Gay bdsm art by 'mitchmen' Mitchell and other artists featuring male erotic sexy fetish, S&M, men tied up, male bondage, domination, humiliation and spanking. Vintage photographs of men in uniform, Royale & Hussar Studios, humourous captions, gay pride articles
To my readers......
SITE UPDATE NOTICE
Thanks for visiting mitchmen, home of Mitchell's Gay Art
The Caps and Collars/ Flat Cap Gang story at Google Groups has been on a break since January, I am working on it and hope to resume shortly. (see Group News for link)
Link to the Royale Studio Archive in the right sidebar
Despite Tom's willingness to co-operate, his captors continue to forcibly subdue him. In the struggle expensive Christmas packages are sent flying and Tom's cheap and well-worn T-shirt is ripped from his body.
Artists Note - this image (and others also numbered 306 that will follow soon) are the original drawings that made up this story when I dreamed it up many years ago (more details here). For this series I have elaborated the narrative a little particularly the characterisation of Tom. I have also coloured the pictures to take advantage of the Christmassy setting.
Tom has decided that there's only one way to salvage Christmas for his family
Since that fateful evening in the pub he's been here several times - just looking.
It's so remote he's convinced he can be in, out and away before anyone can react.
He puts on gloves and a mask.
Mitchell HG07 - Insecure
To his surprise, Tom finds a way in quite easily and it's clearly not alarmed.
It's his first bit of luck since he lost his job.
Mitchell HG08 - Nice Present
Inside it's warm and cosy, coals glow in the fireplace.
There are sparkling festive decorations everywhere.
Extravagant presents are piled under an enormous tree.
Tom had come looking for money and valuables he could sell easily,
but now he sees an even better prize.
Mitchell HG09 - Empty
Tom's unable to resist the lure of Christmas offered to him on a plate.
But finds on closer inspection that all that glitters is not gold in this household.
Even though he's disappointed, Tom's first thought is sympathy for someone else.
This series has been running at my Yahoo Group for some days
and I am replicating it here over the Christmas period. Click on the pictures to expand.
1
It's a cold night in December, a few days before Christmas.
In the 'Bricklayer's Arms', deep in the shadows of Canary Wharf,
a young man sits alone, grimly contemplating his future.
Mitchell HG01 - Christmas Carols
2
Even in his misery Tom can't escape from bankers.
Two of them come in, noisily celebrating their Christmas bonuses.
Loudly they discuss the burdens of extreme wealth.
Mitchell HG02 - Banker's Banter - 1
3
The banker's life of luxury makes a stark contrast to Tom's bleak outlook.
Drunkenly he visualises taking his revenge.
Mitchell HG03 - Banker's Banter - 2
4
Finally Tom can't stand the bankers bragging about their money any more.
He downs his drink and leaves, so not hearing the end of their conversation.
Mitchell HG04 - Banker's Banter - 3
5
Christmas Eve. In the distance a choir is singing ......
................."When a poor man came in sight........"
Mitchell HG05 - No-One Home
Tom still hasn't told his family that he's lost his job.
To hide his terrible secret he walks the tinselled streets alone all day.
Now on Christmas Eve, he finds himself in front of the banker's mansion.
Bazz is a regular contributor to GMBA (see sidebar for current link) where his photo-manip posts are quite often gory and shocking, but I very much enjoy his gentler humour too.
I have updated my A-Z article on Axel by adding more pictures which give a better idea of his style. This is in support of the reference to him in my last post but I haven't done a full upgrade on the text yet.
There's a good selection of fetish
artists under the letter 'V', notably Valentine, Victor and Viste. As
usual I have excluded CG artists like V-Teddy. To start the series
I've picked out this image. It's attributed to an artist called
Veresk.
Chris Redfield cornered (by Veresk?)
Tentacle imagery is creeping into this series with increasing
frequency and, as I have remarked before, this very static,
open-legged position is the hackneyed, standard format of the genre
while Chris Redfield as subject matter is not far behind in
repetitions. It's a bit like the song writing competition in "The
Mastersingers of Nuremburg" where every entry has to conform to
certain ancient, unchangeable rules. It ain't a tentacle picture if it doesn't have these features. The contradiction between
Redfield's supposedly dynamic 'game' personality and his passive,
relaxed, receptive pose in this nest of tentacles is hard to
understand but I've let this illustration through because of it's
obvious quality.
In his original 'Resident Evil' game
incarnation Chris is depicted as a classic white, Anglo-Saxon beauty
but this artist suggests more ambiguous origins verging on
beastliness which gives him a rather more intense sexuality. There's
no beating about the bush about the writhing nest of tentacles he is
sitting in either, penis is the name and penetration is their game.
They are shown with warm colouring and a sensuous, porny sheen that
makes their erotic purpose all the more convincing - except for those exhibiting an advanced state of droop!
I've not found any other work by this
artist, which is surprising considering his obvious skill so there's
a bit of a question mark against the name attribution. The colouring
and fuzzy style is not unlike the artist Axel.
Letter 'V' continues with Valentine after Christmas
For more articles in this series click on the A-Z label below or search for specific artists using the index page or search boxes (top right)
Tacitus has created a nostalgic selection of bondage images in the semi-realistic cartoon style traditionally used in the commercial marketplace for comic books aimed at the 'intermediate' youth bracket. In keeping with that tradition the age of his captured heroes is somewhat ambiguous but they seem sufficiently mature I think to include here.
Skribble by Tacitus
This image depicting the capture of a young man, who has no doubt been interfering with the plans of an evil gang, is carefully drawn and full of endearing little details - like the crumpled bottoms of the jeans, the puckered stitching of the villain's puffer jacket and the dangling belt tongue.
Tacitus - Bound in Leather Jacket
In this sequel, the bondage has been augmented with a good deal of rope but as you can see the treatment of the captive by the gang is otherwise entirely proper and Tacitus leaves it at that, in keeping with the mores of the mainstream publications which he emulates.
Tacitus - Tarzan Captured by Arab Slave Traders
The artist is rather less circumspect in this example with a mildly erotic depiction of a young Tarzan being taken prisoner by a gang of slave traders. Tarzan's skimpy outfit is in accord with the original story but the interesting shaping speaks volumes! The contrast between Tarzan's near nudity and his fully-dressed captors creates a frisson of helpless as he is abducted into a very different world. The attachment of ankle irons is a hugely symbolic and effective detail. I need hardly point out that the stereotyping of the Arabs is questionable, but it does lend power to the drama of Tarzan's emphatic subjugation. The representation of the other, Black captives in the background as would-be slaves is less easy to defend.
Tacitus - Tarzan Captured by Arab Slave Traders
Despite political considerations, this imagery showing Tarzan as a slave being led across the desert at the end of a tether is a popular theme amongst fetish artists.
(see PlanetGay)
Tacitus - Young Slave 1
Another slave scenario, from the Roman era ostensibly, but the captive's trousers and belt suggest he might have arrived here from a later time making his predicament in the pawing hands of another unscrupulous slave dealer just that bit more strange and frightening. (And perhaps a little stimulating).
Tacitus - Young Slave 2
Stripped naked, the slave's body has suddenly acquired an attractive, sensuous quality and he trembles as two potential buyers explore those attractions at close quarters. This picture is the most overtly erotic of my selection but the conventional teen-comic uses of this drawing style seems to apply a veneer of harmless adventure to the scene. In a way this gives it a nightmarish quality, a world not behaving as it should. It trivialises the gravity of the prospective slave's situation, but we (like him) can perceive in the portrayal of the two wealthy Romans two different but both unpleasant and demanding personalities. The captive seems to appeal to us to intervene, but he is trapped in the comic dimension and beyond all help.
You don't expect to see a 'Wedge'
turning up in the American Desert. It looks like the normal torments
of taking a long ride on the device are to be supplemented here by
simultaneous prolonged exposure to the scorching rays of the sun and
with a horse whipping thrown in for good measure. This sort of
cruel, extended punishment was supposed to have been practised by the
French Foreign Legion on disruptive men in the ranks, but I have
never heard of the US Cavalry employing such brutality against their
own troopers. That's assuming of course that the naked man is 'one of them' and
not some civilian miscreant they have decided to make an example of.
This four-legged wedge seems to be
sturdy and well-crafted with a slight tilt to the top edge that would
create an additional sense of precarious instability for the rider -
and potentially painful splinters too if he slips! On the face of it,
one would imagine that such an elaborate device would require regular
use to justify the effort of constructing it in the first place. But
I suppose, the world being what it is, it would only take one
devilish mind to devise and put the thing together and anyone in
authority who was impressed by it would soon find more opportunities to
exploit it.
Following a similar train of thought, it always surprises me how the frontier
townsfolk in Western movies, who must have been relatively
impoverished communities, nevertheless build the most elaborate of
timber gallows for their condemned felons, a task that would have
taken them days, if not weeks and required a good deal of timber not
readily available in the desert. If we are to believe what we see,
they even built multiple gallows for executing whole gangs of men
simultaneously, instead of making them queue up to put their necks in
the single, municipal noose one by one. One presumes that once the
job was done, the town spent more time and money dismantling the
whole thing, since they never seem to have had one available
when they needed it again.
From a series I know only as 'Pain and Pleasure'.
The protagonists are a bit young for my taste but there's a fair degree of conviction in the scene.
1
2
3
4
Identification info has been provided by a reader (see comment below).
My thanks to him.
The precise link is Boundupboys - Pleasure and Pain Part 4
starring 'Eric' and 'Ian'
Click on the label below for other wedge articles.
My file of Ulf images for the year 2005 contains no less than 210 pictures - and I would not make any claim for that to be his complete output for the period. It's an astonishing rate of production, 5 a week. A fair chunk of the folio consists of explorations of artistic techniques and of what fetish fans might regard as fringe genres - Classical times, Sorcery and Fantasy with the artist giving emphasis to the dramatic, the atmospheric or the romantic rather than the erotic (which is the main interest of this blog, of course).
Ulf - This One's fresh
Classical settings were the staple diet of mid-20th century erotica making an acceptable cover for male enslavement and near nudity (think of AMG, Quaintance). Ulf's technique is to transplant his normal escapades and modern men into a stage set made up of assorted ingredients from various bygone eras. Gone is the paraphernalia of dungeons and were it not for the title it would be hard to detect any erotic edge at all in this picture. Others in the group are similar, invoking antiquity via the familiar iconography of urns, tombs, draped robes etc and producing a result not unlike the constructions of Priapus of Milet - but minus the sex. There's a nice dramatic image of a Roman Centurion in some sort of labyrinth and Ulf makes a good job of dressing him convincingly, but it's a bit off the radar for this blog ( I'm not into fancy dress, sorry!).
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Ulf - Fantasy Landscape
The second sizable fringe group might be described as fantasy romance and typically shows soft-focus naked men exploring the lush and unusual landscapes of some imaginary, tropical world dotted with phallic rock formations. There's a certain wistful beauty to these scenes, a sort of back to nature calmness and comforting freedom from the cares of the word and yet paradoxically there's a certain bleakness about it too below the surface, a remoteness and sense of loneliness, of being lost - even where the explorer has a companion with him. You might put that down to the alien nature of the landscape and yet....
Ulf - Prisoner in a Pond (I jest!) - no title
.....this picture is haunted by the same emotions. More often than not the explorers seem to end up like this, ankle or knee deep in water, making a sort of sensual, erotic interaction with the landscape. However, water is an environment that is fundamentally inhospitable to man so it's a sensuality that doesn't really lead anywhere and the token bondage in this image seems to underline that.
This idea of man lost in nature was used by the German artist Caspar David Friedrich
to great effect in the 1800's and it related to his perception of God. I don't know where
Ulf sits in that department and annoyingly I don't have his usually helpful
titles either for these works. I find Ulf's images strangely disturbing in some ways and certainly not
representative of a gay Arcadia, but the psychology is interesting.
Ulf - Now You Know
Two young students in a bedroom, surrounded by their sporting and movie paraphernalia share a moment of life-changing intimacy. The title has probably been uttered to a best friend at some point in their life by nearly everyone reading this piece as they finally unburden themselves of their 'terrible' secret. It probably isn't seen as a 'guilty secret' so much these days, but that won't have lowered the hurdle very much since it seems that (perversely) we are often drawn to young men who bat for the other team.
This fearful gay seems to have hit lucky in as much as his very straight-acting pal is actually aroused by the news. But you can see that he's calculating the repercussions of having a friend who is 'out'. These figures are beautifully observed and it would be a great picture even without the powerful message. Interestingly it's possible to read it the other way round too as the sporting jock comes out to his empathetic friend who he fancies like f..k but can't get him to say he feels the same. Nice work.
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If you've followed Ulf over the years, you'll be aware that his gay sensibilities are not exclusively encompassed by the sensitivity displayed in the previous picture, but also have strong political dimensions. This delightful piece of propaganda is simply stated but surprisingly powerful, shocking even. It succeeds in dis-empowering totally the unfortunate representative of straightdom - at first, but then we notice his physical and spiritual, under-dog beauty and this wins the sympathy of the gay viewer regardless.
There's no revenge for gay men here because Ulf hasn't reversed the physical stereotypes, pointing out that a martyr is a martyr and an oafish gay bigot is no different to an oafish straight bigot. It's quite right but a bit disappointing really and those painted-on un-gay clothes must be the ultimate insult!
Ulf - Cop Busted Me
This is one of my favourite 2005 pictures and I suppose it is shocking too in it's own way particularly when juxtapositioned alongside the two preceding pictures rather than presented as a variation of a bog-standard (if you'll pardon the pun) dungeon scene in fancy dress. This view of Cops will be widely understood if not necessarily shared, but we are invited to suppose that this arrestee is most probably of the oafish race and therefore unlikely to be able to enjoy the experience - even in retrospect. The tension in his cuffed arms (nicely modelled by Ulf) testifies to his efforts to escape this humiliation. The kneeling position he has been forced to adopt is itself well up the scale of indignity for such creatures.
Ulf - Corporal Punishment
This image also depicts humiliating submission to authority and if you think you recognise the positioning and stances of the two men you'd be right, it's Ulf's version of a very typical image by Franco, the doyen of Spanking Artists. Abuse of power in the Military is a regular Ulf theme but that and technique aside, this picture is not Ulf at all. The spanking corporal appears distinctly awkward, effeminate even, which is an unknown species in Ulfland, even in the role of humiliator-top (think back to the 'God hates Breeders' image above for example). Ulf's abusers dominate through their own physical strength. However, Ulf does capture the essential eroticism of Franco's style whilst placing it in the unmistakable context of his own world.
Ulf - Dawg House
This is genuine Ulf-style spanking, an altogether more serious affair. This offender has a cropped haircut suggesting that this too might be an unconventional militarypunishment. He is restrained in such a way that he is obliged to keep his backside presented to the paddle. He cannot rise and if he tries to roll aside he will fall off the table and dangle by his collar (compare the pose with the cop picture above). The simple, frustrating elegance of this predicament bondage is one of Ulf's best inventions and it adds a dark flavour of malicious excess to the otherwise conventional spanking scenario, recalling the emotional 'angry' early works. He has got a bit carried away with exaggerating the victim's rump, but you can just imagine him working excitedly over it, lovingly shaping and colouring that rosy, tingling target area. Such intimacy with the subject is one of the perks of being the creator artist.
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Ulf - Can I Keep Him Boss?
This is another of my Ulf favourites. Finding a man tied up in the forest is probably not an unheard of event but this 'Misery'-like, kidnap follow-on is authentic, gay fantasy (take your pick from the two available roles). The title suggests that this tasty specimen has fallen into the hands of a hill-billy group who live according to their own rules. It's Finders-Keepers of course and the child-like red trolley provides an absurdly manic twist that even Stephen King might not have thought of.
In this year's output Ulf introduces some distinctive characterful faces into his pictures and I think the thoughtful, realistic face of the 'Finder' above adds immensely to the success of the image. The trolley dolly is Ulf's universally attractive male (also well represented in this selection) but in comparison he's something of a clone and rather bland.
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Ulf - no title avail
This image indulges the same soft-kidnap fantasy but envisages a more pragmatic means of acquisition - mail order delivery complete with user manual and one pair of jeans to get you started. You'd think that most of us would simply whizz through the 'Quick Start Instructions' and get stuck in. However, many a flat-pack has defeated it's buyer and I suspect the humorous analogy here where the new owner seems daunted by the sheer maleness (and decidedly non-flat complexity) of his acquisition is probably nearer to the truth than we'd like to admit. If you look on top of the chest of drawers there appears to be a couple of left over pieces. I love the furniture detail in this picture especially the Van Gogh-like chair in the corner.
Ulf - Smell It
The beauty of this picture is that it is not entirely unbelievable as a military test of obedience and bonding exercise in some high powered, special forces unit. The petrol cans in the background suggest this might be some impromptu punishment rather than a scheduled training exercise but I'm not sure such a distinction is particulalrly meaningful in these organisations. Even the trainer urging on the naked grunt by imposing his physical closeness in a sexually threatening way is almost plausible. He, by the way, seems to be genetically related to the Corporal in the Franco tribute picture above, but turned out better. It's a another nicely understated piece.
Ulf - I only have two hands
Humour is rarely far away in Ulf's best pictures but it's a universal truth that the bottom can usually call the shots. The dilemma for the top is that when you've got him tied up, all you really want to do is drool over him but he is unlikely to be satisfied with that.
Again, this picture has the virtue of simplicity. Both captives are restrained just by a pair of handcuffs each and there are only two punishment instruments around, the ball press and the baseball bat. The absence of any other complexity allows the viewer to consider and enjoy the sensuously displayed body of the standing captive enduring his painful trial and obliged to watch the forcible subjugation of his companion (in another variation of the pose seen above in the Tunnel Cop and Dawg House pictures).
There's a slight miscalculation of perspective and size in the blending together of these two elements but they make up a harmonious whole with the curve of the bodies fitting together in a satisfying way and the phallic shapes of the bat and cock angling together suggestively at the very centre of the composition.
Not exactly fetish, I suppose but I haven't indulged my fancy for rugby players here recently and it makes a nice post-script to a disappointing world cup for us Brits.
Underbeit's art gingerly explores the attractions of men placed in bondage and it's naive in style and content. This mature man is fondly observed but the title of the piece and his casual pose, comfortably leaning against the wall, scarcely hints at the torment potentially in store for that single supporting leg as his restraint continues.
Underbeit - Bundle of Joy
This simple image succeeds in capturing the tightness of the captive's ropes and gagging. The upright, almost flaming hair seems to convey not just the subject's rebellious youthfulness, but also seems to underline his alarm at his predicament - and perhaps too, his own aroused response to it.
The title seems to refer to someone else's view of this state of affairs.
Underbeit colourises many of his images like this, but they don't retain all the detail of the originals and in this example there's elevation effect in the coloured version making it less intimate and more objectified.
Underbeit - Frustration
Another mature man and another gag. It looks like he is being given an intimidating preview of what's coming his way. Underbeit's title however suggests it's a lustful, size-obsessed gay man being teased by his captor. Or is the captor himself frustrated by the obstacle to contentment he himself has provided? i.e. the gag.
Underbeit - Morning Strapping
This man's masculine credentials are evident in his hairy body and supplemented by the presence of a punchbag suggesting he's a fighter too, which makes the glow of his spanking and his submissive, inviting pose all the more humiliating. If you look at his left leg you'll see what I mean about the colouring process washing away detail.
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Underbeit - Submission
Although this image is called submission it's actually a rather impressive depiction of aggression and dominance of another sporting male. Showing the attacker actually in the process of wrapping his opponent's face (presumably in a wet towel) has much more impact than simply depicting a man in a mask. It makes the struggle between the two men more immediate and real. But even if this is seen as play, the drawing also brings home quite forcefully the sinister possibility/threat of breath control which underlies those face covering and gagging fetishes.
Underbeit - Snake's Punishment
I suppose I should know who Snake is but I'm content to understand his punishment here. It does not appear to have reached it's conclusion yet, there's a few inches still to go. His legs appear to be unrestrained which would probably allow him to postpone that outcome until his muscles (in both departments) begin to tire. His face too is tightly wrapped, in rope this time. It's also secured to the post, uncomfortable as well as restraining.
Underbeit probably wouldn't qualify for this series on technique alone but his work has flashes of true erotic power and is suggestive of that never-to-be-repeated period of youthful exploration and self-examination
we all go through as the mysterious and frightening possibilities of forced restraint and fetishistic fantasies
unfold before us. Even Tagame and Tom of Finland must have passed this
way at one point.
I can't find a website for Underbeit, any information from readers would be welcome.
For other articles in this series click on the A-Z label below
or search my new Artist Index (tab at top of page)
