A-Z of Fetish Artists - Sardax

Sardax - Milk Machine

I'm going to depart from my usual rules again for Sardax. This artist's work depicts domination of men by women, but the underlying bondage and humiliation imagery is varied and interesting, if you grit your teeth! This picture has the least conspicuous female prescence I could uncover, but if you are not put off by women I recommend you to seek out other samples of the artist's work. It's easy to find if you put 'Sardax' into a search engine or use the address on the image.

For previous articles in this series click on the A-Z label below.

A-Z of Fetish Artists - Saj

 

Saj – “I know you want this”

The art of Saj has a computer ingredient, but it looks sufficiently hand drawn and interesting for me to include in my survey. This first image has the sort of dramatic angle associated with comic book art and showcases the handcuffing of the prisoner to perfection. The depiction of the manic FBI agent chimes in with the crazy perspectives of the room, but his words (the title of the piece and the eternal wishful thinking of all gay porn) are a bit of a let down in a fetish context, when one expects something a bit more assertive!

 Saj - Bathroom

However, Saj does not shy away from hardness and aggression as this piece shows. Once again there's a slightly crazy feel about it as the victim reaches out towards us (or the shards of glass?), much to the bemusement of his attacker, whose elfin-like face seems redolent of unexpected and incomprehensible malice. The drawing style is economical but extremely effective in creating an atmospheric setting.

Saj – Blue Goo #10

I am amazed by the avalanche of 'Tentacle Art' on the Internet. I understand the erotic appeal of the subject, but there's an amazing amount of repetition and few pieces press my buttons. This gloopy variant by Saj has the usual open-legged, victim pose, but the substitution of disconnected blobs of blue 'goo' for tentacles is a nice touch. The attack developing on the foreground character is for me the most exciting part of the image. In this picture you can see that Saj's depiction of the naked body is rather flat and less convincing than his representation of clothing. For him it seems the sensuality is all in the action.

This picture is one of a series and I should perhaps explain that the blue goo was unleashed by the foreground character to 'condition' his captive, as shown, but things got out of hand! The syringe was supposed to 'hoover up' the renegade goo, returning the genie to his bottle, as it were.

Saj – Dreams Of The Human Torch

This fiery fantasy transforms an ordinary image into the extraordinary. You can regard this as a simple metaphor for the allure of fiery passion, but some of my readers may enjoy a more literal reading. Either way, it's interesting that this 'dreamer' does not share the fire/passion himself (except for a very focused 'fiery jack' penetration) and he is clearly not consumed by it. Nor is there a great sense that he is at all endangered by it. An interesting viewpoint.

Fire, like water, is a great technical challenge to the artist and this is an interesting solution, the colour plays a crucial role of course, but the artist is drawing on another fiery 'memory' association with the horizontal striping effect on the 'Torch's' body. It reminds me of the way logs burn in the grate. I will be comparing this image to another artist's work later on.

Saj – Tool Shed

 

If danger was absent in the 'Torch' picture you get it in spades in the 'Tool Shed'. The attacker seems impassive, implacable and emotionally uninvolved, partly because you can't see his eyes. There's a sense of cold and calculating, remorseless hate being unleashed and yet the whole scene is really uncontrolled, a classic 'hero in peril' struggle. The whizzing saw blade and sharp, shiny tools bedecking the walls make this place more frightening than any S&M dungeon! You can see the influence of modern Japanese comic art quite clearly in the stylised faces and that takes some of the edge off the horror, but there's some deep emotions behind this picture.

Saj's pictures explore fetishism more profoundly than most, revealing a challenging intellect and posing interesting questions to viewers who pause to ponder what they see and like. Some of his pictures contain explicit violence which is not my cup of tea and not appropriate for this public blog. I haven't been able to track down a site for Saj but I welcome information from readers.

 For other posts in this series, click on the A-Z label below 

or search for an artist by name

A-Z of Fetish Artists - Sabian

 Sabian - Auditioning

We kick off the letter 'S' proper with Sabian. Sabian's style looks vintage in more ways than one, but he's still around drawing young men with exceptionally well developed pectorals, eternally taking the role of 'sub' in fetishistic scenes. In the first picture this character takes centre stage but, interestingly, the two 'cowboys' in the background seem to have attracted most of the artist's interest. They are depicted with more care and have distinctive features and clothing. Most of Sabian's work (that I have seen) is not as polished as this, but the supporting cast always seem that bit more interesting than the 'hero'.

Sabian - Punishment In The Stockroom

The second picture shows more unusual and vintage-looking, male domination stereotypes and the anonymous, sketchily-drawn, sex-object victim. It's a hot domination scene and the unusual setting of a warehouse, with the naked victim forced to carry heavy crates, gives the image punch. I detect the influence of Tom of Finland in the face of the 'blue shirt guy' and possibly also in the placing of the principal tormentor in the foreground to create drama and depth. However, the architectural awareness and soaring height suggested by the background window is not Tom at all but highly original. We're not talking high art here, but it's pretty atmospheric story telling.

  Sabian - Chest Lashing

'Chest Lashing' is a more mainstream, fetish, dungeon scene featuring those over-developed pecs on another victim and another retro 'dom' complete with cool shades. The backward arch of the captive's suspension is erotic and a true torture and despite the improbable angle of attack there's a real sense of painful impact by the lash. The foreground 'devil' with his electro-prod, waiting his turn adds depth to the image and grit to it's storyline. The style is casual and sketchy but there's a degree of sophistication in the simple background wall effect and the fading out of shading in the lower legs, replaced by simply drawn crease lines so they don't distract from the main focus of the picture. You may have seen this technique used most successfully by Bill Ward in his 'Drum' comics.

Sabian - Rodeo Fun Boy Available

A puzzling title but the final picture is my favourite. The tied and tormented body-builder appears to have been taken captive while sleeping and once again drama oozes out of the picture. The background laughing villain is a great creation. At times Sabian's victims have a distinctly feminine appearance in both body shape and stance but unlike some other artists (e.g. Bishop) they are not obviously adapted from female originals. Sabian's work is a flagbearer for male pec fetish.

There's a small selection of Sabian's images at Pridesites Pecity and an interview in Pridesites Pec Mag. There's a link to his site on Flickr but it wouldn't work for me, I'd welcome info on his current whereabouts!

 For other posts in this series, click on the A-Z label below 

or search for an artist by name

Riding The Wedge with Franco

Franco - Milk-O-Matic

This variant of the wedge (sent in by Roy D, thanks Roy!) is rather different from my previous posts. For a start the wedge is flat topped and blunt so it would spread the ass cheeks rather than apply point pressure in-between. It also looks as though the wedge itself slides in and out so it rubs sensuously against the subject's inner thighs and ass. In fact this jock is secured slightly above it, so his balls dangle and get the benefit of the rub. 

I imagine the machine might come with a selection of interchangeable sleeves for the wedge, in various suitable materials like fur, rough sacking, no not sandpaper, but static-inducing nylon would be interesting, Mmmm sparky balls! You will observe that the knee and ankle restraints are also movable independently, potentially producing some fascinating undulating body effects as extraction proceeds. There's probably an animated GIF of this fiendish device floating round the net somewhere.

You can read my A-Z entry on Franco here. It needs updating to reflect his latest CGI work. He has a Yahoo Fan Group  and there's also a good repository of Franco's work at Telemachus. Spanking groups and blogs like Jockspank also have good selections and if you Google him you will find many more!

For more posts on 'Riding the Wedge' click on the label below.

A-Z letter S resumes next post

A-Z of Fetish Artists - The Letter 'S'

 The Letter 'S' includes a very large number of Artists, so brace yourselves! There are some big names like Sean and Spryte, several notable 'oldsters' including Sketches and Stud, and there's no shortage of 'mysteries' either one of which I covered in my previous post. As usual, I limit my survey to artists with a significant fetish element in their work. I also exclude computer generated art (for example Sarander), partly to limit the size of the list but also in admission of my ignorance of the medium and it's techniques. I confess that I am becoming increasingly aware of how arbitrary this distinction is and how much great fetish art I am excluding, but I aim to deal with this when I reach the end of the alphabet.

I always like to usher in a new letter with a work or two that I admire, but whose creator wouldn't make it into the main listing. For the letter 'S' I have chosen two splendid torso images which are beefcake rather than fetish works.

'Hairy Torso' by Sallee

For me, 'Hairy Torso' by Sallee is a compendium of irresistible erotic triggers, not just the tantalising, sagging jeans but also the slightly over-fleshy pecs pushing out from under the vest, the fan-like pattern of re-growing body hair, the glimpse of 5 o'clock shadow and the military dog tags. I don't have any other pictures by him but, from the chocolate box style, I would guess he's fairly prolific.

 

 'Guy in Shorts' by Sanchez

'Guy in Shorts' by Sanchez is less sensual in style and more overtly erotic but it's the representation of the subject's face which I like most. The dreamy, softness of his expression is alluring but curiously at odds with the provocative lower body pose.

I would also mention in passing the artist Sole, whose splendid pastiche of Tom of Finland's style I mistaken listed under Fluide Glacial

 For other posts in this series, click on the A-Z label below 

or search for an artist by name

I welcome link information on these artists

Some Classic Japanese Bondage Art

While researching art for my A-Z of Fetish artists, I came across these images filed by me under the name 'Sabu'. I now know that is not the name of the artist, but of the magazine they were published in. I would dearly love to know the correct attribution(s). Can any of my readers help put an artist's name to any of these pictures?

No 1

This beautiful portrait of a young man reminds me of the film character named 'Sabu' who starred in Jungle Book type stories with elephants and other wild animals. There is a signature on the picture which begins with R but I can't relate it to any 'R' s in my collection. The fact that the name is not written in Japanese characters makes me doubt whether it is in fact a Japanese artist at all. The sharply defined shadowing is rather modern and very distinctive.

 

No 2 - The Victim by Mizukage Ryoji
(identified by a reader - thanks!)

He doesn't look like a victim, does he? The treatment of the jeans is highly erotic. The whitening-out of the cock is standard Japanese censorship practice, something of an oriental mystery to us. The identity of the artist may be contained in the Japanese characters on this image but I'm afraid I can't read them. At first sight it seems different in style to the  portrait above, but the treatment of facial shadows is similar. You can see the same technique in the double spread picture below, particularly the character on the left whose face is highly stylised.

 No 3

It's a real shame this image is spread across two pages as the bondage depiction is terrific, much more interesting than No 2. The victim's muscularity and handsome face stand out from his more anonymous tormentors. It's difficult to portray suspension convincingly but this works quite well. That's down (I think) to the simplicity of the rope restraints/supports and the careful positioning of the background figures.

This image is also of interest for the traditional, Japanese clothing of the central background figure (a fisherman?). This could almost be Okawa but he usually depicts softer-looking boys as his captives. The bizarre combo of the left most character, sun-glasses and long johns, provides a most modern contrast.

 No 4

I enjoy images of men shown while being tied up and 'tying the knot' between the legs is a particularly sensual 'Shibari' moment. Unfortunately the excitement of the illustrator doesn't quite make it to the page here, the captive's pose is rather stiff, he's not reacting to the bondage at all and the whole composition has come out looking a bit flat. Hands are always a challenge to the artist and they are a major feature of this composition. He's had mixed success here, but he's in good company, just look at any Renaissance painting and you'll see similar results. There's an even more puzzling hand in the picture above (No 3 extreme left). Accurate realism doesn't always serve hands and feet very well, they often look more convincing if they are exaggerated and chunky.
I always say Etienne's craggy feet look more like feet than real feet do.

 No 5

Bondage-wise this is the best of the lot, in my view. The arched, lithe body straining against the ropes and pain etched into the (cute) victim's face create terrific erotic drama, even the shimmering, erased cock seems like a deliberate artistic element! The elaborately decorated cushioning adds what seems like a fiendishly oriental twist, comforting the strained body, but forcing it outwards against the restraints. Interestingly, though, this detail and the twist of the victim's head towards it distracts attention from the cock ropes pulling at the front. The V-shaped tie with ends disappearing out of the picture is a popular device in Japanese bondage imagery and I suspect it contains meaning which is lost on Westerners. It reminds me of a musical string being plucked but I can't relate that to an erotic message, I don't suppose the pun works in Japanese.

No 6

This example is less successful, the doubled up legs completely immobilise a more mature victim, but, like No 4, the pose is stiff and although the ropes cut into the body you can't 'see' his weight pulling down on them. The setting for this torment, with it's cross work of beams is very much in the style of  Okawa but the perspective is less well executed. The curly treatment of the leg hair in this picture is similar to Mishima's style but his men usually have strongly outlined, angry eyes, quite unlike this artist.

No 7

The final image has two ingredients which I approve of, the simplicity of the bondage and the clothing.  'Less is more' as an adage applies to fetish art just as much as the real world and for me simple rope restraint like this creates the illusion of a genuine captivity, rather than a carefully staged dungeon role-play. The underpants have a similar 'normalising' effect and their practical conventionality gives us a glimpse of this man's character. He could be a maverick banker abducted by an angry, ruined client seeking compensation of some sort. In the Japanese context they also have the virtue of side-stepping censorship and allowing us a tantalising glimpse of the substantial assets at his disposal.

If anyone can shed any light on the authorship of these images, please do let me know via the comments facility.

Men Sharing Clothes - 14 continued - Designer Jeans again

 My browsing has unearthed two more models in Jimmy Z's well used jeans (see previous article). Armon Adibi must be the most muscular model yet to grace this garment which is starting to show the ravages of such bulky physiques.

.

Nick Fabian completes the round-up of jeans victims, arguably the best fit of all, although the result is not as flattering to his manhood as Armon above. It looks like he's been wearing them 'off set' and just arrived back from the gym, pumped up and glowing from his exertions. Perhaps, on the other hand, the look of annoyance is down to the fact that he's just the office boy who has to give up his prized jeans so the visiting models can stuff their strut and strut their stuff in them.

To wash or not to wash? That is the question!

For other posts in this series click on the 'sharing' label below

Men Sharing Clothes - 14 Designer Jeans

He's at it again!
Not content with making super-butch models share tight, sparkly Tee-shirts,
Jimmy Z is also forcing them to wear the same jeans!
 .

We met Big Brit aka "Jack Union" in my previous post 'preparing' a sparkly Tee shirt for Angelo Diabolo to wear. He returns here with a nice tight, shoulder-flattering Tee shirt and Jimmy's kitted him out in these distinctive jeans. It looks quite a tight squeeze with those mighty thighs but Jack's got himself in there and all snugly buttoned up.
.


Kyle Stevens  is not your mainstream beefcake, I suppose, but there's something about his chunky, unrefined look that makes you want to steal a second glance. His totally shaved head and body, gleaming with 'essences' is like a rugby player fresh from the shower after a hard match.

The facial expression says this could be one rough and dirty boy.
He's barely squashed himself into Jack's old jeans. No underwear of course.
Button up Kyle! Feel the close fit in all the tight places. Get closer to Jack's aura.

 sharing photos by Jimmy Z

For more posts about men sharing the same clothing click on the sharing label below

Hunk of the Month - Stephen Moriarty - 3

 2011 Joe Ticknow

Coming after the preceding sequence of fairly conventional beefcake images this group by Joe Ticknow comes as an astonishing revelation. It's an amazing portrayal of Stephen's muscular development, conveying a size and definition which is not this apparent even in the muscle contest shots. The spiky, slightly bizarre hairstyling and stubbled chin give the model the virile, masculine and dangerous aura of a sci-fi, computer game, fantasy hero. I imagine this shot will define Stephen Moriarty for posterity and it would be interesting to know how Stephen himself feels about this idealisation of his masculinity.

 This pose, though slightly less dramatic, carries the same theme forward. The mighty hero, surrounded by the graffitti of a ruined world, scans the horizon for danger.  The denim jeans disguise the model's massive thighs and reshape his body into sheer solid bulk. There's a sense of confidence and power about him, 'Man of Steel' indeed!

Arms outstretched, there's a certain vulnerability about this pose, but that casual look over the shoulder is full of confidence and just a hint of a knowing smile. Through mitchmen eyes there's also a suggestion  the hero in captivity with arms tethered to the chunky rail behind him. He watches the approach of captor and tormentor with determination and strength.

All in all a memorable group of images. Take a bow, Stephen!

2012

It's nice to see a competition pose that's relaxed and genuine. A year on from Ticknow, he's a man at the top of his game.The blond look has returned, but in more restrained hues which actually work very well with these colourful shorts (sadly a tad over-long) to create the spunky surfer look

 

 2012 Pat Lee

Pat Lee, goes for a more boy next door approach, playing down the musculature in this shot. It seems like an entirely different personality. These are the same jeans as in Joe Ticknow's set, a trivial but strangely interesting fact!

.

This pose complements the fabulous, Joe Ticknow, back shot above, but the intimidating bulk and dangerous aura has been replaced by clean cut, youthful energy and sensuality. The plunging waistline beautifully frames and shapes the model's slender waist and adds a subtle sense of twisting motion

.

Another mood change for the beach boy pose. All these Pat Lee images seem to conjure up a charming, shy lad seeking approval and recognition for his endeavours. Which one is the real Stephen?

2013 Grey Underwear

 Today Stephen continues to work on honing his body. This recent shot shows another perspective on his definition, particularly his legs. These private camera moments are probably quite revealing of the psyche, the assortment of potions likewise, but he's not getting any tidier - please Stephen, bin the bog roll!
 
 I imagine this physique would not attract universal approval from my readers. Personally I love plumped up pecs and thick thighs, but probably favour smoother contours. But we all have our obsessions and you can't fault the commitment of such men. If you browse Stephen's Facebook page (where the grey underwear image, above, comes from) you'll discover that he likes to use his knowledge and experience to help other, undeveloped men to transform into Muscle Gods too. It's a Pygmalion idea that I could happily build into a mitchmen fantasy, like the story of Leo recently posted here. I share the hobby, but I prefer to use pencil and paper to realise the result!


Photo credits:  'I'm a beast' lead images by Joe Ticknow (this is his vanilla business site, for beefcake it's better to Google his images). Beach boy contest picture borrowed with thanks from Stephen Moriarty's public profile -  Man of Steel at Bodybuilding.com, 'Boy Next Door' shoot by Pat Lee.

For earlier 'hunk of the month' articles click on hunk label below