I get random ideas for art. And when that happens, I like to collaborate with other artists to help make it happen. That story hold true with “Victory” – it’s a collaboration between me and a few other talented individuals.

Nearly a decade ago I commissioned my brother, Tohny, to craft a giant bomb for me as a prop for shooting pin-ups on. (You’ll likely see many more projects that Tohny has helped me with). Over the years I’ve done several variants of this look, but never to this extent.

My wife, Rachel, helped me brainstorm how to bring this image to life. I knew I wanted to have a girl riding a bombshell while holding the American flag. It needed to be set in a WWII era sky, complete with overcast clouds, a couple of fighter planes (another big passion of mine), and the American flag bringing victory.

We found an amazing model, Tanya, for the pin-up. The hair/make-up was done by Abbey Crawford. Don, Scott, Rachel, and Chewbacca helped bring it to life by managing the wind, lightings, and rippling of the flag. I detail it out in the video below, which is way more entertaining than reading a blog post.

Here’s a behind the scenes video of creating this image (watch it full screen).

Once the pin-up was created it was time to share it with the world. I’m a huge fan of having artwork in physical form (instead of just a digital file sitting on my computer). I have a 30″ canvas portrait of it hanging in my office. It’s a high-quality piece of wall-art – in fact, it’s the same archival quality piece we deliver our clients when they commission us to do a pin-up session. I love seeing it as I enter my creative space every day.

Keeping up with the tradition of pin-ups being mass-produced, we featured it on our yearly pin-up a few years ago. Essentially, we mail out several hundred pin-ups with our Christmas card every year. It’s a fun tradition I’ve started doing with Rachel.

I’ve also created some fun swag with this image. My favorites are the sticker and fridge magnets. It’s a small, collectible, and fun way to view pin-up art. I really enjoy that it aligns perfectly with the pin-up ideals of mass-produced artwork that’s designed to make you smile. We give them away to clients and friends that stop by to visit us. I’m seeing a new tradition developing.

I think it is fun to see how an image can exist in so many formats, yet still convey the same meaning and power across the mediums. That’s the power of art! Look at it. Enjoy it. Question it. And most importantly, smile.