Q&A: zombie pin-ups
Robert Palmer, France
Answer Matt replies
I firmly believe that pin-up is all about attitude. If your pin-up displays the right personality then I don’t see any reason why a zombie, or any other horrific or monstrous character, shouldn’t be an effective pin-up.
However, I think it’s fair to state that a well-rotted zombie with missing limbs, exposed bone and a bloated stomach, trailing pale green juice behind it, is going to be very difficult to present as a pin-up in the traditional sense! I would suggest that the best approach would be to design an image with a strong pin-up flavour first, and then look to add zombie elements in a way that supports or enhances the character and image overall, without causing outright revulsion in your audience.
Consider iconic cues that would mark a character as a zombie: discoloured skin, rotten flesh, matted hair, claw-like fingernails, glazed eyes and so on. Then think about how they might relate to pin-up artwork to find subtle ways to introduce them into your artwork. Glazed, sunken eyes and discoloured lips could approximate makeup. A unkempt hairstyle is a popular look, and is not so far from looking matted. Long nails are a pin-up standard. Rather than show graphically rotting flesh, simply colour the skin to indicate some decomposition.
Bringing all these elements together to create a kind of ‘undead glamour’ look for your character should be very effective and presents a great opportunity to have some real fun in your image!