This is the gorgeous vintage art by illustrator Mike Ludlow. While Ludlow met with some success doing illustration for fashion and advertising, it was really his pinups that were his biggest hit. Gracing the covers of pulp fiction books, smutty magazines, auto mechanic’s calendars, and lounge matchbox covers, he certainly had friends in some pretty low places, but that didn’t stop his art from being gorgeous. He was even responsible for painting Esquire Magazine’s last ever pinup calendar in 1957.
Ludlow explored a few themes in his pinup art that annoy me. He had a real thing for voyeurism. Also, he appeared to have gotten the idea that young women are barely covered most of the time, which I can tell you from personal experience is false. When young women are alone together, it’s more sweatpants and ramen than negligees and pillow fights. Whether his wrong ideas were a result of wishful thinking or delusion, he nonetheless knew his way around a woman’s body, and created some truly lovely paintings. While I do think he was probably a first class creep, I also have to admire his talent.
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My OBT 
February 16, 2020 at 9:22 am
Talent ? Yes….but the wrong idea about being feminine.
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February 16, 2020 at 11:12 am
Yes! That’s it exactly. I hope he eventually had daughters and they taught him a thing or two.
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February 16, 2020 at 12:32 pm
I have seen his work before. He is just one a few that did book cover and magazine art. it is becoming a lost art today. I still enjoy looking at them. HalI
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February 16, 2020 at 8:48 pm
I like them, too. They just make me want to scold him a little
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February 16, 2020 at 12:46 pm
Doesn’t everyone read the Sunday comics that way….?! He would be blasted for this type of illustration now.
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February 16, 2020 at 8:48 pm
He sure would!
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February 16, 2020 at 1:32 pm
You mean you don’t read the Sunday newspapers while completely starkers, Donna? I do like his style and the strength of his compositions but he definitely strikes me as a bloke who definitely doesn’t understand women.
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February 16, 2020 at 8:49 pm
Reading the paper naked sounds unsanitary.
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February 17, 2020 at 2:33 pm
Imagine where the newsprint would transfer!
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February 18, 2020 at 10:08 am
LOL!
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