Pleasing people

Last week when I did my talk for the WI, I wasn't sure of their reaction. I knew they knew I was an erotic artist before I went, and probably expected me to be a brazen hussy of some description (it goes with the territory!). But I went, and I talked to them for an hour or so about being an artist all my life, how I had started life-drawing and how that had evolved into erotic art. I defined erotic art for them. I showed them lots of artwork - landscapes, tigers, fairies, angels and unicorns, tango dancers, as well as numerous erotic drawings. I talked about drawing people, setting up compositions for drawing my models, about painting peoples fantasies of themselves. I told them funny anecdotes of the people I've met and their differing reactions to me as an erotic artist. And I offered to paint any of them who wanted me to and guaranteed confidentiality if they wanted to be painted as scarlet women! They politely clapped at the end, and I chatted with some of them afterwards. But I wasn't sure if it had been a success and I came away wondering how much I might have offended them........

Then this morning - I had an email ......

"Hi Jackie

Sorry for not contacting you sooner.

Your talk to our WI was fabulous.

All of our members were enthralled and fascinated with your erotic drawings and paintings.

A Tribute to your art.

Thank you"

.....Phew! So, they liked it!!!!!! Thank goodness for that! I might be persuaded to do it again then!

And to carry on with an upbeat theme. I've finished the erotic landscape of New York now, and emailed the finished images to the client, so that he could ok it or request any changes he might want, before it was collected. And this morning I got an email from him:

"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Well done, I can't wait till the recipient sees it, I believe it will give her great enjoyment, a unique painting for a unique person, and I absolutely love the title!... and many thanks indeed for your extremely hard work."

So..... another happy customer. Great news. So................ I suppose you're going to want to see the painting now aren't you? Well...... here it is, the finished oil painting on a box canvas:

The painting is called "Towering passions" as I wanted in some way to incorporate the lights of where the twin towers once stood, as a hint of the title, and perhaps take away from the erotic couple a bit - a sort of play on words. And here's the detail of the erotic couple so you can see them clearly and how they look. They're nicely hidden in the main picture but clear enough if you know where to look. The fact they're muted has helped to hide them, and putting the lights over them has also helped to disguise them within the image. I've loved doing this painting as I love hiding images within images.

And just to make it a hat trick - I've just had another conversation with someone who has commissioned me to do the second dog portrait for a Christmas present. She showed me the photos of the dog and we discussed mediums, and size and whether I was getting the artwork framed, all the usual questions that I ask when someone commissions me. Originally she had thought she wanted a pencil drawing of the dog, but then mentioned in passing about a favourite painting she has of another pet dog and how much she loves it and would adore this commission done the same way...... but she wasn't sure of the medium it was painted in, but had always wanted to know. So I took a look at it........ and could tell her the answer to her long wondered question....... it was done, very cleverly, in gouache, the background being a pretty, scumbled wet effect and the dog itself painted in fine wet on dry detail with every hair shown and I said I could paint the new commission in the same way if she so wished. Oh yes!!! I'd made her day with that offer! So, I'm happy to help and glad I can be of service ....... and pleased that sometimes I can help make dreams come true.......

Filling a void

I haven't done any erotic drawing for weeks, for various reasons, but last night did one I'm reasonably (and only reasonably) happy with. Normally I do drawings with my model facing me, but last night I felt I wanted her with her back to me, facing away from the viewer, to draw an enigmatic and pensive pose. The model struggled with the pose, although I thought she'd find it easy enough, and so did she to start with. It didn't seem a difficult position to be in - just utilising the shape of her thighs as her hand lay loosely between the top of her legs. Is it an erotic pose or a life drawing one? I can't decide. I suppose it depends on what you consider her hand might be doing. Its an odd pose perhaps, the white of her legs making an "L" shape, and a large void to the right accentuating the darkness. Usually a title comes easily to me, but I can't think of one as yet - one will come in time. It usually does.

Show time!!

I had a nice day out yesterday. I went to London. Its years since I was last there and good to see the old familiar places - as well as some new ones. St. Pancras in particular is stunning!!! - what a wonderful piece of architecture, full of light and vision, colour and beauty. I loved it!! It was worth the trip just to be there!


And nice to go to London and be around the sort of people I feel right at home with.......... the sort who are happy to be dressed up in a pretty dress, high heels and make-up - and that's just the men! The sort who are happy to be dressed in leather and lace, rubber fetish gear, towering heels, to be lead around on a collar and chain, to be dressed as Victorian ladies in black hobble skirts with feathered fans and tiny pretty top hats adorned in a veil and pushed to a jaunty angle on their head, to be dressed head to foot in dominant masculine black leather, or a tight prettily coloured feminine corset tightly pulled in to reveal the womanly flesh in all its deliciously delightful decadent glory, to be dressed as a dark angel complete with feathered wings, to be dressed in just a bikini and high heels, to be dressed in military uniform, to be dressed or undressed in exactly the way you want to be, with no one batting an eyelid!!! Great stuff!! And the location of this wondrous place? It was Olympia. And the reason? It was the "Erotica 2007" event.

Its been a couple of years since I was last there, and as before, it's a great day out. Playtime and adult fun for free thinking grown ups!! Whatever you're in to - it was there. Whatever you like dressing up in, whatever new toy you want, whatever hedonistic lifestyle you're into, it was there. And also what was there, was one of my main reasons for going - as, as far as I was concerned, it was a work day. I was there to meet my fellow members of the Guild of Erotic Artists who have regularly exhibited there and some of the artist members also have their own stands selling erotic art to the discerning public. So, a good chance for me to meet some new colleagues and say hi to them, introduce myself and make my presence known. And what a friendly welcome I got from all of them, even though I met them all individually - seven members, seven friendly faces, seven conversations about erotic art, marketing and selling art, trade fairs, exhibiting erotic art, trying to make a living as an erotic artist, seven conversations showing interest in each other as artists, and as people. I was told by the majority that its one big happy family, where we support one another, we have the backing of the others to use as a power against other organisations to help us to get better facilities and promotion for our work, we help and assist, and where one person may not know the answer to a question, they will know of someone else who will! What a positive and upbeat reception I got! And feel like I've made some new friends already with them - and am looking forward to meeting them all again when I can next get to see them.

And my purchases for the day? ..................... Well, I found some gorgeous erotic art books, full of life and passion and inspiration for erotic art, and some back copies of "Jade" magazine, full of gorgeous black and white photos of glamorous models in suggestive poses, and I also bought............... well, I'll let you guess what else I bought.....................

Strange forays

Last night I did something very strange. I quite often do strange things, by various peoples standards, but last night was odd, even for me. I went to talk to a lot of vanilla people about a subject that wasn't vanilla! I went to talk to the WI about being an Erotic Artist. Its a strange thing, isn't it? That women who may be considered quiet and staid would want to listen to me talk. I'm not sure what they got out of my talk. Some reacted to me talking about naked people, and how I draw them. They liked the pictures I took along, the vanilla ones of tigers, French landscapes, and brightly coloured chickens! But some of them sat there with expressionless faces, watching me, and I only saw one looking totally bored, and only caught one other open mouthed yawning in the background. At least no one walked out!! And they listened. And some made comments, and asked questions and reacted to me with smiles and positive feed-back. So perhaps it was ok......

So, do I count it as a success ? - I'm not sure. Perhaps they were all totally enthralled - and loved every minute of it, and went home all fired up and full of passion. Or............ perhaps they didn't. Perhaps they went home and told their husbands they'd been in the company of a strange woman, one who likes showing them pictures of brazen hussies playing with themselves and giving blow-jobs!! I think the thing that I've learnt with this is, that I'm happier talking to spicy people about the non vanilla subjects. If it had been a group of gays I'd have had a far different reaction!

The best thing to come out of the talk last night was the decision I made towards the end of the talk that........perhaps..................tonight................wasn't the................best time...............to perhaps..................mention about....................the ................fantasy fannies collection I'm going to be working on soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rising prices

I went out for dinner to a friends house the other night. Its a house I go to regularly and always get pleasure from seeing the artwork on the walls there..... partly because one of the drawings is mine, and hangs prominently on the wall there. Its not an erotic one, just a vanilla one. And there was also another painting there, in the same room, done by an artist I've known for some years now and see occasionally. Its a lovely painting of his, with beautiful ethereal blues and hazy purples and I always take pleasure in seeing it again. And by coincidence I had been in his company the day before. He's a nice guy and we always have a how-are-you-what-are-you-doing-at-the-moment? type of chat. I had mentioned to him that I've finally found my niche in the artistic market, since I had last seen him, and was painting erotic artwork nowadays. He did the usual man thing of wanting to know my website address so he could view it!! Women generally go quiet and men generally ask for my website when I tell them I'm an erotic artist!! He also gave me a piece of very useful advice - about raising the prices considerably on my artwork - he said not to be scared of putting a high price on my artwork. He knows, as well as I do, that a higher price may put some people off and lose a sale, BUT it can also attract a different type of buyer. Someone who is looking for an investment, and knows the price will increase in value over time, as an artists profile is raised and the artist becomes more of a commodity. And later on, whilst eating dinner with my friends, who had no knowledge of this conversation I'd had with my artist friend, they jokingly made reference to them helping me to raise my profile, because they know that the picture they have on their wall will increase in value. Certainly, the price I charged them for it all those years ago when I did it, would certainly have a lot different price on it now if I did it. They know they have an investment already. That's good to know, that that's how they view it.

And on to what I'm painting this week - I've almost finished the first erotic landscape of New York and am delighted with how its going. It's been a slow process because it's been painted in oils, and I have to keep waiting for various areas to dry before I can do the next bit. I started off with an acrylic under-painting, then built up the colours of the sky, and the river before starting the detail of the skyscrapers. I realised soon after that that the sky needed to be darkened to make the skyscrapers stand out more, so I did that, and then put in the mid-tone underlighting of the buildings ready for the actual "lights" to be painted on top of. Then I was ready to put in the detail of the erotic couple, I knew that I would spend a lot of time getting them to look right, but they also needed to be subtly hidden within the buildings too. It was clear that the area they reside in had to be dulled down in colour and tone, so that the viewers eye wouldn't go immediately to it - so that's what I did. And ...... then........ the BIG and MOST important part of the painting - putting on the lights of New York! - they all had to go on in one painting session, so that they would look uniform in shape and colour and style. Deep breath....... and on with it............ and at the end the whole thing had that "WOW" factor - suddenly, the whole thing has come alive, and at the same time, the judicious use of lighting has simultaneously, hidden the erotic couple too!!!! Yay!!!! I'm really happy with it, and have almost finished it - just have to wait for this part to dry before I put the highlights on the water, and then spend time just looking at it and correcting any glaring imperfections, and it'll be done. Just got to think of a title now.......... I've got a few ideas already, I'm just mulling them over to see what feels right.......

Yep, I'm EROTIC!!

Incase you're wondering why I've been quiet in blog land this last week (and maybe the thought hadn't even crossed your mind, and you haven't missed me in the slightest!), I've been very busy and involved with many other things, a lot of them relating to art and my future in art........





Oh, and I've got some MEGA news.....................!!!!!





I wrote a few weeks ago about the businessman who offered to go into partnership with me for a large share of my profits. His offer came totally out of the blue and really made me consider my position and future and the way I want to focus on my art. I knew very quickly after hearing his offer that I wasn't going to go into partnership with him. Or give him half of my hard earned money. But what his offer made me realise, was that I'm a viable proposition, someone who is worth investing a lot of money in, someone who can turn a profit. And I listened to his advice - that I needed a gallery in a big city to showcase my work, for the people who like the sort of thing I do, to come and see my work, and hopefully like it enough to buy it. This made me think deeply. And consider my options, and the costs of finding such a place to showcase my work. My concern was that large amounts of money would be involved, as it would be a massive investment. And the worry is whether the large overheads would reap the sort of return I was looking for??? Mmmmmmmm. Big thoughts.........




So, after a shortish time, it came to me what I needed to do, and also how I should do it. I should look for a group of artists who do what I do, erotic art, and have their own established gallery with a strong client base, their own website, who promote themselves well and have a good following and are respected in the world of erotica. So, the very OBVIOUS place to start looking was....... the Guild of Erotic Artists. So, I looked into it and I applied.............



And last week I had a reply.



I've been accepted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



So, I'm now a member of the Guild of Erotic Artists! How wonderful is that??!! It means more people will see my art, better promotion of my work, that I will be able to work with other erotic artists, have a higher profile and that others will value my artwork more in future.



And today my details have been added to their list of artists...... here they are if you wanna take a peek................



And let me know what you think. Is this a good thing for me........ or....... should I just go back to doing the dog portraits!!!!!!!!!?????

I know my place

I know who I am. I know what I do. I've been building up my career as an erotic artist - sorry, I'll re-write that ....... as................................... "An Erotic Artist"!!! That's what I do. Everyone I meet at the moment is in no allusion whatsoever that that is what I do. I tell all I meet. I advertise the fact. Its clear if you look at my website. And people relate to it. They like it. They ask me questions about it. I am introduced to others with the title of it. Even the W.I. have asked me to go and talk to me on that very subject, because they are interested and intrigued at the title. They know they are going to be in the company of an Erotic Artist who will tell them titillating tales of the naughtiness I depict.

So........... tell me this then................. why is it, that the latest two, yes TWO, commissions I've got, are for...............................wait for it............ DOG PORTRAITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm delighted to get the commissions. I will do a good job. I will make good wholesome pictures for the owners to be happy with, and they will look upon their paintings with pride and pleasure, hopefully for years to come. But, hey, what is it with the dog pics?!!!

MMMMMmmmmmm.......... Maybe I'm going wrong somewhere. Perhaps I should forget all this erotic stuff. Whatdoyouthink? Should I? Should I turn my back on naked women, rampant men, horny couples, sexy lingerie, handcuffs and ropes, blindfolds and sexy boots, and just concentrate on ...................... the DOGS?????????????? Should I...............................???

Attraction of spirits

Well so far its been a very good year for meeting some absolutely fascinating and scintillating women (and they know exactly who they are, because they read this blog!) and this week has certainly been no exception!

My new friend the spiritual healer came to see me last night to discuss my illustrating the front cover and chapters for her new book on spiritual healing. We talked for several hours of unicorns and angels, signs, and our beliefs, and I think we spent all of ..... oooh....let me see.........five minutes.... actually discussing the book illustrations, although we quite quickly went off at a tangent talking about who our favourite artists are - and found that we have a few in common, particularly Josephine Wall and Salvadore Dali. But the rest of the visit was finding out about our mutual fascination with each other - always a joy with someone you feel an attraction to, on whatever level. And it turns out we're very similar in many ways. But the thing I find most thrilling and exciting about our connections with each other is the fact that her father and my mother actually dated each other many many years ago. And that got me thinking - what if our parents had actually married and had children - would that make us half sisters - or to take it that extra step forward - could she and I actually be two halves of one person?? Mmmm.......deep stuff, that. And added to the intrigue, not only are we the same zodiac sign, our birthdays are within a week of each other!

She's one of those people who I can sit and look at and never tire of looking at, or tire of listening to. She's full of interesting tales of interesting people. We certainly explored alot of our separate pasts, as women do, and looked for comparisons. Although the spiritual side of her which rules her is something I know little of, there seemed to be a lot of her viewpoints I was happy with, and interested to know more about. Equally, she was interested in my creativity and at looking at my artwork, and since we sat in my studio to chat, was interested in viewing the first stages of the erotic landscape I'm currently painting, and the first pussy portrait that is sitting awaiting completion. Infact I wondered why her eyes kept darting to something behind me as we chatted, and it was only when she asked hesitantly what the brightly coloured image was of - and laughed when I told her - that I realised what she had been looking at!! Fortunately she had read my blog so knew the background story, so I didn't have to explain too much about the whys and wherefores of why I was painting fannies!!!

As we talked, she got me questioning some of my beliefs, which is a good thing, if it can be channelled towards helping my creativity. And I know I questioned some of hers, because I feel the need to understand more than I currently do of some of her beliefs. My mind is open to her, and I feel I have a lot to learn on this subject. I'm looking forward to the next instalment of this tale.... I think it might be interesting...................