Wow, how amazingly inspirational are the curvy Pin-ups of George Petty ! He was one of the top “cheesecake” illustrators of the 30s and 40s. He began his career with a series of cartoons featuring beautiful girls and their far from handsome beaus. His work coined the term “Petty Girls“ to describe the carefully airbrushed girls with brilliant smiles and sexy poses. SO kitsch and so beautiful, I always deeply loved Pin-ups !
He left Esquire, to be replaced by Alberto Vargas who we will be featuring here soon, and became a freelance commercial artist. His girls soon ended up gracing magazine ads and calendars for such unlikely products as Tung-Sol Radio Tubes and the aptly named, Ridgid Tools.
Thanks to A-HAA for the images! See also more of his Pin-ups here
If you LOVE Pin-ups like us, then you should check the Mel Ramos Pin-up too !
Do you design Pin-ups and calendar girls? Artistic custom calendars aren’t just great gifts, they’re also keepsakes.
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September 11th, 2009 at 11:53 am
I will cut of my left arm to be able to draw like George Petty. His ladies are beautiful:)
September 27th, 2009 at 7:18 am
considering it was from 40’s, those are pretty cool.