Headless

What does a man see in an erotic image - is it different to what a woman sees? I think it well may be. This week I took some of my latest erotic drawings to a gallery where I'm hoping to get my pictures hung. This gallery features a lot of good quality artwork but erotic art is new to them. I was happy with the quality and standard of the artwork and would have been delighted if the gallery had accepted them then and there, hung them on their walls and a week later said they'd sold them all and could I produce another 20 images because they were so popular (well, I can dream, can't I!???!). But the gallery owner didn't say that, what he said was that he wasn't happy with the generic faces I put on my drawings. Not even the fact that I might only put in the mouth and an eyebrow, even that was too much. Because it was "somebody" even then. What he wanted was them to be headless, ideally. Just torsos. Ok, I can do that, no problem. But I'm not convinced he's right in his decision. Because, for me, the image is made by the emotion in the picture, and that is depicted usually by the face. To me, to make them headless renders them just as a body - just a pair of tits, or an arse, an item, a characterless, faceless "object". And I think that's the difference between men and women - women want the emotion in the picture, men just want the item. I shall be interested to see how the pictures come out - and if they're accepted at the gallery, how they are welcomed. And if they do sell, who buys them. Just men? And what the feedback is. Because I'm not convinced, not at all!

This weeks image is with head (!) and is another of the white on black drawings with just a hint of red - this time at the mouth, as the woman is putting on her lipstick. She's wearing a black slip, with one of the straps fallen down over her shoulder, one of her legs raised up, the other on the floor. I think the pose makes her look a bit sluttish - isn't it only bad girls who wear scarlet lipstick? Maybe. I like the shapes of her body against the black background and black underwear. Its called "Lip service" and I'm happy with that as a title.

Right, better get my rubber out and remove some heads - decapitations here I come!! :)

Seeing red

Last week when I saw my usual model I had a basic idea for a painting but after trying a couple of poses in watercolour I decided I wasn't at all happy at the outcome for various reasons, it just wasn't working and the colours and tones were far too weak. I wanted to do a long vertical red painting and tried the model in various tall poses but they just didn't work somehow. Mmmm...... rethink. And this week I realised that I'd been going about it the wrong way and I'd be better doing a long horizontal painting instead! Yay! Far better! And to get the stronger colour I was after I changed the medium to acrylics as they are far more vibrant and get a better result far quicker and more assuredly than watercolours. Success! I also decided to paint the whole background in a rich scarlet to start with which instantly gave me my mid tones and then all I needed to do was pick out the lights in the painting and add the darks and it was complete. The composition was something that came to me with one of those instants of brilliance too. So I got the model to lie on a long sofa, with a table lamp to the side of her, highlighting her breasts and long shapely legs, and painted the composition as it was. Since the light and her arm nearest to it were the lightest parts of the painting, I captured those first, letting the rest of her body fade towards the darkness at the other end of the painting. To add interest to the sofa I put golds and purples in with the cushions surrounding the model and am really delighted with the result of it! It works beautifully as a composition, I love the colours of it, the rich vibrant reds, and the paler tones of the womans skin. Her pose is at ease, elegant and alluring. She's confident in herself and delights in being admired in her rich setting. I think it's sensual, erotic and graceful. And the title of this painting? Well, it could have been a number of titles, but I've settled on "Lady with the lamp". And I know I've done a good painting because I keep wanting to look at it! And that's always a good sign!!

Drawing hornymaleuk again

Before meeting up with hornymaleuk again to draw him with my female model, I only had half-formed ideas in my head for poses for them, even though I had spent a lot of in-depth time beforehand considering it. I knew I couldn't formalise the ideas until I had seen the inter-reaction of the two of them together. They hadn't met before this occasion and knew virtually nothing about each other, except of their existence! And I wasn't fully sure how they would like each other as personalities. So when they met, there was probably an element of surprise for the two of them and, to enable them to get to know each other, I suggested a relaxing drink and a bit of a chat first, so they could get some social interaction before I threw them together in some compromising poses! Whilst I stood and watched how they chatted with each other, suddenly the ideas for poses came to me and I suggested the first one to them with a little trepidation......... as it involved her on her knees in front of him, whilst he sat in front of her, holding her head as she bent her head and focused on his groin area! They agreed they were both happy with that pose (Well, I knew HE would be, before I asked him!!!), so we listened to some loud pulsating rock music, as I set about drawing them......

I'd decided beforehand to use inktense crayons as I love the way I can use them as a proper crayon, therefore having the ability to draw with a sharp point, but when a wet paintbrush is painted over the top, the pigment immediately becomes like ink and gives instant coverage with enough tonal value to create a very fine light wash right up to intense depth of dark colour, which I find ideal for this sort of quick drawing.

The first drawing went well, which I was pleased about, as first drawings don't always do that, as it normally takes time to warm up and for me to get the right mind-set for figure drawing. I decided to use just one colour for this drawing, opting for a purple, as it gave me enough depth of tone needed for the image. I particularly wanted to see the lovely rounded shape of the female waist flowing down to her buttocks, the line of her back, and her right breast and nipple in profile, her right arm reaching around to lie on hornymleuk's left thigh, his left hand resting on the back of her arm, whilst his right hand rested on the back of her head, drawing her towards his groin as he watched the object of her desire and her facial expression. It was an easy pose for him to hold as an initial starter, as he's a novice to this, and I was delighted with the result which I've entitled "Getting acquainted" and that lead me on to the idea for the next pose.......

They were both happy to go for another pose, so this time it was the woman's turn for some attention.... This situation featured her lying on her back with her head thrown back in rapture, as he kneels below her, his face leaning in between her open legs, as her left leg is nonchalantly resting on his right shoulder. His head his hidden behind her thigh, as his hands grip on her upper thigh. Since this was more of a feminine pose, I decided to use a scarlet colour and again I got enough depth of tone from the inks to give me enough detail. The female model loved this pose and kept grinning at me, as I drew her. She was getting her own back from the first pose I put her in!!! This image I've entitled "Rapture"!

Again, I was delighted with the second image I produced, and was on a roll so suggested a third pose for them! They agreed to go again, but requested a short break first, so of course I agreed, and after that, we set up the third pose, more restful than the first two - the woman lying in the man's arms, her back to his chest, her legs open to the viewer, his arms protectively around her, her right arm resting on his thigh, her left arm reaching back to caress his neck. The image of two lovers at ease with each other, complete and replete. I used three colours for this image - black, blue and magenta - as I wanted to utilise a masculine colour and a feminine one, and to pull the diverse colours together, as the couple cuddle entwined together, the colours merging where their body's touch. I was reasonably happy with this picture but needed to do more work on it afterwards to get the right depth of colour for me to be happier with the picture. I've called it "Lover of mine". I know its not fully finished, but doing three drawings within a shortish space of time, was quite an achievement! I tend to consider my drawings an "idea" and try to capture the sentiment behind the idea as quickly as possible, being fully aware that were I to tackle the image as a full painting, an awful lot more time and detail would be utilized to give a far better working image. And before you start peering too closely at the man's visage, the features are hazy and are not hornymaleuk's, but a generic male face, to add interest to the picture.

So, a very successful first session with hornymaleuk and the female model together. They've both told me they're keen to do it again, so I hope that we can arrange that at some future point. I wasn't sure if he would enjoy the experience of posing, as I know it can be hard work, but he kept the poses beautifully as I drew the two of them, so he seems to be a natural!!

And as a post script to this tale, I must admit to a frisson of wicked amusement, and a huge inward grin, during the evening, to listen to the pair of them chatting with each other as I drew them in compromising positions, especially whilst he had his head between her open legs as she told him rude jokes.............!

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......