sexy glamour and mystery? the vargas pinup girl!

vargas pinup 1920's

what's Vargas' secret?

there were four significant steps to the making of a Vargas pin-up: three sketches and the final work. 

1- he set down a quick sketch on a "cheap little pad." 

2- at this juncture, Vargas had recourse to a model, just in case he had "serious doubts about anatomy" or to check how light falls on the body. Vargas was known for his "hand" how a garment looks and feels on the skin. 

3- a final preparatory sketch was done in chalk on a heavier stock, usually heavy vellum. some watercolor for lips and eyes was sometimes added to this chalk study. 

after tracing the significant features of the drawing with a hard pencil, Vargas washed the watercolor board and allowed it to partially dry. then he began painting with "Windsor Newton" watercolors mixed with a small amount of glycerin (to render the trace as supple and sensual as possible).

pinup, 1930's

4- now, the figure was worked up in a series of subtle washes. 

5- clothing and props come later, drawn in chalk or pencil (on the finished figure), and were also completed in watercolor. sometimes cloths were applied as cut-outs and attached to a finished figural work. 

6- to finish, Vargas used an airbrush (which applies a soft mist of aspirated pigment) over the finished watercolor to soften and blend the features.

look at this back, then how the chemise yields and falls off the model's body.

click here for Vargas's illustrations for playboy throughout the 1960's-1980's, the beauty of the images is not at the same level as that of the 1930s and 1940s: the glamor and mystery are gone, and so is Vargas's touch for extreme detail.