Vintage doodle project gives classic pinup girl a makeover

Five years ago, a friend of multimedia artist David Jablow was clearing out his attic when he came across a vintage doodle pad, featuring a half-drawn woman. Rather than throw it out, he passed it on to Jablow, who transformed the pinup's sexually suggestive pose into a brilliant series of fun, empowering and incredibly detailed illustrations.

"I started filling in the pad of 39 sheets and finished it within the next 8-9 months or so," Jablow explains. "Since then I've picked up a few other vintage doodle pads that are somewhat similar and have been working on those."

Not-so-classic pinup

Jablow's incredible illustrations always put the pinup girl at centre stage. "The drawings always start with the woman," he says. "She's printed on each page and that's what I have to play off of. It's a challenge but so is starting a drawing on a blank page sometimes.

"I've only worked on a few different pads but in each one the woman's posture and positioning has a large effect on what I can have her doing."

Drawing ideas

More often that not, Jablow finds its the waiting and brainstorming that takes up more time that the actual doodling itself. "I can't say every idea originates the same way," he says. "Some just pop into my head in full resolution. Sometimes I'll think of a genre or a location that might be fun to draw and start from there. Then I have to figure out what the woman would be doing in that situation or environment.

But, once he has an idea in mind, Jablow wastes no time getting to work, using a variety of tools. "I have an assortment of mechanical ink pens I use," he says. "Some are the refillable kind..some are disposable. I go for the superfine ones as well as the thicker brush pens to fill in larger areas. I'll also use correction-fluid and white-ink pens for effects and as sparingly as possible."

You can see more of Jablow's doodles over on his awe-inspiring Flickr portfolio, and keep up to date with his latest ventures on Twitter.