The Cinematic Canvas: An Interview with Will Rochfort

Hi John,

Today we have an interview with Will Rochfort. Will combines a love of cinema style with the teachings of classic art to create glamorous, narrative artworks that are sure to stir memories up in each of us.

Enjoy,

BoldBrush Studio Team

Will Rochfort's paintings combine the style of golden age cinema with the narrative and detail of a Norman Rockwell painting, and he draws inspiration from them both.

Like most artists, as a kid he was always making something - he loved to build models, make comics, and, above all, draw people doing things. He has always had a bent toward narrative work; he always enjoyed looking at picture and comic books, so when it was time to go to university he started thinking about illustration. While taking some introductory classes at university, he just happened to stumble upon a class about the illustrator Norman Rockwell - who, not being as ubiquitous in the UK as he is in the US, Rochfort had never heard of before. "I was fascinated. I remember one of the paintings they showed in the presentation, the one of the pitcher winding up and the umpire looking through his legs, and just being amazed by his storytelling and sense of design. I instantly went off to research Rockwell and learn everything I could about him. I studied his methods of painting, the way he photographed his models, his materials - everything. He was a brilliant craftsman; he was dedicated to getting the right reference and he worked like crazy." Will ended up transferring to a fine art major because he wanted to focus on painting - he recalls that the students were pretty much left to their own devices there, there wasn't a lot of instruction but there were no restrictions either. So Will pursued his own interest in narrative painting and taught himself how to work realistically. For his final project, he tried an oil painting for the first time: "I worked on it for two months, it was a major undertaking! It was a painting of a father and son called 'The Waiting Room' and it was incredibly Rockwell, basically a ripoff," he said with a laugh. "I studied all his methods of painting and composing and telling a story and used them in this painting."

Although he was consciously imitating Rockwell's methods when he started out, he quickly moved beyond them, and although his work still shows Rockwell's influence in its ability to show a story at a glance, he notes that he's no longer consciously imitating Rockwell. "I'm still honing different aspects of visual storytelling - I'm most interested in telling the first chapter. I want to start a story for the viewer, make them wonder what happens next and invite them to fill in the details with their imagination."

He looks at fine artists as well as illustrators: John Singer Sargent, Edgar Degas, and Joaquin Sorolla are three he admires for their brushwork, compositions, and ability to stage and frame a scene. But equally as significant as the artists are the filmmakers.

"Films are my biggest inspiration, really," Will said. "I draw a lot of both direct and indirect ideas from them. Sometimes it's the whole 'feel' of a film, sometimes it's a split second of a scene - there was this very brief scene inHidden Figuresthat inspired the painting 'Ticker Tape'. I also love the behind-the-scenes drama, especially the way sets and cameras and lights looked during the golden age of film in the 40s and 50s - the equipment is so cool and it just captures the magic of movies. I'm always trying to tell a story, but to tell it in a slightly heightened reality - this is something Rockwell did well, and Spielberg and Tarantino are always doing this too - the action is always staged, and they don't hide the fact that it's made up, they give you a glimpse of the sleight-of-hand that makes it happen. Film is a form of escape for me, and to some degree I want my paintings to do the same thing for the viewer, let them get lost in the created world of the painting for a moment."

Film influences both the compositions and colors of his paintings, as well as the flash-photography lighting that Will enjoys working with. "Honestly, I like the dramatic colors and pushed contrasts of modern films, as well as the bold colors of technicolor movies. Think aboutSinging in the Rain- it's such an amazing film in every aspect, but the colors are amazing and because it's a limited Technicolor palette it just works so well." I play on that idea with my own painting, and I work with a limited palette, and use colors straight out of the tube whenever possible to give it that bold, primary palette look. As you can tell, I love strong lighting and I can't emphasize how important it is to get the right lighting when you're shooting photo reference. I work with a phenomenal photographer, Adam Lynk, who helps set up the camera and the lighting - which is a huge thing for me. It's so helpful and takes so much of the stress out of it for me; I won't set up a painting without him now! Once it's all set up, he steps back and I take the photos I need."

Will puts a lot of work into getting great reference. Many of his paintings are complex crowd scenes featuring vintage costumes and props, which he often builds himself. "I generally build the props I need - pay phones, old cameras, monster costumes - out of cardboard. It's great fun, it takes me back to my childhood days building models. If I have ten cameras in a scene, I'll build ten cameras." For the 'Ticker Tape' painting, though, he did call in a real horse and a real car for the shoot. "The more information I have in my reference, the easier it is to shoot and paint." The models are all his family and friends, and Will, aware of their time, will carefully plan the photoshoot ahead of time, preparing props, lighting, and the shots he'll need so that once he calls in the people the shoot will be over in an hour or two. His photographer Adam will take hundreds of shots from various angles so that there is a wide variety of information to select for the final painting. Will likes to get the models to try different poses too, as it gives him options for the most expressive pose. "I will tell them a bit of the story I'm going for, to help them get into the character, but then I try to get out of their way and let them do what comes naturally to them. I find it's only around the hundredth photo, when people have relaxed and are falling into their own characteristic gestures, that we get the really good shots."

Working with people in this way, he adds, opens the door for serendipity. He has started a series of paintings featuring his brother-in-law as a traveling salesman. "He's a great model and I really love this character that we've come up with. Originally, in the first painting, where he's standing alone in an elevator, he was just one of a group of figures. But the painting didn't feel right - it wasn't reading as a narrative - and I realized I wanted to focus on just the salesman character so I scrapped the rest. And he's such a great character, I've done several other paintings with him, at other points in the salesman's story."

The planning stage for his paintings starts with loose sketches. Once he has the concept down, he'll go right into prop-building and photoshoots, and once the reference is in hand he'll start to build the final piece. "I'm a fairly impatient person so I've taught myself to work quickly. I don't like to work on a painting for more than a month at a time, so I try to keep up the momentum and complete a piece before I lose interest."

He balances his studio time between commissions and personal work, which he sells in a gallery. "I like the variety that you find in commissions - people think of things that I myself might not think of doing, and they're great fun. One person commissioned a portrait on a playing card - it was so different from what I normally do and I really enjoyed it." But he tries to prioritize time for his personal work in his schedule, to do what he loves best - large-scale narrative paintings that draw people in with a storyline that intrigues them and makes them want to take a second and third look. "I want to draw the viewer in with the narrative, and then hopefully when they take a second look they'll be able to appreciate the quality of the painting as well." Our final question for Will: what are his favorite films from his favorite directors - Tarantino, Spielberg, and Hitchcock? Without hesitation, his top favorite film of all time isJawsby Spielberg. "It's pure storytelling. The shooting is incredibly economical, every second counts and there's not a single ounce of fat on it. Even the corny shark adds to the film." For Hitchcock, the choice is harder - "Psychois top for pure suspense. ButTo Catch a Thiefis probably the most influential of his films in my work - the technicolor, the stars, the movie glamour in that film are a feeling I like to capture, and I've done many paintings directly inspired by scenes from it." And from Tarantino, it'sPulp FictionandOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood. "I watchedPulp Fictionway too much when I was younger, it's a great film! And of courseOnce Upon a Timein Hollywood because it's about the behind-the-scenes grit of the golden age in Hollywood. I know it was criticized because nothing really happens, but I kind of loved that, it's a slice of life, a snapshot of the place and time. And it has gorgeous visuals and details."

That combination of big-picture glamour and attention to detail is a highlight of Will's work as well. To see more of his work, you can go to his websitewww.williamrochfort.comor see his in-process paintings onInstagram.

Eager to Learn More?

The BoldBrush Studio Blog is a great way to learn more about art and art history. If you'd like to read other interviews and posts showing great artists and their stories, please click the button below.

BoldBrush Videos are available for unlimited streaming. This is a DIGITAL CONTENT ONLY product. You will not receive a DVD.