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Gil Elvgren - The Pinup Painter

Gillette Elvgren , known as Gil Elvgren famous for the wonderful vintage inspired pin up paintings capturing striking poses beauty & humor through his work .. 

Gil Elgren , oil painting , vintage pinup , pinup girl pinup style pinup look vintage inspired 1940s 1950s  
Gill was an American painter of pin up girls and advertising, he studied at a private school in Chicago at the American Academy Of Art college.. from here 
Elvgren painted calendar illustrations for Brown & Bigelow a long standing company to which he worked from 1945 to 1972, Browns & Bigelow are based in Minnesota USA where they sell branded apparel and promotional merchandise still to this day, there is literally every item imaginable that can be branded.
He was strongly influenced by the early "pretty girl" illustrators, such as Charles Dana Gibson, Andrew Loomis, and Howard Chandler Christy .. Other influences included the Brandywine School which was founded by Howard Pyle  
Elvgren  was so talented that he could easily finish Haddon Sundblom creations and put together adverts for Coco Cola .. 
Pinup Vintage poster 1940s 1950s vintage lady
 
along with Camel Cigarettes...
gil Elvgren poster pinup pinup girl  1940s 1950s
And many more .. 
Gil Elvgren advert , vintage poster pinup old advert vintage style magazine

Going back to the women Elvgren painted , they were never the femme fatale, or somebody's mistress,  They were the girl next door whose charms are revealed in that fleeting instant when she is caught unaware in what might be an embarrassing situation.

 

take a look at some of Elvgren's  artwork of pin-up girls and the photos he used as reference they are just amazing! 

 

Blonde pinup pinup girl Gil Elvgren vintage pinup classic pin up 1940s pinup 1950s pinup

Gil Elvgren pinup vintage pinup 1940s pinup classic pinup vintage pinup pinup style classic artwork

Gil Elvgren pinup vintage artwork vintage style vintage woman 1940s 1950s pinup pinup girl pinupfashion

Elvgren knew exactly what kind of woman he was looking for to create these amazing images , he would look for someone with small eyes, small ears, nice legs and a cinched waist with full hair, the gals had to have an expressive face !

Being a keen photographer Elvgren would prep every  painting choosing the right model for the a specific setting making sure he had the correct lighting and props in his studio, most of the props he would also make himself.. then like a retoucher today he would use his paintbrush of course using oil paints and would enhance leg length, nip the waist, make lips fuller and so on ..  

 

Some of Elvgren's pin up paining's were reproduced and placed onto the noses of WII planes and also dropped onto decks of playing cards ..

It is safe to say that the way Elvgren captured these beautiful ladies is so iconic, from the girl next door to these dreamy cartoon  "IT"  girls is just amazing .. from a bygone era and still adored and shared around the world , inspiring us all to this day!

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