pin up painting

I've always been inspired by the great pin up artist like Gil Elvgren and Alberto Vargas. I mean how could you not be, there painting are to die for. I've always looked at the girls in there paintings with such admiration and try to dress and pose like them.

 

Total pin up perfection. Along with having a love for pin ups, I also dapple in painting. So I recently tried to take a modern look at pin up painting. I tried to keep the fun and goofy elements of Gil's paintings, but mix it with more of my personality.

It was really fun to mix two of my passions together while making these, I got to not only paint but I also dressed up and attempted to pose like a pin up for the reference. Not exactly pin ups in the traditional seance but very much so inspired by the masters works.

xo Grace

Ballerina pin up?

With the movie Black Swan coming out I though it would be appropriate to post a new set a ballerina photos a did a few weeks ago with Christopher Russell. Ballerinas aren't really something you would think about when it comes to pin ups. However I did find a few ballerina pin ups and thought they were a lot of fun!

 

 This shoot was kind of a challenge for me because I'm so used to posing in a pin up style. I ended up enjoying trying a new style. 

I'm definitely not a ballerina, but it was fun pretending for a day!

xo Grace

Barbaralla

So I ended up having a pretty mellow Halloween and went to a friends party, but I did have an exciting  costume, Barbarella!

 Barbarella has to be one of my favorite movies. The whole movie is pretty much about Barbarella  floating about looking cute, and sleeping with  a bunch of people she meets along her journey to stop the evil Durand-Durand.  To sum it up, she's the ultimate space hooker, how could that not be amusing? Her costume and make up and hair are perfect and add so much to the movie.

 A 31 year old Jane Fonda plays ,Barbaralla she is so perfect for the role. To me, she has the playfulness and sassyness of a classic 50's pin up, but puts an over the top 60's space theme to her look, which is why I adore her in this movie. Her work out tapes are also a riot, she reminds me of a pin up girl coming to life in them. On a side note, she was on Oprah the other day, and in her mid 70's is still looking great!

  Barbarella is just plain old tacky fun to the extreme, ah I love tacky stuff.

 So, a must have for my Barbarella costume was a space gun which I picked up at the local Halloween store. I didn't realize how much fun space guns were to play with! I ended up playing with my toy gun for literally the whole night, it lit up and made a cool sound!

 I had to get a photo with my kitty Cheddar, because he has a  famous ancestor from another 60's themed movie..

haha Dr. Evil and Barbaralla, talk about a power couple!

To amuse myself for the party, I snapped a few shot of myself in my Barbarella gear, haha I'm such a photo whore.

It was so much fun to channel my inner 60's space pin up by dressing up at Barbarella, my friend Stephen took this photo of me at his party. Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

XO Grace

Halloween!

The next best thing to Halloween it's self, is a Halloween pin up! Duh! Last year Kevin and I did this pin up inspired by the great Gil Elvgern.

 Ahhhhhh I love Halloween, I mean how could you not love an excuse to run around all night in a scandalous costume while drinking too much and you can throw eggs and towel paper on people's property and it's kind of ok, yep best holiday ever. I spent my last three Halloweens in new york, I went to the parade and a bunch of cool parties, which was a total blast, I took a bunch of photos and I'm really glad I did or else I wouldn't have remembered any of it, haha!

 Being Bettie Page last year was so much fun! Wearing a black wig made me feel like a different person, it was definitely a hit at the parade.

 Being Marie Antoinette, the year before was also a ton of fun, but that wig was so heavy it gave me a huge headache but was totally worth it.

When I went to FIT everyone dressed up at school for Halloween,  so I dressed up as a vinyl french maid, I really miss that about that school.

Anyway, I'm kind of feeling like a halloweenie this year because I'm staying here in Lancaster, have no real plans, and even worse because I still don't have my costume worked out. F*** you, school for making me to busy to do anything fun for the holiday. I do have a few ideas for a costume though, I'm thinking Barbarella, or maybe a 60's go-go dancer... we'll see

Oh well, My little gargoyle Cheddar is in the Halloween spirit, his dressing up like a leopard!
xo Grace

cow girls!

If you don’t like cowgirl pin ups you suck; they are dangerous, and pretty darn feisty, but in a really cute way! I’ve been drawing a ton of them lately for a children’s book so they’re on my mind. How could you not like a busty girl with guns and lassoos? There are so many great cowgirl pin ups, because it’s so classic and not to mention just fun. Gil Evergreen painted a few of my favorite cowboy pin ups. He is such a total pro, I mean he could paint a paper bag and make it look sassy. 

 When my good friend Kevin suggested that we do a cowgirl pin up shoot, I was all about it! So I went straight to e-bay to search for the outfit and toy guns, because toy guns rule. I came across an old 1950’s waitress outfit, and I knew I had to have it for the shoot. It looks almost exactly like a cowgirl pin up I found online.  Since half of what makes a memorable pin up is props, I when into my basement and dug out my old rocking horse toy from when I was 3 because I though it would be great for our shoot. I stuck it in my car and drove off to Philly to meet Kevin.

 

As always, it was great to see Kevin, but shooting in my super cute cowgirl outfit made it even more fun! I love dressing up so much it's not even funny. I’m so lucky that Kevin is not only a great, friend but is also a master photographer, and I adore the photos he took!

Hoary

xoxo Grace