Many young artists have been inspired by Norman Rockwell’s art. Today’s illustrators are the keepers of a long, esteemed publishing tradition that started around the era of the Civil War when artists went to the war front to illustrate battlescenes. These images were translated via woodblock printing technology into newpapers and journals, revealing to the public the hardships of war in graphic, vivid detail. As mass media printing technology advanced, illustrators continued to paint the world around them for advertising and print journalism. Artists continue today to narrate our world through visual imagery. Contemporary inheritors of this esteemed tradition include electronic game designers, movie animators and artists who illustrate storyboards for film.

Next week I am traveling to Redwood City, CA to present a talk on Norman Rockwell and Norman Rockwell Museum to the artists at Dreamworks Animation Studio. Linked via Video Wall to the LA studios, artists in both studios will have an opportunity to travel back in time to the deeply-rooted traditions of American illustration which has inspired their futuristic visions of tomorrow.