Fine Art Pinups

[feppe]

A "while" in the making, my Fine Art Pinups project now has a website. Large format film photography.

http://www.fineartpinups.com/

[WalterEG]

Requires more thought and finessing in my opinion.

Perhaps the 'Fine-Art' aspect is somewhat eroded by the cheesey blocks of text.  Back in the day it would either have been a single word or expression.

[Chairman Bill]

Three Adele songs and Maroon 5 medley later, she was as you see her now.

That's where I've been going wrong - Buddy Guy & Rory Gallagher just don't have that sort of effect on women 

[AFairley]

Wow, how old are you and how long have you been holding onto those large format films, anyway?     (You really have captured the spirit of the genre, BTW)

[Iluvmycam]

How much are the prints? I couldn't find the price. Nice weork, but you need lots more.

[feppe]

Perhaps the 'Fine-Art' aspect is somewhat eroded by the cheesey blocks of text.  Back in the day it would either have been a single word or expression.

They are very much in the pinup tradition - certainly a bit more verbose than what accompanied Gil Elvgren's work, for sure, but then again, I'm not Mr Elvgren

Finessing will come, this is my first real attempt at selling prints, so I'm open to suggestions.

Wow, how old are you and how long have you been holding onto those large format films, anyway?    (You really have captured the spirit of the genre, BTW)

I'm 38, and I got into photography in the film days. They do sell film these days, believe it or not, even large format chromes. Hell Fuji even manufactures it! I have a 6x6 TLR as well, but I've been using my 4x5 TLR lately. I do have a digital kit as well, but those are not on this site.

And thanks!

How much are the prints? I couldn't find the price. Nice weork, but you need lots more.

The prints start at 300 EUR / 390 USD for small (approx. 16"x20" matted) open edition prints, incl. shipping worldwide. The links are below the photos, at the bottom of the main page, (re)titled "Buy OPEN EDITION Prints" and "Buy LIMITED EDITION Prints".

I didn't want to make it too pushy, but thanks for pointing it out that it's not even apparent they are there. I'll figure out how to make them more prominent! I just changed the color of the links, I'll try to see if Photodeck service allows me to move the links to above the photos.

Yes, I need lots more, but producing these takes a lot of time and even more money (studio and lighting rental, make-up artist, wardrobe and hair stylist, drum scanning, I actually pay my models, etc. etc. etc.). I'm slowly but surely building it into a proper portfolio.

[Schewe]

They are very much in the pinup tradition - certainly a bit more verbose than what accompanied Gil Elvgren's work, for sure, but then again, I'm not Mr Elvgren

I knew Gil Elvgren (met him as a child in Sarasota, FL–he was a friend of my art director grandfather). I'm familiar with Gil's work and in fact my aunt used to model for Gil (which was pretty cool).

The main comment I would have (other than only seeing three examples) is the stark white backgrounds tend to give them a clinical look. That's one of the things Gil did so well. Even though his backgrounds were nondescript, there was tone and color that tends to make the girl's skin come forward instead of looking dark. He also used color to offset or enhance the costumes and outfits.

Since you've got clean backgrounds, it would not be too hard to give a slight tint to your backgrounds and mask them out easily on the girls. The only other comment is on the third image, you see breasts...which is a mild departure from classic pinups because it was the suggestion of nudity not nudity itself that made the pinups naughty but nice :~)

Good luck...

[feppe]

I knew Gil Elvgren (met him as a child in Sarasota, FL–he was a friend of my art director grandfather). I'm familiar with Gil's work and in fact my aunt used to model for Gil (which was pretty cool).

The main comment I would have (other than only seeing three examples) is the start white backgrounds tend to give them a clinical look. That's one of the things Gil did so well. Even though his backgrounds were nondescript, there was tone and color that tends to make the girl's skin come forward instead of looking dark. He also used color to offset or enhance the costumes and outfits.

Since you've got clean backgrounds, it would not be too hard to give a slight tint to your backgrounds and mask them out easily on the girls. The only other comment is on the third image, you see breasts...which is a mild departure from classic pinups because it was the suggestion of nudity not nudity itself that made the pinups naughty but nice :~)

Good luck...

That is cool. I'm only familiar with his work through books; wish I had a chance to meet him!

I actually do have plans for backgrounds in the future, but since I'm going for minimalism, I'll do so only when it's absolutely necessary.

I've considered tinted backgrounds, but I'm a huge Avedon fan, and if it was good enough for him... But yeah, that is something I will try out in a future print.

Yes, there are breasts. But even Vargas painted nude breasts, and he was reportedly even more shy than I am!

And thank you!

[Schewe]

I've considered tinted backgrounds, but I'm a huge Avedon fan, and if it was good enough for him... But yeah, that is something I will try out in a future print.

Take a look at this adaptation...just a slight yellow tint:



The girl's skin comes forward and the background backwards...just a thought–and you can alter the tint to coordinate with the costumes or color theme–but be consistent, you don't want almost tint matches, you want accurate tint additions.

[Schewe]

Just so you know, this is definitely Janet Rae as an Elvgren model (my aunt)



I can tell since the file name has 'Janet_1' and Janet had a slight wall-eye (which was always kinda cool although Gil often "fixed it"). I can usually spot the times Janet posed for Gil. BTW, Gil was an "ok" photographer even though he only shot reference shots for painting (where the big money was then).

My grandfather was an art director in Chicago in the 1940's-1950's and hired Gil as a commercial artist back then (as well as a slew of other painters/artists of the time). A lot of them all retired to Sarasota (a big Chicago retirement place for the arts because of the Fields–an avid arts supporter) and had some remarkable parties...(I was too young to appreciate them of course).

Stu told me about an ad party that started in Chicago on a Fri nite, moved to to NYC on Sat (in the company plane) and ended up flying to Havana Cuba by Sun. They were back in Chicago (really hung over) by Mon at noon. This was to celebrate winning a new account at the ad agency he worked at...

[WalterEG]

Stu told me about an ad party that started in Chicago on a Fri nite, moved to to NYC on Sat (in the company plane) and ended up flying to Havana Cuba by Sun. They were back in Chicago (really hung over) by Mon at noon. This was to celebrate winning a new account at the ad agency he worked at...

Aaah, Them's was da days!!

[Rob C]

Aaah, Them's was da days!!

Them was da good old days!

;-)

Rob C

P.S. Sounds vaguely like a Scottish New Year - well at least for those of them living somewhere else...

[feppe]

Take a look at this adaptation...just a slight yellow tint:

That is a really good look! Robert Alvarado uses tinted backgrounds a lot in his pinup photography, and makes it work.

It's remarkable how faithful the painting of your aunt is to the reference shot. Great use of complementary color in his painting, as usual. Taschen's Gil Elvgren - The Complete Pinups has several of these reference shots; it's always fascinating to see behind the scenes.

I doubt there's enough money left in the ad industry these days to afford such parties your grandfather experienced! And even if there were, they'd be shut down by HR and Legal department in no time...

[Schewe]

It's remarkable how faithful the painting of your aunt is to the reference shot. Great use of complementary color in his painting, as usual. Taschen's Gil Elvgren - The Complete Pinups has several of these reference shots; it's always fascinating to see behind the scenes.

Yep...Gil was pretty handy with the camera and use the setup of the shot to guide him in propping and composition. Course, as a painter he could change things and colors like adding wrapping paper to the box and simplifying the skirt. One advantage a painter has over a photographer but, we now have Photoshop to do the retouching :~)

[Jim Pascoe]

I do agree with Schewe about the white backgrounds being very stark.

In picture number 3, Just The Right Tune, it must be so annoying for a girl when that cable to the headphones will insist on snagging on her nipple.  Perhaps you should have gone over and brushed it away.  Mind you. she does look as if she is listening to some heavenly music.

Jim

[feppe]

I lightened the background colors on the site slightly to attenuate contrast with the photos' white backgrounds.

While I see where you are coming from when looking at the online versions, the prints don't have such stark backgrounds. I specifically chose a warmer white which also gave better flesh tones when I was reviewing the paper choices with Ernst Dinkla (contributor on these forums, also based here in Netherlands).