Sunday, March 30, 2008

Bettie Page


This was originally posted as a sketch on my sketchblog, but I decided to colour it up as a further tribute to the late Dave Stevens. Also Illustration Friday's current topic is Homage and I thought this was a fitting homage to Bettie and to the masterful art of Dave Stevens which I've always admired.

Coloured from the scanned pencil sketch in Photoshop. After adding flat colours, shading was added in low opacity washes with a hard brush on a layer underneath the pencils. The pencil linework (with the white background made transparent) was colourised. The layers were then flattened and some of the obvious pencil strokes were blended with the smudge tool to give it a more painterly look.

35 Comments:

Blogger Hey Harriet said...

Wow! That's awesome! Bettie would have been so thrilled & flattered with this homage I'm sure. It's a sweet side to Bettie Page that is so rarely seen I think :)

2:32 AM  
Blogger Chrissie A said...

Beautiful piece of work, Chris. And a lovely homage to a fine lady as well.

Also--I really enjoyed details about the process! Thanks for that!

3:24 AM  
Blogger Mark Slater said...

nice piece! really like the work. =)sounds like it took a lot of work but it looks like it paid off!

4:11 AM  
Blogger JO said...

This would be my husband's favorite this week,someone who pays homage to Bette Paige and Dave Stevens. Beautiful work.

8:56 AM  
Blogger demonpack said...

that smile is killer!

1:40 PM  
Blogger Lucy Autrey Wilson said...

Love your homage to Dave Stevens and your site. You have managed to make Bettie Page more natural looking (ie less busty) than most other comic artists which is refreshing.

1:45 PM  
Blogger Alan said...

Great enhancement of the original sketch. I like the palette which, along with the style overall, calls to mind the pin-ups that were painted on the side of planes in the 40s.

4:22 AM  
Blogger Mathieu Reynès said...

Great works here :)

5:50 PM  
Blogger Chris Wahl said...

Thanks everyone. I had a lot of fun with this. Good to see it paid off.

6:14 PM  
Blogger Mike Hawthorne said...

Great work man!

Mike

12:00 AM  
Blogger Chris Wahl said...

Thanks Mike!

12:46 AM  
Blogger Ed Mahony said...

Great work

1:02 AM  
Blogger J. Nowland said...

Hey Chris.... I really liked this when you did it in just black & white.... but now that its in colour.... wow.... hold on... there now I'm standing... and I would be clapping.. if it wasn't typing... I guess I'll have to give you a mind clap.... you know... its like a Soul Clap... but with less street cred.... PEACE!
J

3:49 AM  
Blogger steve said...

The best of her time--fantastic!

7:33 AM  
Blogger SEILER said...

Nice piece . . . . really nice!

9:25 AM  
Blogger lucrezia said...

Definitely a WOW piece of work!

9:36 AM  
Blogger JAN said...

superb art

9:59 PM  
Blogger Josh (musarter) said...

Nice homage to both individuals. Great painting too.

12:10 AM  
Blogger timafli said...

Great painting. Very nice and bold

6:37 AM  
Blogger Seo Kim said...

gorgeouss!

6:38 AM  
Blogger Chris Wahl said...

Thanks very much everyone for your generous comments. Always appreciated.

8:03 AM  
Blogger Eachean said...

Nice work. Thanks for the technique description. It's always nice to see the drawing underneath, IMO.

10:18 AM  
Blogger Bobo said...

This is great, thanks for the details too.

10:54 AM  
Blogger Sturstein said...

Any chance you can make this available for purchase on RedBubble?

11:30 PM  
Blogger Chris Wahl said...

Thanks guys.

Pete- It crossed my mind but I think there would be a copyright issue with using Bettie's likeness. I'll look into it though.

12:07 AM  
Blogger Sturstein said...

I thought that may be the case. I guess, if in doubt, it's better to play it safe. Thanks man. It really is a killer illo.

4:57 PM  
Blogger Chris Wahl said...

Thanks again.

When I get a chance I am going to look into the copyright situation.

9:13 AM  
Blogger Overvision said...

Besides his enormous talent, Dave was one of the warmest people I knew.
Wonderful tribute for a wonderful guy.

O

7:47 PM  
Blogger Chris Wahl said...

Thanks overvision.

9:08 AM  
Blogger Rita Foster said...

great illustrations. love them!

11:07 AM  
Blogger Dominic Bugatto said...

This piece and the Nick cave ones above are brilliant. Nicely done.

11:22 AM  
Blogger Sharp said...

Saw this post earlier and it was the first I'd heard of Dave's passing. I'd been out of the loop for a while and that was a shocker. Dave was a brilliant artist. Thansk for the tribute to him and one of the greatest muses of all time.

11:48 AM  
Blogger Chris Wahl said...

Rita, Dominic and Sharp- Thanks for taking the time to comment.

9:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i fell off my chair. ouch!

9:01 PM  
Blogger Chris Wahl said...

heh. Thanks Maly!

8:44 PM  

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