Beautiful Yong Lady Serving a Tray if Canada Dry Spur Cola 1946

Gil Elvgren made this drawing of a beautiful young lady, we don't know when, with graphite, but it feels like a piece of Americana. The marks here are soft, smudgy, and give the image a gentle, dreamy quality. It’s like Elvgren is building form and light gradually, allowing the texture of the paper to show through. There’s a real care in the way he renders the woman’s face, her smile and the way her hair falls. But look at the bottles she carries, they are smooth, shiny, a real feat of representation! The drawing has a subtle eroticism, a kind of innocent sensuality. Elvgren really knew how to capture a certain kind of American ideal, the girl next door with a hint of glamour. Norman Rockwell may be an interesting comparison here, another artist who captured a certain American spirit in his work. And yet, while Rockwell focused on narrative and everyday life, Elvgren was more interested in creating a fantasy, a vision of feminine beauty and charm.