To my readers......

SITE UPDATE NOTICE

Thanks for visiting mitchmen, home of Mitchell's Gay Art

For Artwork by Mitchell click on the 'Mitchell's Gallery Hub' tab just below
The Caps and Collars/ Flat Cap Gang story at Google Groups is presently paused. (see Group News for link)

Link to the Royale Studio Archive in the right sidebar


Message updated 26th Jun 2025

Friday, 6 March 2026

Beach Bondage by Pelonjefe

Another videoette illustrating the impressive potential of AI

 Subscribers to the 'Follow Me' feed need to visit the mitchmen blog to see the video - sorry!
 
 'Hold Your Breath'
 
This piece seems like an innocent-seeming jape between buddies, but an underlying sense of control, threat and submission is brought out in the dialogue. Like the 'Sailor Punishments' of Miloinvinculis, it exploits the visual impact and uncontrollable threat posed by the power of the sea. 
 
 
AI can be relied upon to produce hunky actors - with attractive, contrasting characterisations in this case. In the detail, there's a delightful pair of backless Speedos to feast upon (and speculate about a follow-up).
 
The brevity of the piece and humorous misalignment of the spoken words shows there's a way to go before AI can be properly controlled by its creator. 
 
 ~  
For other AI videos and animations at mitchmen, 
and other related subjects, 
click on the labels at the foot of the post  

Thursday, 5 March 2026

BareAss Blogs No 89


BareAss Blushes 

 

 Go to Bareass No 90 (link pending)


For other Bareass boys click on the label below 
or start reading at Bareass No 1 and follow the links

Wednesday, 4 March 2026

BareAss Blogs No 88


BareAss Buddies - Smokin' Hot!

 Go to Bareass No 89 (link pending)


For other Bareass boys click on the label below 
or start reading at Bareass No 1 and follow the links

Monday, 2 March 2026

New Additions to the Royale blog

Royale Studio - The Arrest 2 

The 24 picture series, 'The Arrest' is one of the most complete surviving sets by Royale - although there are some intriguing discontinuities that hint at a much bigger epic! 

A story of bullying, it's notable for its abundant imagery of men in tight shorts, with a good deal of wrestling action and spanking too is represented.

All this and a mystery, 'lost' series. 

 

Royale Studio - Scout Recruit

If you appreciate spanking imagery, there's an abundance of it in The Scout Recruit and more tight shorts. If you think Scouting is a pastime for boys you'll be surprised at the men in this story, another long one of 24 images.


 

Brian Lamprill by Vic White 04

There's some stunning imagery of Brian Lamprill filling a white pouch in images by Vic White, that supplement his career with Royale. Links to more sets at Brian Lamprill's Profile Page.

 

A full list of available Royale and Hussar sets can be seen in the sidebar of the Royale-Hussar blog. Plus news of the latest additions.

 

Friday, 27 February 2026

Guys in Uniform - 1 - Double Discipline (Part 'B')

Continued from Part 'A' 

 

Guys In Uniform - Double Discipline B01

The two men under punishment have now put on snug-fitting singlets (or vests) with impersonal numbers on the back. The Instructor has ordered them to lie down, leaving their shorts still lowered, so that their backsides are visible. It's the horizontal equivalent of facing the wall, a psychological rebuke, expressing rejection and isolation. The punisher has put away his cane, but I imagine his tongue can sting these men almost as well.

This photo has a curious composition, with the protagonists confined to the boundaries and a vast empty space filling most of the picture (which I have filled with logos out of desperation!) It is taken from a magazine, part of a montage in which another, overlapping image filled much of that space, see below. The combination of upright and prone figures in a picture is a challenge for any photographer, as Royale Studios also found. However, it seems surprising that the photos seem to have been taken with that marketing scheme in mind. The original photo may amount to more than this, of course, and not be so awkwardly cropped.

 

Guys In Uniform - Double Discipline B02

In the second picture the men have changed out of their shorts altogether, leaving them crumpled at the feet of No 4.  No 3's singlet is very close-fitting, he continues to be the more striking of the pair.

The second stool, last seen in image A03 has been reintroduced. 

 

Guys In Uniform - Double Discipline B03

The two men are ordered to sit on the stools. The corded seats quickly bring new discomfort to their just-caned bottoms. The instructor stands watching them with hands on hip, as if waiting for something. They just hang their heads. Their overhanging bottoms make a strikingly original, teasing image. As if in response, there's a rare sighting of the front of the instructor's shorts, which do not suggest he's totally disappointed with them.
 
Once again, the editor's cropping seems overdone on the right, resulting in another, oddly unbalanced composition. 

 
Guys In Uniform - Double Discipline B04

This unconventional scenario, now takes a new turn. 
It appears No 3 has been detained, kept in after school, as it were.
He slumps on the floor, minus his training shoes, a sign that he's not going anywhere soon. The instructor has also taken off his shorts, as if they are now equals. It hints at a steamy closing ceremony, involving more sacrifice by No 3.
 
In Britain there used to be light-hearted debate about whether, milk should be added to the cup before or after pouring tea. There seems to a similar divide about sex and spanking. And yes, I know that many prefer their spanking without any sex at all.
 
There's another (unavoidable) blank corner here. They all fit together very well in 'Uniform Magazine' spread (shown below). But it's hard to imagine this was all intentional. The uncluttered backgrounds don't help.
 
Uniform Magazine, Vol 3 p41

 
 
Guys In Uniform - Double Discipline B05

 In this picture, it seems that the tables have been turned on the sadistic instructor. Bereft of his shorts (just visible on the floor with the distinctive, black waist band), he rests his forearms on a stand rather like a butchers block, with a padded top set at an ideal height for bending over. A cane stands propped against the side, ready for the arrival of another dispenser of rough justice.
 
Maybe picture B04 is actually showing the waiting room, with both men in line for a painful reprimand, perhaps having been caught having sex after spanking. Maybe this set be named 'Triple Discipline'!
 
 
Guys In Uniform - Double Discipline B06

In this picture we see the instructor slumped on the floor, looking distinctly down in the mouth, if not in other departments. I have sequenced these images to suit my own narrative, since no thumbnail sheets are known for Guys in Uniform sets. I imagined this as the aftermath of the Instructor's supposed comeuppance. Equally, it could be him, still awaiting his turn, after No 3 was summoned in to the Punishment Room. 
 
~
 
There is a further image that doesn't seem to be part of this set, but also features the distinctive vest with coloured hoops.
 
Guys In Uniform -Athlete with Cane
 
This is not obviously the man wearing the hooped vest in the preceding pictures, but his predicament complements my narrative there perfectly. He's strapped to the four corners of a board or box in a way that prevents escape but not all movement. A cane leans against his bottom, an unsubtle clue to the reason for his restraint.
 
He's wearing shorts, which have been hitched-up to provide an open target area. His gym socks have been removed and dropped at his feet to one side. 
 
He's also wearing an incongruous, broad leather belt-cum-corset, with multiple straps at the back. Probably put on him by the men who restrained him. This fetish garment features in many Guys In Uniform sets with leather/rubber themes, but this cross-over picture is usual. It suggests the meeting of two worlds - wholesome athletic activity and dark, secret fetish. 
 
This is an initiation, perhaps or a peeping Tom about to be taught the error of his ways. His expression suggests that he's realised from the restraints and the tightness of his strange garment that this warning is going to be very different to anything he has experienced before.  
 
 

Preview the next Guys in Uniform set
to be featured at mitchmen.

 

More about Guys In Uniform Studio  

 

Tuesday, 24 February 2026

Vintage Bath Nite imagery

The final image in Etienne's 'Bath Nite' was probably inspired by AMG's images of Wally Shillicut bathing himself in a tiny bathtub.

Wally Schillicut in the Tub 1 (AMG)

This image tantalises, screening what might be happening under the water. In reality, he's probably wearing a pouch.

 

Wally Schillicut in the Tub 2 (AMG)

Now the pouch is visible, full and beautifully shaped for aficionados. The clingy, near-transparency indicates that it's wet. Wally's nether regions suspended over the water are erotic in their own right. But, spare a moment to appreciate the tension in the model's torso.

 

Wally Schillicut in the Tub 3 (AMG)

Sitting on a box to wash his feet, Wally's pouch exhibits more tension, topped off with a descending dribble that challenges the restrictions of the era. 
 

Wally Schillicut in the Tub 4 (AMG)

AMG roped in animals on more than one occasion to supplement their model's charms. In this image, the cuteness of the ducks seems to rub off on Wally. The strategic positioning is more amusing than erotic, since Wally's pouch strings are clearly visible.

 

Wally Schillicut in the Tub 5 (AMG)

 A single duck offers more possibilities for visual punning when placed between the legs, but Wally seems to have a bit of a handful with this one. Just as well he's got his pouch on here, but it's not entirely hiding his 'embarrassment'. Better watch out for that pecker! At least he didn't have to contend with a goat or a donkey or a monkey like some other AMG models did.

 Wally's AMG shoot didn't only inspire Etienne....
 
William MacLane - Bath House
 
William MacLane transplanted the imagery to a Japanese bath house, which in the post-WW2 era of the 50s might well have been patronised by USN sailors, as suggested here. Such intercultural encounters were a popular theme at the time in films and books, usually with depressing plots. MacLane is making a conscious attempt to be artistic and literary here. Relevant, we might say, today. 
 
However, the pose, which is about a man washing himself in primitive conditions, doesn't really work in this context.  Even with another (sexy) sailor watching him closely and touching his leg with his back, the washer women drain the eroticism out of the picture far more effectively than any number of ducks. However, that hint about gay relationships, possibly one-way in this case, is an interesting feature, also found in William MacLane's other work.
 
 
This surge of interest in bath-tub washing, at a time when most households were consigning the practice to history and turning to showers, may in its turn have been inspired by James MacArthur's erotic splash in the 1958 movie, 'The Light In The Forest' (below).

 


MacArthur plays a white boy who has been brought up by Native Americans. Captured by settlers, he is introduced to the pleasures of civilisation. The images are tantalisingly homoerotic, but I don't think the conversation here is about back scrubbing! 
 
 

Or chest shaving either, here!
 
MacArthur's character suffers the customary range of humiliations meted out to captives...
 

He's tied up and abducted...
 
 

 Forced to wade across rivers in his best buckskins, under the watchful (and I like to think, lecherous) eye of his captor. 
Who could blame him for it?
 

James' preparation for playing the role seems to have been equally closely policed by minders. Poor James! Surprisingly, an obvious career as a sex bomb did not materialise for him.
 
~
 
I can't leave the subject of bath tubs without reference to one of the best known examples of the genre in the gay canon. Once again it's AMG who are responsible.
 
 
The GI standing in the bath tub seems to saying, 'do I have to?' As if this is a punishment. We might take his companion to be another soldier, but he's actually armed with a civilian shotgun rather than a military weapon, so he might really be an enraged father making sure his daughter isn't going to be left in the lurch by the trigger-happy GI she's been messing around with. Either way, it's a great example of a man being put in his place.

Sunday, 22 February 2026

Etienne's - The Plumber

 This article features an Etienne image that seems to be the predecessor of his 'Bath Nite' storyette. 

Etienne - The Plumber
 
This is the most complete copy I have of the picture, others have outer detail cropped off. However, it is marred by a scratch/crease line across the background character, which the others aren't. 
 
This picture doesn't have a title, even in the Kris Catalogue, where it is simply labelled as 'E56'. It's clearly not another 'Bath Nite', however. This plumber seems to have been called in to deal with some major pipework problems, but he too has managed to drench himself. He's taken off his clothes and hung them on the line above while he sorts out the problem, entirely naked.
 
Enter the owner, or maybe it's his foreman. He stands, looking very dissatisfied, with hands on hips, which seems to confirm the plumber has made a hash of things. The plumber seems to think the new arrival is more interested in his nakedness than his work, and doesn't seem the least bit concerned about it!
 
Like the final image in Bath Nite, this picture has something of a split personality. The man in the background seems to have been added in as an afterthought and not very well integrated. He's not actually looking at the plumber, but at us, like a posing model. In addition, there's a sort of halo around his entire body, making it seem as if he doesn't 'belong'. His feet seem to be hovering above the ground, whereas the plumber is grounded very convincingly. However, this image was taken from a contemporary magazine 'Fizeek Art Quarterly', so it must be authentic (?) 
 
The explanation may lie in another version, which I discovered not long ago at the 'Tim in Vermont' website (now defunct, sadly).
 
 
Etienne - The Plumber (coloured)

Here there are two on-lookers, and they obscure the staircase detail in a way that makes you look back and question that element of the black and white version too. Is this the original image then?
 
 I must admit, I have my doubts about the integrity of this image, too. Etienne often seems to have painted many of his original images, so the colour element is not surprising. He also depicted explicit details, with sanitised copies for general publication, so that's fine too. This picture contains a considerable amount of detail on the right side, which is not present in the black and white version. All of which stakes a claim to it being more authentic. 
 
In the black and white image, the spectator seemed the least convincing detail. The two seen here fit in more convincingly in purely technical terms, but don't create much of a narrative, which you would expect from an Etienne picture. Perhaps they are the cowboys who caused the problem and had to call in the plumber. But they are not even looking at him. Apart from this, the styling of their faces is more life-like than the plumber's and his 'appendage' for that matter has all the hallmarks of an 'add-on'. 
 
 I think the underlying colour imagery here probably is original by Etienne, but I suspect the spectators are a later alteration, possibly by Etienne himself, who was known to revise older imagery (see Sailors Beware!) but was not always scrupulously correct about consistency. 
 
The arrangement of the two spectators here actually makes a striking parallel to the poses of the men in the (supposedly later) Bath Nite 6. It's tempting to see this as a cross-over revision.
 
All this begs the question, what did the original version of this picture actually look like? The best answer is the illustration in the Kris Catalogue and I have to say it looks identical to the black and white image above, although it's not possible to be sure about facial expressions and eye-lines. It also has the extra width of the coloured image.