mitchmen by Mitchell

Wednesday, 7 January 2009

Mitchell's 'In Praise of Sailors' - 18

My final selection of sailor artists features a bit more raunch.

Bisonnes’ contribution (68) is a rare example of a two sailors in bondage

with a Samurai warrior introducing them to the possibilities of Shibari.

(68)
The sailors tattoo’s don’t show up very well,
they are actually more Japanese than nautical.
It’s an interesting image though.

Rex is one of the all time greats for fetish art and although his pictures are leather oriented,
other types do get ‘roped in’ from time to time(69). Here is a proper sailor, sexily presented.
.

(69)

This harks back to the early images of leather men chasing sailors by Tom and co.
But in Rex’s world the leather man’s rule is unchallenged. Sailors submit.
I like the chunky, masculinity of his men, no delicate faces to be seen here!
The drawing technique, of course, is stunning.

.
Palanca is well known for his cartoons showing enlarged feet and organs
and this drawing is no exception (70).

(70)

The overflowing erotic content needs no comment.
The muscular, hairy chested sailor seems an obvious stereotype
but he doesn’t appear very often in gay art so this contribution is most welcome.
.

To finish off I have returned to Schultz.
This sailor (71) is also a hairy guy - but not on his chest you will note!
Like Palanca, Schultz often shows unreal organs
but the body proportions of this guy are perfect.
.

(71)
So Sailors are alive and well in modern gay art even if you have to hunt for them.
The imagery nowadays benefits from the skills of well trained, professional artists.
My only regret is that the sexy scenarios painted by Tom and Etienne and later on by Rex,
seem to have disappeared now and we are mainly left with Sailors as objects of lust
although these days the lustful parts are much more explicit.

.
In the next posting I will show a small selection of my own sailor works.

Read this series from episode 1

Tuesday, 6 January 2009

Mitchell's 'In Praise of Sailors' - 17

(62) Sailor by Kent

For a rather sexier view of sailors here are some examples from Kent above (62) and below (63).

(63) Sailor in the Engine Room by Kent

These two pictures show difference between simply showing the uniform
and using selected elements to create a sexy image.

(64) Sailor Saluting by RA Schultz

Schultz’s sailor (64) above works better than Julius’ effort below (65)
because it is more believable as a man
- and the same applies to his bulge compared with Kent‘s men!

(65) Sailor by Julius

Dupre below (66) dispenses with everything but the cap - not even a bulge in the underwear.
This approach works fine for me.

(66) Sailor by Dupre

In all these pictures you can see the fine line between sexy uniform and fancy dress.

(67) Sailor in Chair by Luger

In comparison, Luger’s picture from the sixties is a masterwork with fine quality drawing.
The eroticism seems restrained and disguised at first,
but in reality is more overt than any other in this group.

Continued here

Read this series from episode 1

Monday, 5 January 2009

Mitchell's 'In Praise of Sailors' -16

Since Tom and Etienne there has not been so much sailor art produced and I had to search quite hard to find a representative selection. The imagery is used quite a lot by artists who produce pictures suitable for hanging on your living room wall. In these pictures the imagery is wholesome and indisputably attractive.

(59)

The sailor in (59) is a favourite of mine - for the technique as much as the subject matter - but I have never been able to discover the name of the artist.

(60)

Wu (60) is quite prolific and his work has a nice balance between erotic and presentable. Those bottles count as a modern version of hidden eroticism, not just in shape but in their relative positioning. More subtle is the direction of the right arm belonging to the guy at the back, visualise him at the front of the picture and see where his hand is!
More of his work can be seen at Adonis Art - Wu.

(61)

Hartley’s sailor (61) is part of a series of military portraits which are rather nice.

The next installment will feature more sexy modern interpretations of the sailor theme.

Read this series from episode 1

Saturday, 3 January 2009

Mitchell's 'In Praise of Sailors' - 15

Etienne was a contemporary of Tom but his take on sailors is quite different. For a start they are never properly dressed. The uniforms are not there to be squeezed into but to be worn (or partly worn) as ‘badges’ telling us about the man be are viewing. Thus in (55) one sailor’s uniform is not worn at all but hanging on the wall.

(55)

This early picture is in the same ‘yearning’ tradition as the other 50’s and 60’s artists we have looked at but we are left in no doubt that the underlying desire is lust and not admiration!

The sailor in (56) (from a calendar) would be a strikingly attractive figure if his uniform were worn as intended. Tom would have shown ample crotch bulge to express an erotic message. As seen by Etienne, however, the crotch is hardly visible but the sexiness of the partly undressed sailor is far more powerful.

(56)

Incidentally, all the pictures in this Calendar series feature an arm contributing to the action in some way. It presumably belongs to the artist and, though muscular and tattooed, it is depicted in a rather camp pose. Again typical of the time.

*
The state of undress continues in the next picture where (57) two sailors are brawling in a bar and, in the process, are ripping their uniforms to shreds, revealing large amounts of attractive bare flesh.

(57)

Ripping clothes is a uncomplicated way to show sexual aggression so it introduces an interesting ambiguity into the fight we are seeing. As far as I can recall Tom never used this device. But Etienne was uncompromisingly sexy. This picture is a detail of a larger piece in which other sailors are fighting in similar ways. It is interesting in that it shows a real (if unsavoury) slice of life, an insight into the animal nature of sailors, which Tom only hints at in his ‘spilt coffee’ picture.

*

The final picture is from Etienne’s series ‘Navy Grease’ in which a sailor is first abused by the crew and then by the Captain when he complains.

(58)

The opening pictures of this set of which (58) is one, rank amongst Etienne’s best work for me. The draughtsmanship is excellent. Unlike Tom’s sailors you don’t get sensual clothing effects which hold the eye but the storytelling and visual characterisation of the men is very, very good. The bullying of Tom’s ‘spilt coffee’ picture has moved on apace here but atmosphere is quite different. The victim seems younger and, despite his fine physique, more vulnerable. He is also facing more than one tormentor so the message seems less about domination than exploitation. For me this is not so erotic but others may love this particular power play. Instead of formal dress, Etienne uses the working clothes of sailors in these pictures, harking back to those WWII Pacific War films, I suppose, but another indicator of his ‘real life‘ viewpoint.

Continued here

Read this series from episode 1

Friday, 2 January 2009

Mitchell's 'In Praise of Sailors' - 14

Like MacLane, Tom drew sailors together on board ship in the early 60‘s.
In (51) a sailor shows off his tattoo - Tom did quite a collection of tattoo scenes about this time.

(51)

You can’t miss the bulge of course and the close proximity to it of the recumbent sailor’s mouth. This figure leaning on his elbow isn’t quite right but I admire Tom’s depiction of the standing sailor - the youthful face, strong hands and graceful long legs that show just how impressive those white bell bottoms can be on the right man.

-
My favourite Tom picture of sailors is also from the less explicit 60’s. There are no leathermen involved at all. Just sailors on board ship(52).

(52)

A sailor is being chastised for spilling coffee on his colleague’s white uniform. Though handsome and broad-shouldered he nevertheless is forced to his knees and subjugated, forced to display his shapely buttocks - to the amusement of the rest of the crew. His head is inches from the bully’s bulge but for me the erotic charge is this picture is the forced humiliation and the possibilities offered up by his sexy, unprotected bottom.

(53)

Tom produced a similar picture involving bikers about the same time and I have a similar high regard for this piece (53). This time the bikers muscular hairy body underlines the humiliation of his chastisement.

(54)

The attractiveness of sailors bottoms is illustrated in another Tom picture (54, from the Jungle Jack series) showing a shipwrecked sailor drifting ashore astride an oil drum. To a pedant like me the full dress whites are more incongruous than ever in this picture but the erotic effect is enchanting.

Continued here

Read this series from episode 1

Thursday, 1 January 2009

Mitchell's 'In Praise of Sailors' - 13

Tom of Finland included images of sailors in his pictures throughout his career but there are significant ‘clusters’ of work in the sixties and eighties. I have included a selection here. Sailors are usually presented as objects of admiration and desire with tight, white tunics and trousers showing off typically exaggerated masculine contours. The physical attributes are complemented by a relaxed masculine strength and confidence.
.

(48)
In the early sixties pictures Tom often shows leather men admiring sailors and flirting with them. Invariably the sailor is in control, as in the example here, (48) where a provocatively dressed, cruising leather man is chatted up in traditional heterosexual fashion by a rather laid back tar. The leather man’s unsubtle advertising is not dissimilar to the flamboyance on display in Art Bob’s ’Idols’. This self-feminisation highlights just how powerful the gay perception of masculinity in sailors was and how desirable they were.
.

(49)
In the seventies Tom’s sailors start to appear as sexually active participants in the 'Kake' series of orgies featuring an array of Village People stereotypes. They gradually transform into the stereotypical, lantern jawed and overly muscular Tom male. These pictures don’t work for me but every so often an admiring portrait reasserts Tom’s love for the uniform(49). Although this sailor here has removed his tunic Tom generally keeps them pretty much in full regalia which, attractive though it might be, screens off their sexuality. This is exactly what uniforms are supposed to do of course.
.

(50)

There is an interesting reversal of power about this time as the sailors start to become the hunted quarry (50) and are also seen chasing the leather men who are now the beacons of masculinity.

In the next installment I present my favourite sailor images by Tom

Continued here
Read this series from episode 1

Tuesday, 30 December 2008

Mitchell's - 'In Praise of Sailors' - 12

The pictures of MacLane and Art Bob depict the fascination with sailors in the 50’s.
In the first picture (44), MacLane presents the sailors' masculinity
by portraying them in poses which echo heroic Greek statues.

(44)

At first glance it’s a fairly bland and dated ‘pin up’ picture.
But look closer - the sailor’s expression and depiction of their clothing
with restrained but lovingly drawn bulges, bring the image to life in a quite startling way.

MacLane’s second picture here (45) is an informal visualisation of life on board
depicting bored, youthful sailors living together.

(45)

The uniform of the ’postman’ on the right is nicely drawn and even shows a little bulge,
but the depiction of most of the figures is not particularly erotic in style
- apart from the handsome foreground figure, whose nudity is heightened
by sweaty highlighting and just visible underwear
which is clearly not providing much modesty at the front.
The eye is drawn to this hunky young man
who is clearly thinking lustful thoughts about his girl back home.
This is unnoticed by his companions but we can secretly tap into his heightened sexual state.

*
MacLane’s subtlety was dictated by the laws of the time of course,
but Art Bob is more adventurous.
In Idols (46) his sailor is the object of desire for both a man and a woman.

(46)

Strangely enough the woman and the man both seem to be in a different class of sophistication and attractiveness compared with the sailor who apart from pert cheeks is rather frumpy looking. Perhaps Art Bob thought the uniform was all that was needed! The competition is fierce between the two coquettes. The woman even appears to have dropped a lace handkerchief as a ploy - although the physics of the situation suggest it was there before she arrived. No matter, the outcome is a foregone conclusion since the sailor is reading a male muscle magazine.
The secret language of gays triumphs over heterosexual womanly wiles!

(47)

The final picture is another Art Bob number (47). Another complex story is being told. Two sailors seem to be stranded in the desert with their kitbags and a cowboy is directing one of them to the nearest gas station - which is clearly not near! Quite why the middle sailor is so alarmed is unclear. Perhaps the long walk ahead or the camp attire of the cowboy, maybe he is conversant with the handkerchief code and doesn’t fancy being alone with him. The cowboy is holding something else in his hand which might explain more (the reins of his horse?) but I'm nott sure what it is. I love the depiction of the sailors in this picture - both the butch seated one and the boyish doll-like one on the left. This artist too shows his love of the sexiness of the sailors caps and trousers in his depiction of them.

Continued here

Read this series from episode 1