America's Forgotten Pin-Up Girl

Word of the day: Zaftig /zäftig/ adjective: (of a woman) Having a full, rounded figure; plump. Meet Hilda, the creation of illustrator Duane Bryers and pin-up art’s best kept secret. Voluptuous in all the right places, a little clumsy but not at all shy about her figure, Hilda was one of the only atypical plus-sized pin-up queens to grace the pages of American calendars from the 1950s up until the early 1980s, and achieved moderate notoriety in the 1960s. “She’s a creation out of my head. Despite being one of history’s longest running calendar queens alongside the likes of Marilyn Monroe, even the most dedicated vintage enthusiasts probably won’t have come across Hilda before. “[Duane Bryers] had the chops to have been one of the greatest pin-up artists in America, but possibly his lust for ample-sized women prevented that,” admits the online gallery curator and Hilda collector, Les Toil. Of the moment he first discovered the lost Hilda watercolour illustrations, Les recalls:

Photoshop? NO. These Are Real Animals Katerina Plotnikova did something extremely amazing! She used no photoshop! All poses and animals are real! Featured illustrator: Rafael Alvarez Rafael Alvarez is an illustrator based in NYC. Personally I’m a very big fan of his editorial illustration work. Ask the Crafter

Disturbing (But Amazing) Pictures Expose The Absurdities Of Modern Culture *Warning: Graphic Images* One of my first thoughts after coming across these illustrations was, “How have I never seen this artist’s work before?”, because they are freaking amazing. Too few artists today have the courage to tackle important social commentaries with their art. But Spanish artist Luis Quiles has undoubtedly broken this mold with his series of illustrations that depict some relevant and unfortunate realities of our world today. Through his art, Quiles challenges a wide range of controversial issues ranging from over-the-counter drug addiction, censorship, and corruption, to sexism, violence, child abuse, and most pertinent of all, our cultural social-media-crazed obsession. There is something raw and hauntingly telling about the commentaries being expressed through each illustration, perhaps in part due to the apparent truth that exists in the messages. Take your time with this one to enjoy these fantastic pieces of art! The force-feeding of cheap food to the docile and lethargic public. Enough said.

Ink and Scratchboard Illustrations Nico Delort’s impressive ink and scratchboard illustrations inspired by books and stories. virtualshoemuseum.com Ephemeral Portraits Cut from Layers of Wire Mesh by Seung Mo Park Using a process that could be the new definition of meticulous, Korean sculptor Seung Mo Park creates giant ephemeral portraits by cutting layer after layer of wire mesh. Each work begins with a photograph which is superimposed over layers of wire with a projector, then using a subtractive technique Park slowly snips away areas of mesh. Each piece is several inches thick as each plane that forms the final image is spaced a few finger widths apart, giving the portraits a certain depth and dimensionality that’s hard to convey in a photograph, but this video on YouTube shows it pretty well. Park just exhibited this month at Blank Space Gallery in New York as part of his latest series Maya (meaning “illusion” in Sanskrit). You can see much more at West Collects. (art news, west collects, lavinia tribiani)

35 Funny Illustrations by Tiago Hoisel - with Exclusive Interview Today we have the special honor to discuss about digital art and painting with Tiago Hoisel. Besides the great collection of humorous illustrations that he has provided for us, Tiago also gives precious advice and shares interesting information in the below exclusive interview. Amazing creativity, detail and fun are the perfect words to describe his artwork. A: My name is Tiago Hoisel, I’m graduated in graphic design in Universidade do Estado da Bahia. “Chico Bento” Q: Your illustrations are so funny and expressive! A: I always liked humor and realism, so when I started to draw I tried to bring these two thing to my work. “Teenager” Q: What software do you use and which is the feature you couldn’t live without, of that particular software? A: Nowadays 100% of my work is produced in Photoshop CS3, with A Intuos III Tablet. “Meeting with Girlfriend’s Family” Q: We have heard that you are implied in a new project: Techno Image. “Maria!” Q: Which is your favourite thing in the whole wide world?