George Petty analysis

George Petty is a pin-up artist from the 1940s - 50s. His work had a major contribution to the "Pretty girl" era. He's worked for magazines such as Esquire and Playboy, and his art was widely used on airplanes as "nose art".

The pin-up is a defining art style in America in during 40s. Millions of men, most 18-20 years old, were sent off to fight in the second world war. During that time pin up girls, in both photographic and drawn form, because most popular. They were used to boost the solider's morale, and generally remind them of home.

There's several defining pin-up artists - perhaps most famously, Gil Elvgren, Rolf Armstrong, George Petty and Art Frahm. What sets Petty's work apart is his more exaggerated style.

George Petty Calendar Pin up

Gil Elvgren pin up

Pin up artists generally tend to exaggerate anatomy by making the legs longer and the waist smaller, but they still try to keep them looking realistic. Gil Elvgren is a great example of a more realistic pin-up. His oil paintings have realistic rendering and only slightly exaggerated anatomy and poses. Compared to Elvgren, Petty's girls look a lot more cartoony. They often look innocent and shy, and they have longer legs and slightly bigger heads compared to Elvgren's. His pin ups are also more simplified in terms of background and color palette. Gil usually has some kind of background to his paintings, making them have more of a narrative. Petty's paintings are stand alone, classic pin up girls. That makes Petty's work perfect for "nose art"

Nose painting means painting a picture on the side or the nose of an airplane. It was common in WW2; pilots used it to personalize their airplanes and to make them easier to recognisable for friendlies. They tend to be painted by civilian artists or other servicemen. Petty's art was perfect for it because his figures are simplified, therefor easier to draw.

His works relates to my outcome because I'm basing it on pin up art.  His style is very interesting and skilfully stylised. 

moodboard

1, 2 Gil Elvgren pin ups, bright colors

3 George Petty pin ups, stylized anatomy

4 Edwin Georgi, pin ups with narrative, advertising and American media in the 40s

5, 6 military, weapons and aircraft, war. my own photos

7 military, tanks, war

collage experiments 2

I used this photo that I took of my sister for the collages. I took several others but this one fit best, because when converted to a stencil you can still make out the features of the face. The other photos had low contrast  and were too dark or too light when adjusted.

These are all digital experiments, done in Photoshop CS5. I used this method to separate the lines from the white background. I made a layer underneath and tried different bases for the collage - plain brown for the top row, and two textures for the bottom row. In the top row I tried to experiment with color. The stripes are all cold colors, and the background is a washed out brown.
The second row is the opposite - I experimented more with the shapes; and the colors are mainly warm. The experiments were inspired by Warhol's work, particularly his Mick Jagger collages.