Norman Rockwell Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“My best efforts were some modern things that looked like very lousy Matisses. Thank God I had the sense to realize they were lousy, and leave Paris.”

“Everyone in those days expected that art students were wild, licentious characters. We didn't know how to be, but we sure were anxious to learn.”

“A face in the picture would bother me, so I'd rub it out with the turpentine and do it over.”

“I'm the oldest antique in town.”

“Some folks think I painted Lincoln from life, but I haven't been around that long. Not quite.”

“Things aren't much wilder now, I don't think, than they were back then. Of course I just read about all the goings-on now. Ha.”

“It was a pretty rough neighborhood where I grew up The really tough places were over around Third Avenue where it ran into the Harlem River, but we weren't far away.”

“I didn't know what to expect from a famous movie star; maybe that he'd be sort of stuck-up, you know. But not Gary Cooper. He horsed around so much... that I had a hard time painting him.”

“I talk as I sketch, too, in order to keep their minds off what I'm doing so I'll get the most natural expression I can from them. Also, the talking helps to size up the subject's personality, so I can figure out better how to portray him.”

“I'll never have enough time to paint all the pictures I'd like to.”