Dieselpunk Girls
Dieselpunk is a genre similar to that of its more well-known cousin "steampunk" that combines the aesthetics of the diesel-based technology of the interwar period through to the 1950s with retro-futuristic technology and postmodern sensibilities. Coined in 2001 by game designer Lewis Pollak to describe his role-playing game Children of the Sun, the term has since been applied to a variety of visual art, music, motion pictures, fiction, and engineering.
The name "dieselpunk" is a derivative of the 1980s science fiction genre cyberpunk, and is used to represent the time period - or "era" - from the interwar period until the 1950s, when diesel-based locomotion was the main technological focus of Western culture. The "-punk" suffix attached to the name is representative of the counterculture nature of the genre with regards to its opposition to contemporary aesthetics. The term also refers to the tongue-in-cheek name given to a similar cyberpunk derivative, "steampunk," which focuses on science fiction based on industrial steam power and which is often set within the Victorian era.
Oh yes, dieselpunk, another great genre.
Nice! Especially pleasing are the old-style stewardess outfits; couture long abandoned and widely missed. :)
Come to think of it, did Mad Men ever make it hipstery to wear grey-flannel suits? Effectively, if not quite technically, the early-Draper look would fall into the Dieselpunk timeframe.
Love it
Thanks for this post.
Some of these illustrations impress me. I don't know if there's a convenient way to link to specific examples, but I'm going to try.
Let me start of with:
The model really nailed her expression. If this were a stage play, I would say this actress has "stage presence." Not only does she make the audience look at her, she makes the audience look at her and imagine her as a character.
The very artistic painting, apparently by Andy SIlvers, is sufficiently good at the details that I don't notice a lot of the inconsistencies:
The overall presentation makes it look like a 1940s pulp novel cover, which I assume is exactly the effect that the artist wanted. A lot of the details synergize at first glance: the bare midriff, the car in the background, the make-up suggesting lower-class status. Other details don't merge smoothly: the belt of machine-gun cartridges doesn't make sense, and the revolver seems to have a .22 barrel, out of line with its .38 cylinder. But the overall effect is so striking that it comes together and inspires before I notice any niggling inconsistencies.
The flip side is this following image:
The model is doing her best, but the costume takes away from the total effect. The heavy-metal spikes don't contribute to my suspension of disbelief. The technical details might be excellent, but I don't believe in this character. The inconsistencies are minor, but somehow I don't believe in the story this image is telling.