The Art of Miloinvinculis

Miloinvinculis - Alien Hive

 I've been trailing a series of video clips by this artist in recent weeks (see Pirate Punishments). These show the (still developing) power of AI to create memorable, homoerotic film scenes which mainstream moviemakers dare not make, bringing niche gay fantasies to life, but without resorting to messy smut. This image is a good example, a still from a clip invoking the power of wetness and dripping 'substance', to underline the vulnerability of a chunky soldier who has somehow got himself stranded in an 'Alien Hive'. 

All the stills presented here come from clips, which you can view at the link given at the foot of this article. Most are quite brief, but add a bit extra to the story and often have a twist, right at the end. 

The old sixties film 'Mysterious Island' has a brief sequence in which a scantily clad cast-away is trapped by a giant bee in his honeycomb. Unlike the unfortunate above, he (a) is not tied up, (b) has a girl with him and (c) escapes almost immediately by melting the wax seal with a fire. Don't ask where he got the firewood and match from! Despite these shortcomings, I found that scene exciting (and frustrating!) when I stumbled on it. (I referenced this it previously here, in an article about the Art of Siproites, which features a giant scorpion chasing the hero into a similar, but botanical trap).   

The outcome of the 'Alien Hive' isn't specified by the artist (like all the best horror movies), 
but escape doesn't seem to be on the agenda.

 

Miloinvinculis - Bed Bondage 3

 Men tied to beds and struggling to escape are not an uncommon sight in our corner of the gay universe. AI to date has shown very limited power to depict bondage convincingly or capture the struggling effect. The spread eagle position is less of a challenge, but what the artist has done here is to provide a hunky subject and a stimulating, secondary predicament for him, wide open before a door, which is going to open at some point. To admit his captor, perhaps, who has been away, getting rid of a nosy cop. Home Alone should have been more like this! 

 

 

Nice Mistake (Video clip)

 

There's definitely a 'Home Alone' feel about this man's situation. His night visitor is so excited about the opportunity thrown up by his 'nice mistake', that he seems to overlook the logistical obstacles to taking full advantage of it. But, who can blame him for his over-eagerness? Fortunately, it appears that his hunky prey is too intimidated by his villainous appearance and aggression to offer any serious resistance. 

 

(Subscribers to the 'Follow Me' feed must vist the site to see the video content of this article, I'm afraid) 

 

 

Miloinvinculis - Caleb

'Caleb' is one of this artist's longer clips. We see him tied up in a van on his way to an uncertain fate. There's a lengthy bondage struggle in which the captive's body twists and turns, showing his heaving chest and the undulations and distortions of his muscles to great erotic effect. It's more effective in that respect than most of the real life bondage clips I've seen, where the models (understandably) usually lack any desire to escape, let alone the self awareness and flamboyance to act out a genuine escape attempt. Caleb's struggle is brought to an abrupt end when his captor returns with a taser (above), but it's fascinating and sexy while it lasts.

 

Miloinvinculis - At The Stake

 This is a great bondage image, with the neck restraint a fitting humiliation for such a big man. I won't go into the exact nature of his predicament, but there's a clue in the background. The resulting video clip is amazing, but graphic, so be warned.

 

Miloinvinculis - Captured POW's

The strength of this piece is the subtle plot development that happens in your mind as you look at it. The two, hyper-real hunks grab the eye immediately, men with faces, muscles and body hair to die for. Their dog tags and hands on their heads indicate they are POW's, but the handcuffs suggest that they are rather special prisoners. We can see that for ourselves, of course. 

 

There's something exciting about two buddies, who are in captivity together. Their identical underwear (sober black but pleasingly scanty) amplifies that sensation. Are their garments Government issue - or have they been provided by their captors, having relieved them of their uniforms?

Whichever the case, they are not soldiers any more. Just a names and numbers. 

These boys seem to be sitting on a mattress, not quite big enough to be a bed. Then you realise that the mattress is inside a metal box, and they are sitting on the front edge. The box is just big enough to accommodate them both, if not in comfort exactly. Their facial expressions suggest they have just discovered they are about to be sealed inside it. Prime specimens about to be transported to ......
Well, you can decide that!  

There is a video clip for this piece, but it doesn't add an awful lot to the snapshot.

 

Miloinvinculis - Bull Barn Milking 2

Industrial Milking is a popular topic at this blog, and 'Milo' makes an interesting contribution to the imagery of the technology with this piece. The exact mechanics of extraction look a bit sketchy, though. One senses this is more a prank on the side than part of a serious industrial enterprise. 

One man doesn't make a milking factory, no matter how productive he appears to be!

 

 

Miloinvinculis - Bull Barn Milking1

In this gentleman's case, the picture cropping draws a veil over the extraction mechanism, but you get the impression that it's more push than pull - unless there's some very clever gadgetry inside his trunks! That would account for his strained expression, of course. 

Nevertheless, these two donors would be more than acceptable recruits to the factory line. I could see this man's torso getting a good deal of personal attention from the staff. 

Such is the fate of 'Mark' in the next video mini clip....

 

Mark 1 Extra (video clip)
 

In the clip above, the very muscular Mark is seen struggling with his restraints until one of his minders descends on him and distracts him by proceeding to worship his pulsating body. The characterisation of the captor for me is worth the watch, with mighty shoulders and giant arm muscles, he's bursting out of his tight, white vest/tank top (see below).

 

 

bod

Mark's Body is Worshipped

Mark also has a starring role in a longer, mini-epic (9 mins) with similar imagery, but darker content. It's a tougher watch, but the outcome has a surprise twist that's worth waiting for. 

 

Miloinvinculis - Electro 5

This handsome pair of hunks get starring roles in one of Milo's most ambitious projects to date. Their predicament is a great 'getting to know you' situation - even for military buddies. There's a lengthy clip which shows them torn between attempts to pull apart and lapses into mutual consolation. Their grim dance is conducted with visibly indrawn breaths, heaving chests, aborted kisses and (occasionally) pulsating briefs before a sort of consummation is finally realised. 

However, the dark side to this artist's work surfaces when it turns out that the buddies romancing is just one aspect to their predicament, as implied by the title and, less obviously, by the metallic briefs they are dressed in. Separate clips show them being interrupted every time they show desire, with graphic electrical effects, body convulsions and even their bulges making responses.

 

 The 'US Water Sports Team' video (above) is one of my favourites, a little gem with lurking menace. It makes a decent stab (by AI standards) at showing a swimmer being tied up. That's a process that conventional films usually pass over entirely or else show in excruciating detail, fumbles and all. 

 

Creating an AI image or video doesn't involve actors, but the AI engine can be just as much of a diva, with ideas and boundaries of its own that can only be circumvented by patient repetition or trickery. 

 ~

For more, visit Miloinvinculis at Deviant Art

See also my posts at 'X' - Staked out and Kinky Superhero Boyfriend

plus the Sailor Punishment series here at mitchmen and 'X' 

Art by Steve Masters

Steve Masters - Wolf (1961)

This is one of Masters' most memorable works, imagining life in a prison. There's a strongly masculine flavour and a clear sense of who's who. Overlapping hands establish a connection between the prisoners (illicit for it's time). It can be interpreted as menacing ownership and exploitation - or secret tenderness. 

Masters often used words in his images to spin homosexual puns, but I confess the significance of 'Machine Shop' escapes me. 

 

Steve Masters - Convict (1961)

This convict image shows the flip side of the coin, with a heavily manacled convict being toyed with by the prison guards. It's from the same year (and the same thought process, judging by the prisoner's sexy, sagging pants in both pictures). 

The styling here is closer to Masters' trademark style, with geometric, conflicting and seemingly random lines creating a sketchiness (e.g. the guard's chest) but also a clothes layering effect with the suggestion of a bulging pouch inside the Guard's trousers. 

The ambiguity - is the prisoner expected to lick the Guard's feet or to service that bulge? - is reflected in the second guard's reaction, look at his left hand is doing.

 

Steve Masters -Bulkhead (1961)

This picture was often cropped in its day to focus on the two sailors in the background, undressing and hanging up clothes on a washing line. That playful cameo is framed by two more sailors in the foreground playing out a more serious game. 

At the right, a bare ass tar who stands, arms folded, as if he's waiting for his pants to dry on the line. He looks round, embarrassed and uncomfortable. It's as if he senses he's being eyed up and is uncomfortable about it. Below him, another sailor lounges. He winks at us conspiratorially, as if his catch is in his sights, but he's biding his time to land him. The title encapsulates his thoughts, one man's bulk, another man's head, an abbreviated pun. 

 The lounger still has his pants on, but the fly wide is wide open, revealing plunging abs and sexual intent. There's a substantial arousal within, which doesn't take much spotting, and there's an illusion of teasing detail in the folds. In the complexities of this drawing, these pants double up as very brief shorts, looking through different eyes.

Steve Masters - Fisherman and Frogman

 Steve Masters often drew men in bodysuits and tight-fitting clothes, so the 60s vogue for underwater exploration and adventure (Sea Hunt etc) naturally interested him. He's juxtaposed it here with another favoured theme - fishermen. 

 

In this curious image, the hands of the two men are again superimposed, establishing a mutual connection via the phallic, harpoon gun. The frogman's giant catch has a vaguely phallic look too, but there's nothing vague about the fisherman straddling the rudder of his boat. Not only is the post jammed suggestively between his cheeks, the tiller arm (unseen by us) sticks out between his legs towards the frogman.  The symbolism can be taken further to embrace the function of the tiller - determining the direction the fisherman wishes to take.

 

The Frogman's suit is decorated with a snazzy 60s design, which Masters generally did. That modernity contrasts with the timeless sexiness of the fisherman's skimpy singlet and drooping pants (with rolled up bottoms as per Royale fishermen for example). Low rise trousers were another 60s fad, a sexy rebellion against the high waists that had defined men's fashion for as long as anyone could remember. It culminated in a race to have the shortest zip, only 1" long.

 

Steve Masters - Scuttlebutt (1962)

Rough fishermen and a 'sailor' collide in this image too. It looks like it might be a fashion shoot being conducted on a working jetty. Despite his practical-looking sea boots and jeans, the sailor strikes a catwalk pose* which accentuates his backside. A seagull balances comically on his shoulder, presenting its backside threateningly.

 

* pre-dates the familiar Jim French/Colt image (below) 

Colt - Sailor with Ventilation (my title)

 The fishermen just ignore him, smoking and eating fruit from a phallic arrangement in their lunch boxes. The nearest one is depicted in a very traditional manner, with boots and cockleshell hat. His straightness is challenged by the words on the box he is sitting on. The other, smoking a pipe and with his captain's cap jauntily canted, looks more mature, except that his muscle vest is tight with snazzy 60s flashes and a design suggestive of a nautical Hell's Angels. He's totally naked below the waist - apart from tattoos. He has attracted the sailor's attention, they seem to be exchanging 'looks'.

 

The photographer watches all this closely. He is the modern equivalent of the artist drawing his model, a common device in gay images of this era to legitimise the admiration of a naked man. It may represent Masters himself, he was a fashion photographer.

"Scuttlebutt" means rumours or gossip, originating from a nautical term for the water cask on a ship where sailors would gather to drink and exchange information. The pun on butt is obvious with three on display in the picture, scuttle meaning 'to sink' is a sexy connotation but slightly obscure.

 

~ 

 

View another Scott Master's fisherman at mitchmen 

 

~ 

 

Steve Masters - False Alarm

More sailors at play. This isn't a particularly good copy, but it's an interesting example of Masters' visual innuendos. Here a naked matelot has been called upon to put out a fire by two of his shipmates. They seem to be giving a novice the ship's initiation rites, because the idea of a fire bucket (full of water or sand) catching fire is as ridiculous as the notorious glass hammer or tartan paint used to haze apprentices. 

 

However, the naive young novice has little choice and clumsily feeds the hose between his legs like a snake. The nozzle ends up looking like an extension of his dick. Aligned with the open fly of one of his tormentors, it also looks as if he's jerking him off, with the resulting fountain (not looking very much like water) dousing the fire. Another sailor watches the fun through a porthole. 

 

 

Steve Masters - Reveille (my title)

This looks like another hazing ritual. A young military recruit is suddenly awakened by a bugle blast and finds his bed surrounded by men in strange, sheer bodysuits, He looks around for help or an avenue of escape but one of them, (totally naked like him), is sitting on his legs, so he can't move. 

 

These pranksters have moved his bed in the night and placed it outside the captain's office. Inside, we glimpse miliaria - and a coil of rope that bodes ill for him if he doesn't co-operate. He is ordered to lay his head on the pillow, where it will be inches away from a dangling cock. The remaining two men are poised to explore his ass.

 

More Steve Masters in Part 2 

 

Steve Master's Biography  

 

Mike Miksche photo album 

Cowboy fun with cartoonizer and hot irons

 I recently discovered an 'AI-cartoonizer' and was amazed and delighted with the results it generated when fed with my recently published 'Cowboy Branding' image, an early picture which I've never been totally happy with. This app unexpectedly revealed the essence of it's drama in a most sensual way. 

M159 Talk or be Branded (cartoonized variant 1)

This result arbitrarily put modern, fashionably-coiffured heads on the two characters, but that was an improvement on my original (reproduced below) where the two faces don't really match stylistically. The software also decided to clothe the victim below the waist but I actually find those plunging, low-rise pants rather sexy! The colourisation of his skin has also brought out the captive's sexy neck-tie which looks old fashioned and showy now but bowled me over when I first saw one on Ty Hardin.

The AI hadn't a clue, though, what to do with the glimpse of thigh seen through the hole in the stall wall, nor the discontinuity in the brander's left arm and in fact the whole branding paraphernalia has gone out of the window leaving a background that resembles the clutter of a bathroom plus an amusing manifestation of a hand emerging from behind the stall wall holding I don't know what!

 The overall simplification has not resulted in any loss of the sense of menace.

M159 Talk or be Branded (Original drawing, Darkened version)


This software offers the choice of male and female 'interpretations 'but I must say I wasn't expecting the emasculation operation which it performed on my lovely men in the second variant below. It also stripped them both naked, which might account for the brander's expression, as though it's dawning on him that we can see their little secret! You might conclude that this choice - male = clothed, female = nude suggests good old fashioned, politically incorrect, stereotyping is built into this particular Artificial Intelligence! Shame there's not a car bonnet (US = hood) handy for draping purposes.

M159 Talk or be Branded (cartoonized variant 2)

The same stereotyping might account for the mysterious hand from behind the stall transforming from a balls cupping shape to an rather evil claw here and also the re-interpretation of the branding iron as a more feminine, paint brush. Shades of Ken Dodd with his tickling stick! This AI is decidedly kinky and if the Doddy connection is anything to go by, it's going to be a very long night for the captive ending with a numb bottom .

This variant made a better fist of that glimpse of thigh, but unaccountably fails (like No 1) to spot that the captive's left arm does not stop at the elbow.

M159 Talk or be Branded (cartoonized variant 3)

This variant is closest to the original in some ways. The branding iron is there and it's even tinted orange although the software surely doesn't know that it's meant to be hot. The captive's grimace is more pronounced suggesting he's either felt it's kiss already or else has a vivid imagination. Either way he still seems to be gamely sticking out his butt to the torturer.

 The AI can't quite make up it's mind here whether the men are clothed or not and has settled for cut-off jeans on the brander and a sort of translucent, posing pouch on the captive that suggests that any sexual excitement he may have had, has (understandably) evaporated after experiencing the reality. 

This choice of clothes is uncannily contemporary with the drawing itself.

The half-coloured arm is now complete but that weird groping hand now looks like barbecued cock as if the programme has learnt to join the game. Spooky!

M159 Talk or be Branded (cartoonized variant 4)

In this version, the whole image is tinted in a warm glow suggesting the heat in the barn as coals do their evil work. The victim is now clothed in tights which will produce interesting results when the iron makes contact. In fact it looks as if they are already smoking - unless that's the captive steaming. 

M159 Talk or be Branded (cartoonized variant 5)

This last variant is very similar except that the brander is no longer thrusting with his branding iron but holding a cigarette instead, while he takes time out from his hot work. It's possibly a joint judging by his facial expression, a dangerous combination in these circumstances. The captive has that 'Uh Ah' look that says 'this isn't looking good' having spotted, quite correctly, that the cigarette, while less of a blunt instrument, is equally capable of causing distress - over a wider area and over a much longer period. 

~

I think I'll be experimenting more with this technique!

Art by ED Draws

ED Draws - Cobweb Crawler

 

A sequel to my last post featuring a different predatory creature after his dinner. It's a spider and he's already got his victim sewn up in the tightest bondage you will ever see outside of a pyramid. The eroticism of this predicament is very much in the mind and doesn't really rely on fear of spiders.

Another web victim (aren't we all?) is depicted by the great Hasegawa in another mitchmen. He gives the situation more overtly erotic twist by having the victim naked and binding him in threads that look translucent and silky. His spiders however don't look as nasty as this one. In Malex's take on the subject, the spider passes his captive on to a carnivorous plant, like a religious offering (in Malex in Space also at mitchmen)

Click on the 'encounters-with-creatures' label at the foot of this post to explore other mitchmen posts related to this subject.

 

ED Draws - Satanic Cornfield

 

The artist invokes a selection of horror movie themes here to create a deadly threat of a different kind. The blindfolded victim is stark naked and showing a delicious glimpse of root to tease us. It suggests that this Satanic rite is driven by sexual desire as much as declaring allegiance to the Devil. The victim has a touch of the comic about him in both senses of the word, seeming surprisingly unconcerned considering he's just had his chest carved up. It's almost as if he's looking forward to meeting the demonic guest of honour at this party. His torso is seductively portrayed with clever shadowing and highlights and no doubt the Devil will enjoy him.

The Guard cum Priest is attired in a strange cross between religious robe, star trek uniform and bondage suit, but it gives him an intimidating, faceless presence. The evidence of extensive sewing repairs suggests the garment has great age, in keeping with the ancient rite but might also indicate that proceedings such as these tend to get quite boisterous later on. On the other hand it might simply be a rebellious punk statement. Compare the design with 'The Captor of The Young Knight' in the recent mitchmen update on Brosfate's Art

The Priest's knife, with it's unpleasant serrated edge, is the stuff of classic horror, as is the full moon and Cornfield setting although the latter seems a surprising venue for a supposedly secret rite. The undulating corn leaves behind them resemble flickering flames and also give an impression of a haunted wood or a petrified forest. 

 Jotto invokes the more traditional role of The Cornfield in the mitchmen post 'The Red Barn'.

ED Draws - Satanic Ritual

The Devil himself appears in puff of writhing smoke in this ritual, looking rather neat and stylish. It's not the same ceremony as the preceding image and this celebrant is clearly not being forced to take part. There's a sense that he might be sleepwalking or 'under the influence' but he's awake enough to be pretty excited about it and to have taken the precaution of bringing a crucifix with him. That might make any intended intimacy a bit difficult, if legends are to be believed. The sideways look that the devil is giving us suggests he's thinking the same thing. 

I'm no expert on demonic matters but I believe the circle around the pentagram is also a boundary which creatures of the other world can't cross, not even with their tongues I presume, so this man is less exposed than it appears, but nevertheless he's looking quite wary and taking no chances. Presumably he's just getting off on the weirdness and pondering the possibility that the legends got it all wrong. 

Contrast this with the imminent horror of LeoArt's recent image at mitchmen - Devil's Toy.

See also Platter's demons which are not to be trifled with lightly either.

ED Draws - St Patrick's Bondage

 There's a touch of the sinister too about this image, but of a more down to earth variety. A comprehensively tied up and rather attractive red-head is being milked by a leather man who has a slightly disturbing look in his eye. The red-head seems to have picked that up as well and looks as if he might be regretting his impulsive decision to submit to bondage with a man he's never met before.

I like the shiny nipples here in the style of Tom of Finland, but I haven't a clue why the St Partick theme is given such prominence, maybe there's an autobiographical element to this scene, a reminiscence of a memorable pick-up, but which one is Ed?

ED Draws - Pet Dog

Full-on doggy-fication involving the use of masks is a notable feature of this artist's work and he does it rather well. I prefer to see men's faces, but I do like the dildo/tail device simply as a symbol of domination and humiliation and it seems particularly effective here, exploiting the gap at the back of a jockstrap (which I imagine to belong to a sportsman). The bondage and submissive pose in this image make it's inclusion a must anyway.

 

ED Draws - Cyclops and Wolverine

 The male domination theme is even more explicit in this image but more simply expressed and more powerful on that account. Bringing such a strikingly masculine man to heel with a simple collar and lead is humiliation enough for him without any need to resort to more showy dog accessories. His kneeling position is not totally submissive, an attempt to preserve a modicum of male dignity. The top's grip on his hair, forcing him to receive his ejaculation is an acknowledgement his reluctance to do so. It underlines his power but gives respect to his captive's manliness even as he submits.  

The superhero connections of this pair add another layer of humiliation for those steeped in the genre, converting the customary playful rivalry of these men into something more intense.

 

ED Draws - Fiery Hero

This looks as if this might be another superhero like 'The Human Torch' but I've not seen him depicted with a beard before. There is an element of fetish interest in the proximity of fire to naked male bodies (see label at the foot of this post for other examples) but a more earthy attraction here lies in the ripped pants/trousers which suggest a particularly lustful opponent has just been encountered. The flames might therefore be construed as the aftermath of subsiding passion. 

Notice that the attribution on the picture is Edward, I presume it's an earlier identity. The style is slightly less refined but nevertheless the hairy abdomen descending beneath the hero's waistband is highly erotic. 

 

ED Draws - Superhero Feat

I have a similar ID problem with this picture, it came with a 'Super' title which is not particulalry helpful but what's going on here is heroic by anybody's standards. This simple beefcake image is utterly transformed by the presence of a raging fire into something that is visually and dramatically exciting. There's something about the neatly trimmed beard here which accentuates the hero's nudity and the sense of danger creates an erotic tang. With an uncut cock looming in our faces, the urge to offer help is almost irresistible! It's just a great picture.

~

ED Draws uses a nice clean modern style and depicts highly masculine men. Examples of his pictures are quite easy to find with search engines, he seems to have several sites (e.g. ED Draws on Only Fans), but I haven't found a 'flagship' location with significant numbers of posts.

Art of Roa - 1. The Conquered Hero

 

Roa - Graham (Conquered Hero)

At first sight this marvellous image might easily be mistaken for the work of Homoeros, a noted creator of crucufixion imagery whose work often features outside settings like this bathed in bright, Mediterranean light. But Roa spares this defeated warrior from agonising death on the cross, instead using the construct to parade him in their victory march. The prolonged suspension is painful and the forced nudity humbles him, but this spectacular exhibition they have arranged for him also pays tribute to his heroic qualities which have made him highly-prized as a captive.  

 

Roa - Graham (In captivity)

Soon enough though the lauded hero is despatched to a dank dungeon to await a grisly fate. His modesty has been temporarily restored with a flimsy loin cloth but the widely spaced restraints continue to draw attention to his muscular physique. They suppress his physical strength and place unnatural stresses on his body. He can be in little doubt that his captors are preparing him for further suffering.

Roa portrays 'Graham' as a well-developed adult with a ginger, buzz haircut which serves as a tribal badge in historical fantasy but also seems to convey a man with lingering youthfulness and a rebellious, unconventional character. 

The suggestively dangling loin cloth suggests there might be a nude version of this image and his wistful contemplation of that area may reflect a resignation to that area being a focus of his captor's attention. 

Roa - Graham (Nipple Torture)

So it proves. Once his real ordeal begins the modesty afforded by the loin cloth is soon forfeit and his limbs are subjected to even more severe restraint. It starts with mild but invasive manipulations that impress upon him how vulnerable his body now is to painful assault. However the heavy chains that hold him and the torturer's formal hood indicate that far worse is to come. 

Graham's slightly chubby face, stubble and body hair are representative of a particular form of rather earthy, natural manhood that you might associate with big rugby players and construction workers.

Roa - Graham (facing hot irons)

Graham's manly qualities are severely tested in a series of trials including being chained to a stone block and tortured with hot irons, one of the most extreme torments imaginable. His face in this image is a great study in mature masculinity and stoic endurance. Roa bestows on him a muscular back, which are one of the glories of his work but an inviting target for his subject's captors. 

Graham's pain in this predicament is not merely physical, he is forced to endure it in front of his lover, Alphons, who happens to be the Prince of his realm. Graham's unconventional (not to say tricky) relationship with Alphons forms the backbone of this story. Roa depicts with great sensitivity how the young Prince falls in love with his finest warrior, a man who is old enough to be his father. It's a classic realisation of adolescent hero worship and lust fantasy.

He goes on to seduce Graham him in some beautifully romantic scenes. Later, the two men are seen fighting alongside each other in battle, implying he is of an age, but unfortunately, for me, he just looks too young and the renders of him (and other characters seen in this example) don't achieve the same maleness and individuality of Graham and his tormentors.

More Roa Art in Part 2 next time at mitchmen

Roa seemed to vanish a few years back, I can't find him anywhere on the net including pixiv and Patreon. Roanovel on Deviant Art is still there but empty apart from some interesting pieces by other artists, his Tumbr site is gone. If you know more please leave a comment.

The Art Of Richie San Lucas

Stop And Search - Oh Officer!

Much of Richie's work is fluffy fanart but this is nicely suggestive.

The cops hidden left hand is doing most of the talking

but there's also a nice juxtaposition of trouser creases, cuffed hands and juicy butt.

Release Your Passion

Vaguely fetishistic with chains and fiery torments,

but the symbolism seems a bit confused

would that the image itself had more passion.

Richie - Maor Luz

Tsunami Season in Paradise?

Deliciously cute.

Some interesting photos at Maoz Luz website

Richie - Model, Bibbi Deg

Soccer players have ravishing thighs which their kit usually hides

but knee length sports socks help.

Poses like this always make me thing of abduction scenarios,

"Soccer star stripped and kidnapped from the training field!"

The real Bibbi Deg is worth a spot of his own.

Dig those speedos!

Pepe Brandford

There's a sense of lurking menace in these images that doesn't quite break free of publishing conventions and fan worship. Compare Richie's style with Eddie Chin and Paul Richmond

See more at Richie San Lucas @ Deviant Art

Priapus of Milet - Shooting The Past 2

Read Part 1 of this article

Shooting The Past 1 - image 44

When the photographer moves on to Workman No 2, he appears to be made of sterner stuff than his colleague at first sight. Yet he too is persuaded to strip off his shirt and perform a series of butch poses paying tribute to Herb Ritt's famous 'Hunk with Tyres' image*. Despite his massive bulk he's dwarfed by the engineering behind him and his muddy tyres seem slightly incongruous in comparison.

Both musclemen are pretty much cast as minions of 'The Great Machine'.

(*Coincidentally I also posted a picture here recently showing Jase Dean recreating this image)

Shooting The Past 1 - image 62

That all changes when he strips off completely and sparks fly. It's a magical moment. The industrial process shown here is typically associated with iron and steel making but the cascading stream of molten metal is the colour of liquid gold. It seems to fall at his feet like a tribute. Even the pouring bucket seems to be bowing in deference to him.

The pouring stream forms a pleasing inverted-triangle shape with his legs. It's dangerous convergence is not without erotic ambiguity either. In the next picture in the series (not included here), it seems to pour directly into his body and groin like an energising force.

This is a very clever and memorable picture. It casts the model's natural grandeur in a doubly heroic light by drawing on the gigantic scale and raw, dangerous, energy of the plant around him. It's also the climax of his own teasing flirtation with the photographer.

Shooting The Past 2 - image 03

The two, naked workmen join forces to create a memorable Blacksmith, forging moment. This could easily be the Smith and his apprentice from an old legend restoring a magical weapon.  The background has become murkier and more distant and has changed to a more complex, smaller scale, almost creating the illusion of an ancient, sacred temple. What better for hosting this most manly and ancient of rites? A channelling of raw, human strength into metal.

As they work, the sparks fly even closer to their sensitive areas and the suggestive positioning of the forging workman's tong handles plus the assistant's hand nearby, reaching out and gripping his own, chunky, hammer handle seem to be heading us in an equally sizzling direction. But the men themselves seem to be unaware of it, preoccupied with the chain they are making (or repairing).

Even without the coded sexual signals this is a great erotic picture in a much broader sense. There's a marvellous feeling of unselfconscious, shared purpose and working together and their nudity makes it an intimate moment and compelling to watch. The lighting of the scene, particularly the left hand figure is simply beautiful and adds to that sense of intimacy. But there's no question who's in charge here and it's entirely consistent with the character development we've seen up to this point,

but the flying sparks hint at simmering rivalry.

This depiction of the cult of bodybuilding expressed through 'real' men working in a relatively primitive, heavy industrial context gives the scenario a spine-tingling dimension of swirling natural forces and barely-controlled danger. Fantasy and superhero scenarios often seek to create this too but for most of us lack the credibility to do it successfully.

Shooting The Past 2 - image 06

Having established in Part 1 that the first workman had a youthful streak of daring, this lassoing prank is not entirely unexpected and a 'tug of war' is a predictable form of play for two muscular friends. But the trapping of the Smith with the chain he has just himself made, escalates the playful challenge from a simple battle of strength, into a struggle with overtones of domination. You can read in their expressions that it's not so very light-hearted. Perhaps there is a rivalry for the attentions of the photographer. The smoke behind the mischief maker hints at serious intentions while the red hot, open furnace raging behind the 'captive' seems to express the heat of his embarrassment.

Shooting The Past 2 - image 07

The upstart seems to chain the newly-proclaimed hero to the block or is it just muscle-play? In previous images these chains can be seen attached to either end of the block for lifting so this would be a natural way to show off muscularity. But the fetishistic ambiguity of capture and threat is made more real by the purposeful, challenging pose of the 'captor' and the apparent frustration of his captive.

Shooting The Past 2 - image 08

The pulling pose here is magnificent, full of determination and power. Appropriately enough the fire now highlights the muscles in his tensioned back. The 'captive' is helpless to prevent his arms being pulled aloft by the stronger man. The hanging pipe in the background offers the faintest of clues to erotic thoughts which are also beginning to show in their  bodies but they are not long in materialising anyway. 

Shooting The Past 2 - image 13

You could hardly better this as an expression of passion. The furnace behind them seems to explode, forcing the captive to arch his body forward in an offering to his lustful captor, he's also seemingly drawn forward by the chain between his legs as though it's trapping his manhood. But it's clear that the pleasure in this captivity game is entirely mutual. If these are rivals, it's a very friendly rivalry!

Shooting The Past 2 - image 17

The fetish element recedes, the captive surrenders, the fire settles to a steady blaze and a gentler body worship begins. Meanwhile the photographer, unseen, watches all this with amazement

(but doesn't miss a shot even so!)

Shooting The Past 2 - image 31

Now he is drawn directly into the rite, deprived of the shield of his camera and his clothes too. The 'cheeky boy' snaps this moment of initiation, the climax of a lengthy seduction on his part. At this point his colleague, the 'serious' workman, has shown that he is seriously sexy too and it shows as he settles to undressing the latecomer. The drifting smoke seems to reflect the photographer's uncertainty and intensifying sexual tension.

(I must admit I'm a bit surprised at the photographer's muscularity, I imagined that his relative boyishness was part of his attraction to the muscle-guys - but then it's not my story to tell!)

Shooting The Past 2 - image 52

Having worshipped the beefcake boys from a distance the photographer finds bonus fulfilment as the meat in their sandwich. The recently-chained (chastised?) top resumes his leadership role by encouraging the romance which seemed to develop between the other two in Part 1. But while the boys lie embracing each other and getting intimate, he proves his animal credentials (and celebrates his freedom) by topping them both with a triumphant, wolf-like cry of  orgasmic pleasure, a great image. The stairs rising behind him and the swirling smoke/steam make a witty comment on his ecstasy.

A lengthy, happy 'end' game follows this moment after which the studs gather round the flames of the furnace like Boy Scouts at camp. I've largely skipped this most sexual section in the interests of brevity and focussing on the fetish but there are dozens of other images which I urge you to seek out using the links below.

Read Part 1 of this article

~

Priapus of Milet has produced many great works now but this is one of his best creations showing gay men in the way we would all like them to be:- strong, seductive,and passionate, sometimes forceful, mysterious and magical, but ultimately comradely and loving. There's a gentle edge to the flirtation with fetish here which might make you wish for more but still leaves a warm glow.

You can see this series displayed at Priapus @ Telemachus12 (132 images in all). Some of the images presented there are incomplete, typically with the lower half removed, the full images can only be seen by subscribing to Priapus @ Patreon. The Patreon version also has extra images (making 172 in all).

The Priapus Gallery @ Telemachus12 has a number of other series by Priapus.

There's also a selection (not completely the same) at his own Priapus' blog.

You can find an overview of the Patreon projects on The Patreon Index page

together with a description of the subscription arrangements.