Random Thoughts and Ramblings of a Pinup Artist

Here are some things that I've learned recently as an artist:

•  I have gained such confidence in my art abilities in the past 18 months. I am going through one of the most prolific periods of art creation in my lifetime.....but I can't show you all most of it, due to privacy concerns and deadlines.  Believe me, I'd love to show them.
  
• In that vein, I am more readily trying new techniques.  I wouldn't often do that; I would afraid of screwing up the piece.  Now, I know that I do make a mistake, I can usually fix it.  I'm learning.
  
• I'm having fun again!  Art was a chore for a long time.  I'm enjoying working on the board again, working on several projects at the same time. 
  
• I LOVE to illustrate women!  Nude, semi-nude, pinup---it has been so much fun to  capture some very beautiful women this year in various states of undress.  While I enjoy creating landscapes, monsters, and portraits, I just love the female form.
  
• I'm working in color!  I will be unveiling a new piece in November for publication in a national magazine that is entirely done in colored pencil.  A big departure for me; while I have done color pencil before, I tried new techniques on this portrait of Jax Turyna

Keep watching this space for some new work, and reworked old pieces! 

Brand New Carlotta Champagne

One of my favorite drawings of my favorite subject Playboy model Carlotta Champagne, is the second one I did of her, and the first of the 3 based on the shots the my friend Rob Domaschuk took of her in my rec room.  Anyone who follows my work has seen this art numerous times, and in fact is my (usual) cover photo on my Facebook Fan Page.  Rob shot a full nude of Carlotta with a hat, and I added the whip since she was leaning against our bar stool, and called the piece "Indiana Carlotta."

Recently, my wife told me that, in her opinion, the portrait would look better if I added some sexy shorts, rather than have her in a full nude pose.  She also said that it would make the art classier.  Initially, I fought doing it, I told her that I didn't want to change anything, but quickly realized that she was right (she always is), and warmed up to the idea. So, since I recently had some time, we took it out of it's matte and frame home, and I set to work.

After downloading some reference shots of Daisy Duke shorts, I proceeded to sketch them in.  After going through a few transformations, including some skin tight versions that didn't work, we finally settled on a looser pair of cut-off jean shorts, which was actually sexier than the skin tight version I originally drew.

Other changes in the art included some work on Carlotta's waist and left shoulder, and darkening some tones to create a more dramatic effect.  I also added some white conte crayon to bring out some highlights.

The above images show the "after" and "before" of the drawing.  While both versions will be available for sale as prints (and the new one as an original), I'm waiting for the new version to be professionally shot.  I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts on the changes, please contact me below.