September 8, 2007

BATMAN COMIC ART HOMAGE: George Petty Pinup Girlie & David Williams' Catwoman

The other day I received an e-mail from a guy named David Williams. He told me how much he liked the Bat-Blog & he casually sent an invitation to view his Art Journal. Well, I've been really busy but found the time tonight to check it out. Wow, was I surprised...he is actually a VERY talented artist! While searching his page I saw a lot of references to Batman, cool stuff, very original. But one picture really caught my eye, the one of Catwoman. ( Click on the photo up above to view a larger, more detailed, picture). The thing that impressed me the most is that it is not really "his style" but I instantly noticed that it was sort of an homage to a classic pin-up artist from the 1940's named George Petty. I too love Petty's art work & the funny thing is that Williams' art was so dead-on. The picture you see on the left is an original Petty for a Ridgid Tools Pin-Ups Calender. The art on the right is David's appropriation of Petty's style, the drawing of Catwoman. There are a few elements that tell me exactly how he copied his style. 1st is the pose. This "look" of a girl "floating in air" is classic Petty. 2nd is the way Catwoman is all colored realistically but her whip is done in just simple red pencil. Petty used that technique a lot. The 3rd thing is the way Williams wrote his "signature" just like the way Petty always wrote his with one letter having a large swoosh. ( Compare them, funny huh?! ). The 4th thing might be the shape of the legs...very "muscular"! Overall his Catwoman is a beautiful homage to a great pin-up artist. But, he's not some guy who just copies other people's art. He has his own very distinct style & it too is really good. You should check out his page sometime & see, it's worthy. Here's a link: http://brohawk.deviantart.com/

1 comment:

ozz said...

Good critique!