Girls Girls Girls

A Tribute To Figure Drawing

Deep Dive Into the Art Process of a Real-Life Pin-Up

Figure Drawing

As you know, I'm a tattoo artist, and that means I get to do a lot of art! I love tattooing, but I have to practice lots of different art forms to be as well rounded of an artist as I can be.

During my off-hours, one of my favourite and most efficient practices is figure drawing. A classical art practiced by artists since the 17th century, with Leonardo DaVinci being one of my favourite practitioners.

Funny enough, when I was in art school, it was also my worst subject! It is considered one of the most challenging, and let me tell you, I was challenged! I studied figure drawing for 5 years and got much better at it. And a year later, I decided to switch from the drawing board to the stage as a model to conduct a little experiment that I am sharing with you later in this article...

(picture of a figure drawing session from Elena Bushan's sketchbook)

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Pin Ups and Their Influence on Tattooing

I Want to be a Pin Up Master

My tattooing aspirations are to be tattooing pin-ups on people more than any other subjects. A girl with a dragon, a gorgeous glamazon with a panther, a blossoming woman coming out of a rose, a cowgirl, a geisha, multiple girls, girls, girls! If I go back to my earliest sketchbooks, that is the one thing I've been drawing over and over again without fail.

So what is the essence of a pin-up?

(Stencils of Pin-ups from the archives of Smilin' Buddha)

Historically

The term "pin-up" was coined from pinning up posters of gorgeous ladies onto the walls. As actresses and models posed for calendars, cigarette cartons, postcards and posters, the girls became household decorations. These glamorous images, often semi-nude, varied from fantasy to everyday scenes, reflecting the societal norms of the 1940s-1950s. From biker girls in garages to soldier girls on planes, each pin-up offered a moment of allure and escape from real life.

But let's not forget, nude art has ancient roots, and pin-ups are just one branch of this tradition. I argue that pin-ups are evolving, and we are in the era of the "Digital Girlies".

This digital age has reshaped the aesthetics and accessibility of semi-nude photography, making society consume the fantasy of women more than ever before. What remains timeless about pin-ups is the attitude and the celebration of beauty and the female form.

In tattooing

Pin-up tattoos in America were the most popular during times of war. Soldiers would often get a girl to be on their skin so they would be less lonely in a sea of men. Ever since the classical pin-up aesthetic was established, it has become one of the staples of tattoo imagery. Sailor Jerry, one of the most influential tattoo artists of the American traditional style, really helped push pin-ups to what they are now. Since he would mostly tattoo sailors, they would then travel with his designs all around the world, making it one of the most iconic tattoos to choose from.

Bonnie in a Chicano style

Sailor Jerry inspired Demoness

Neo Traditional Witch

Illustrative Skull Lady Face

Now, I think the world is so influenced by globalization that the aesthetic of the tattooed pin-up is beyond any era, culture, or style.

The Chicano style has lots of pin-ups involved, mostly realistic portraits of a beautiful girl with a skull pattern painted on, or a clown face.

Of course, the American Traditional style will always have its pin-ups, but it goes beyond the hula girls, circus girls, nurses and mermaids.

Neo Traditional lady faces were very popular in modern tattooing and could encompass a vast array of subjects such as witches, demon ladies, flower girls and fortune tellers.

And with the rise of the illustrative style, nothing is out of the question!

At the end of the day, the pin-up being tattooed depends on the preference of the client and the artistic vision of the artist.

The Pin Up Experiment

The Inspiration

In my process to become a better pin-up artist, I decided I wanted to learn firsthand and develop a mental muscle memory of what a good pin-up looks like. Having been in the artist's chair since college, I was already quite familiar with the classical poses the models usually do. But my goal as a model was to see if I could mix figure drawing and the pin-up allure so I could turn those sketches into tattoos later on and become the ultimate pin-up master & muse!

However, being a figure model comes with limitations for having the perfect pin-up pose. You have to hold the pose from 2 minutes to 20 minutes at a time.

The stage is usually on higher ground than the artists; the artist can only draw so much in the span of 2 minutes.

In short, I had to experiment to find the best compromise for the artists, for my body and for the final look.

How can I get a drawing with enough information for me to sketch from, that has an interesting pose for the artist, that would be great as a tattoo, and that's got enough attitude to create a universe from the character created on stage?

That was definitely a lot of trial and error for me, but errors in figure drawing are very inconsequential. As long as the artists drew a non-moving model, everybody was happy. I would learn what I did right or wrong from seeing and taking pictures of the artist's work afterwards, and adjust accordingly on the next set of poses.

Sketching Phase

The poses that are 5 minutes long are usually my best shot at a compromise. I get to hold the pose for the artists to draw at least the whole figure (harder than it looks). I can still have interesting arms and legs without having them fail me mid-pose, and I can do standing or sitting without too much discomfort. Pain-wise, holding a pose is what I call artistic yoga, it really is a workout.

As they say, beauty is pain!

Having a mood or character for a set really helped me get the best results from the artists. My most successful sessions were often the ones where I was wearing a hat. I would easily slip into character, and it helped me think about how this girl would pose if she were doing so and so. My usual go-to characters are often a mermaid, a fairy, an angel, a Renaissance goddess. With my hats, I was able to do sailor pin-ups, which was quite cool to do. My cowgirl hat is always fun too and embodies the spirit of the wild west (hello Calgary!).

Another way I could set an interesting mood on stage was when I was overly emotional. I thought it yielded very dramatic poses and that it captured my emotions well in the moment. It was a really good way for me to somatically express my feelings. Those sessions were always so cathartic to me, and beautiful drawings resulted from them.

However, I found that those poses were less interesting for tattoos and more interesting for figure drawing. If I get to model more, I would love to be able to have that much emotional capacity, but with more controlled poses that I could use for pin-ups.

But like everything in life, practice makes ''better''!

Finishing a Drawing

Now, every artist has a different reason for practicing figure drawing. Whether it's for exercising the eye-hand coordination, for the art, for inspiration, for the community or whatever other reasons. I can't overlook that I am in a very special position, being the model and the artist. I feel so much more involved in the final process, and that gives ICONIC. I feel honoured to be able to bring my art to my communities, modelling and tattooing.

Look at this final gorgeous painting with a bigger-than-life me! It is definitely an experience that I am so proud to be a part of, even without having even grazed this painting. That is quite special to me. Not all sketches make it to the final drawing, but every time it does, I'm flabbergasted, and I forget all the pain of a session!

Elena's paintings are available on her website www.elenabushan.ca

One thing I love about my experimental process is that for each pose, there are as many styles and angles as there are artists in the room. All of which I essentially inspired the subject firsthand, and that is inspiring me back for my final design. It's like this fun dance for me!

While I don't condone plagiarism, I do take advantage of my position. After all, being the reference gives me a bit of a grey area, for that matter. I take the drawings of the artists and make them my own, infusing my flavour into them. As if I were in the room drawing with the rest of them.

The image on the left was done by Rich Theroux from a session done at his studio.

The image on the right is the result of my process, taking some inspiration from Rich's reference.

I have just started on my journey to be a model, and I'm sure I will continue doing it. I love how empowering that art form is, and it works so well in connectivity with my craft that I'm honing all the different facets of it. That is one step that should ultimately help me become the ultimate Pin-Up master.

What do you think of my experiment? Too personal? Not enough?

Let me know in the comments!