Mitchell's A-Z of Fetish Artsts - My Favourite 'P'

It is my custom to select a favourite artist for each letter based on technical quality, fetish content, sensuality and sheer personal preference. I won't consider lesser artists whose work strays into areas I personally find unappealing or where I have too few samples of their work to make a balanced assessment.

In letter 'P' we have a number of heavyweight professional illustrators and artists - Parker, Pashke, Patterson, Pichard, Player, Platter and Prevot - whose ability is unquestioned but I think it's fair to say that, except for Pashke and maybe Player, their fetish content is incidental to the sexual adventures. For me Palanca undoubtedly tops the fetish league in this group, he puts his interest in feet (and sex!) in the forefront of his pictures and even for a non-convert like me it is absolutely fascinating and very convincing. Paschke also deserves a mention for the honesty of his portayals. When it comes to sensuality - the sheer erotic attractiveness of the images - the stars for me are Patterson, Prevot and Palanca.

Palanca - Melons

It's a no brainer for me, Palanca is my favourite and this final picture, which I call 'melons' is one I reluctantly left out of my main review of his work. It's a celebration of oral sensuality and I like it not so much for it's artistic qualities, it's an energetic but somewhat confused image, but because I just love the melon eater eagerly burying his jaw between upraised ass cheeks. The portrayal of this man hits so many buttons for me, his youthful square jaw (nicely stubbled), his neat trimmed sideburns, his cap turned round back to front, his muscular arms and abdomen emerging from a clinging T-shirt, the bowing forward curve of his body accentuating plump buns and allowing his cock to rest on his companion's slobbering tongue, a slippery runway into the greedy waiting mouth.
The fact that the other characters in the picture are not particularly attractive merely accentuates his desirability as he is absorbed into the animal lust of the proceedings. There is something peculiarly erotic too about the central figure's impossible, upside-down, backbreaking position.

Palanca's enthusiasm for his subject shines through in his work are we are fortunate to be able to enjoy it.

See my main review of Palanca's work for a link to his blog.

For earlier posts in this series click on the A-Z label below or use the search box in the title bar to find your favourite artist

Mitchell's A-Z of Fetish Artists - Proco

Proco - Spank the Boy

My last 'P' artist is Proco. This is the only picture I have by him but it's a cracker, showing an older man giving his younger partner a hell of a spanking. The characterisation of both men contains unexpected and pleasing contrasts - the grizzled, cuddly-looking, bear showing an evil streak and the excessively beautiful youth revelling in painful chastisement.

It's a neat composition full of life and strong sense of the two men sharing a memorable experience which isn't easy to achieve with back-turned, spanking situations. Part of this 'sharing' comes from the characterful facial expressions (Poserartists note!). But there's another reason, the picture is filled with angular, zig zag shapes and diagonals that flow through the limbs and bodies of the two men visually linking them together and creating a satisfying overall 'pattern' that looks very coherent. You can also see that their individual poses are like mirror image 'Z' shapes superimposed on each other, a sort of angular yin and yang if you like, pulling them neatly together. If I also compare these zig-zag shapes to lightning, you will see where some of the impression of urgent, sharp action comes from.

I can't find a website for Proco and I would welcome any information from readers.

For earlier posts in this series click on the A-Z label below or use the search box in the title bar to find your favourite artist.

Mitchell's A-Z of Fetish Artists - Prevot

Prevot - Angelface (cover)

Benoit Prevot has carved a unique niche in gay art. His images look back with nostalgia to the decadent, early 20^th Century. Wealthy young toffs sporting waved hair, top hats and morning suits mingle with obsequious but obliging servants and rough, cloth-capped workers. His technical style also draws inspiration from the illustrative art of that period. He is perhaps best known for erotic flavoured narratives like 'Angelface' for Class Comics above.

Prevot - Slick it Up

Prevot's fetish credentials are incidental to his main work, but the confident light touch in this image for Slick It Up, suggests he knows what he is talking about. The dramatic background shadow rounding out the scene is typical of his style

Prevot - Tulips

Many of his pictures have two layers of meaning with devices like shadows and mirrors giving a wry twist to the surface image. Tulips (my title) is a simple, not very subtle, example. A young man poses for an 'arty' picture unaware that the shadow on the wall behind shows him in a different light. There's an element of class manipulation in this picture, the pugnacious face and the belted trousers suggest he's an ordinary working guy, he looks uninterested and would probably be unwilling to bare any more, even for ready money. But the scheming artist still manages to compromise him. This visual trickery in erotic art (and there's a nice pun on the flower's name too) has pretty much died out now, but was commonplace (in more subtle form of course) in the days of censorship and more oppressive attitudes. I discussed other examples by Tom of Finland and by Royale Studios in a recent posts here. It's nice to see someone carrying on an erotic tradition.

Prevot - Cleavage

There are similar undercurrents of class and manipulation in 'Cleavage' (my title). A workman in a fashion house is commandeered to help the model a new garment for the catalogue illustration. In this marvellous image, Prevot creates a power and humiliation scenario full of unexpected twists and contrasts.

The smooth, young, stylists are distinctly upper crust and full of confidence and this enables them to exercise complete power over the stereotypical, humble workman who is so straight and conventional he could almost be your dad. They casually humiliate him by persuading him to expose his ass (quite a feat in that era) and must have been thrilled to find such peachy cheeks beneath such an unpromising exterior. And if this exposure were not embarrassing enough for the poor workman, his backside is now compared to a woman's bosom and matched up with a frilly dress, a fetish overtone in it's own right which I've not covered much in this series of articles. We're not quite sure if the illustrator looking on is seriously assessing neckline options or lasciviously enjoying the male 'décolletage' - or perhaps he's noticed the even more embarrassing reflection in the mirror.

This sort of comic scenario (bar the mirror image) could easily have featured in the famous saucy postcards of the pre-WW2 period by Donald McGill, but by taking it a little more seriously and sensuously, Prevot gives it a real erotic kick.

Prevot has a blog and you'll find lots about him very easily via Google

For earlier posts in this series click on the A-Z label below or use the search box in the title bar to find your favourite artist.

Mitchell's A-Z of Fetish Artists - Prescott

Prescott - Preparation

Prescott produced art for the infamous Katharsis extreme art website, now defunct. My sample sums up his subject matter, but I prefer not to post anything more explicit on this blog. I would refer seekers after more to the GMBA Google Group (link in sidebar). His style appears to be based on traced photographs spliced with geometric drawings of guillotines. It's crude but effective.

For earlier posts in this series click on the A-Z label below or use the search box in the title bar to find your favourite artist.

Mitchell's A-Z of Fetish Artists - Plinio

Plinio - Crucified

Plinio has been around for some time producing crucifixion scenarios featuring older men but I don't have a big collection of his work so I can't comment at length on it.

This example is a recent work, a pencil sketch featuring an unusual take on the mechanics of crucifixion which is quite stylish in it's simplicity. The mature figure and his suffering is well observed and it's interesting to compare this image with Player's angry young surfer in the last post.

I'm not aware of any site for Plinio but in you are interested in the subject MCResearch Group is a good place to start

For earlier posts in this series click on the A-Z label below

Mitchell's A-Z of Fetish Artists - Player

Steven Player is another well established illustrator who produces a good deal of mainstream fantasy work. This overflows into his gay-themed images which are often gritty and populated by angry men, skinheads and strange gnomic creatures and dwarves.

Player - Dracula

I've included this vampire book illustration to illustrate the sheer quality of his work, which shows oceans of technical skill and a seductive erotic touch as well. The portrayal of Dracula as a needy, young addict is fascinating. Clearly once handsome, he is now wasting away under the demands of his blood lust - but he seems to have picked a top quality victim to top up from!

Player - Surf

The surfer crucified and bound in barbed wire on his own surfboard appeals to ageing killjoys and sadistic tastes alike, but it is an angry, disturbing image. It's not just youth and the carefree lifestyle (represented by floppy blond hair and cut-off jeans) being punished here, but sexuality too (lithe muscular body and unbuttoned shorts). Nails, blood and barbed wire (as in the film 'Jubilee'), Player doesn't pull his punches.

Player - Man Dog

Player presents his ageist credentials in Man Dog. An ordinary suburban garden is the setting for a humiliating role reversal as two boys 'wash the dog'. The 'man dog' is a full blown, angry skinhead with Doc Martin Boots and skinny jeans, now dangling from a tree in the background. Player's skinheads usually inhabit the dangerous alleyways of the city. It's not clear how he got here nor quite how these mischievous lads persuaded him to undress and don a dog collar while they washed him down - he's a burglar caught in the act perhaps? At any rate they are clearly in the driving seat and all concerned seem to be finding it jolly exciting, including the real dog - a nice touch.

Player - Twenty Seven

I love this picture of shared, ritual humiliation. Two young skinheads are on the receiving end here, hands tied behind (?) they are placed in a closet to be anonymously anointed by the rest of the gang, one after another. At twenty seven, (not their ages I suspect), their faces show it's not altogether to their liking, despite the obvious excitement at being used. Interestingly, Player depicts a changeover moment and only light is streaming through the gloryholes, allowing the two buddies to reflect on the messy process. I quite like the fact that they are shown standing up, still proud men. It requires us to imagine up some sort of raised platform for the donors on the other side of the wall, but makes the humiliation more profound than abject grovelling and also allows Player to show us their attractive bodies.

Player - Sex PG(4)

An intriguing picture. These ruffians have landed in some tropical region and could be soldiers judging by the hair, tattoos and dog tag on view. They have made a prisoner of an attactive young man, who appears to have just tattooed one of them on the arm, although his features and own tribal tattoos suggest he is anything but tribal or local. The two handsome rogues seem to have discovered that his loin cloth conceals an undeclared interest in them and are amusing themselves discussing what they might do about it - with cane and cigarette ready to hand. Political undertones here? Although it doesn't have the raunchy drama of other Player pictures, the characterisation of the three men in this picture is fascinating and true to life. It's a picture you want to linger over.

Player's own website is PlayerMen, you'll find some sexy images there

For earlier posts in this series click on the A-Z label below

Mitchells' A-Z of Fetish Artists - Platter

Platter - Statues

Sean Platter is a professional illustrator of some note, his older work is often lushly sensuous beefcake, like 'Statues' above. The captive beauty of statues has inspired artists and randy adolescents alike for centuries. Closer inspection of the copulating couple artwork reveals patches of natural skin colouration, are they about to come to life? Etienne famously played with this theme - and Mozart in 'Don Giovanni'. The ghostly treatment of the other background statues, draped with dust sheets suggests something more sinister, is the hunk about to be recruited into their ranks?

Platter - Leather Prisoner

You can see the same mind at work in 'Leather Prisoner' (my title), a straightforward image of a fetish ritual is transformed by placing a majestic, pair of wings behind the prisoner, their representation is just ethereal enough to suggest a spiritual rather than a physical existence. The upward pointing tips, like a bird of prey, imply strength and power. Just as well, for the large cog wheel in the foreground threatens pain on a grand scale for this 'angel'.

Platter - Flogged (from 'Demonic Sex' comic)

Platter's more recent 'Demonic Sex' series of comics explores these sorts of themes further. I suppose demonology might be regarded as a fetish in it's own right were it to be capable of physical realisation. The scenario where a pick-up transforms from stud into a horrifying, devouring beast is certainly erotically stimulating and sums up the human condition rather well, hence the perpetual popularity of the classic, monster-horror/ 'beauty and the beast' genres. The flogging transformation (Flogged) above is just the start of the hero's trials at the hands of one of the more enticing varieties of demon which Platter conjures up, with luscious attention to the relevant detail! This image is reminiscent of Bill Ward's comic style.

Platter - Gargoyles (from 'Demonic Sex' comic)

In Platter's hands this is just the gateway to a succession of abduction scenarios neatly summed up by the 'Gargoyles' composite above. A demon interrupts a leather bondage session and converts the participants. 'Demonic Sex' is generously laced with humour and caricature cameos which are just as interesting as his older work. I'm not keen on the grotesquery here but I really like the idea behind this little story - two men taken and imprisoned within another form, transformed into servants. How much more delicious though, if they were deserving villains rather than the easy leather queen target!

Platter - Foreskin (from 'Demonic Sex' comic)

The angel, above, enveloped by a devilish foreskin is genuinely original, funny and erotic all at the same time but the rest of the story is peppered with bloody, ritual death and regeneration scenes that I suspect would be unpublishable as erotica were it not dressed up in humour and devilish fantasy, where the normal rules governing pain and death are suspended. It's a funny world!

Platter - Feed! (from 'Demonic Sex' comic)

My final frame shows the hero's subjugation and induction into his new role as servant of the demon, it's pretty erotic with or without the horns, beautifully conveying not just lust, but domination as well. A terrific artist.
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The samples of Demonic Sex presented here are just selected frames from the comics and not full pages. The originals are available from Triple Six Comics.

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Sean's own website is at Decadent Arts

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For earlier posts in this series click on the A-Z label below