I'm a big fan of 50's illustration, especially the series done thoughout the fifties advertising Pepsi as "the Light refreshment". Pepsi used some heavy-hitters during this period, including one of my favorites, Joe DeMers, who illustrated the piece above. The reason I like these ads is not that much different from those listed in the Tenenbaums post; well composed, nice arrangement of shapes, good use of color. Not to mention DeMers was a heck of a good painter and draftsman.
Color-wise, a no-brainer. They want us to look at the attractive woman, so she is in-your-face red; the eye goes to her first. The man couldn't be any more desaturated. Now look at the horizontals and verticals versus the diagonals here; the diagonal of the woman's arm and the horizontal of her leg converge at the man's face. His look brings us back up to her face. It's like a continuous loop: Her face to her arm down to her knee to the man's face and back up to hers. The man's Pepsi is also in her direct line of sight (can't forget about the product placement!).
Solid.
Here's another one, with the full Photoshop treatment applied. I do think there is a charm to yellowed old paper, but it's interesting to see what these would look like on white paper.
Not sure of the artist on this one, but it could be DeMers again, or possibly Joe Bowler. Great composition though.
6 comments:
I love old time illustration.. just so well done! Those old painters really knock my socks off... Thanks for posting this one with your obseravations, I miss talking/listening to people using art terms and knowing what they are talking about...
Studying is fun!
Fun stuff Ted--
This was such a great period of American illustration. Are you a big fan of Al Parker?
I was thinking about these today, thinking of how "in-your-face" the composition is, the framing elements, how those golf clubs create sharp lines that one would think would draw too much attention to themselves, how the arms and legs cut the picture up in different ways...or any number of elements that could look too fake, but I'll be darned, I barely notice these composition techniques unless I take the time to realize they are there... Reminder to self, Be Bold, Be Clear, Be Simple...
I want to know why the lady in red looks like she has a bunch of money in her hand.
But seriously I love this period of advertising art. They are such a staged moment yet seem so innocent. A lot of thought went into the message.
Richard - I'm really enjoying studying these...now I wish I could only apply it to my own stuff...
Nick - Al Parker's great -- I really like his stuff cause he takes chances and is a bit more experimental than the others.
Rob - My guess is she's a betting gal; she's saying "so I got a 67, where's the rest of my money?" and he's saying " That's all I got, but I'll give you this half of sandwich and sip of my Pepsi". And she says " oh, 'the Light refreshment'; you got a deal, sailor!"
Just a note . . . the "wad" in the woman's hand is the golf score card.
I knew Joe deMers and my father is Joe Bowler
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