Elvgren's Pin-up Reference

Gil Elvgren (1914-1980) painted calendar girls and commercial illustrations from the 1930s to the 1970s. 

Here are some of his oil paintings paired up with the photo reference. He makes a thousand little drawing refinements, such as a thinner waist and more tilt to the back. The tones of the picture are  simplified, and he uses the Windmill Principle. He's not afraid to let the shorts be white on white, and the legs be red on red.

The face and features are bigger and the shapes of the folds in the sleeves are more dynamic. To make the gun visible against the drape on the chair, he makes the gun light and the drape black.

The tones and shape of the dress are simpler, the hair is fuller, and the legs are in a different position. The same model must have posed in the western costume just before, since the boots and the holster are in the background. Models were getting expensive in the 1950s, charging photo rates, so many illustrators got the most reference they could out of each session.
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From Retronaut courtesy of Chris Wild
Lots more Pin-up/ Photo pairings at a Concept Art forum (Thanks, Brian Bridges)
Gil Elvgren on Wikipedia
Post about Elvgren's process on the Underpaintings blog (Thanks, Tomas)
Gil Elvgren website
Book: Gil Elvgren: All His Glamorous American Pin-Ups
Previously: Using Photo Reference (with 32 comments)