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 is on a summer break until July. (see Group News for link)

Message updated 25th June 2023

Wednesday 30 June 2021

Be Careful What You Wish For - 6










 
Images captioned by mitchmen blog and taken from 'Ultrafan' by 'Naked Sword (Falcon Studio)
starring Dorian Ferro, Brent Corrigan and Dominic Pacifico

~

for earlier posts in this mitchmen series on the law of unintended consequences,
 click on the 'Wishes' label below

Sunday 27 June 2021

The Art of Absolutbleu 5 - At The Club

Absolutbleu - Chris Redfield
 

This is a lawman of a different sort to the one we saw at the end of Part 4 of this mitchmen review of Absolutbleu's art. His take on Chris Redfield, the government investigator of biological hazards, doesn't closely resemble his 'official portrait' apart from the trademark stubble. He doesn't even have the customary, ripped and tattered S.T.A.R.S. uniform, with it's characteristic shoulder flash, so this could really be any special agent of the games universe. 

He's packing an interesting, erotic weapon in his holster and this depiction actually looks something like a stripper's parody of the character. This could also be said of many of Absolutbleu's other homo-erotic icons so it's not surprising that Night Clubs and their clientele figure amongst the gay haunts that he chronicles.  

Absolutbleu - Night Club Stripper

This straightforward depiction of the interaction between a Cowboy pole-dancer and his audience casts a slightly different light on 'The Flirt' and his lustful admirers, stereotypes which occur repeatedly in this artist's work. Of course, strippers are the archetypal flirts and the spot-lit stage on which they perform reflects their elevated position in gay life and the gulf that exists between such muscle-hunks and ordinary mortals. In this image, however, the stripper seems as eager as his fans to bridge that divide or is he simply mesmerised by the money?  

(The money is actually being offered to his cock, it seems, rather than himself, an interesting but possibly unintentional bit of irony)


Absolutbleu - Wet Vest Competition

Pole dancing has now largely passed into the crowded obscurity of personal fitness fads (along with Aerobics, Step and Pilates). This scene reflects the modern, industrial-scale commercialisation of Night Club stripping. The Gods and mortals are even more separated here with the strippers not even looking at their frustrated audience, let alone making a connection like that seen in the previous picture. 

The adoring onlookers are reduced to vague silhouettes and cartoons but their lust is cleverly represented by a single, raised, clenched fist directed hopefully towards one of the strippers' dripping groins. Even the 'roadie' supplying the wetness is seemingly dazzled by this great pantheon and like the audience members, he is reduced to a mere caricature. Oddly enough the cartoons seem more like real people than the self-obsessed performers on the stage.

I don't know if the caption is attributable to Absolutblue himself but it represents another seemingly uncrossable gulf - between those, like myself, who see clothes as an essential element of erotica and those who think the exact opposite, that nakedness is the only thing that matters.


Absolutbleu - Merman In A Water Tank

This most inventive image stretches that idea of a gulf into the realms of fantasy with a merman performing in a fish tank on the stage. Mer-creatures in fiction have always represented an unattainable ideal anyway, by virtue of their incompatible anatomy and undersea habitat. The tank here symbolises that additional degree of separation between muscle and mortal. There's an inherent cruelty in catching them and making a freak show out of them, but this merman (like a true A-flirt) seems to love the adulation (from the safety of his tank, at least). 

 

Absolutebleu - Nightclub Lap-Dancer Groped
 

You might think that this image portrays the gulf being bridged, with a dancer allowing an audience member to grope him. His face even shows his pleasure, but there's also an element of calculation in the gritted teeth. 'Make the most of it', he seems to say, 'because it's all you are going to get'. In real life these allowed touches are fleeting, a commercial transaction, they are part of the job of a lap dancer and not, usually, a precursor to genuine intimacy. The gulf is maintained, but at a cost to dignity. 

It's still a highly erotic image, however, and the eagerness of the punter is nicely captured by the clenched hand gripping the dancer's pants so he can't escape. Since the moment is frozen in time, it allows us to imagine more exciting outcomes. 

The dancer's face here is Absolutbleu's standard 'Flirt Face' and seen in many of his images.


Absolutbleu - Champagne Room

 
 This impressive picture also shows the less glamorous side of the life of a professional muscle flirt. It's set in an upmarket gentlemen's club, where for the (exorbitant) price of a bottle of Champagne, patrons can gain personal access to one of the attractive waiters. This well muscled 'host' is dressed only in white cuffs and briefs, like a Chippendale model. Chippendales are arguably the aristocrats of stripperdom, epitomising both the masculine ideal and it's unattainability (which is preserved by performing for women not men). 
 
This host here doesn't have a Flirt Face but one that seems youthful and sensitive, as though he really is a young, sporty student topping up his grant, not a tramp. He's having to resist the advances of his (doubtless inebriated) client who doesn't seem to have read or remembered the notice on the wall. With his skimpy underpants already pulled down the poor lad struggles to extricate himself with dignity - and we can all hope he won't succeed! 
 
Notice the profusion of upward pointing objects in the room and in particular the champagne bottle almost touching the palm of his hand.


Absolutbleu - Flirt At The Pool

Swimmers are unattainable ideals in a class of their own. They have an attractive athletic aura which is enhanced by teasingly brief costumes quite unlike those of any other sport. They can be found at Swimming Pools like this with lanes marked out, but these are places for serious sport and training and don't make good cruising grounds.

Absolubleu has cast this flirt as a competitive swimmer in his cap and goggles, but his physique is not that of an avid swimmer and his ultra-skimpy costume would be more likely to raise eyebrows rather than anything else. A-Flirts are certainly audacious exhibitionists and in this setting, sexual consequences are unlikely.

 

Absolutbleu - Cooling Down At The Sauna

I love this image of a well-worked butt cooling under a running stream of water, it's rather like having a rude, water feature in a garden. The water level plays the same role as lowered shorts in other images, giving a sense of a highly intimate area being unintentionally or grudgingly revealed, but the flirt's face shows it's far from accidental. In a sense the Sauna is the ultimate gay refuge, where Gods and mortals can relax and freely mingle but it's also a place with a strict etiquette to accommodate those who just want to be looked at. The intimate, steamy atmosphere enhances the intensity of voyeuristic encounters just as much as it does for the real thing.


Absolutebleu - Milk, Sir?

After a Sauna or a night at the Club, what better than a milky coffee?

A muscle-hunk is publicly humiliated by being forced to provide a splash of milk for a customer's coffee. The half-hidden sign seems to hint that it is indeed part of his job to serve customers in this near naked state (unprotected, you'll notice, by any counter or bar top). I love that he straddles the table top to do it, overturning a phallic salt shaker and spilling other salt too.

This seems to say that muscle hunks are just human and have to do mundane jobs like everybody else when they are not being stars. No-one in this picture is admiring his muscles, but I guess they do make his milk that much more desirable. Compare this image with the waiter providing breakfast milk from IFNB and the Milk Outlets image of Catrasche.

This wonderful picture epitomises the mitchmen motto of putting men in their place. Absolutbleu has given this one the face of a rather earthy, average guy and that adds to the poignancy of his predicament. It really belongs with the exploitation images in Part 3 of this mitchmen article but it gives me a nice bridge into the sixth and final episode - 'You've Got Milk'.

~

Read this mitchmen series from Part 1

 

Saturday 26 June 2021

Bareass Blogs No 53

 

Bareass Bandit Bedded
 

Go to Bareass No 54 (link and post pending)

 
Photo: Matthew Attard by Bentley Race

Wednesday 23 June 2021

Vintage Bondage - David Stark

This is the magnificent back musculature of Zeus model, David Stark
straining against wrist restraints

Clad only in white underwear, muscles bulging, he wrestles to free his bound wrists

A rope harness encircles his groin and his captors have inserted a device inside his shorts
It grips his sexual organs and forces them outwards through the tight loop of the harness.

His strength has failed to free him and he stops his struggling
He feels a moment of fear as he contemplates the implacable restraints.

 

But his torment has only just begun, he's bundled onto a couch, face down

 


His tied wrists are slowly levered upwards



 His captors remove his undershorts and suddenly he knows what his fate will be.

He feels cold steel pressing against his back

His arms are trapped awkwardly, threaded through a strange, metal frame like jail bars.
It's leaning against the wall forcing him to lean too. Totally defenceless.

His captors mock his muscledom, nipping his pectoral in a fierce, metal clip
It has a strange hook-like extension which seems to beckon invitingly.

 
But before he can imagine what the hook is for, his other pec is similarly brutalised.
All he can do is endure the pain while his captors look on, enjoying his humiliation.

 
But they will not remain spectators for long, his tenderised nipples will be their plaything.
 
~


These grainy images are from the Zeus film 'Tightropes 14' (1990's)
 
The rope 'groin-harness', hooked tit-clips and the seemingly innocuous, but totally disabling, leaning 'gate' frame were used in many Zeus films, they were part of their formula. Fans wanted to see who would get the treatment next, how they would look while getting it, but few men looked as good as this model. Bondage is about controlling strength and David Stark's marvellous muscles seem to love being tied up and tweaked.

or as Zeus Studio elegantly puts it....

"David Stark, 200 pounds of sculpted black bodybuilder muscle tied up and worked over....retied and worked over....in lycra shorts, cut off Levis, and finally just high black motorcycle cop boots. David couldn't get enough pex and tit work for you nipple freaks out there. Watch him try unsuccessfully to shake off his tit-struments, then off-load his "thank you" gusher".
 
Sample clip (you have to battle though the ads but it's worth it!) 
David's session is in Part 2 (30 mins in), 
Part 1 features Stutz Van Ryker in tights and Lone Ranger mask..
 
 David Stark doesn't seem to have done any other films (not under this name anyway)
 

~

Previous 'Vintage Bondage' posts:

There's also some retro stuff in my Muscles and Rope series

Sunday 20 June 2021

The Art of Absolutbleu 4 - At The Park

Absolutbleu - Park Life*

  After the gym, what better pastime for a gym bunny, than to go for a cool-down stretch in the park where he can impress other men with the fruits of his training? These efforts to attract the attention of two passing joggers go beyond the normal, cautious limits of cruising etiquette and the sight would scare off many men, but these two seem to be falling over themselves to get at him (notice how their lower and upper bodies are inter-twined in their eagerness to get there first). The clothing in this picture - both the long leggings/socks and the discarded vest and thong - makes it very sexy.


Absolutbleu - Jogger Tied  Up

The woods are another traditional, gay haunt but it's not without it's dangers. With hands tied and clothes ripped off his body, this jogger gets a different sort of stretching from a square jawed and rough-looking marauder. His gushing response suggests it's only the loss of designer, sports clothing that he'll regret afterwards. Bondage elements and forcefulness are not common in this artist's work but there's an occasional undercurrent of intimidation set against the flirtatious behaviour of the muscle-bound stereotypes.
 
 
Absolutbleu - Kick Boxing
 
This type of sports activity is not entirely unknown in public, leisure spaces, but usually without the nudity. These two seem to be fighting over (and thoroughly exciting) the spectator in the background who is wearing a distinctive necklace cum collar(?) or gag(?) I suspect these characters are strays from a modern computer game (there is a variant of this image overlaid with game scores), but I can't identify the game or them, nor the backstory to this encounter. In the nude, their high-kick poses provoke an erotic comparison with the flirt in the top picture. Their cocks point away from their opponent and it's almost as if  they are both presenting their rear ends. The dramatic, canted angle of the picture suggests they might even come together this way.  The fallen, autumn leaves are a charming and distinctly oriental detail, possibly with a symbolic meaning.


Absolutbleu - Boxer

In this boxing contest the spoils of victory are the loser himself. This thuggish-looking character is left dazed and confused, nursing a black eye and sore ass with the remnants of his modesty stuffed into his mouth. Some flirts, it seems, are not a push-over for bullies. Hooray to that.
 

Absolutbleu - The Coach

 I don't know if this coach, seen exercising his authority in another part of the park, is one the bullying kind but the artist has managed to infuse him with physical strength and a firm character that brooks no argument from his team. Sports grounds are not a typical domain for gay men, they are more suited to profitless ogling rather than cruising, but this specimen's manliness and his provocative attire (with ultra-tight shorts not dissimilar to those of the assaulted jogger above) has attracted the interest of two suited, passers-by. I don't know what their finger signals mean but they are obviously plotting a practical joke.

Absolutbleu - Coach Propositioned

 This scene encapsulates a lure that would not be out of place in the enslavement sagas of Amalaric. The enviable ability of suited (i.e. rich and clever) men to manipulate ordinary hunks. It's somewhat surprising that fifteen dollars is enough to persuade the Coach to lower his shorts (which look just as sexy in this position as they did wrapped round his ass). In the middle of a public space too, with his team, presumably, not far away! Maybe there's some other leverage at work here. The procedure has revealed him to be wearing a skimpy thong rather than the butch, white jockstrap you might have expected. I'm glad to see it's a tasteful, manly, subdued colour but it speaks of unconventional, unmanly interests that his employers might find worrying. It's even more surprising and revealing to discover that the whole situation is a massive turn on for him.

Regulars know that I'm a fan of clothing playing a role in erotica, the pecs and shoulder details here look great, if a little over-exaggerated. It goes without saying that I love equally the moment of undressing. Especially when it reveals unexpected, bonus sights like this. Sadly such scenes are as rare in erotic art as they are in mainstream porn.


Absolutbleu - Coach Gives Service

 Further pictures in this series show the Coach's complete submission to the crafty manipulators in the car park and a belated realisation that he really likes it. Doh! This seduction of a hugely manly stereotype by two quite ordinary-looking, business types is the reverse of the flirtation theme of other images by this artist (like the beach bar in Part 2). The common ingredient though is the lustfulness these musclemen generate, sometimes without realising it. This scene reminds me of Etienne's memorable Night Patrol, car park arrests, it would make a fitting finale.

Absolutbleu - Coach in Cuffs

This incomplete image shows Coach moving on from sexy undies and casual park encounters into the realms of harder fetish, here he is handcuffed (tokenisticly) by a booted and exceptionally excited assailant.

Absolutbleu - Interrogation Room

It's not unknown for men who seek out adventures in parks and other cruising grounds to end up in handcuffs administered by the law. They don't usually end up being interrogated like this, but I suppose it's one way to persuade a hardened criminal to spill. It's not clear if his gritted teeth represent reluctance to do so on his part or simply a helpless surrender to an unusually demanding orgasm. Once again, Absolutblue produces a characterful and attractive face for him, using (what seem to be) the simplest of lines. The cop turns out to be yet another flirt with a majestic and accommodating backside and a supreme confidence in getting his way with rough, tough guys. His superiors (improbably) look on with exasperation. There's actually a nice sense here of straights being excluded from the arcane knowledge of gays in the ways of men and their susceptibilty to certain, secret machinations.

To be continued in Part 5

Read the whole Absolutbleu series at mitchmen from Part 1 (with web gallery links)


Thursday 17 June 2021

Mitchell's Fetish Art for June

Mitchell - Y-Fronts Captive

"Twas on a Monday morning the gas man came to call 
The gas tap wouldn't turn, I wasn't getting gas at all
 He tore out all the skirting boards to try and find the main 
And I had to call a carpenter to put them back again 
Oh, it all makes work for the working man to do!"
 
(From: 'The Gas Man Cometh' by Flanders and Swan)
 
 The man in this picture is the Engineer who came to fix the gas (it was trouble with my mains cock).
He did quite a lot of damage to my skirtings, so I bundled him into the bedroom while we negotiated who should pay for it to be fixed. He was very uncooperative, I started searching his overalls for money. Well actually I removed them from his body first and in doing so inadvertently exposed his underwear which was all he had on underneath. It was pristine white and snug-fitting, but nice but very old-fashioned and he'd even tucked his vest into his high-waisted pants like a schoolboy does. By this time I had him tied, spread-eagled on the bed of course, so he couldn't couldn't cover anything up and his embarrassment was obvious (and rather pleasing if I'm honest). I immediately went to fetch my phone to make a record of him squirming - for my future enjoyment, you understand.

As my lens roved across his body seeking out artistic details to capture for posterity, the bulge in his underpants, nicely framed by the Y-seams, caught my eye. I couldn't resist experimenting to see if I could increase the swelling or at least to rearrange it so it looked bigger. This brought a growled response from him, but I got some fab pictures. For some reason that inverted-Y shape made me think of pitchforks and balloons, but when I told him that he didn't appreciate the joke for some reason. He started yelling and shouting, so of course I had to gag him - for the neighbours sake.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, he let me have my stopcock service for nothing in the end.
(and a jolly good job he made of it too, to be fair to the naughty boy)
I'm on the phone now, hoping to get a carpenter in tomorrow.
 
 (From: 'The Gas Man Cometh' by mitchmen)
 
 ~
 
I've always been turned on by Y-Front style underwear worn with a tucked in vest. It goes back to days spent ogling and dissecting the men's underwear pages of mail order catalogues. 

This style of underwear is very conservative and favoured by modest, unadventurous men
(and I suppose 'large' ones) who appreciate the extra coverage afforded by the high-rise design. There's something very manly about it's no-frills practicality. It doesn't pass as swim or leisure wear when it's unveiled, but spells out firmly that this man is in and 'undressed' state and exhibiting a garment he didn't intend others should ever see. The tucked-in vest seems to amplify this buttoned-up, extreme modesty. For erotically minded viewers it creates a similar sexy impression to an 'all-in-one' suit or leotard.
 
 
For other pictures at mitchmen by Mitchell, click on the 'mitchpix' label below 
Also visit the mitchmen Gallery Hub

Monday 14 June 2021

The Art Of Absolutbleu 3 - At The Gym

Absolutbleu - Muscle Stadium*

Birds of a feather flock together. That's certainly true of muscle heads in the real world. These two casually flaunting their bodies in an empty stadium seem to be playing out an elaborate courtship ritual disguised as a serious discussion, probably about methods of muscle development and nutrition regimes, or maybe the most reliable, retaining brand of skimpy thongs.  More and more flesh is gradually exposed for comparison purposes and the two men gravitate closer and closer to each other, anticipating the electricity of an actual touch. The white shirts are suggestive of Tennis players but the hint of shoulder pads point to American Footballers.  

 *indicates my titles not the artist's
 
Absolutbleu - Gym Distraction
 
While these Muscle Gods love to tantalise lesser mortals on the beach and at other gay haunts, entrance to their exclusive world can only be gained by acquiring a similar physique. The way to do that is by going to the gym. This picture seems to encapsulate that fantasy, the caption seeming to suggest the ease with which a fresh face, seen to be embarking on a training regime, can get immediate access to the box of chocolates. (I don't  know for certain if the caption is by Absolutbleu, but it seems to fit the image).
 
Absolutbleu - Handsome Muscle Flirt*
 
This sketch sums up the fantasy allure of a handsome muscle man, kneeling submissively and baring his generously-proportioned backside in an inviting pose that seems open and genuine.
There's a spanking interest here for some, but I haven't found that activity yet in Absolutbleu's art
This is a good example of how interesting Absolutbleu's faces can be in simple sketches.  



Absolutbleu - Gym Undress
 
This image gives quite a different view of the gym induction procedure as a visitor's shorts are forcibly removed, much to his alarm. I guess the assailant may be his personal trainer but the grin here is not exactly playful or friendly. It's a calculated act, an invasive first step that tests the new boy's inner strength. His lack of resistance confirms that he's suitably submissive for what has been planned

I think that this blond man, with his distinctive dreadlock is one of Absolutbleu's stock characters but I don't know his identity or back-story.

Absolutbleu - Gym Series, Dumbell Curl
 
What follows is a whole series of images in which we see the hapless gym bunny being given a guided tour of muscle training exercises by his trainer. He has to perform them all naked, while his mentor simultaneously gratifies his lust using whichever orifice presents itself.

Absolutbleu - Gym Series, Stretching

Any gay man who's been to the gym will have spent time watching the other men train and wistfully fantasising about taking advantage of the sexy sights that present themselves. Absolutbleu's characters play out these fantasies and it makes for a humourous set of images. However, the blond's confused compliance with the demands of his trainer conjure a undercurrent of domination and submissiveness. It's a harder edge that is very different to the fun and games we saw on the beach.


Absolutbleu - Naked Gym Training*
 
This image develops that theme into something more like bullying as two muscle men size up another gym user who clearly doesn't relish their attention. It's a long way from the confident flirt we saw earlier. His discomfort is amplified by the presence of visitors who are amazed and amused by what they see.

Absolutbleu - Car Wash*

Compare that image with this street scene. It's another classic, homoerotic situation but one usually given over to cash-needy, student types rather than musclehunks. Nevertheless it provides a great vehicle(!) for the artist's usual themes including some great skimpy shorts. At one level it's a scene of playfulness over a shared chore, however, there's a subtle touch of intimidation in the spraying of water and forced undressing of the central, larger character which gives this image something an edge, particularly in the light of the gym ones we've just seen. Is there a hint of discomfort, of vulnerability, in the big man's smile? 
 
The context here isn't entirely clear. Is he the rich owner of the car? Or just one of the cleaning gang? The slant of the picture itself gives a sense of instability, a slide into an unexpected outcome. Even the car itself has an eerie, erotic presence thrusting forward like a gaping mouth. Fascinating.
 
 
Absolutbleu - Lollipop*
 
This view of a muscle head contentedly sucking on an ice lollipop is deliciously romanticised and sensual. This powerfully built man has carefully crafted his image to maximise his attractiveness, not just his physique, but his clothes and hair too. But here he shows an inner quality, a softer, sensitive side. 
It's a great image and a great advert for the world of muscledom.
 
But notice that he can't help supplementing the moment with a bicep flex, a touch of muscle-vanity which I suspect motivates Absolutbleu's other view of these men. 


Absolutbleu - Muscle Service*
 
His other extreme is a world in which muscular men are submissive and desperately needy, at the beck and call of ordinary guys who see the gym as a hunting ground. The cultivation of physical strength and bulk has earned him admiration and attention but no respect ultimately and that reality seems to be dawning on him here. 
 
Absolutebleu - Pay and Park*
 
It's possible that this humiliation is driven by his need for money to buy training 'supplements' to maintain his hard-earned build. Absolutblue heaps on the indignity here by showing the powerful man grovelling at the feet of multiple users and hastily gathering up his money. There may be a smiley on his placard but his face shows humiliation, resentment and perhaps relief that it's all over - for now.


Absolutbleu - Bursting Out
There's a more humourous come-uppance for this muscle fan as his polo shirt finally gives up the challenge of containing those giant pecs, allowing them to burst out and send his lunch flying in the middle of the cafeteria. I'm surprised there seem to be no spectators to witness this humiliating moment, there usually are in this art! Perhaps they are off-shot, but he's obviously dismayed anyway. His trousers are about to do the same, so maybe it's just as well that he hasn't sat down! Having said that, retrieving his frugal meal of apple and drink (or is it yoghurt?) from the floor may be tricky.This sort of humour connects directly to the very beginnings of (mass) gay erotica in the 1950's with artists like Art Bob.
 
~
 
Continued in Part 4
Read this mitchmen series about Absolutbleu from Part 1 (links also there)