Vietnam War pin-up magazine artwork

Big Active illustrator Mat Maitland created the artwork for Lovecat's Vietnam-themed shoot

Big Active illustrator Mat Maitland created the artwork for Lovecat's Vietnam-themed shoot

Lovecat magazine is a fanzine-style publication covering fashion, music, art and beauty, and features photography from both top and up-and-coming fashion photographers. For the latest issue, 'The Return Of The Bombshell', illustrator Mat Maitland of London design studio Big Active was commissioned to create artwork for a six-page story. He collaborated on the project with New York-based photographer Steven Baillie.

Playing on the double meaning of ‘bombshell’, Maitland and photographer Steven Baillie incorporated imagery from the Vietnam war in their illustrations

Playing on the double meaning of ‘bombshell’, Maitland and photographer Steven Baillie incorporated imagery from the Vietnam war in their illustrations

Ballie shot simple studio pictures of American model and singer Cassie that Maitland then used within his artwork. "Using the issue’s theme, I approached the images as a set of Vietnam War-style pin-ups, albeit updated in my style," he explains. "I always associate the word 'bombshell' with a certain period in Hollywood history that just so happens to coincide with the Vietnam war, so I wanted to combine these two themes."

American model, singer, and other half of P Diddy, Cassie provided the glamour for the images

American model, singer, and other half of P Diddy, Cassie provided the glamour for the images

Working in Photoshop CS6, Maitland used a combination of Ballie's photographs and imagery from his own archive to create an eye-popping series of spreads in his signature collage style, featuring cats, bullets, chains and coconuts. "They were very happy," he smiles. "Cassie and P Diddy, her partner, also loved the results."

This showcase was originally published in Computer Arts issue 206.

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