www.karinadale.com

So where did all this begin?

My Mother would probably blame my fathers easily accessible collection of classic Playboys, or the plethora of Centerfolds hanging in the garage of my youth. My Father would probably say the same thing. Yet there is a well known fact that I rarely subscribe to the circumstance that is most obvious, and I often keep my thoughts and ideas to myself.  Since I was such an enigma as a child they might just both decline to comment at all. lol

I'll tell you, yeah, those images intrigued me but they had no context in my life, they didn't look like anyone I knew. They were beautiful, but me? I loved ART. Anything drawn or painted. Anything illustrated like cartoons and comic books. For me the very very beginning was the classic Victorian advertisements.

Those ancient Art Nouveau beauties with their flowing hair, or corsets and big hats. They were all over the antique shop that was connected to the restaurant my mother, aunt, and grandmother worked at. The whole area I grew up in had a big boom in the early 1910's and 20's and then fizzled to a small satellite town that was antiquated to epic proportions. So they played it up for the tourists and the whole place was filled to the brim with antiques and really old STUFF.

I used to go down to the Oakland Trader I think it was called. It was an old corrugated steel warehouse/barn that had been turned into a antique shop. They had prints of Gaslight Players shows and old advertisements like this.


I loved the muted colors and white skin of the models. I could see the dynamics of my hands drawn in their hands.  I could see the potential to someday have hair like that  (which I do ) and to someday know how to paint that way. I followed my interests into old magazines and books at the library, eventually finding the old Gibson Girl ads.


The Gibson Girl, I learned, was THE ORIGINAL pin-up girl. I was about 12 years old by now and I was so library savvy at this point I though "So what in the heck is a pin-up girl anyhow? " and I went and looked that up. I found pictures of Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe, and even Betty Page. I found all the artists I would come to idolize like Billy Devorss, Gil Elvgren, George Petty, Earl Moran, Earl Macpherson, and especially Pearl Frush. She had a SUPER photorealistic style and man did I love that. The idea that someone could paint so well you couldn't tell the difference from a photograph. That was amazing.
 

I like big pictures, you will have to forgive me

So after that I basically had an obsession going for myself. I changed styles when I decided to paint instead of draw in pencil, then I became highly allergic to the paints I used so...I went back to pencil.

Finally after years of thinking I could never really make good color art because of my allergies I found openCanvas for my computer, which has such realistic sketching tools I fell in love. Now I draw my friends, real women I know, as well as I know how, with openCanvas and a 90 dollar wacom tablet. I have nothing fancy, and I don't intend to ever. Did I mention that I am pretty blue collar, I get it done with what I've got, and make do with what I have.

I intend to keep doing this till my hands fall off pretty much, so what about you guys? What made you love pin-ups?


Karina