Swingin’ Sweetie, Brown & Bigelow 1968

Gil Elvgren made “Swingin’ Sweetie” as an illustration for Brown & Bigelow, sometime in the mid-20th century. The process here is all about seduction. I love how the colours work together. Those teal shoes mirroring the bracelet, really popping against the creamy ground. It’s all a bit like frosting, isn’t it? Those sheer stockings and the suggestion of skin, all rendered with this smooth, almost edible quality. Check out the paint handling around the hem of her dress. See how Elvgren uses these tiny flicks and curls of white to suggest movement? It’s pure artifice, of course, but there’s something so charming about the way he uses paint to create this illusion of flirtatious energy. It is like a dance of the hand. Elvgren reminds me of artists like James Rosenquist, who also played with these kinds of commercial images, but with a cooler, more Pop Art sensibility. But really, they’re all part of this ongoing conversation about how we see and what we desire. It's all so suggestive!