Orange Crush Soda advertisement study c. 1946

This advertising study, made with pencil and maybe gouache, shows us Gil Elvgren’s working method for the Orange Crush Soda campaign. It looks like he might have been thinking through the entire composition: the curves of her hat, her hair, that bottle – and the overall mood he wanted to convey. I feel for Elvgren here, you know? Having to make something look effortless! The drawing has a light touch, with delicate pencil lines and subtle shading that give the woman a soft, radiant glow. It’s interesting to see the under-drawing, and the light washes of paint, it gives you a sense of the labor involved in creating a kind of breezy image. It makes you consider, in a world saturated with slick and instant images, is there still space for handmade charm? Elvgren certainly thought so, and he inspires us to look for the beauty in the everyday, and to see the hand of the artist in every creation.