Art by Steve Masters 4

Read this series of posts from Part 1 

 

Steve Masters - Greasing The Saddle

This image can't be found in the beefcake publications of the sixties, it's far too suggestive. Master's title seems to imply this is a regular rendezvous for the cowboys, a male brothel perhaps, which would account for the dodgy wallpaper and the rather deprecating title!   

 

'The saddle' doles out lubricant to a cowboy whose intense gaze and thin smile has a pretty scary look about it. Particularly when he's holding his belt like he wants to use it on someone's ass. In fact, you can interpret the image as showing that he just has done so, the rent boy rubbing his bruises rather than lubing himself. Luckily, the other cowboys seem up for fun rather than tormenting their steed. 

 

I've seen this image with the eyes of the two central cowboys blanked out (like the nipple shapes here). I'm inclined to think that could be the original version, because I can't think why anyone would make such an alteration, retrospectively. To modern eyes, it adds a menace that is coldly inhuman rather than lustful. The image above is a more complete version anyway, showing the bed in the foreground. That would have been a controversial ingredient in its day, sex in a bed is intimate and personal, not just a discharge (for which heterosexuals could be excused).

 

The styling of this image has a look of the 50s about it, the chair design being a part of that. The 'hollowed out' drawing style was later the trademark of the British artist, Bill Ward, in his cartoons.

 

 

Steve Masters - Men In a Bed

 

This picture illustrates perfectly the heightened intimacy of getting into a bed with a man. They are not actually having sex, but it's strongly implied. This looks like a hotel room so we can bung in the word 'seedy' as well. 

 

The sailor with his cap still on and sweetheart tattoo epitomises casual, 'rough trade' but this looks pretty affectionate and genuine. The highly stylised, drawing style has produced a picture that is more sensual than might be expected for such sparseness. It cocks a snook at the Peeping Tom in the background, conservatively dressed and looking very disapproving. 

 

 

Steve Masters -Matelot

 

I've censored this image to meet the blog rules, 

but you can see it unspoiled on 'X'

 

This early image in the same style is self-explanatory, a bit of R&R between men of disparate sizes and exceptional physiques. The title of this piece is probably derived from the cockleshell hat, the rear man is wearing. Masters associates it with fishermen in other images. He's also wearing a (just visible) rolled-up singlet with horizontal hoops, a nautical style (a la Gaultier, below). 

 

The background imagery looks like conventional room furnishing, apart from a rope-like construct that disappears through an elaborate hole in the wall like an anchor cable. The subs raised arms give a 'come and get me' tang of the bordello again.

 

Matelot Hoops

  

~ 

 

There's a further, early image in this style at my 'X' account that ceases to have any meaning if it's censored, but it's actually more interesting for its fetish ingredients than its dix. It features a biker with a captive in a baseball cap (subtly roped round his ankles). Masters uses his 'double vision' technique to disguise a sharp object as a book.

 

 Masters' proclivity for S&M is well-documented and his early images as 'Kurt' feature leather dungeon scenes, which unfortunately are too extreme to show here. The examples I have are poor quality reproductions anyway. 

 

~ 

 

Steve Masters - Cop and Biker

This image bridges the gap to Masters' better known style. The biker cum matelot reels back in wonder at the cop's enormous package, which has a pouch hidden in it, like a kid's picture puzzle. The cop's assets are supplemented by a truly 'bent' handlebar, which curls over his hip like a spare part at an orgy. 

 

The biker is wearing a matelot striped top that is sexily cropped. His jeans are already undone, but both men seem half undressed anyway, as their clothes seem to dissolve away below shoulder level, revealing nipples and abs. A bulbous fuel tank beneath the biker, between his thighs, signals the erotic momentum. 

 

 

Steve Masters - 'Lands End'

 This seems like a typical 60s surfer image at first sight, more wall hanging than erotica, with tasteful nudity. In fact, the two protagonists in the foreground are bikers, one a serious enough enthusiast to wear goggles. His discarded clothing, meticulously detailed in the foreground, is erotic in itself. No underpants! 

 

Masters employs a hybrid outline/shaded technique for the clothing that is fascinating technically. There's a slightly unreal quality that contrasts with the wearer's realistic nudity. The towel trailing between his legs looks wet and seems to show an appropriate outline beneath, but it's well disguised. 

 

The middle figure seems to be gazing out to sea as he undresses. His cap is not the conventional biker style, but more that of a seafaring captain, the nautical theme Masters often returned to. However, the jock suggests he's not pondering the mysteries of the Ocean. He's holding his belt stretched tight, suggesting tension (and perhaps a desire to unleash it). The end emerges from his clenched fist upright and looking like a banana, but I don't think it's his lunch. Not literally. His clothes also dissolve into outlines.

 

 The reclining figure in the background probably is a surfer or sunbather. There's a collage-like disconnect between him and the other figures that suggests to me that he, or his (sanitised) tackle, is the true object of the middle biker's attention. As though these are sketches for a larger, wide landscape picture.

 

I must admit I didn't know where Land's End was in the States*, although it turned out I'd actually been there a few years back. It's on the Pacific Coast side of San Francisco, not far from the Golden Gate Bridge. A popular cruising area, I believe.

 

*My efforts to find the answer to this seemingly simple question showed just how much Google has lost the plot as a search engine in recent years. It's much vaunted AI feature insisted there was no such place in the US, but, surprise, surprise, there was a clothing company of that name that I ought to know everything about. 

 

Thankfully, Wikipedia came to the rescue further down the page with that priceless commodity Google is no longer interested in - information. I can't wait for someone to launch a proper search engine again that supports research rather than advertising, I'd be willing to pay for it.

 

Steve Masters -Showers

I love the secret bottom-touching in this playful and fairly well-known locker room image. It's the best example I have seen of a coloured Masters picture. Authentic or not, I don't know, but it hasn't come from a magazine, it's an original picture. It looks as if it has been exposed to water damage, but that has fortuitously created a compensating effect of steaminess.

 

Read this series of posts from Part 1 

 

Art by Briefcase 2

 Read Part 1 of this series

  If you had trouble finding the Briefcase silhouette images from Part 1 at pixiv, look on the last page of his illustration folders.

 

Briefcase - Lifeguard

 

This image is Briefcase's more usual style, a blend of cartoon exaggeration and genuine sensuality, with a good deal of added effects - dialogue, sound effects and reaction signals. The underlying image here is quite sexy, gaining from the Lifeguard connection. There's a pleasing innocence in the humour of pulling down a man's shorts, especially one who might be regarded as an authority figure in this location.

 

The picture leaves me curious about the speech bubbles. I dare say there's a 'wtf' equivalent in there, but it might also give us clues about motivations.

 

The caption here is mine. Briefcase calls it - Human-powered Happening (Another new kind of metamorphosis). I fear something got lost in the translation. I certainly did!

 

Briefcase - Camera Surveillance

Stripped of the comic elaboration, this image is a slow burner. The darker tones reflect its less jolly, voyeuristic nature. The subject is quite a hunk, but he cuts a lonely figure. Or is that wishful thinking? The jockstrap, carelessly encircling his ankle, suggests he might just have suffered a disappointing defeat.  

 

 

Briefcase - Lack of Nerves

You might attribute the same background of sporting defeat to this image too. A rugby player seeking solace in his bedding, rather noisily, by the look of it. Chunky men like this are Briefcase's forte. 

 

Another baffling caption, you can sometimes work these out by inverting the meaning. The artist explains that the sportsman's rubbing is making weird noises, so I guess the title might mean that he doesn't mind who hears him. Playing with that Japanese thing about modesty and shame.

 

I took the liberty of editing this image to remove a detail, top left seeking to show the lurid undercover detail, not entirely successfully. You can find the full image at the link given at the foot of this post. 

 

 

Briefcase - Marine Day (National Holiday)

 

This example of cheery chunkiness seems to exemplify the opposite idea to shame - being out, happy and proud in your own body. A great ad for chubbies (and gingers). And, by the way, a great example of how sexy Speedo-style, swimming trunks can be, regardless of who is wearing them. 

 

The naughty dribble is an unusual modern example of hidden eroticism. Somewhat redundant, in view of the fully detailed projection! There's another example in the cleverly disguised, discharge arrangements in the previous image. See label at the foot of the post for more examples.

 

 

Briefcase - Just (Barely) OK

The erotic qualities of moderate chunkiness and tight-fitting clothes lie at the core of this image, too. It stands up as sexy without any explanation, but looks like a well-built footballer struggling to remove his tight, clinging pants. Possibly rubber ones, which might explain the sound effects as squeaking. The colour co-ordination adds a 'team' ingredient to an image that might otherwise seem humdrum. The gratuitous bulge between his thighs is a nice bonus.

Briefcase's captions here are exceptionally puzzling, though perhaps not if you can read the speech bubbles. His sub-caption reads, "I think he wanted to do some kind of sailor suit for a married woman". As Manuel would say, "Que?"

Briefcase - Last Train

A few years ago, I did a post called 'I'm On The Train!', about captives being transported en-masse. Since then, the wearing of shorts on hot trains has sparked an entirely different interest in rail travellers. A veritable industry of voyeuristic snapshots of fit, male commuters. This picture, though shortless, is in the same vein. It's part of a triptych, of which this is number 2, the final showdown being inadmissible in this blog!

  

Briefcase - The Mystery of the Forc

 

This is the inverse situation, where a traveller (in shorts, this time) has developed an inconvenient arousal, probably from staring at that young man opposite, sprawling open-legged in Lycra shorts which leave little to the imagination. This is number three of another triptych showing the embarrassing outcome. The gritted teeth, clenched fists and pressing together of knees has failed to prevent a surge of wetness and uncontrollable shudders - great observation!    

 

I understand the mystery bit in the title, but 'Forc'? No.

A misspelling of force, maybe.  

 

Briefcase - Firing All The Bullets

In this 6-image story, an older man (with a still-youthful physique) grapples with the same unquenchable urge before stripping off and letting nature do what it wants to do. As the title suggests, he's not lost his endurance with advancing age, an achievement that has its downside when you're in a hurry. All too soon, he is summoned back to his chores (above). It's another nicely observed and wry piece of humour with a refreshingly different protagonist. 

 

Briefcase - Living Shame Wedding Suit

The shamefulness of wearing revealing clothing in public seems to have more bite in Japan than the western world, where it doesn't really have the power to shock any more. Still, turning up for a wedding dressed like this might raise a few eyebrows amongst some of the congregation - and itchy hands amongst the rest. This smug celebrant clearly doesn't care.

  

The artist titled this as Living Shame Wedding Dress, which I adjusted to skirt round the fem ambiguities in English.

 

 

Briefcase - On Stage

 

There's an explicit fem crossover in this item, highlighted by the wearing of pink nipple covers (I don't know the technical term). Despite being showered with money for his performance, the Bunny Boy looks extremely embarrassed. We can only wonder how he was persuaded to do it. An example perhaps of one shameful act being used to force him into another. At least his outfit doesn't expose his bottom half to gropers in the audience, like the female equivalents do.

 

 

Briefcase - Experimental

This artist doesn't do bondage or medical scenarios, but this intriguing, fetus-like image is a decent substitute. I've done my own water tank images* in the past, but always feel obliged to make some provision for breathing. Perhaps that tube behind him does that, but it looks as if it's connected to an entirely different orifice! AI eh?

 

*see also Swimmers Preserved 

Briefcase - Undressing

 

This is part of an eight image series in which a man undresses with a sour expression on his face that suggests he isn't doing it willingly. It's left to the observer to imagine why he has to do it. An examination? A search? Or something more sinister? The conventional white underpants might be clue as to why he's so unhappy about it.   

 

Briefcase - Soaked in a Shower

 Raincoats ain't what they used to be! We've all experienced that feeling of returning home with clammy wet clothing after being caught out in a shower. It's the wet, clingy jeans that annoy me. A feeling which in other circumstances I might quite enjoy! 

Briefcase catches the moment of reaching home, when things can be undone and the laborious task of stripping begun. The bedraggled hair, translucent T-shirt and damp briefs (dripping with rainwater?) create a great sight for onlookers, but they are unlikely to get much time to enjoy them! 

Of course there's more to reveal and the viewpoint the artist has used plays to our voyeurism. I love the spotlight on the subject's briefs!

 

Briefcase - End of Tour

 This looks like a similar situation at first sight with its hasty shedding of clothes and wet skin. There are other explanations, though. Briefcase's subtitle - 'Ah, it's over and done with' - doesn't quite explain away the more salacious ones.

Duos are quite unusual in this artist's pictures, and so are narrative scenes like this. There are some nice shorts on show here. Why do laces suggest easy access when the reverse is usually the case? I like, too, the idea of the soldiers keeping on their helmets while they do whatever they are doing.

*The tattered shorts on the left are reminiscent of those cartoons in 60s UK tabloids, which were based round a group of standard stereotypes. The castaway (usually stranded on a 1-metre diameter island with a solitary palm tree) and the bearded prisoner, dangling by his wrists, feet off the ground, in his tiny cell were nearly always clad in tattered shorts like these!

 ~ 

 Read Part 1 of this series 

This artist's website is Briefcase on pixiv

If you are unfamiliar with pixiv, the thumbnails on the 'all-works' page link to posts containing one or more images. With this artist, some of these posts contain a variety of images which don't all match the thumbnail. If you want to quickly track down a particular image posted in my article, download it to obtain the pixiv id, then at pixiv display a random image and replace its id with the one you are looking for.

Steve Masters' Fisherman

Steve Masters - Fishing For Sport

 Steve Master's take on Fishing is very different to Stephen's accident prone, 'Dangerous Sport'. 

The Angler here is amazingly well-equipped, with waders, a realistically detailed rod and an array of hooks dangling from his backside as well as a couple in his hat. A sophisticated harness enables him to rest his rod comfortably in his groin. He appears to be straining backwards purposefully, as though he's just caught a big one.  

The happy figures in the foreground seem as if they might to be his earlier catches. There's another swimmer passing by who looks as if he wouldn't mind joining them. A hook dangles dangerously just in front of his trunks and one wonders if a line, out of sight, connects it to the tip of the fisherman's rod. 

It's also possible to interpret this as a satisfied customer departing, and taking the dangling hook with him as a souvenir.  

The clothes worn by all the men are tight and revealing. The leotard of the reclining figure in the foreground quickly catches the eye. It was Steve Master's style to allow physique details to show through fabric, almost as though they were transparent, but he's muted them here in a concession to realism. He's depicted a daring double lump in the groin area, a clever example of 'hidden eroticism' (see label at foot of post). 

The swimmer, looking back over his shoulder, is the only character who is acknowledging the others. He is clad in trunks which are brief for the era*, showing lower buttock flesh. The waist line (also low) has a V-shaped dip at the back, repeated in the hoop pattern. The design points and flows towards the man's rear erotic zone, of course, so it's significant that he is presenting his backside to the others - and us.  

This V-dip back shape can also be seen in pictures by Tom of Finland. It mirrors the line of a posing pouch support string, but I have never seen a real pair of trunks like it.  

The most subtle item of clothing, and for me the sexiest, are the fisherman's shorts. Tight fitting and brief, they are easily missed, thanks to the panoply of leather straps and gear draped sexily over them. 

One such strap is supporting the waders. It's a curious design, with double attachment loops rather like the braces that used to be worn to support trousers in the days when a loose fit was the norm. Even more interestingly, the second strap, securing the far wader, somehow descends on the inside of the fisherman's leg, from somewhere in the region of his groin.  

The waders themselves are lightly shaded to identify them as clothing, but the leg shape inside them is visible, as if Masters was simultaneously visualising them as sheer stockings. He's left two leg positions visible, as if he couldn't decide whether the knee was bracing or flexing. 

 *This image was published in Fizeek Art Quarterly (Fall 1964) 

~

Steve Masters is badly unrepresented at this blog, an omission I must correct! However, there is also an article at mitchmen with a
 spanking picture by Steve Masters  

 

Recent art by Hongd542

Captive

This muscular man is being held prisoner. He's been stripped to his underpants and ritualistically tied up in shibari-style rope work. A bare topped captor silences his protests. The sun streaming in through the window cruelly mocks his captivity. An array of instruments in the background suggest other torments lie ahead.

 

Cop

A cop in his office pauses from his paperwork for a coffee (product placement!) and a snack. He, too, is mightily muscular, filling out his uniform with every part of his body. Tight enough to show us that he isn't wearing any underwear. Some Offices have that as a rule. The doughnut he's nibbling provokes ribald comments about licking tasty rings from his colleagues. 

 

He might easily be the captive of image 1.

 

Convict

It's easy to visualise him as a prisoner. Restrained with handcuffs, forced to wear the humiliating stripes of a convicted felon and made to submit to intrusive searches at the whim of his jailers. His resentment is apparent, but futile. They will have their way. 

 

Victim

It's even harder, out there on the streets. Danger lurks in every alleyway, and even a street-wise man can fall foul of what lurks there, waiting for an opportunity to sate its lust. 

 

Sportsman

 The sports field should be a place of refuge from the world's evils, a place of relaxing, healthy exercise. But even there, a muscular man is at risk. Teams bend the rules, ostensibly to be the winners, but no sporting triumph can beat the thrill of scoring in the goal that lies hidden in every opponent's shorts.

 

Locker Room Lollipop

As the Cop with his doughnut discovered, things that melt in the mouth can stoke an appetite for savoury treats. There's no shortage of men eager to give them instruction in the locker rooms. It's not only narcotics that get you hooked.

 

Fetish Date

The discipline of team sport is good preparation for the rigours and training for formal servitude. Every journey begins with the first step, but this hunk can scarcely have imagined where that lollipop and curiosity would lead him. 

Juicy Fruits

Temptation abounds in every profession. Stoked by unscrupulous employers who impose quick-release uniforms on their workers. They are designed to assert their power over them - and, by a happy coincidence, satisfy their tastes for eye candy of the masculine kind.  

 

Underwear Inspection in the Army

It's no different in the army. The uniform is prescribed and regularly inspected. Even a soldier's underwear is inspected periodically to make sure it is clean and without creases. The Sergeant thinks it helps with unit bonding.

 

See also 'Peacekeeper' at 'X' 

 

 

Office Boss

Some Offices make their employees wear shorts. In this one, the roles are reversed on 'Dressing Down Friday', with the workers finding skimpy shorts for the Boss to wear and showing him what it's like to be the underling. It's all taken in good spirit usually but, as with any Office 'do', it's wiser to not drain his patience completely. 

 

 

Office Suspension

For those that go too far, there's Suspension Saturday. This happens quite often to employees who happen to be good-looking. They can't show their contrition by writing out lines, of course. Instead, the Boss comes in to see them when he thinks they've had enough and extracts whatever he wants from them on the spot.

 

Office Dicktation

Men with exceptional credentials and malleability may even get promoted to be the head honcho's PA. Their duties mainly involve looking hot when doing the filing and sitting on the bosses knee to take his dicktation. Little extras in their pay packets are their reward for allowing access to their play packets. There's also a bondage bonus if they have to stay late for 'over the knee' overtime. He doesn't take no for an answer. 

 

 

Office Primer

 Some new employees find this culture difficult to adjust to, but primer courses are helpfully provided for promising entrants. In the privacy of the medical centre, they are shown what will be expected of them and how to make the most profitable use of their natural abilities. They are also taught some unnatural ones that might come in useful, too. It's a hard and sweaty induction.

 

 

Milking Medic

The highly experienced medical staff are well-equipped to allay their patients' anxieties about the sometimes-invasive procedures. Their expertise always gets the best out of their charges, who leave exhausted and drained, but with happy memories. 

 

 

Office Restroom

 The pressures and tensions of such jobs are enough to drive any red-blooded male to seek respite in the restrooms. There they can find relief - if one of their equally-aroused colleagues doesn't find it for them first.

 

~

This is Part 5 of my series about Hongd542's AI art,
Earlier articles: Part 1 contains onward links through to Part 4

Hongd542 posts enormous quantities of art and surprisingly rude versions of his images at his Hongd542 Deviant Art site 

Art by David Angelo - 2

 More David Angelo in Part 1 

 

David Angelo - The Swimmers

Underwater swimming was another theme beloved of 60s artists who wanted to add a touch of class to their erotic imagery. There was great potential for playing with graceful body shapes, and it was a legitimate excuse for depicting nude men together, reliving youthful adventures. The intersection of knee and groin here is a great example of 'hidden eroticism' (see labels at foot of post) but you will observe that an attempt to sneak in something naughtier was foiled by a keen, censor's eye.

 

David Angelo - The Swimmers

 Angelo contented himself with modestly interlocking limbs here, using streams of air bubbles to obscure naughty bits. The result is not entirely what the censor would have wished. With the inverted swimmer, the bubbles unexpectedly convey a sense of sexual excitement. Down below, his hand seems to have swept across his companion's groin leaving a stream behind that is full of teasing ambiguities. Angelo's treatment of the swimmer's hair in both these images is a well observed, lifelike detail, but not entirely without erotic significance either.

 

~ 

 

Like the cowboy fad, the interest in underwater action had its roots in TV and film. War films had introduced many to the role of the 'frogmen' who sabotaged the enemies warships during WW2. Lionel 'Buster' Crabbe was something of a celebrity for his wartime exploits and mysterious disappearance. His handsome namesake, an Olympic swimmer turned actor, muddied the waters for gay men by starring as Tarzan and Flash Gordon. TV added a different dimension with craggy Lloyd Bridges having underwater adventures in 'Sea Hunt' while Hans and Lotte Haas were a leading part of an exploration genre which introduced viewers to the underwater wonders of the sea.

 

David Angelo -Divers

 The underwater adventure and exploration themes often converged in dramas that depicted interactions with the inhabitants of the sea. Octopus and squid were the usual dangers, but this is a very curious mix which seems to depict a dolphin or fish as a threat and yet there seems to be intensely erotic interaction going on between the three of them. Is the diver protecting his friend from the phallic enormity pressing down on him, or is he jealous of the frottage that seems to be going on? 

 

Both humans seem to be finding it exciting. Their incongruous posing pouches, an unnecessary choice in this scenario, are bulging and seem to signal that the artist saw it as having a gay, erotic dimension. One that is helped immensely by the pleasing composition he has developed.

 

David Angelo -Diver Rescued

In this astonishing picture, Angelo goes further than erotic innuendo. The rescuer's fingers are clearly touching his buddy's pouch, and his own, straining with desire, is nestling underneath an upraised leg. No gay man could mistake the meaning of this arrangement of limbs. Nor could they fail to connect with the rescue scenario, with the ultimate gay-fantasy outcome in prospect. 

 

Angelo - Door Knob 

 

Angelo's other contribution to gay culture of the 60s was a series of delightful cartoons. He wasn't alone in exploring the possibilities of accidental disrobing, but this character has an innocent, boyish charm that is memorable.   

 

Angelo - Pitch Fork

Rather less innocence is in evidence here, with the yokel's pitchfork having performed a more efficient job than the doorknob in the previous example. For the avoidance of doubt, he hitches his thumb into his waistband, pulling it down and touching himself. The victim meanwhile makes a show of covering up but doesn't take evasive action. Just checking which of those prongs is coming his way, I suppose. You know who else has 3 prongs.

 

Angelo - Valentine

A fanciful design for a Valentines card. The artist depicts Valentine/Cupid as a winged messenger, carelessly reclining across the top of his missive, like a Royale Studio model. His cargo seems to have 'accidentally' barged into the back of a nice young man, but he doesn't seem to mind at all. 

In some respects this is an image of separation, but the twin, trailing ribbons of a bow flutter between their legs, forging a light-hearted but distinctly erotic connection between them. Cupid draws it between his legs, seductively. His target lets the ribbon go, patting his pouch in anticipation and seemingly miming his size.

Their garments are frivolously decorated with flowers or bubbles (who knows?). However, the familiar ribbing of the jockstrap alerts us to their less romantic qualities, which seem destined to react together shortly. 

 

Angelo - Statue

Angelo's artiness got the better of him in this image, I fear, with a weird distortion of the horizontal and upright planes for the two figures to stand on. A slightly odd choice of pose for the chap in the foreground, too. Behold the conquering hero, I suppose, but the eye line isn't right and it looks rather like a weaponless archer at first sight. 

 

The interest lies in the way he has drawn his pouch, minimised and bulging. A captive beast. It's the same kink as the modern chastity cage. A far cry from modern depictions of this area, which usually demand much more fabric in any covering, in order to show an identifiable ramrod beneath it. 

More Angelo in Part 1 

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