The sudden breeze. The accidental rip. The unintentional underwear peek-a-boo. These are time-tested themes in pin-ups, but few artists made such a delightful subject out of them than Jay Scott Pike! A formidable painter and illustrator from the old school, Jay's body of work is as curvaceous and appealing as his subjects. Good girl calendar art, Playboy Club commissioned portraits, advertising for Fortune 500 companies, and some fondly-remembered fan favourites for both Marvel and DC. Mister Pike is surely a multi-talent of the highest order, but it's pin-up girls he's best known for, and this full colour retrospective of his "schocked" young ladies will have you begging for more!
Pinups: Past and Present is a curated reference survey of the state of pinup art among contemporary graphic artists, tattooists, and cartoonists. With more than 100 artists from the United States, Europe, Australia, Japan, and China included, this collection offers an unrivaled look at every different direction pin-up art design has taken since the heady days of Bettie Page. More than 200 images from the best practitioners betray the influences of the greats, such as Gil Elvgren and Olivia De Berardinis, but also show new trends, including a revival in 1980s-influenced line work in the vein of Patrick Nagel, and of biomech-influenced approaches. Every image is accompanied by a caption detailing the artist, name of work, and major influences, making this an invaluable source of information and inspiration for all graphic artists and cartoonists in the genre. In the past, pinup women were considered to be a low bar for artists and were generally taboo in the art community. The current appeal of old pinup art is the unpretentious, often naive, and joyful whimsy that celebrates the sensuality of the women depicted. Whether they're real or imaginary, pinup women are a celebration of feminine sexuality. The sheer breadth and span of pinup art today is amazing and every major genre is represented within, including: Classic American Sci-Fi and Fantasy Cartoon and Comic Book Hot Rod Neo-Surreal Pinups: Past and Present features the best contemporary artists, such as Enric Badia Romero, Carlos Cartagena, Fiona Stephenson, Chris Wahl, ONEQ, David Nakayama, Andrew Hickinbottom, Zach Gardia, Ben Tan, Marta Nael, Jan Meininghaus, David Vincente, Screaming Demons, Syd Brak, Loopydave, Natalie Shau, Jasmine Becket-Griffith, Elias Chatzoudis, and many more. For the pinup aficionado and artist, this non-stop, eye-popping book is an essential source of inspiration.
A humorous, uplifting look at mindfulness, from beloved illustrator Grant Snider “Find a quiet spot away from all distraction / Listen to your breath / Watch your thoughts float past you / Forget the obligations of today / Try not to consider your eventual decay / Let yourself drift away / Arise, connected with the Earth / Awakened to the Universe.” In The Art of Living, cartoonist Grant Snider, author of The Shape of Ideas and I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf, has created an all-new collection of one- and two-page comics that map his inner thoughts, poetic observations, and frequent failures at living mindfully. With both humor and a touch of reality, The Art of Living centers on mindfulness, but also empathy, relaxation, gratitude, and awareness—evergreen subjects that are more important and relevant now than ever. With a striking package, The Art of Living is an extension of the themes of Snider’s first two books—which explored the creative process and the love of reading—and is the perfect gift for those in a need of reflection, commiseration, hope, and a little extra self-care. Above all, Snider's cartoons will inspire and encourage a more thoughtful way of experiencing the world.
Learn to observe the world more deeply—with curiosity, empathy, and joy—as you sketch the stories unfolding all around you. In Drawn on the Way, Sarah Nisbett shares her techniques for creating captivating line drawings that capture the moments and moods that you encounter on the train, in a café, outdoors, anywhere: a young woman lost in thought, a pair of hands clasped on a lap, a peppy beagle, a pair of jeans-clad crossed legs. Sarah invites you to see the people, animals, places, and objects you draw with compassionate curiosity—as more than a stranger or inanimate object, but as someone or something with a story worth knowing or imagining. Even if you are inexperienced at drawing or don’t consider yourself an artist, you can learn how to create sketches from start to finish employing techniques such as contour drawing, using line work to add texture, and adding spot color—and discover how each sketch tells a story. You’ll begin to focus on important details that reveal something about the subject you’re drawing: the graceful drape of a hand over a purse, the shy way someone tucks their feet underneath them. As you unplug, set aside perfectionism, and explore the world through drawing, you’ll learn: How to translate what you see into a compelling drawing How to silence your inner critic and find joy in drawing what captures your interest Techniques for drawing figures and creating quick portraits How to find the emotion in objects by asking questions How to draw scenes and backgrounds without becoming overwhelmed How to quickly and expressively render the natural world, including plants and animals How key details can take a sketch from plain to captivating Ways to find the extraordinary in the everyday How to transform mistakes into likeable elements Tips for becoming a visual storyteller Life lessons learned from years of live drawing We spend most of our lives on the way, rushing and running from place to place, task to task. When we have a spare minute, we usually reach for our phones and shut everything else out. The techniques, projects, and ideas in Drawn on the Way are designed to help you be more mindful about drawing, to capture the people, places, and things you encounter each day. By doing that, you’ll connect with humanity in a deeper, more meaningful way—and discover a lot about yourself.
A graphic biography of the real-life sideshow performer who inspired Zippy the Pinhead: “An uplifting, wonderfully humane book.” —The New York Times From Coney Island and the Ringling Bros. Circus to small-town carnivals and big-city sideshows, Nobody’s Fool follows the long, legendary career of Schlitzie, today best known for his appearance in the cult classic film Freaks, the making of which is a centerpiece of the story. In researching Schlitzie’s life, Griffith has tracked down primary sources and archives throughout the country, conducting interviews with those who worked with him and had intimate knowledge of his personality, his likes and dislikes, how he responded to being a sideshow “freak,” and much more. This graphic biography provides never-before-revealed details of his life, offering a unique look into his world and contributions to popular culture, including the immortal phrase “Are we having fun yet?” “Virtuoso comic-strip artist Bill Griffith gives voice to a true outcast—the sideshow attraction born Simon Metz (probably) in the Bronx (probably) in 1901.” —The New York Times “The underlying message of Nobody’s Fool? I get it—underneath our grandiose opinions of ourselves we’re all pinheads and freaks . . . The best graphic novel of the year.” —R. Crumb “A captivating labor of love that integrates American sideshow history and autobiographical segments . . . an astonishing life, beautifully told. Or, as Schlitzie would say, it’s boffo!” —Booklist (starred review) “A masterpiece of absurdity and humanity. After all these years Schlitzie still triggers laughter and tears.” —Steve Heller, Print
This beautifully reproduced selection of quirkily elegant, sensual pin-up art from Jack Cole's 1950s career as the premier Playboy cartoonist shows that there was far more to Cole than his brilliant Plastic Man. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.9px Arial; color: #424242}
Take a quantum leap into an alternate universe with this modern full color pin-up art book of computer generated and digitally painted sexy sci-fi, fantasy, and beautiful pop culture girls created by Los Angeles artist and writer, Alicia Hollinger. Rated M for Mature for tasteful partial nudity in many of the images. As a female pin-up artist, Alicia likes to create beautiful girls like Victoria's Secret models or Charlie's Angels, that girls want to be and guys want to be with, so this book can be enjoyed by both men and women. FROM THE FORWARD BY ALICIA HOLLINGER: Why half-naked pin-ups, you may ask? Well I started out doing high-fashion looks and then realized there's really not a market for computer-generated models in fashion because there are so many actual living ones who have to wear real life clothes... And then, one day, back in 2009, someone saw my art and suggested I go to Comic-Con in San Diego. "What's that?" I asked. It ended up being something that changed my life. I went into Comic-Con day one, a jaded Hollywood/New York self-professed over-educated party-girl to, after four days of immersion in this strange new land, I emerged-a geek! While standing in a ridiculous line in front of a mock-up of a Stargate from Stargate SG-1 (which I had just started watching the year the series ended and went into syndication) waiting with all the other Stargate fans, something happened. The years of jadedness began to lift and while staring into the epicenter of that Stargate mock-up, feeling almost as if I were in line to go through an actual wormhole, I felt a sudden affinity with those around me. I suddenly GOT IT, I understood geekdom! It wasn't about those nerds in school who covered their work during tests in fear you may copy off them, it was about embracing otherworldly possibilities and immersing yourself in imaginary universes with imaginary people who are beyond mere mortals. So, it was right there at the Stargate booth at Comic-Con that my whole life changed. I started embracing geekdom. My favorite TV shows became "Stargate SG-1," "Battlestar Galactica," "Firefly," "Eureka," and then "Continuum," and my motto came to be the SYFY Channel's corporate slogan "Imagine Greater." Oh, and sex sells, so therefore, the scantily clad girls LOL... So, basically, I drank of the Comic-Con Kool-Aid, and mixed it with my existing Hollywood world of parties filled with Playboy and Maxim models and it turned into the sci-fi, fantasy and "girlicious" pin-ups of today... :)
