Pin Up: a look at vintage american modeling

There's something about vintage americana. The 50s is the most famous and probably most defining decade of Americana. The 50s is seen as the time period of the American dream. Classic cars, baseball, apple pie, the birth of rock and roll, and the American pin up model.

The term pin up originated in 1941, but the style of art had been around for a number of years. Starting in the 20s pin up art began establishing itself to the modern form we know today.

The style of pin up focuses on the allure, innocence, playfulness of the model. Taking the ordinary every day looks and chores and making them more "interesting" in the eyes of guys.  Take the work of Art Frahm for example. A website dedicated to his work gives the tagline : The study of Celery on Loose Elastic.

As you'll find on the website many of Frahm's most famous images feature a woman with grocery bag(s) containing celery and to her amazement her underwear has dropped to her ankles with a suprised male onlooker. 

Another popular Pin up artist is Gil Elvgren. Again taking the ordinary and just giving that little extra nudge.

 
Showing that playfulness and making what would seems to be the playful task of looking at a globe to making it just a bit sexy.

The last pin up artist we'll look at is Alberto Vargas. Son of a photographer, he became one of the most famous pin up artists and his work, Like that of Elvgren, has helped define the classic poses of pin up art.

Pin up art has been featured in paintings, photos, and tattoos.

The past few months I've taken some time to research and do my own pin up work. I've had a lot of fun working with different models and I'm sure there will be more work to come. Here's a few samples of my work. They have very simple editing but I hope to learn techniques to create a painted effect to make them appear more authentic:

Models: Elizabeth, Katie, Kristen Liz & Lonna; Make up: enigma.machine.design, Painting Faces, Beauty by Olivia.

Check back soon for my post of summer beach wraps and fashion.

-Ben