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.

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.

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