EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 25 © 2019 The Book Palace (96 PAGES in Full edition)

43 Greg Hildebrandt One of the best fantasy illustrators of the twentieth century, whether working alone or with his twin brother, who since the turn of the century has come to the forefront with his pinup art. Let’s delve with Diego Cordoba into this fantastic artist’s life and career. It was a cold and gloomy day in New York on February 7th, 1975, when at around lunchtime editor Ian Summers at Ballantine Books received a call from the receptionist telling him that a couple of artists wanted to see him. Ballantine had published a series of calendars on Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings the previous years and they had been quite successful. At the back of their latest calendar, they mentioned they were looking for other artists interested in providing art for future calendars. When Ian Summers walked out of his office that day he met two identical twins dressed in woollen plaid shirts; bearded, skinny, wet, and shivering, they were also carrying large black plastic garbage bags. After introducing himself Summers asked them what they were looking for, and one of the twins replied, “Pictures, man, we make ’em. Tolkien pictures.” Although Summers had been reviewing hundreds of portfolios from mostly amateur artists keen on producing material for the Tolkien calendars, he wondered what these two scruffy-looking beatniks FACING PAGE: Made in the USA , acrylic on Masonite, 2000. From the ‘American Beauties’ series of pinup paintings of beautiful all- American women. Pin-ups like this were usually painted on the noses of aircrafts during the Second World War. ABOVE: Pin-up on a Carousel Ride , acrylic on board, 2008. Greg began experimenting with the idea of having a pinup drawn on a black board. He used the black board to create images with pencil and acrylic paint with high contrast. Another interesting fact is that all the women in Greg’s pinup paintings are real women, creating an individual personality for all of them.