John Willie Art

Diary of a French Maid
by John Willie
Eight finished installments, two unfinished installments,
first published in Robert Harrison's magazines, 1948 to 1950,
re-printed in 1999 in The Adventures of Sweet Gwendoline, Second Edition,
published by Bélier Press, Inc., in 1999

optimized for ebook viewing

John Willie Magazine Pages
first published in Robert Harrison's magazines, 1948 to 1950,
re-printed in 1999 in The Adventures of Sweet Gwendoline, Second Edition,
published by Bélier Press, Inc., in 1999

full page digital replicas

Illustrations by John Willie
first published in Robert Harrison's magazines, 1948 to 1950,
re-printed in 1999 in The Adventures of Sweet Gwendoline, Second Edition,
published by Bélier Press, Inc., in 1999

optimized for ebook viewing

Mr. Willie is the unrivaled master of the delineation of the female form in his drawings and paintings. His slender female characters share a single superb figure that is strong, firm and marvelously tapered. They usually wear shoes or boots with six-inch heels, a tight-fitting corset and long, snug stockings. In his art, Mr. Willie created a fetish pinup ideal that no subsequent work has surpassed. Precise, pretty, entertaining, and enduring, the illustrations of John Willie have delighted viewers for generations.

Diary of a French Maid
Eight installments of Diary of a French Maid appeared in several Robert Harrison magazines from 1948 to 1950. Two unfinished segments were unpublished until 1999.

Made with dark, soft pencil, the drawings display an artistic texture that has recorded the abrasion of the lead as it adhered to the rough paper. The female forms delineated in these pictures show a perfection of line and shade that amuses and beguiles with humor and energy. Some of the poses might suggest Degas' ballerinas.

The pretty face of the nameless maid changes in a few installments, but her figure stands, sits and walks effortlessly in high heels in all of them. She spends her time dressing her “Ma'm'selle” in corset and boots, walking her dog, ice skating, operating a vacuum cleaner and dressing herself. Mr. Willie fully understands the pleasure of seeing such a lovely young woman, dressed in her fetish uniform, performing household tasks.

Each chapter filled a full-sized, two-page magazine spread. The original pages hold four or five images. The 220+ page optimized ebook disassembles the 20 pages of the set and places each of the images of the series on a separate ebook page. In addition, details of the characters, such as corsets, legs and footwear, are enlarged on separate, wide ebook pages. The layout intends to reduce the need for zooming and scrolling.

The original scans have been adjusted to reduce gray shading in the backgrounds. A bit of contrast has been added to the drawings.
These are among the best pinup illustrations of the 20th century and the optimized ebook is the best way to see them. Because of the exceptional quality of the original art and a method of presentation that anticipates the visual appetite of the viewer, this item surely will stand among the very best ebooks we will ever be able to offer.

John Willie Magazine Pages
This volume shows Mr. Willie's product for Harrison magazines as they appeared on pages in 1948, 1949 and 1950. The two-page Diary-of-a-French-Maid spreads appear with their original tonality, followed by a brightened set. Some of the gag-based page layouts include photographs of Mr. Willie, the tall, distinguished-looking gentleman with the moustache..Other pages show small illustrations that ornament letters to the editor columns and other photo features in these broad, joke-oriented publications. Also includes three pages from Bizarre magazine.

Illustrations by John Willie
Illustrations optimizes the small pictures of the Magazine Pages volume, placing each on a separate ebook page. Many are smaller than a two-inch square, but most appear clear in the optimized ebook, although some edges lack sharpness. If you have seen the original pages, the optimized ebook presentation affords a better opportunity for looking at them. The full-screen display is not accomplished by picture file manipulation and enlargement in an image-editing program. By keeping ebook pages close to the small, original size of the artwork, Acrobat Reader, in conjunction with your video hardware, presents images that fill the monitor screen from top to bottom.

Three ebooks, two optimized, delivered by download from your 30th Street Graphics account.