Of course I love classic artists like Gil Elvgren and Alberto Vargas, but definitely my favorite artist right now is Olivia de Berardinis.
The american illustrator started her career as Pin Up artist in the 70's and, still is famous for her sensual and stylish art.
As you can see in the picture above, the sensual and provocative poses are still the main attractive in Pin Up art, but now with less of innocence and more of a story behind a scene. The stories are also far away from the 50's housewives Elvgren used to picture. They are more full of fantasy, naughtiness and glamour.
Beauty also changes with time. Olivia's girls have many types of looks, but mostly they are long legged babes with an Angeline Jolie vibe, not the smiley Marilyn Monroe face anymore. The colors, poses, lingerie, clothes and accessories are also much more creative and artistic... not only about the sexiness, but also about the art itself. It's so different, that even seems fashionable sometimes.
They could even be inspiration for fashion advertisements, or could easily look like a Steven Klein picture for a designer ad.
Olivia (as many other artists) does some illustrations inspired on the classic Pin Up girl Bettie Page. Differently of other artists, she has her own way to make Bettie look more glamorous than ever.
Even when doing something a bit more classic, Olivia still shows the contemporary with the lightnings, poses, colors and structure.Olivia's art can be found as paintings, calendars, illustrations, books and posters. She also had a few illustration published in magazines for men (Playboy for example) and the cover of a Courtney Love album.
If you liked the few images I just showed in my blog, visit Olivia's official home page:
Or buy her books, posters, paintings and calendars. They are sold in many different online stores (Amazon for example) and also on her official website.
