“My cousin Norman Rockwell was so inspiring because through his oil paintings on over 300 Saturday Evening Post magazine covers, he showed people as warm, human and truthful. He helped Americans to care about others and thus to remember that each of us can make a difference in each others’ lives. I carry on that tradition in my own way. By viewing my paintings of children and family, it is my intention that people see the best in others and feel the best about themselves so that everyone creates good effects and gets along better.”
— Jessica Rockwell

If you are looking for an oil portrait painting of your child, family, pet or yourself, just browse this site of 100+ commissioned oil portraits of children, family and pets—dogs, cats & horses. Enjoy! Imagine one of you and/or your family! Even the experience of getting a portrait done can be very rewarding when you have a very personable and understanding artist, such as Ms. Rockwell. You can arrange for a photoshoot, either in Ms. Rockwell’s Clearwater, Florida studio or she can fly to your home. Or you can just communicate over the phone and email and send in favorite photos.

Then, using the finest archival canvases primed with the highest quality archival materials, Ms. Rockwell carries forward the master painting traditions that have been admired and have endured since Rembrandt. She first draws out the portrait and then follows that with many layers of more and more specific paint strokes. These are true custom oil portraits.

Her custom charcoal portraits follow a similar path—she sketches on archival cotton, first lightly and loosely, and then gradually more and more precisely.

Ms. Rockwell’s professional artist etiquette ensures that your portrait will be treasured by you as a precious keepsake and heirloom for all time. Achieving stunning likenesses is her specialty. She guarantees excellence and generations of enjoyment!

“Photo to Painting”—A note is made here to explain the concept behind “Photo to Painting”. When we say that the artist works “Photo to Painting”, that means that she uses photographs for reference for her commissioned portraits of children, family, adults, dogs, cats, and horses. Usually, her husband and photographer, Gerry Chromoy, takes many digital references from which a few are chosen, in coordination with the client. Then the artist looks at these prints and draws them out onto the canvas and then paints only on top of her own drawings in her Tampa Bay studio.
She does not paint on top of prints, nor does she project them onto the canvas. Norman Rockwell used the camera in this same way, actually looking at many references that he took of all his models and props, often at different times, and assembled them in the drawing. The procedure follows the same guidelines for Jessica’s commissioned charcoal drawings.

“Photo to Painting” is usually so much easier on everyone than from life, which would mean that the child or person would have to come to the studio and sit for some hours every day. One can’t even imagine children or pets sitting the many hours needed for the full painting, or even for custom charcoal portraits.

When photographing children (as well as adults, family and pets), it is very flexible in that it doesn’t have to be perfect all in the same shot. For example you could have one child or more children in a good pose, photograph that, and then do closeups of the children’s faces so that the expression can be the best.

The artist can also work “Photo to Painting”  with the digital or hardcopy images that the client supplies, as long as they are very clear and have good lighting and shadows. If you or your children can’t make it to her Clearwater, Florida studio to be photographed, it is possible for the artist to work from prints or digital files that you already have. Or she and her husband/photographer can travel to your location to do the photoshoot and meet the subject(s). Her studio is located in Clearwater, Florida which is a neighboring city to Tampa and St. Petersburg in the Tampa Bay area and it is very accessible.

For an oil portrait painting, commissioned oil portraits, custom oil Portraits, commissioned Portraits, charcoal portraits, commissioned charcoal drawings, custom charcoal portraits, children oil portraits, family oil portraits, commissioned pet portraits, www.rockwellportraits.com is the right place. From her location in Clearwater, right next to Tampa, Florida, she has produced all varieties of commissioned portraits: adult, family and children oil portraits, charcoal portraits, commissioned pet portraits and commissioned charcoal drawings for ecstatic customers across the USA.