Cartooning & Illustration Blog: Coghillustration

7 Responses to “Retro Pinup Art by Enoch Bolles”

1. 1 Jossie from Coloring Fun
   January 22, 2009 at 7:13 am

   Wow. That is stunning artwork. I love that old style illustration that was used for so many film posters. Is it achieved with acrylic or gauche on paper or board, any idea?

2. 2 George Coghill
   January 22, 2009 at 12:23 pm

   Looks like Bolles painting career started in the early 1900’s: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enoch_Bolles so that would rule out acrylic paint at least for the early work since acrylic paints weren’t invented until the 1950’s.

   This auction of a Bolles original painting states oil on canvas, but not sure if he did his commercial work in oils or not: http://www.askart.com/askart/a.....T_FOR_SALE

3. 3 Jossie from Coloring Fun
   January 23, 2009 at 5:39 pm

   Interesting point about date acrylics were invented, I’m so familiar with acrylics it just did not occur to me there was a time when they did not exist! Must have been oils so…

   Did you scan the image yourself from a magazine or poster? The original hi-res print might have retained enough detail to reveal brush strokes over canvas. Probably not. Still, fantastic work.

4. 4 George Coghill
   January 23, 2009 at 6:28 pm

   I ran across the artwork online so it is not my own scan.

   It’s kind of odd to think about the origins of acrylics, I agree. I took a materials & techniques calls in college where we learned all the traditional painting techniques, and even created out own paints using raw pigments. It was fascinating. Acrylic paints are the relative newcomers of traditional media.

   It’s hard to say looking at the art online what the method was, as we have not only the original reporduction process obscuring details, but also a web-resolution JPG to refer to. I actually found it odd that in the pages I checked, there was no reference to the medium he worked in.

5. 5 Art
   March 28, 2009 at 5:44 pm

   hot!! nicely done buddy

6. 6 Jack R
   April 13, 2009 at 11:45 am

   Virtually all of Bolles professional and private work was done in oil, and on stretched canvas. I know the owner of this painting and am hoping to get a photo of it. But I will say that in his late 1930s works the brush work is so fine it looks almost like airbrush.

7. 7 George Coghill
   April 13, 2009 at 12:43 pm

   @Jack R: Thanks for the info, and great Bolles blog! If anyone out there wants more info on or artwork by Bolles, be sure to head over the Jack’s Enoch Bolles blog: http://enochbolles.blogspot.com/

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