Finished it - Joyeuse S & M

I've enjoyed doing this painting - its been fun drawing it out, working out where I was going to hide the "s" and the "m". I think they're quite well hidden if you don't know what you're looking for, and obvious if you do - which I like, very much!! It appeals to me!

I've taken photos as I've gone along, as the recipients requested that I did that to show the different stages of the artwork. So, because of that I shall use this as my demo piece on my website so that you can see the process of creating a painting from scratch. I'll be putting that on my website soon.

I love the fact that the finished painting is better than the photograph I worked from. The photo flattened the depth but I've given more of an illusion of depth in the painting, so that you really feel that you're looking at a valley with the houses leading along towards the church. The colours requested were ochres, Mediterranean blues, light blues and greens, with only a few splashes of reds and oranges. I think it has a fresh quality to it, and I love the clarity of the blue shadows on the houses and the faded terracottas of the roof tiles.

I started with drawing the image out - and placing the "s" and "m" within the shapes of the landscape. Then I used masking fluid to protect the areas that are the white of the buildings. Then I could start to paint, and did a wet wash for the sky in cerulean blue with a touch of cobalt blue to add depth in places, and dabbing out the faded cloud shapes whilst creating the stronger white cloud on the left hand side to add interest as well as balance. Then the distant mountains were painted with cobalt blue, and after they had dried I painted the near hills in green gold, cobalt blue and french ultramarine for the deep shadows, and making a strong contrast for the church spire to stand out against and be the focal point. After that I painted the trees and grassy ares around the town in cobalt blue, cerulean blue, green gold and quinacridone gold. Then it was the darks of the houses in cobalt blue, cerulean blue, egypt violet and french ultramarine, and the red and oranges of the roofs in cadmium red and aurolin. By then all the areas had been painted and it was time to remove the masking fluid revealing the white paper underneath. And after that it was working over the whole of the painting to darken areas around the whites to make them stand out more, and add touches of deep colour to add depth to the painting. I think its taken me a little over 20 hours to create it.

So..............can you see them? .................the s and m?

The joys of S & M

Well, I'm ready for it.

I've been a long time getting myself ready for this moment. I've almost forgotten my promise to do it, its been so long. But, a promise, is a promise.

And I so want to do it.

I've been keeping it close to me...............savouring it. This delicious moment. When I take this big step. Into the unknown.

Into S & M.

Or...............more to the point "S" and "M"........

And for those of you who know what I'm referring to - you know I'm talking about the watercolour painting I promised to do for the newly weds - the one of the French village landscape with the letters "S" and "M" hidden within it. Its been so long since I've done a watercolour, I've got to think how I'm going to tackle to style of the painting to get the effect I want. But, I shall love looking how I can hide the letters within the painting. So, they're not easily seen, but can be found by those who know where to look. I love hiding secrets in my work!! And this one is going to be fun!!!!

So, if it looks like its going to have me tied up for a bit........................................ :)

How can one little word do SO much damage

This is my 222nd blog post! A pretty number, I think............ if you can have pretty numbers! LOL

I saw the bride and groom over the weekend. It was good to see them again, as the last time was on their actual wedding day. Two years ago. My wedding present to them at that time, was a painting. *Any* painting of their choice. Erotic or non erotic. Landscape, portrait, watercolours oils, fantasy fanny and willie, anything! Up until this weekend they had not made a decision, and I was beginning to think they never would. Everytime I saw the brides parents, which is very often as they are good friends of mine, I would ask if they had made a decision, and the answer was always "No, not yet!". Ok. I'll just quietly forget about it then, although I was looking forward to painting whatever they wanted...............

But now, they have made the decision! Fanfare of trumpets in the background, and bring on the dancing girls!, YAY! And they were able to tell me and show me at the weekend. Lovely. They want a landscape of a place that is very special to them, and which I have also been to and love almost as much as they do. Its a small quiet village in rural France and they want a view of it, done in traditional watercolours. Ok, no problem. The scene is taken from a high vantage point, there will be the tiny village in the valley below with the mountains behind, and some sky. Nice picture. And as we discussed sizes, styles, colours etc I asked nonchalantly if they wanted any secret messages put within the painting - an erotic couple, or something that was special to them, to make it especially their painting. They thought for a bit, and decided that the best thing to put in would be their initials. Good idea. Ah, but here lies the problem....................... They had the same problem with their wedding invites. Their initials are "M" and "S" and the bride said to her mother at the time of sorting out the wedding invites "Well, we CAN'T have "M and S" entwined on the front of the invites. "No", agreed her mother, as anyone in England would think of the shop"Marks and Spencer". "And we CERTAINLY can't have "S and M!!!!!!!" said the bride to be. "Why ever not?" asked her mother. Pause from the daughter...........who then found herself explaining to her mother what "S and M" stood for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Her mother listened in disbelief, and said "I'm going to ask your father if he's heard of it........." and went off in search of her husband! As the bride told me this tale on Sunday (whilst her mother was out of the room!) I was laughing my socks off!!!! Ok, then, we'll make it an "S" and we'll have an "M" somewhere else in the painting and no "&"..........................ANYWHERE!!!!!! LMAO

Huge positive effect

At least it was sunny and warm this time at the Guild of Erotic Artists Event day - so when I arrived, most people were already standing or sitting outside the building, chatting in the late summer sunshine. As I walked past I was aware of my photographer friend talking to a group of people, so I just patted her on the shoulder in greeting, she turned to see me and her face lit up and we hugged in greeting - then and she grabbed my hand and said "Come with me, I've got something I want to show you" - I happily followed her lead and she took me inside to a quiet corner and showed me the photos she'd taken recently - of the subject matter we'd spoken off two months ago, lovely submissive photos taken with an understanding and knowledge of the subject matter and full of sensuality. I thought they were gorgeous and told her so!


Very soon after that the entertainment started - the first part being the body caster who'd taken the body cast of the large breast last month, which he now presented to the delighted owner. And what a beautiful memento for her to hang on the wall! Afterwards she and I stood chatting about the attraction of large breasts, and how some women can use it to their advantage (!). She also told me that its nice to have a pseudonym (as all models seem to do) because that persona can do things that your normal everyday one can't. You can use more attitude, definitely! I told her that when I'd seen her have her makeup done last month, and stride off the stage in such a powerful way, I really loved the effect the makeup had on her in her outfit! And that in turn had led me on to painting a picture of a kiss - which I had incidental taken with me that day to hang on the gallery wall, when the guild secretary has time to rearrange the current artwork. She said she'd be interested to see it, since she had inspired the thought that had helped to create it so I'll show it to her when I get the chance. And maybe my painting in turn will lead someone else on to create something else....

The body caster was selling various casts during the day - it was interesting perusing his wares and seeing various nipples, fannies, breasts, and bums in pure white plaster or bronze. He also had small sculptures of women in various positions, although they obviously weren't casts unless he's visited Lilliput recently!

Then we were on to the first proper entertainment of the day - a burlesque performance by an attractive Eurasian girl who came on the stage in a bright red satin Chinese robe, her hair beautifully arranged with complementary black and red feathers, her mouth matching vibrant scarlet too. The music started with its rhythmic beat and she danced provocatively and sexily whilst she slowly stripped off first the robe, to reveal a red basque, then a red strapless bra under and finally after the large red feathered fans had been twirled to good erotic effect, she removed the bra to reveal two shiny red nipple discs! Rapturous applause from the audience - I don't know why, but the men really enjoyed the show!!

At this point I got chatting to the couple next to me - he's an erotic artist, and she is also an artist but of the more vanilla variety, although she knew a lot about erotic art and was a delight to talk to. We discussed what makes art "erotic" and the importance of a title. He talked about dealing with galleries and how artists and gallery owners quite often have a different view of the world!

Then it was on to the second demonstration of the day which was shrouded in mystery. No one seemed to know what it was about - so it came as some surprise to see my photographer friend get on the stage to introduce herself. She was so nervous, she needed notes, and this was a suprise in itself because she's confident, gregarious and extrovert normally. She explained that what she normally does is lightweight and frothy, images with a bit of fun about them. But she had had this "big idea" recently and wanted to explore it, and was going to show us now, she wanted to thank her husband for his support and "Jackie" she said, pointing a finger directly at me standing in the audience, for believing in her and encouraging her to do it!!!!! WOW!!!!!! I stood there with a huge grin on my face! Now I knew instantly what she was going to do!!

Then she left the stage and five models came on it - the black haired dominatrix dressed powerfully in maroon basque and long matching skirt, the four submissives, all with black hair and pale faces, in black basques, corsets, stockings, holdups and high heels, they gathered around her feet, as she looked down into the face of each one, taking their chins in her hand, as they looked adoringly at her, loving her, appealing to her, pleading with their eyes for her attention and ministrations. Handing out rope, a cane, or a paddle to her, she took each in turn from them and interacted with them. It was so sensual, so erotic, so beautiful to see. At the end anyone else could take photos if they wanted, then the models disappeared. My photographer friend had a lot of people chatting to her, but when there was chance, I went up to her and with a flat expression I said "I didn't like that". Her face dropped and I quickly said " I didn't like it, I LOVVVVVVED it!!!!!!!!!!!" and she said with great force "YOU BITCH!!!!!!!!!!" Followed by a big grin, and a hug, and went on to explain that she had SSOOOOO much wanted me to like it, how important it was for her, how nervous she had been to present it, and I hugged her as she shed a couple of tears and I realised the enormity of what she had done. I hugged her close and said "It was FUCKING AWESOME, what you've done!!!" And I meant it - she had captured something so very subtle, so fleeting, so beautiful, so truly EROTIC.


Later on I was stopped by her husband who thanked me for helping her so much. That she'd not been taken seriously as an erotic photographer before, but now she had proved to everyone that she WAS. And I agreed wholeheartedly that she was! He said I'd been so enthusiastic about her big idea and I explained to him that I as a creative person like to be around other people who are creative and positive, because that in turn feeds my creativity. I don't think partners of creative people always know what to say to help the creative person, so I was delighted to help - and even more so when I saw the results!!! Big Wow!!!!

Later on again when she'd quietened down from her euphoria, I told my photographer friend about MY "Big idea" about the fantasy fannies and what I hoped to do with them - she was intrigued with my description of them, and wanted to see more. Whilst she and I were chatting quietly, the body caster came up to me to say how much he liked my writing for the Event day reports - and I was touched that he'd taken the time to come over to tell me especially. But the Guild is about support and help and the exchange of advice and experiences.

In and around all of this happening, I also had a chat with another artist who had taken some of his artwork to be hung, as I had taken four more of mine to be hung, but until the Guild Secretary has chance to re-arrange the other artwork, they had to be stored to one side. I was interested in seeing his drawings as he, like me, does erotic landscapes. Although his are totally different to mine - his were simple pencil drawings depicting all sorts of weird and wonderful simple shapes, whereas I do coloured paintings hiding the erotic images more.

Whilst I was ferrying my paintings from the car I passed the guy who'd had his sexy low slung sports car cleaned last month by the topless car wash girls, I made a funny comment about him bringing it again for the same treatment, and he asked if I was offering! Ha ha - no I wasn't I grinned! Later on he said he wanted to look at my work, and it unfortunately wasn't until the end of the day that we were able to meet up again - I showed him the two paintings I currently have on the wall and he gave me his very forthright opinions about them, the style, the pricing, the colours used. Whereas he wasn't terribly enthusiastic over them, he didn't criticise them either, but his opinion was useful because he's made me think about who I need target regarding selling my work. He's running a seminar soon on the subject and I think I may well attend it......

One of the things I love about the guild is that the Event days have scantily dressed models standing around in basques and stockings, maybe chatting to someone in jeans and a tee shirt whilst conversations are going on about dominants and submissives, S and M, gay sex, nudity, as well as erotic art and all relating to it! As the Guild secretary commented - where else can you get such good entertainment over the year from your subscriptions!