Cathy’s Pinup Girl #AtoZChallenge art sketch series (‘A’) joins “The Aprils Fool” #BoTB showdown

Today kicks off the first day in the annual A to Z Challenge (art work at the bottom) but it’s Battle of the Bands regular time slot and I decide to combine two posts into one for my simplicity. Perhaps in doing this I’ll turn someone onto either or both blog fests. 😉

In today’s showdown, I’m using a Burt Bacharach and Hal David song, The Aprils Fool, released by Percy Faith His Orchestra and Chorus on the 1969 self-titled movie soundtrack starring Jack Lemon and Catherine Deneuve (trailer).

I’m featuring two new-to-me female artists covering this oldie. First up, listen to Laura Avanzolin.

Next featurette is, The Moleskins!

You’ll find more awesome battles underway at some of these blog listed below and if you’d like to be included in the fun, then contact Stephen requesting to be added to the list.

Normally I’m totally ready, set, and go for April 1st blog fest with everything completely done ahead. That didn’t happen thanks to the Covid-19 crisis. Nope, not sick here just a thousand and one things needed to do to get DH ‘Safe at Home’ ready to work from home while trying to get a few important supplies like bathroom tissue, paper towels, antibacterial soap… LOL  This all being said, I’m not going to stress it. I’ll do what I can and have fun. Who’s with me? 

This month I’m sharing with you sketches I created based on popular vintage pinup gals.  I hope to not only include the original pencil illustration but an accompanying Procreate colorized re-design of my drawings. 

Some will love the concept and others will hate it. You might have an idea on how I feel already about the fun, innocence images. This being said, let caution you that my artwork might be considered sensitive by some and may not be appropriate for youngsters.

Let me present to you an Artist at Work!

Original #AtoZChallenge pencil sketch based on Earl MacPherson’s January 1943 calendar drawing found here.

I rather wear clothing while I work in all seasons but it’s a lot of fun illustrating this pinup artist gal. Here’s my original piece do-over in Procreate.

BoTB polls close noon (EST) on 7th!

Who gets your vote, Laura Avanzolin or The Moleskins?

 

Don’t forget to tell me in comments which artist you liked the best in this showdown. You don’t need to know the original or any of the artists,  if you have an opinion then that’s all you need. There’s no right or wrong way to vote, except a no vote and that’s not allowed. Sorry you gotta cast a ballot before you leave my blog home. 

One more thing, let me encourage you to leave a direct link to the post you want me to visit in comments. This makes it ten times faster for me or others to locate you without any hassle. Part of the reason any of us do participate in this annual blog fest is to generate interest from those who otherwise might not visit regularly and if you don’t leave your path back to  your blog home then it’s kinda like shooting yourself in the foot. Alright that’s all I’m gonna say about it for now.  😉

Next week, same time slot I’ll be back to announce the winner in this round, so be sure to mark your calendar to see if your favorite artist wins in this showdown. I’ll be back tomorrow to join Rain’s Garden Thursday art date as well the letter ‘B’ in Cathy’s Pinup Girl Art Sketch Series. Don’t miss out on the fun!

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49 comments

    1. Rain,

      Why is it when we think of artists, we think of them wearing berets? I’m not much of hat wearer but I will put on a baseball cap when I work outdoors or take a long walk to protect my face. That’s about it.

  3. Happy April Cathy! I hope you are doing well despite what is happening. I just started a new job on Wednesday and life is sort of normal here despite having 300 new cases each day here in Japan. Abe doesn’t want to lock down the country. The Aichi governor here (I live in Aichi) says everything is normal.

    I am going to vote for The Moleskins. I love soft jazz, especially her April Fools. It is so mellow and relaxing. Not related to the battle, I just discover that The Moleskins just released a cover for Basia’ “Cruising For Bruising”. I love Basia!

    1. Binky,

      I’m so happy you stopped by. This week has been a wild one. I suspect it’s gonna be like the whole month. You know how it is once you get behind then it’s hard to get caught upw with these challenges. 🙂 Oh well…I’ll just take my time and enjoy the ride.

    1. Jahnavi,

      It’s always nice having first time visitors on my blog which is a huge delicate. I appreciate your kind words which always encourages me to always give my art my all. I hope you’ll stop by again throughout the month to see what I add to this collection!

  6. Great sketch, Cathy! She’s a great candidate for ZZ Top and their song Legs! This was a hard one for me but my vote goes to the Moleskins. Stay safe and take care.

    1. Eugenia,

      Yeah, ZZ Tops, “Legs” would’ve worked great for this illustration and had I not done my BoTB installment then I would’ve certainly featured that song. Thanks for voting for THE MOLESKINS!

  8. Oh my strange times….you sound like you are very capable of “moving stuff around” and being a flexible person.
    Take care- keep drawing these gorgeous images- cheers and stay well!

    1. Kathe,

      These are very strange times. I manage to get things done that’s needed, usually stiff and sore afterwards but I do it. 🙂

    1. Another vote for LAURA AVANZOLIN. Thanks for playing alone! 😉

      Also, it’s great to have you join me again for on the A2Z journey this month, my dear!!

    1. Mimi,

      Heels elongate and shape the leg making the model’s legs look prettier. Maybe wearing heels makes her feel sexier, too. 🙂

      Gotcha down for LAURA AVANZOLIN, my dear. Thanks for visiting!

    1. It’s an arduous job moving stuff around in our small place but I’m sure anytime you have to make big changes to your living environment it’s never an easy job and it sounds like you’ve had your own run with manipulating your place to accommodate your family’s needs. Normally I go to the grocery store with DH but these past few weeks, he’s been a lone shopper. That’s his way to keep me safe. 🙂 When he gets home I help to bring the grocery in and put it all away. Either job is extremely tiring and doing both knocks me out.

      I have your vote recorded for LAURA AVANZOLIN. Thanks for joining me!

  14. BotB first: There was a lot to like about both performances, but on the whole, I think The Moleskins did a better job, so give them my vote.

    Excellent drawing! I like the pencil sketch (the B&W picture) a little bit better than the colorized one (which is something I’ll probably end up saying a lot).

    1. John,

      Gotcha down for THE MOLESKINS! I’m glad to see another vote for them…actually things are tied up now.

      The pencil drawing shows the roughness in my work, making it feel more real to the eye whereas the digital artwork is more polished and I can relate to why you like the original over the modified version. Thanks for visiting, my friend!

      1. I left a really long and rambling comment about David / Bacharach and how much I like their tunes… Where are where did it go? I looked away and I disappeared. Oh well…

        For me, I got to vote for The Moleskins this time. The vocals carry it for me. I like that fragile soprano voice. It’s tough to carry that off nicely. but, I’ll go for that voice before Joan Jett type rocker any day of the week.

        As for your sketches, nice! I hate that this virus is interfering with her local art show at the Fountain City Art Center. There’s a couple of paintings from yours truly in that show.

        Stay well and take care!

        1. Cherdo,

          Yeah the virus is a real bummer but if it keeps us safe then so be it. Life is precious! I hate that when you spend time adding a long comment to have cyberspace eat it. That’s happened to me a number of times. Pooh! Oh well, I appreciate you stopping in to vote for THE MOLESKINS! Congrats on having a couple of painting up at the Ftn City Art Center, girlie! You’re a fab artist!! Thanks for your kind words regarding my illustration. Stay safely and healthy indoors, my dear. xx

  15. Well, oh my goodness I forgot about A to Z so I will try to squeeze something in for today. Love you’re art work here girlfriend. You really should do something with that. Did you ever think of going into advertising? My niece does it and David’s father owned a advertising company. We have many pictures that he drew. Great job Cat. Hugs

    1. Marie,

      Thanks for the words of encouragement. I’m not confident enough to put my work out there commercially. Perhaps when I develop something that’s unique to me then I’ll give it a stab but for now sketching is all in fun and learning. 🙂

  18. CAThy! It’s That You?

    I don’t believe I ever heard this song before, but I am a big fan of Burt Bacharach and Hal David tunes. They sure had great minds for melodies!

    I wasn’t really wild about Laura Avanzolin’s voice but I absolutely loved that trumpet and sax playing!! Really beautiful Jazzy arrangement. Good stuffs, my friend, good stuffs!

    I definitely preferred the vocalist of The Moleskins, and also liked that slow, atmospheric arrangement. This is a tough Battle for me because I really wish I could have the second vocalist paired with the musicians in the first recording.

    Hmmm…. When all is said and done, I guess I’ll favor the music over the vocals and vote for the Laura Avanzolin version.

    >>… “STMcC Presents BoTB (Stephen, BoTB Manager) 15th only

    Nope. I’m still doing BOTB on the 1st of each month only, except on rare occasions when I feel inspired to do a second Battle on the 15th. But that doesn’t happen often. Mostly I’m just a First-Of-The-Month kinda guy.

    ~ D-FensDogG
    STMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS

    1. Hey Stephen,

      Yeah, it’s me! I’m glad this was a tough battle for you. I’ll put your name beside LAURA AVANZOLIN. I forgot to update this post when you mentioned last time my goof showing you only participate on the 15th. It’s been a wild ride around here trying to get DH set up to work from home. If all goes well then we should be good once we get the printer needed for ledger size prints. I’ve just about wanted to pull my hair out today and am relieved to have this figured out. 🙂

  19. Hello Cathy!

    It sounds as if you are as busy as I am! Just when I thought I was going to get a break from all of my doctor visits, I developed pressure sores on my ‘sit down area’. Apparently, they are bad enough to warrant wound care. Hopefully, I will be able to get my posts for both blogs written (I’m about half-way done on each) But having to take many breaks to get it accomplished. One might say this whole cancer thing has been a pain lately. A real inconvenience!

    Anyway, I really like your pinup girl and am looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the rest of the month.

    As for the battle, I don’t recall hearing the song before (but that could just be my short term memory issue). I’m going to cast my vote for Laura Avanzolin.

    ~Mary

    Jingle Jangle Jungle – #AtoZChallenge: A
    #AtoZChallenge: Abby’s Promise by Rebekah Dodson

    1. Mary,

      Whew, it’s been such a hectic day and it’s not from A2Zing or BoTBing! I’ve been in hot pursuit researching printers for DH this week and finally we decided on one to get. Now to see if it actually ships. With everyone at home working 11×17 printers are flying out of stock fast. With all this extra speeding going on you’d think the economy would be spiking, wouldn’t you? Anywho, we’ll survive. I knew you had your hands full with medical stuff. I’m sorry to hear about the pressure sores. That doesn’t sound fun. Continuing those prayers for ya, darlin’!

      I have your vote recorded for LAURA AVANZOLIN. Thanks for stopping, my dear!

  20. Hey, your gal is still dressed! She is wearing a hat and matching coloured shoes:) I love the drawing and you did a great pair of legs. You are getting better and better. Now this is always how I create my cards..hahahaaa. A great start to the A to Z and looking forward to more. As for your BOTB, I had to go to YouTube to listen to the Moleskins but I’m glad I did because that is my choice. I just liked the style of it including the birds.

    1. Birgit,

      Why that would be indecent if I didn’t have her in at least shoes and a beret. lol She does have pretty legs, doesn’t she? Yeah, why wear a smock when you’re a creative when your birthday suit works purrfectly fine.

      I have your vote recorded for MOLESKINS.

      Be well, my dear!

  22. Interesting drawing to kick things off with. Nice job.

    I haven’t been stressing about the Covid-19, but I’ve been totally stressed for over a week with a horrible toothache. Went yesterday to get it addressed. Think it should be better now, but the visit to the dentist was a 5 hour nightmare.

    I remember that April song. Hadn’t heard it in ages. Both versions are very nice, but my pick is Laura’s version. I liked the jazzier take.

    Congratulations on having your A to Z posts done. I have a few done for now. Guess I’ll be working on them from day to day unless maybe I get caught up in the next few days.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

    1. Lee,

      The Coronavirus isn’t really stressing me as much as getting DH set up to work from home. lol There was just so much to do in such a short period so I had to switch my attention from A2Z prep to rearranging a very small, cramped bedroom as his make-shift office. Next week should be better and I’ll have more time to get things done…I hope. fingers crossed

      I have your vote for LAURA AVANZOLIN.

      Thanks for taking a peek at today’s artwork! 🙂

  23. I look forward to your theme and pin up girls because of my interest in history of the World War II era – I still have so much to learn and this was a nice beginning. “Racy”, yes – and that is an amazing thing about these girls, given the popular culture of the era, that they came from an era when certain things just weren’t discussed, or admitted to. And yet…

    1. Alana,

      The one thing I like about many of the pinup gals from the WWII era is the way the artist portrays the wholesome girls sexiness. 🙂

  24. “And they’re off!”

    Hi, Cathy!

    The starter’s pistol has fired and the 2020 A to Z Marathon is underway. I am excited to see what you have to offer this year, dear friend! First of all, I love the attractive banner. It dresses up the series even before we scroll down to your pinup art. It’s also April Fools’ Day and BOTB day, and I am ready to exercise my constitutional right to vote in your contest.

    I was a big fan of actor Jack Lemmon, and I remember taking my girlfriend to see The April Fools in 1969. The film had some of my other favorites including Peter Lawford, Jack Weston, Myrna Loy and Charles Boyer. I also well remember the theme song “The April Fools.” In your battle, I love the horn section and trumpet part along with the guitar on the extended instrumental bridge in the middle. It adds up to a delightful recording by Laura Avanzolin. On version 2 by The Moleskins, I like the female vocalist a little more, but didn’t like the arrangement nearly as much and didn’t think it was necessary to use bird sounds to suggest April and springtime. The first recording is nearly twice as long and well worth the ride because it has a lot more to offer with the excellent jazz combo playing throughout. I vote for artist #1 – Laura Avanzolin.

    I can understand how the COVID- 19 outbreak has thrown a wrench into A to Z preps, but it is what it is. You hit a homer first time at the plate with your “A” pinup “Artist at Work.” She’s quite a gal and I appreciate the clever positioning of her palette. Well done, Cathy!

    Have a good day and a safe week, dear friend!

    1. Tom,

      I’m happy to see you here today. I’m running late in my responding. It’s been a rather hairy day for me. For the past couple of weeks I’ve had to move this and that around in our small home to make way for the possibility of DH working from home. Okay we got that done and things went well last week but then he realized what he needs is a 11×17 all-in-one. That’s the size needed for the electrical drawings and then he has to be able to scan to send to his co-workers, boss, or whoever. That became a huge research job. You have to understand engineers are very detail oriented people who usually don’t decisions unless they have all the information first. That’s what makes them so good at their jobs, you know? Anyway, it’s maddening but I do learn a lot in the process and it challenges me to stretch my abilities. In a strange way, I’m happy that he gives me these jobs. 🙂 This is how the COVID-19 outbreak has impacted my life most. If only we had been in a bigger place then moving the world around wouldn’t be needed. Getting a new printer is a different story, though. I guess, this will drive us a little harder to find a place all the quicker, huh?

      I appreciated you making time vote for LAURA AVANZOLIN and for stopping by for a visit to take a peek at my pinup gal.

      Please continue to safe and healthy, dear friend. Have an awesome afternoon!

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