Fritz Willis (1907 - 1979)

Initially a deceiving artist, His works having an almost unfinished look at times, and yet when you look closer, the detail is truly intricate. For the most part, the works of Willis are based on the semi clothed erotic, even when he paints a nude, it is rare they don't have some form of modesty protector to hand (even if the item isn't currently doing much protecting). Worthy of note is his occasional addition of sketched and uncoloured images forming part of the background of the final painting It is a style others have used, but Willis seems to have such a grasp of the erotic, that even these sketched parts of the image can be alluring. These same sketch areas can be in the form of a replication of the final coloured image (albeit without colour) effectively showing the base design of the works completed look, or in some cases the sketches are of the main model in slightly different poses and positions. Whatever his reasons for this, they can often be thought provoking.

Another artist from the Brown and Bigelow stable, with links to both the advertising sector and the obvious calendar links that so many pinup artists obviously provide works for. Willis also had artwork featured in Esquire magazine. Many claim the majority of his best work is allegedly from the 50's period, but to my mind, best is a subjective issue that only an individual viewer can identify.