MilkCow

Milk Cow - Get Shocked (Click to enlarge)

I  stumbled across this artist quite recently and was immediately struck by the drama and story-telling in his pictures. This complex example is an early work and explores a theme which I suspect is a common fantasy of many of our early years: 'buddy punishment' based around an espionage scenario with ruthless bad guys (a la James Bond). 

MilkCow removed the dialogue from his 'clean' version of this picture, but I have taken the liberty of restoring it (with minor changes to make the English more natural) because it adds meaning to the scene and gives insight into the mind of it's creator.

MilkCow - Whip Him (Slave Training)

This picture shows the flair for dramatic line that is apparent in some of his pictures. It's made all the more striking by the simplicity of the composition which allows it's inherent sensuality to surface, unhindered by any particular storyline or background details.

MilkCow - Big Chest Torment

You might discern in this example (and others here) a stylistic kinship with the drawings of Cavelo. For example in the dark skin colouration and highly detailed musculature which has an almost plastic texture. This dense area is contrasted with simple outlines for other elements of the picture. These are a feature of both artists work, and inspired, I believe by the world of bodybuilding with it's fake tans and oily skin preparation. I'm glad these artists spare us the prominent veins! 

MilkCow's approach to his subject matter however is quite different. Cavelo's images sometimes have unusual, dramatic perspectives but always exist within the boundaries of his frame rather than reaching out to us like this, let alone casting us as participants! This is an ambitious concept and a little unobtrusive bending of perspective allows the insertion of some erotic, close-up detail. The crystal clear detailing of the tit clamps further back is pretty astonishing, making good use of the two contrasting techniques.

The spooky goggles I don't understand,
 but I think they are a clue to the artist's cultural background.

MilkCow - The Opening

In this picture you can see straight away that this artist comes from the Far East. The facial detailing, hairstyle and strap-on vibrator give it away. There's more than a hint of Tagame in this image, but interestingly the artist hails not from Japan but from Hong Kong. The cross-influences are not surprising.

It's the powerful, curving composition that is most impressive thing about this picture and it's clearly reflecting an erotic reading of the figure, not just a pretty muscle shot. The preceding image actually contains a similar ingredient, compare them and see how the position of the head changes the effect it conveys. Both these pictures are infused with high emotion

MilkCow - Captive Camp

You can't help noticing that MilkCow's captives generally have deeply contorted faces that are not particularly attractive in that state. There's no doubt that the artist is seeking to convey deep distress and misery, even tears in this case. Contrast with the second image where the captive's beauty and erotic appeal takes precedence, unspoiled by his expression of anxiety.

The block and outline technique here produces a tremendous sense of substance in the central figure and some interesting contrasting detailing. The metal collar though almost seems to have visually decapitated the captive. It's a matter of taste whether you regard this as a miscalculation or a daring artistic effect.

I find the blue-collar apparel of the workers here interesting, it seems to suggest that all this is legitimate, unremarkable business as usual.

MilkCow - Lazy Athletes

A Coach who has unconventional ideas for punishing his gymnastics team makes for a nice picture that triggers run-on fantasies. The artist's preoccupation with extreme musculature poses challenges for some bondage positions but I guess the main point of interest is the half-mast shorts which create the sense of impromptu punishment, although the complex circuitry with a dedicated station for both (and all the other?) team members suggests a considerable degree of premeditation and repetition.

The relatively primitive threat of the ruler seems odd, but chimes with my own memories of school. The foreground figure is another imaginative composition technique and crops up again in a later picture in this article.

The date shown on the wall poster suggests this image might have been inspired by seeing gymnasts at the 2008 Beijing Olympics but sadly for me, the tight vest (no leotard?!) is discarded on the floor.  

MilkCow - Orgy, Orgy, Orgy

Ripped clothes are usually more interesting to me than ripped bodies but this image has some other interesting stylistic features as well. Once again the composition is spilling out of the frame and you get a distinct sense that those fingers manipulating the captive's assets (bottom left) belong to the artist himself. The distorted perspective here isn't really convincing but somehow it seems to work. The technique seems related to the way advertising graphics are put together to emphasise (neccessarily) the message. It results in a strong sense of design being evident which is quite original in this genre. Although the characters are very stylised and somewhat stiff (!), he nevertheless succeeds in capturing the intimacy and immediacy of the struggle.

There's another interesting mix of shaded photo-realism and comic-style line drawing here which helps create the sense of the hands at the bottom being external agents. However, it reverses the normal protocol which usually employs line drawing for the (comic) characters imprisoned within the page and realism for the intruding artist or his pencil/brush.

Finally, note the two half hidden characters at the back, they are similar to Tom of Finland in style, but a closer look suggests more affinity with the hand of the great Sadao Hasegawa. If you are familiar with that artist's more culturally influenced pictures you may see his ideas/motifs reflected in the central character too.

MilkCow - Bath Boy Service

This picture depicting the fate of a 'freed' slave is a good example of the 'Cavelo look' where the supporting cast of tormentors and cavorters are represented by outlines which are highly detailed but are unshaded. They therefore lack bodily substance, visually retreating into the background, even those who are actually in the foreground, standing between us and the central character.

Unlike Cavelo however, Milkcow's pictures have a hard-edged simplicity and he creates a highly distinctive and individualistic style. His site charts the evolution of his work from relatively naive, youthful beginnings to these startlingly confident later works. The explanation of his storylines in speech bubbles and captions are equally interesting and encompass classic, fetish-revealing emotions which many of my readers will recognise

More MilkCow at mitchmen

see more examples at Milkcow-magazine gallery
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