ARTIST’S REFERENCES

Story details

In ‘Smile Please’ I mentioned artist’s references which are when models are photographed, usually to illustrate a serial or short story. The artist then makes a drawing from the photo. Woman’s Own and Woman magazines used this method in the fifties and some of the artists became very well known. Below are two examples.

Many of the male models were struggling actors. There were a fraction of the openings for actors then, just films, and the West End and repertory theatres which paid a pittance. Modelling provided them with useful earnings to keep the wolf from the door, feed the kids and keep them free for that golden opportunity which was just round the corner.