I wanted to paint this traditionally with gouache, but the paper I had has large teeth, making it hard to draw on. This meant I needed to transfer the drawing to watercolor paper, but I got lazy and never got around to it (perhaps another time). Below is the final pencil drawing.

I brought this image into Procreate and started painting. I noticed there were likely 3–5 main colors in this painting, and everything in between was a mixture of those. This was an important lesson in color theory for me because, as a digital painter, I have the luxury of sampling colors. With traditional painting, I have to be more intentional about the colors I’m using. I think eventually, it would be helpful to try doing this painting traditionally.

Above is an image of the painting that’s about 60% completed. At this point, I realized the original red was a bit too bright for my eyes and then toned it down a bit. I had my pencil drawing both below and above (on multiply), turning on and off the top layer depending on if I needed it as a reference.

And below is the completed painting! I’m really happy with how this turned out! I added a bit of texture as well as softening to the circle and striped framing in the background to give it a painterly look and feel.