Scarlet woman

After various conversations this week regarding stockings and suspenders, I thought it might be a nice idea to do an erotic drawing of some! I'm half happy with the image.... for me it needs more dramatic darks in it to give the lost and found edges that I love in a drawing, which make the image settle more into the background. But this was just an exercise in an erotic drawing more than anything else. I did it with a water soluble black pen and neocolor water soluble wax pastels, which entailed putting the pen and pastels dry onto the paper, then using clear water brushed over them to mix the colours and add shading where necessary. I think I might to it again at some point, perhaps in dry pastel on black paper, creating the mid-tones and high- lights or maybe even on scarlet paper putting in the darks and lights with conte pencil. I've called the drawing "dressed to thrill" and its up to the viewer to decide whether she's dressing in anticipation of going out to meet a lover, or undressing in front of the lover......

Ever so slightly pissed off!

I always am, after an exhibition, when I've not sold a painting. You'd have thought I'd have stopped it by now. I've had enough experience of them, for goodness sake. But I don't. I still experience that low, that dip in my good spirits. I can't help it. I know its only a small local exhibition along with other artists, and not a big important one, and that I'm a good artist, with talent (because I'm told often enough, by various people), and that its just such a small percentage of people who walk through the door to view the exhibition, who actually want to buy, and have some wall space they want to fill, and money in their pocket to pay for it. I know all that. And still I get a slight depression over it, because of all the hard work I put into a painting, a hanging of paintings, an exhibition, the expectation and feeling of excited anticipation, and then it comes to nothing ...........
.........But ............when I sell a painting............. that's a totally different feeling altogether! That feeling of euphoria is the best feeling in the world! I'm on a natural high for days, its like winning the lottery and all birthdays rolled into one! That someone likes my painting enough to want to buy it, and wants to hang it on their wall so they can own it, and view it for ever more, and don't want to spend the rest of their lives not having it around them. I love it! They're buying part of my energy - part of me, the energy I put into painting an image, the talent I have, the expertise, the effort and ability - all of that rolled up into a picture to hang on their wall.

Feeling colours

Since I've stated that the colour I feel within me as a person is gold, I've been asking other people this week what colour they "feel" and had some interesting responses. Some people can answer this question within a minute, with certainty and a positive forthright answer. But others I've asked just look at me blankly and reply that they don't know what on earth I'm talking about and couldn't possibly give me any sort of answer to this question. Why is that I wonder? I know as an artist I understand and think colours more than most people do, so is that the reason? Or do our brains just relate to some concepts easier than others? When I asked some artist friends yesterday what colours they "feel" only one couldn't reply, but I had the responses of "light red" from a passionate and happy extrovert guy, "orange" from an up-beat and caring woman, and "red at the moment but blue normally" from a currently stressed and hard-working female! I shall continue to survey people and am intrigued at the replies I'm getting so far.....


I've recently finished a painting that I'm quite pleased with as a concept. Its of a naked big breasted fantasy woman, with multi-limbs in various positions, portraying her as multi-tasking, and able to juggle many things on different levels, simultaneously. It's brightly painted in yellows and golds and deep prussian blues, using the pour-on technique that I love so much as the background, to give fluidity to the image and more of a fantasy feel to it. I've called it "Everywoman" and I think many women will relate to it, as they juggle jobs, relationships, family, and other interests.

What colour am I?

Before I say what I am....I can say with absolute certainty what colours I am not. I'm not bottle green, anything grey, brown or beige. I'm definitely not magnolia, cream, baby blue, pale pink (or any other shade of pink), lemon yellow or mint green. Infact I'm no pale colour whatsoever. I could never be anything so insipid! Nor am I any shade of green, not even vibrant, throbbing lively lime green. I could almost be the colour purple, regal and deep and never ignored, but I'm not quite..... No, I'm a warm colour, a rich colour, a strong and sensuous colour. I'm the colour of gold. Not the shiny brassy new gold, freshly formed and brazen, but of older gold, mellowed with time and constant caressing, full of desireability, confident of its appeal and value to others. That's the colour I am...... but scratch the surface and underneath there is the colour of voluptuous vermilion, the slash of red on the pouting luscious lips of a wanton woman, the red of desire and lust, passion and sex. And deeper even than that, is another colour - a dark blue, deeper than navy but not as lethal as pure black. Its an inky blue, of velvety depth.... its midnight blue.

That's my colour - the colour of a scarlet, wanton woman, her golden skin by seductive candlelight, at the hour of midnight......

Painting an essence

As an artist, I'm always trying to capture the essence of the subject rather than just the superficial image infront of me, so it was interesting yesterday to meet a spirit artist and clairvoyant, who talked about the importance of colour in painting the soul. She sees people's auras and paints those colours in her paintings, as well as trying to capture the spirit of the person within the facade of the face. The face is the life we've lived, as well as what we've inherited genetically, but within that facade is the life we want to live, the fantasies within us, the hopes and dreams, desires and emotions that drive us. How to paint that? How to look beyond the surface? To paint the spirit within us?

I know that I'm motivated by particular colours, and some colours are a turn off for me. I can never be motivated by dull "brown" as a colour in clothing or paint (whether its in a painting, or on a wall) but I love shiny "brown" in the hair of a stunning brunette, and as the colour of highly polished antique wooden furniture. I adore turquoise as a colour and am attracted to it as a moth to a flame, its a clear, bright, wholesome colour for me, and I adore it! So when I next paint a portrait, I'll work on gut reaction to colour for that person, whether they are a moodily intense dark chocolately colour or a lively light and airy shade of pink, a vibrant passionate crimson, or a calm and serene mint green.

And I'll spend the next week looking at people I meet and trying to just concentrate on one colour that eminates out of them, to me. Mmmm..... that's going to be interesting, I don't think I'd equate too much to lavender, lemon, beige and brown people, I hope I meet some magenta, scarlet, antique gold and midnight blue people......

Sensuous sensuality

It struck me whilst I was painting a picture the other day that I paint far quicker, and with more confidence, and produce exceedingly better results if I paint whilst I've got some loud music with a sexy, raucously rocking beat blasting out in the background. It makes a noticeable difference to the quality of the painting. I think faster, make more informed decisions quicker and produce far better results. And then I went on to think what a sensuous experience painting is for me anyway.... beyond the obvious sense of sight that's needed to produce a painting, I adore the feel of a new piece of crisp watercolour paper on my fingertips, and of a brush or pencil in my hands. I love the arty smell of my studio with the underlying odour of turps and oils. And although the only part of taste that I might experience in the production of a painting, might be the pungent taste of a good idea, all of it goes towards the ultimate and rewarding sight of a good strong painting, that hopefully follows on to feed the senses of the viewer, and then evokes other sensual experiences within them. Especially as an erotic artist, I want to induce the other more hidden pleasures of lust, desire, sex, passion and sensuousness from my erotic depictions of skin, I want to emulate the desires within the viewer that I experience when I draw the flesh infront of me.....

Another Horny session

After the great success of the drawing session with hornymaleuk the other week, he's requested a repeat performance with me. I'm touched and delighted that he wants to meet again. I thoroughly enjoyed our previous time together, and the experience of drawing him, complete with the restrictions of not revealing his public face (and body!). And just to add a frisson of interest to the session he has requested a female model to pose with him, which I've been able to find for him, much to his obvious delight!!! I'm expecting a fun filled erotic time with them both, and although they haven't met each other yet, and won't do until the art session, I think they are well suited personality wise, and body wise. I think they will fit together well enough. I just need to think of some suitable poses for them to do now. Any ideas?

Productive weekend - to Prague and back

I'm delighted with the two landscapes I've done over the weekend. The first is of the Charles Bridge, in Prague, and is a study in deep shadows and blinding sunlight. I'm really pleased with the way I've captured the blazing sun peeping out from behind the tower, creating the dark shadows of the two main pedestrians, as a gorgeous contrast to the hazy people walking in the shadows on the right of the painting. I tried to use as few colours as possible to keep the uniformity of the painting, and decided that the delectable (can colours be delectable?) quinacridone gold was sufficient on its own for the late afternoon golden yellows, whilst french ultramarine and burnt sienna between them would create enough of the dull blues, greys and deep dark shadows for the rest of the painting. I also love the use of diagonals in the painting, formed by the deep shadows in the bottom of the painting, accentuating the main couple in the foreground, as well as slope of the roof on the tall tower pointing down towards the the focal points of sun and the main couple in the foreground. The diagonal of shadow on the right leads the viewers eye back into the painting.

The second landscape is inspired by Lucy Felthouse's infatuation and current obsession with Mow Cop in Cheshire. After seeing the photo of her latest visit, on her blog, I knew I wanted to paint it, as it looks so dramatically Gothic perched up on the hilly crag. Very reminicent of Jane Eyre and Rochester, wind swept moors and forlorn love! So I decided to let the sky speak for itself, and started the painting by wetting the paper and swirling the paint on with a large brush and seeing how the paint moved on the paper, the fluid shapes giving the basis of the moody sky and mystical clouds. When it had dried, I added to the cloud shapes, and put more colour in to hint at forbidding dark clouds and distant storms forming. After creating the sky (that sounds very biblical!), and making sure it was properly dry, I painted the heather covered rocks and crags, again letting the paint create the basic shapes on its own, and adding detail in the form of splattered paint, to hint at foliage and lichens. The final part was the dramatic architecture, lit by a bright unseen sun -very simply created by basic light and dark shapes to form the stonework, and because they are painted in such a sharp contrast they easily make the painting dramatic and interesting. I used alizarin crimson for the pinks in the sky, mixed with antwerp blue for the forbidding clouds and then burnt sienna and raw sienna for the ground, mixed with the same blue, giving a feeling of unity to the painting. Burnt seinna and antwerp blue made the deep darks of the stonework. I'll know if its any good by Lucys reaction.........

Suprise turn

Chatting with a friend in the pub last night, he told me again that he wanted to pose for me. He'd told me this last week too, but I thought it was the late night beer talking. He's never posed for an artist before and is both thrilled and scared at the same time (always a potent mix for erotica!!). He said that his life is mundane, and the chance of me drawing him lifts his life out of the mundane. I was touched and appreciated his candour, and obvious delight at our forthcoming painting session. He says he'll be guided by me, for what pose I'll put him in, and is perfectly happy for me to publish the end result on my website and blog. That's nice, that he puts so much trust in me, and will be happy with the outcome, before even seeing it (although he's viewed my erotic art on my website and is impressed with it, so he knows how I paint). I'm looking forward to doing it with him. There aren't many jobs in the world, where people are happy to take their clothes off for you! There's something of the extrovert in people who can do it. I'm happy to give them the chance.

I'm wondering this week why most of my recent interesting and in-depth erotic conversations are with straight guys and bi-sexual women. There must be a reason for this. Is it that straight women just don't talk about erotica - with me at least - or is it that only straight men and bi women are interested and open about it?

Now, I've got to get some landscapes painted - how vanilla! - and not half as interesting as erotic art.

How spicy is cinnamon?

I had an intriguing email from a newish acquaintance this week, who I know reads my blog, and who surprised (and delighted!!!) me by telling me that he is "living vanilla and hiding spice" - (which I think is a gorgeous phrase) - and that the spices he is hiding are not much more exciting than say cinnamon. So now, I'm wondering ...... how spicy cinnamon is? If I was to consider cinnamon I would say that its a very sensuous spice, full of deep exotic flavours, with rich undertones and a longing desire for more of its subtle tastes. A spice that adds a lot of pleasure to a forbidden fruit........

I've finished the commission of the house painting that I was asked to do a couple of weeks ago, and need to get some more paintings done for a small exhibition I've got at the end of this month. Not many ideas yet for what I'm going to do - but since its not an erotic exhibition, I suppose it'll be mostly landscapes. I need to get a couple of paintings done this weekend, and have a basic idea for one I want to do of the Charles Bridge in Prague. I've got a lovely photo, from when I was there, taken in low afternoon sunlight, pointing the camera directly into the sun, which leaves the buildings, and people and their long shadows, almost black with subtle greys and the rest of the colours are washed out creams and rich golden yellows. The photo inspires me, so it should motivate me to paint a decent picture of it - possibly in mixed media? I don't know.... maybe I'll start it in watercolours and see how it goes, but I don't think I'll get the depth of greys and black deep enough just in watercolours, so perhaps inks might be the answer, as they are still translucent, and won't deaden the blacks leaving the painting lifeless. Or perhaps I'll start with a totally black background and paint the "light" onto it instead... a sort of negatively painted painting, using acrylics as they will achieve the depth of colour I'm after.

I wanna paint how he sounds!

I went to see Bryan Adams in concert last night, for the first time, and thoroughly enjoyed the show. He was totally..... awesome!!! Not only was it the sort of loud raunchy rock that I love, which instantly gets people on to their feet to dance and sing along, but it was strong clear music and simple but effective lyrics. I also loved the total rapport he had with the audience. He was happy to walk among them shaking hands, and making contact, to mix with them and interact, totally in-tune with them, to invite members of the audience on stage to perform with him, for the whole audience to sing his words back to him, to encourage and enhance and include as part of his entertainment. And it got me thinking........ that I want to paint how he sounds...... that instant heart racing, blood pumping reaction to the raunchy feel to his work, that feeling that emotionally moves people, that strong effective interaction with the viewer, the outpourings of gutsy, gritty work involving soft quiet passages as a beautiful poignant contrast to the powerful, brightly colourful vibrant parts, that connection in a sexually basic way but also empathy with peoples more caring, loving experiences and how they feel enhanced after viewing the creativity, leaving them wanting more.

On recently having a very interesting, and sexy, conversation with a male friend about the erotic delights and merits of stockings I decided to explore the contrast between male and female clothing this week. So I dressed my model in a plain white mans shirt, undone to the waist, and just a pair of black stockings and suspenders underneath, leaving the shirt to partly hide her breasts, but leaving the shirt tail to curl around and point to her exposed crotch. One hand in a slightly mannish pose, resting on her knee, and the black stockings a delightful contrast to her pale skin. I created the drawing with a black watercolour-wash pen, adding the softer tones and background by washing water over the ink and used a white crayon for the shirt. I like using just three tones of white, black and pale ochre, the latter utilised just by leaving the paper as the mid tone.

When Horny met Jackie

As I had expected it was very interesting meeting Hornymaleuk and as you would also expect there’s a lot I’m not going to reveal about our meeting, but as far as the art is concerned ..... we first chatted about which parts of his anatomy he was happy for me to portray and which he wasn’t. Of course until I had actually seen him I couldn’t make many judgements of which parts of him I wanted to draw anyway. I decided that instead of painting the whole body, I would just try for some details, with lots of information missing, vague lines hinted at, and lost and found edges which would hide any distinguishing details of his body. I discussed with him what I considered the essence of hornymaleuk – being, for me: masculinity, faceless, desire, hands, trust, secrets etc, and I explained that I would try and incorporate those into the finished drawings. He was happy to give me free rein regarding whatever I considered were the best poses for him. He stripped off for me and we chatted whilst I drew, although I had to concentrate quite hard on drawing, so perhaps I wasn’t too communicative, other than on paper!

I decided that although I was doing a drawing, I would use paint for it along with water soluble black pen. As far as I’m concerned they count as drawings rather than paintings, as paintings would be more detailed, and I was drawing with the pen but using the paint as a quick way of getting colour and tone onto the paper. Since hornymaleuk hadn’t posed before I didn’t want to spend ages on each drawing and face the risk of him getting tired or cramp, or becoming cold, and make the experience unpleasant for him. I decided quite early on that I needed to paint a very loose painting, with lots of water sprayed onto the paper to move the wet paint, using the pen just for picking out details later on. I chose Paynes Grey watercolour paint as I like the depth of colour it creates and love the bluey tinge of it, and felt that drawings using black/white and shades of grey would be more masculine than using a warmer colour, and would be more stark in appearance which added to the overall effect I wanted to create.

The first drawing was of his torso, with one hand resting on his raised leg and the other leg loosely relaxed infront of him. I worked quickly but kept spending time concentrating and just staring at the image, being critical of how it was shaping up, making informed decisions about the focal point, composition, negative shapes, tone and line. It was only at the end when I relaxed more and took a few steps back from the image that I gasped out-loud and realised what the paint had done in a “happy accident” that watercolourists love so much – the paint had dribbled down the paper leaving a very wet patch of liquid just below the area of his groin! It couldn’t have been a better summing up of a horny man and a delightful piece of serendipity!!!!


After a short break, he was happy to pose again so I started another drawing – this time trying to capture the essence of hornymaleuk, so the obvious pose was for him to stand above me, whilst I drew his genitals from below, with his hands relaxed on either side, resting on his upper thighs. A very masculine pose!!! And drawn quickly and with vigour, giving more movement in the pen marks and making the image more passionate and a whole lot stronger because of it. I think I’m more pleased with this drawing than the first, it seems to have the edge as a sexual image.

Unfortunately we only had time to do the two pictures but I hope we can get together again soon to produce some more creative artwork.

Vanilla land hiding Spice world

I've had some very candid and interesting conversations recently with a variety of individuals that has led on to me thinking about the different lifestyles that people have. The majority of the populace seem to live ordinary lives, doing the usual vanilla things that make up their world, and consider that any pictures concerning people in any state of undress are basically disgusting, and they'd far rather have a pretty landscape hanging on their wall any day. A very few extrovert people like to live alternative lives, and are happy to advertise to the world their various kinks and fetishes and don't care who knows. Then there is the other group - the ones who appear on the surface to be vanilla but underneath, hidden away in the depths and recesses of their lives, they have kinks and fetishes and dark desires too, and like the spice that makes up the variety in their lives, but can't afford for the rest of the people in their world to find out. So they keep it secret. They're the interesting people... with fascinating diverse secrets, and they're the ones I've been talking to recently about erotic art, fantasies and fetishes. They tell me their desires, and I'd love to paint them......

I was told once, by a guy who did a lot of work in the houses of celebrities and rich people, that famous people with lots of money have whatever sexual or pornographic art they want on the wall because they're not concerned about what the neighbours or Mother-in-law will think. They do it because they can. And we probably all would, too, in their position. So, is the art we put on our walls, what interests us? Or what we think we should be showing to the visitors to our homes?