It was impossible to live in Chicago, during the 60’s and
not be aware or be involved with Playboy; bunnies, magazine or even Hef, as we
called him.
We lived next to his mansion on the near north side, we
overlooked his roof where the topless bunnies sun bathed.
It was pretty good even without a pair of binoculars. I
remember when he had a fence built on the roof, we still had a view, but we did
have to stand on a chair.
There was an awareness of the Playboy empire in Chicago, the
mansion, the magazine, the girls that appeared in the magazine, the
photographers, the whole infrastructure…all were very visible.
I know, people claimed to get Playboy for the articles and
the authors, which were amazing and innovative, and not for the photos of those
strangely innocent naïve girls…by today’s standards.
There was an amazing art director that was part of the
creation of Playboy, he was Art Paul and was responsible for the beautiful look of
the magazine. He was instrumental in the look of the photos, the retouching,
the artwork, the full visual aspect of the magazine. I wouldn’t be surprised if
he even designed the bunny costumes.
Every illustrator admired him and wanted to work with and
for him.
Jeannine went to see him, she was a freelance illustrator,
she called him and he saw her, just like that. He loved her work and gave her a
double page spread to do, not a photo, an illustration.
He had her do the Christmas food spread…a corduroy roast
beef with silk potatoes.
It was no centerfold, although I liked to see the reaction
when I told friends that Jeannine did a spread in Playboy. I didn’t always
explain that it was an illustration.
Her double page spread was the most unique double page
spread in Playboy, she was my centerfold though and always has been.
Posts
Playfully ambiguous line, must be fun to see how people respond when you serve it to them... Beautiful spread Jeannine.
ReplyDeleteI had done so many illustrations using fabric in this way and at the time I was the only one using this technique that I was aware of commercially in many publications. So I had a lot of work, all fun and quite visible assignments. We had just moved to Chicago and being so close to " The Mansion" I called Art Paul and surprisingly got my interview, it was that easy. On my way to his office I noticed someone retouching a nude photo of unwanted blemishes on the body a surprise as I thought all the bunnies were selected for blossoming perfection, alas nothing is perfect ...Art Paul saw me, we chatted, he liked my work and said he would get back to me about the December issue. The following day I got my phone call and a double page spread assignment, roast beef it was....A quirky idea for a prized, rebellious, high end girlie
ReplyDeletemagazine.
Awwwww!
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