tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907156.post5903776801436421333..comments2024-03-28T06:17:32.346-04:00Comments on Today's Inspiration: The New School: Mike Ludlowleifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907156.post-72663950950720019062007-05-20T13:31:00.000-04:002007-05-20T13:31:00.000-04:00The following was emailed to me privately and is c...The following was emailed to me privately and is copied and pasted here with permission of Armando Mendez:<BR/><BR/>Craig Yoe's latest "Arf" magazine has a beautiful 1958 Mike Ludlow cover (girl with open blouse reading the funny papers). I find Ludlow part. interesting because if you compare his stuff with pin up photography of the era, it's the exact same type of posing/treatment the photographers were trying to use (and not Elvgren's "Oh, no" situations either) but far more sensual because of the texture and grit of the rendering and Ludlow's vivid color sense. Black and white glamour photography, mainly through the fantasized sensibility of Russ Meyers (who was just about to begin directing and producing his well known big bust exploitation films), was providing a new way to photograph women. But color photography was of the time was still very bland and artificial, washing out almost all modeling and depth on the girl in pin ups. Ludlow was 10 years ahead of what other men's magazines would achieve with photography.leifpenghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907156.post-76598641670122432952007-05-16T13:10:00.000-04:002007-05-16T13:10:00.000-04:00Haha - I wish I could, but that piece isn't from a...Haha - I wish I could, but that piece isn't from a magazine - its one of the original clipped pages from Bud Fente's morgue that my friend Dan Milligan and I inherited.<BR/><BR/>I must say, I'm curious to read that one, too!<BR/><BR/>Interesting that this was so early in Ludlow's career ( from what I've inferred by looking at whatever I could find ) but it sure demonstrates what a tremendous talent Ludlow was cultivating.<BR/><BR/>Thanks, David :-)leifpenghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907156.post-24441558602320214542007-05-16T12:59:00.000-04:002007-05-16T12:59:00.000-04:00Reed placed the balcony scene in the January 1955 ...Reed placed the balcony scene in the January 1955 issue of Esquire, which would make it prior to the pinups. (It's amazing which details stick in the brain of a 12 year old boy.)<BR/><BR/>I don't suppose you would consider making an exception to your rule and telling the world what was happening in the story accompanying that illustration?David Apatoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11293486149879229016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907156.post-8429134084059402082007-05-16T12:35:00.000-04:002007-05-16T12:35:00.000-04:00Thanks for that insight, David! Yes, I agree abou...Thanks for that insight, David! Yes, I agree about the pin-up art vs. that first piece, which is my all-time favourite Ludlow. Still, the pin-ups are a treat when observed not for subject matter - but for technique, because Ludlow wonderful, energetic painting style and clothing drapery impart an exciting graphic quality.<BR/><BR/>I think he did quite a bit of work for Esquire around that time and I'm not sure if the pin-ups came before or after the girl on the balcony. <BR/><BR/>Perhaps one day we'll get to see even more of Ludlow's delicious work from the period and the situation will be clarified.leifpenghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907156.post-45166574001162053322007-05-16T12:22:00.000-04:002007-05-16T12:22:00.000-04:00Leif, that famous image of the girl on the balcony...Leif, that famous image of the girl on the balcony was selected by Walt Reed for his very first edition of The Illustrator In America. I think Reed was as intrigued by the situation as every other male who wore out that page with their eyeballs over the years (including yours truly). I have to say, I think that balcony picture is both sexier and better painted than the more explicit pinup work you have included from Ludlow's later years.David Apatoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11293486149879229016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18907156.post-79861963929215015372007-05-15T14:34:00.000-04:002007-05-15T14:34:00.000-04:00Wow Leif.....six years....how times fly buddyJeffWow Leif.....six years....how times fly buddy<BR/><BR/>JeffAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com