Tagame stripped down

 Tagame - Country Doctor

This is the climactic initiation-cum-wedding scene from Tagame's 'Country Doctor' (Inaka Isha). In my review of this piece, I suggested that Tagame's sound effects and speech bubbles sometimes detracted from the artwork. This thought prompted me to experiment with removing the 'offending' additions to see what the result would be.

 

  Tagame - Country Doctor (modified) -1

In this version I replaced the symbols and bubbles with whatever I thought was being obscured. The overall effect is not so much to reveal more of the picture, but to remove the distractions. You can decide for yourselves whether the alteration is an improvement of not.

Method: First, I erased all the bubbles and characters electronically.  I electronically copied the coat patterns to fill big gaps and penciled in awkward corners (these are fairly obvious if you look closely but I'm not attempting to fake an original artwork here). Missing lines, hairs etc were also simply pencilled in. 

The replacements required were mostly fairly obvious, but I had to create the tree-top (top right) from imagination. The darkening of the image compared with the original is intentional, partly designed to make my pencilwork less obvious but I also think it looks better.

  Tagame - Country Doctor (modified) - 2

In this second variation I have simply adjusted the Doctor's left ass cheek so it looks a better balance. Ideally the right cheek ought to be reduced as well.

The resulting picture looks as though it would benefit from colouring,

 is that jacket red or gold, I wonder?

If you enjoy my tinkering with other artists work, 

you can click on the 'mitchmods' label below to see more.

Real Men Ride The Wedge -Trey Turner

This scene from Bound Gods combines some favourite themes of mine, not just the wedge and tight, rope bondage, but also the captive's white, shorts-style underwear. They are splendidly filled by the delicious Trey Turner, who I confess I never imagined as a suitable subject for torture. His screen persona usually seems too soft and warm for this fate - and his trendy hair adornment would surely not survive dungeon induction! His non-dungeon-like underwear plays on this incongruity. The collar looks great on him, though.

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The Warm-up. It looks like Trey's being given a relatively easy ride here, with the height of the wedge adjusted to allow his toes to just touch the ground (unlike his unfortunate predecessor in this punishment chamber - Cody Allen, who was entirely unsupported while being worked over by Brad Kalvo*). 

 

In theory, Trey can relieve the pressure of the wedge on his crotch, simply by flexing his feet. However, I may be understating his fortitude, his feet look as if they're already at full stretch. Also, the wedge block itself and the ankle ties separate his thighs and feet just enough to make any adjustment physically difficult. In this unnatural position, it won't take long for them to be burning. The support offered by the floor may be a cruel illusion!  

 

There's no illusion, however, about the fine display of his chunky thighs and calf muscles. 

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The wedge is a very snug fit here between his cheeks.

As Jessie Colter begins to warm the parted cheeks with his lash,

Trey's excitement shows no sign of flagging. 

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The Bound Gods photographer hasn't gone out of his way to flatter our Trey in these last two pictures. The accompanying blurb even describes his ass as 'plump'. Hmmm.

Perhaps snide humiliation is part of his punishment too. 

 

Despite that, this image of his balls balanced astride the tip of the wedge

 with his cock jutting out like a glorious ship's figurehead is truly memorable. 

 

This photo also captures Jessie Colter with a petulant-looking, strong chin, 

and there's a nice snapshot of his naturally tensed midriff.

See more of this production at Bound Gods 

 

*Note - Riding the wedge for real, especially unsupported, is more dangerous than it might appear. Please don't try this at home!

 

For more wedge images, click on the label below

Kajlet's Wedge

Kajlet - Taken for a Ride

Kajlet, who I featured not so long ago, has done a picture on the theme of 'Riding the Wedge'. 

In his version I particularly like the sense of struggle and the indignant protestations of the victim. It's an example of how the build-up can be just as good as the ultimate torment. The arm lock embellishment looks great, it’s very convincingly drawn and potentially an evil torture in it's own right, but I can't work out whether it would increase or ease the action of the wedge.

There's a bit of kitchen-sinking going on here, what with the ball weight, electro equipment and whip marks as well. Perhaps a little over the top!

It's good to come to the dialogue after studying the picture,

"No! No! No! I swear I wasn't speeding! Soldiers can't arrest civilians!" 

protests the hapless victim.

Nice black humour!

Visit Kajlet's blog for more pictures in the same vein.

(click on the wedge label below for variants by other artists)

A-Z of fetish Artists - Letter 'T' Round-up

 

Teddy of Paris - Initiation

It's my custom to pick a favourite artist for each letter but that seems a rather foregone conclusion in this case, my lifelong obsession with Tom of Finland has only been rekindled to greater heights by this review! However, I would not let his elevated status detract from the stunning artwork of Teddy of Paris which would romp home the winner in a less crowded group and indeed might even pip 'ToF' on a more strictly objective analysis.

Tagame - Dungeon 2

The other giant of this group is Tagame of course. He certainly outranks the others in terms of fetish delivery – to the point of discomfort for most people, I imagine. For me, however, his representations of the male form somehow lack an essential sexiness that makes you want to linger and drool, but I expect that many hulk lovers will disagree with me on this (and there's a compelling exception to my own rule at the foot of this post). His story-telling accomplishments are significant too, but hard to weigh in the pictorial context of this series. However, I would hasten to add that I would not want to diminish in any way his importance to the fetish art form. Unfortunately his texts and imagery present serious accessibility hurdles to Westerners that cannot be overcome simply by translation (even if good translations were available!). Tagame's example proves that 'globalisation' is something of an illusion if you want to fully enjoy the products of other cultures. 

 Tam - Staked Sailor

The same is true of Tam's work to a lesser degree, consider the nationalities and service rivalry depicted in this image and you realise there is a level of meaning and context available only to the initiated. (I suspect many non-Americans may have experienced a similar bafflement with the nuances of Ulf's distinctive, cultural identity). Tam's art is not as polished as the others here, but his very British adventures and retro, uniform fetish will always command my interest and affection.

Tom of Finland - Jail Fetish

ToF, Tagame and Tam have all produced large quantities of pictures in their 'careers' and it's not surprising if inspiration flags sometimes. The best erotic art comes from emotional commitment and focus. It's the classic 'more is less' dilemma, so Tom's late 'second flowering' in his unpressured 60's (see original Tom of Finland articles and image above) is a rare glimpse of a level of erotic quality we might otherwise never have seen and confirms his primary position in my pantheon.

Paradoxically, the Letter T group of artists also has it's fair share of tantalising, isolated classics where, sadly, there is no supporting work to flesh out our acquaintanceship with an artist we would all like to know more of. I'm thinking of Thompson, Takeuchi and Tendoji.

The letter 'T' with it's wealth of fetish riches has been a both a challenge and a pleasure for me to review. I have learned much from my research for the series which will probably produce some follow-up articles too. Letter 'U' will follow soon.

 Tagame - Bound Captive in Underwear

For other artists in the A-Z series click on the label below or search by name.

A-Z of Fetish Artists - Tsukasa Matsuzaki

I've included these solitary examples to represent Tsukasa Matsuzaki, most of his work is rather more vanilla than this. The domination scene above is from the story 'Team Kuroda', at least it appears on the cover of part 2 of that story but is not part of the action. Presumably it represents a dream or subconscious desire.

Similarly, this tantalising, insect encounter in the Cicada story turns out to be, not the prisoner torment I hoped for, but a allegorical, self discovery reference . 

This genre is not really my cup of tea, but Tsukasa Matsuzaki does butch faces better than many and details like clothing are interestingly drawn. You can easily find his work through search engines.

For other artists in the A-Z series click on the label below or search by name.

A-Z of Fetish Artists - Torturepen

1 Well Sprung

Torturepen is a fem-dom artist who depicts fairly extreme punishments of men, often in the form of fairly crude cartoons which don't really qualify on any count for this series, although they contain some interesting ideas for S&M connoisseurs who don't mind the skirts. This opening image (which has not been edited by me) is rather more refined in style than them and sums up the general thrust of the artist's work quite nicely. The venom is softened by a fiendish inventiveness and there's an attention to irrelevant detail, like the elaborate block supporting the candle, that is quite pleasing. 

2 Bad Luck

In this picture there is a rationale for the punishment as the captive man's evil intent is comprehensively spelt out by a bag of traditional burglary equipment, a balaclava hood on the floor and a grappling iron slung over the window sill. Presumably the broken window was a badly aimed first attempt with the iron, which sowed the seeds of his downfall.

The open frame supporting the incompetent felon makes his position seem precarious as well as exposed, and his restraint is designed to focus attention on his balls as the primary object of punishment, rather than his cock or ass which is commonly the case in conventional gay S&M.

You can see in this image that when Torturepen depicts men's heads they are not allowed to be attractive (as is the case with the artist 'Emma'). I suspect the podgy middle-aged physique might have some fans though.

3 Electro Interlude

This is a detail of a larger picture with a similar theme to the previous one and it shares the same interesting styling which is vaguely mediaeval and middle eastern – although the extended restraint position (painful in it's own right) seems distinctly Japanese in inspiration. Whoever cropped this picture had a good eye for composition, the summery garden showing through the window aperture, which is completely unbarred and open, mocks the captive man in his pain.

4 Man-Whipping

My final example features women (sorry chaps!) but I thought it was worth including on it's own merits as a picture and an example of a completely different style.

There is a Torturepen website but it's worth using search engines too.

 

For other artists in the A-Z series click on the label below or search by name.

Index to Tom of Finland Articles

Tom of Finland - Stable Boy (1985)

I've seen this described as Tom's best picture. 
There's an endearing feeling of nostalgia as Tom's musclebound cop (his 'alter ego'),
extends a hand to the younger generation, each dressed for their own era. Tom was 65 when he drew this and AIDS was at it's height, decimating the gay community, so it seems an appropriate gesture. Note the envious horse!


My article on Tom of Finland
 in the 'A-Z of Fetish Artists' series comes in 9 parts

Part 1 - The Lasting Appeal of Tom of Finland

Careless men, Tom's harder edge, his technique and influences

Part 2 - Kake Nos 1-9

The classic 'lost leathers' episodes - and some bizarre diversions, misogyny, husbands and hijackers

Part 3 - Kake Nos 10-15  

Man hunting leads Kake to the dungeon - and a story of revenge that doesn't fit

Part 4 - Kake Nos 16-26

A final flourish of conflict and masculinity ends with a damp squib

Part 5 - The Sinister Tom of Finland

The darker themes no-one wants to acknowledge

Part 6 - Black and White -I

Stereotypes, sportsmen and the thrill of forbidden fraternisation

Part 7 - Black and White -II

A final flowering in maturity

Part 8 - Tom's Thieves
Repeated misfortunes and a lasting obsession.
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Part 9 - Tom's Fetish Credentials
Spanking, bondage and leather. Tom returns to the barricades. 

In addition, there are other articles about Tom of Finland here:-

Tom and Fascism - the historical background
The Petulant Leatherman - surprising attitudes and unexpected emotions in one picture
Boot Worship  part of an article on another artist
Bar Predators, Bar Predators Revisited - reviewing and extending a popular series, arguably his best.

Tailors and hidden eroticism - hero worship as a form of submissiveness.

Tom's Sailors ,  Tom's Sailors 2
Beards in Tom of Finland - their frequency and significance
Tom's Beard in the Pekka story 'Loggers'  - an addendum to the above,
also the ' Loggers' seduction scene
New unearthed artwork - 3 motorcyclists cavort in mud, from 1959

The Thieving Cowboy - bondage and spanking from 1957

You may find further references by clicking on the 'Tom of Finland' label at the foot of the post or by using the search function (top right, sidebar column)