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| Etienne - Services Auction |
There's been quite a fashion, recently, for AI-artists doing makeovers of familiar, Etienne pictures. This is the latest that I have run across, and it's a little different.
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| Stonecrooze - Services Auction makeover #1 (after Etienne) |
As expected, it breathes fresh life into the imagery, building on the military connection which is of more general interest these days than the (implied) leather club of Etienne's original. Stonecrooze has made the characters more mature and hunkier (I love the hairy legs). This is all great.
The jockstrap detail, which is the focus of the image, also benefits greatly from the increased realism. However, the fickle finger of the instructor(?) is no longer pointing at 'it' directly, instead, he seems to simply be delivering a more general reprimand.
Of
course there's a reason why Etienne drew him standing and pointing the
way he did. It's ambiguous, a sort of not very well 'hidden eroticism'. That
ambiguity puts the soldier's look of consternation into an entirely
different light. He's not just facing a lot of pain at the hands of a succession of men. Now
the auctioneer seems to be pointing out a very different threat,
calling for a different brand of bravery. However, in the makeover, instead of looking bewildered, the soldier now looks stoic and resigned.
This adjustment of the pointing pose does correct some of the awkwardness in Etienne's original - have you noticed how his biker is hunching his soldiers to squeeze himself into the frame? Running out of space is a common problem for artists who draw with the heart (or crotch) more than the head, from left to right before thinking it out, overall. It irritated Falkon (Etienne's contemporary), but fans might find it charming.
The makeover is still a great image, if not entirely faithful to Etienne's original. However, Stonecrooze takes his makeover further, playing with the balance of the original composition by moving the auctioneer/instructor character around.
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| Stonecrooze - Services Auction makeover #2 (after Etienne) |
This variant creates addresses the imbalance caused by the isolated paddle post and creates a more natural relationship between the characters. The faces of the two characters are better as well, grittier.
It ends up catering more for bottom fans than spankers, but I have to say that the revised jock is splendid, so no wonder Stonecrooze has brought it to the front. The rearrangement has also circumvented the AI mistake in drawing the signage posts.
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There's also a variant of this image which shows the aftermath of the affair, but it's a bit too raw for me. You can see all 5 variants at Stonecrooze's Deviant Art site
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More by Stonecrooze at mitchmen
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