July pinup girl by artist George Petty

This July pinup girl dates from 1953 and was painted by George Petty.

From 1933 to 1956, the "Petty Girl" was seen on tens of millions of calendars, magazine centrefolds, advertisements, posters, and billboards as well as on all sorts of specialty products. In 1950, "The Petty Girl" even became a major motion picture.

See also the George Petty galleries at The Pinup Files.

ARTIST :: George Petty
DATE :: 1953
Image subject to copyright

June pin-up girl by artist Alberto Vargas

This June pin-up girl was published in 1947 by Esquire Magazine and was painted by Alberto Vargas.

When Alberto Vargas and Esquire went their separate ways in 1946, the artist immediately embarked upon a project to publish his own yearly calendar. In the meantime, the magazine published an Esquire Calendar for 1947 that consisted completely of unsigned Vargas paintings. By the time Vargas' 1948 calendar was published, Esquire had a court order barring the artist from selling or distributing any product bearing the name "Varga", which the magazine had copyrighted.

In 1950, a court ruled that Vargas would have to sign all his subsequent paintings with his full name.

ARTIST :: Alberto Vargas
DATE :: 1947
Copyright © Esquire Inc

May pin-up girl by artist Ernest Chiriaka

This May pin-up girl was published in 1954 by Esquire Magazine and was painted by Ernest Chiriaka.

Chiriaka took over the magazine's pin-up calendar from Al Moore in 1953, a great responsibility since the calendar was the largest-selling and most popular in the world.

ARTIST :: Ernest Chiriaka
DATE :: 1954
Copyright © Esquire Inc

April pin-up girl by Bill Randall

This April pin-up girl was published in 1956 by the Kemper-Thomas Calendar Company and was painted by Bill Randall.

Bill Randall was a highly prolific, versatile illustrator who painted pin-up and pin-up art for a vast range of markets. The first of Randall's Date Book calendar series was published in 1953 by the Kemper-Thomas Calendar Company in Ohio. One of the most successful in the company's history, the series is sometimes compared to the Artist's Sketch Pads published by Brown & Bigelow. However, Randall's sketches were executed in gouache rather than pencil and were drawn on an overlay rather than on the painting itself. The result was that his calendars had a more light-hearted feeling, accented by the cartoon-like side sketches. That a photograph of Randall often appeared on the front of the calendar only enhanced his celebrity.

Want to know more? Go to the Bill Randall gallery at The Pinup Files.

ARTIST :: Bill Randall
DATE :: 1956
Copyright © Kemper-Thomas Calendar Company

Jessamyn Rose – pin-up model

Jessamyn Rose was born in Australia but now lives in Los Angeles in the US. She has a range of styles, including pin-up and glamour, and enjoys transforming herself into different characters with different looks. She is a creative and thrives on working with liked minded souls to bring visions to life.

Her background is in dance which is a distinct advantage when setting up poses. She also draws inspiration from her love of art history.

“My passion is to create images that touch people, to bring authenticity and creativity, portraying feminine beauty as the ever alluring goddess.”

Jessamyn has worked with a number of photographers featured in The Pin-up Files including Shannon Brooke, Gary Heller and Michael Malak.

MODEL :: Jessamyn Rose
PHOTOGRAPHER :: Shannon Brooke
Copyright © Shannon Brooke