The Art of Homoeros - 3 'In Captivity'

Homoeros - 244 series (St Andrews Cross)

 A young man, is alone in a bare, dungeon-like room, lit only by a distant window. 

He is naked and clamped with fetters to an 'X'-shaped frame of some complexity,

it looks purposefully designed for specific - and repeated - use. 

The angled spreadeagled position traps him with his own body weight.

 He can move his head but it's unsupported and his neck muscles are protesting,

He can flex his limbs but not enough to pull them from their metal restraints, 

 He can move at the waist but that only reminds him of his naked vulnerability there 

He wonders what is going to happen when his captor returns 

he will probably stand right in front of him, between his opened legs.

He's always been proud of his muscular body, a product of much hard work in the gym.

He's enjoyed the admiration and envy it has earned him from others,
 but this involuntary exhibition embarrasses and frightens him.

His head turns as he hears someone at the door and he trembles.

~

This atmospheric piece leaves much unsaid for the viewer to imagine

but the helpless plight of this magnificent young Adonis is stimulation aplenty!

The artist's sense of colour contributes makes a beautiful picture of an erotic piece.
The sunny window invokes a world outside where life goes on, uncaring.
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Homoeros - The_Guest_04

This man came to dinner and stayed much longer. Tethered to a gazebo on this rich man's terrace, his beauty is set alongside that of nature, as he watches the sun setting on a quiet coastline. 

Soon it will be night....

For once Homoeros shows a man's bubble butt in all it's glory erotically showcasing them in tight denim jeans. The bunched muscles on the man's back, highlighted by the setting sun, are equally inviting and the colouring again is terrific.

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Homoeros - 219_At_The_Pillar_05

 This slender boy finds himself in the most bizarre of entrapments. In the urban waste of an abandoned concrete building or car park, a classical pillar has been erected. Stripped of his modern day clothing and chained to it, 219 suddenly seems to be in danger of suffering the terrible fate of a thousand rebellious slaves. In Homoeros' hands this pose produces a long slender body which for all it's muscularity seems most vulnerable.

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Homoeros - 425_Elijah_mats_07

This is an imaginative form of bondage which seems to have evolved from those knife-throwing circus acts. Quaintance was using it back in the 50's for an exotic (and decidedly bloodthirsty) Mayan Sacrifice scene. The circular panel to which poor Elijah is bolted doesn't appear to have been damaged by knife blades or sullied by blood yet but there's always a first time I suppose. Of course we can't see what he can see and his terrified look is probably not just the product of a vivid imagination. The bare stone walls and simple items on the table in the foreground imply a medieval or Inquisition setting but the bondage platform looks quite modern suggesting a re-enactment of those times, which is hardly comforting for Elijah!
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Homoeros - 271a_Riccardo_in_Trouble_03

 You want helpless? It's hard to imagine any method of restraint more devastating to the captive than this. Suspended high above the ground in the middle of a bare room, he is totally exposed and even if he manages to wriggle out of the restraints faces a scary drop to the floor. The chains attached to his limbs seem to be threatening to pull him apart and his muscular strength avails him nothing when there's nothing to lever it against. His face shows his dismay and confusion, it as though he's demanding to know 'Why?'
Just look in the mirror Riccardo.

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Homoeros - 271a_Riccardo_in_Trouble_04

 The view from behind is even better, it gives us the sense of covertly observing the prisoner as he is left to struggle with the discomfort of the restraint and his own bewilderment. This is just a reversal of the previous image (a benefit of using render software) but the lowered head in this view gives a sense of resignation - and a view of beautiful buns!

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Homoeros - 112_Shackled_02

 This image of a shackled man lying in a shallow stone bath isn't one of the best but if it's implying what I think it is - a pissy punishment in the offing - then it's an unusual subject in this artist's output and I include it for that reason. The captive's curly blond locks seeme most appropriate to the antique setting, and in this context the horror on his face might signify an even worse cruelty is facing him, but as ever the artist gives no explanation. Notice how he's flipped the colour palette to invoke a Mediterranean light and tanned body, all perfectly toned with the chains

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Homoeros - Inquisition_04

There are no such doubts about the direction of travel here, the captive is being racked for his religious non-conformance. The cross held aloft above him adds insult to injury. Traditionally victims of the inquisition are depicted in non-flattering ways with liberal doses of scraggy hair and tattered clothing but this one is a real hunk, one of the artist's more adult-looking models. The artist's interest in stretched torsos seems to have found a natural subject here.

 ~

All the examples shown above show spreading or stretching forms of bondage, but Homoeros usually seems to initiate his men in more traditional ways and these proliferate in his catalogue. He seems to propel his men gradually into bondage situations. If you look at his model picture groups, the beefcake poses he starts out  with are innocent enough but before long a 'hands behind the back' pose appears, casting the man as a potential captive/slave. Sometimes he places them in front of a post and before long, if he favours them, their hands become tied, and then secured to the it.

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Homoeros - 168a_04

 For me these simplest of bondage situations are often the most erotic. This man's arms are tied back tightly behind his back accentuating his nudity. Although his bodily proportions are highly exaggerated, that seems to accentuate the severity of his restraint. We don't know if he has been captured here - a hiker who's lost his way and found a new one - or he might have been brought here for punishment. Either way you can see in his lowered eyes that he knows he has become another man's prize. The barren, stony landscape behind him, almost biblical in it's bleakness, is symbolic of his predicament.

Homoeros - Hostage_03

 This is another of Homoeros' early pictures and it has a similar striking simplicity that reaches to the very heart of a bondage enthusiast's leanings. The captive has been stripped and left tied to a post, a position that proclaims his nudity. At this point it seems that, having established that he cannot free his hands or dislodge the upright to escape, he is now pausing to survey his surroundings and assess his predicament. 

This method of restraint, fixing the captive in a specific place and effectively putting him on display has literary/historical associations with primitive cultures, rituals and even sacrifice. The title tells us he's a hostage. These are usually used to extort money or to ward off would-be attackers. The latter scenario looks more probable here but either way he knows his life is in danger.

It's hard to tell if the amorphous green mass that surrounds him is land vegetation or algae floating on swampy water, but he's staring at it as though he's expecting something to emerge from it. A being that needs to be appeased perhaps. A rescuer even! I can't explain the point of light, which seems to have been placed deliberately in an erotically suggestive position, perhaps implying a more fantastical or magical explanation of the scene.

Next time I explore Homoeros' punishment art

Read this series from Part 1

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Homoeros Gallery Pages

The Art of Homoeros - 2 'Desirable'

Homoeros - Model 127

 

The attractions of Homoeros' models are enhanced further when they set to work,
exercising with weights, as in this example or playing sports
which necessarily involves display of their muscular bodies.

Homoeros - Model 127 - Wet Dreams

 

Small wonder then that they attract the attention of other men like this hunky gymnast in red.
These skin tight garments these men are clad in, like the trapeze artist's tights in part 1
generate a desire to reach out and touch, an impulse recognised and captured in this image.
Like the encounter of the two swimmers (also in part 1) the moment of initial attraction
 generates an erotic tingle, even for mere spectators who witness it.

There's an element of the experienced hand seducing a younger man here
but he doesn't see at all intimidated by the approach, his right hand seems ready for action. 

 

Homoeros - Restroom

 

These incidents don't just occur in the gym. The models also attract interest in the 'restroom'. Naked men are not a common sight in British toilets, but for my money, the most erotic element of this image is not him but the glimpse of hairy buttock cleavage revealed by the blonde's sagging jeans which he's opened in order to relieve himself. 

This is an interesting but curious image. The naked attendant (?) doesn't seem to feel any impulse to reach out and touch his target, in fact his hands are firmly by his sides, fists clenched, as though poised for a fight. Perhaps he's wary of a violent reaction to his interest. He's not looking in the obvious direction for an encounter like this either, but staring, as though mesmerised, at the plumbing on the wall. By some curious trick of the eye, the pisser himself also seems to be closely engaged with this pipework. It sort of looks as though he's sucking it. Were it not for the title and the urinals you might be forgiven for seeing a quite different scene in this picture, as I do. Some sort of bizarre medical test or perhaps some piss release therapy for men who habitually freeze in public toilets. It would be a practical solution for the orderlies go naked, to avoid soaking their uniforms in case a successful treatment opens a floodgate.

Homoeros - Medical

 

We tend to suppose that military medicals are conducted in the nude, possibly due to the wartime pictures of queues of new recruits being inducted by dubious-looking older men. It's a technique which helps tests the recruit's obedience to command and whether he has inhibitions in the close company of other men. This patient seems quite happy, presenting himself to the medic with his hands submissively placed behind his back.

The rather young Doctor looks at him warily - or is it knowingly? Possibly he's impressed by the splendid physique of his patient or perhaps there's something else going on that we can't see - like the old 'Cough please' routine. There is a subtle power play going on here, an 'erotic moment' that Homoeros has captured here with endless possibilities to fantasise about,
romantic or sadistic according to taste.

The 'grunt' in this picture might easily have been plucked from one of Ulf's images, but in that world you would expect him to be facing up to large, intimidating, bull neck sergeant with mean written all over him and planning to conduct a more energetic and demanding kind of 'physical' than this medic seems capable of. But then again, it's the quiet ones you have to watch.....

Homoeros - L'Orangerie

 

This looks like model 127 again, apparently hard at work in a posh greenhouse. Like all hunky gardeners, he likes to strip off his shirt for work and the heat inside 'The Orangery' gives him a good excuse to do so. This has attracted the attentions of his employer (in fact he probably sent him here to work knowing this would probably happen and who could blame him?). He looks like a wealthy Southern Gentleman, a persona that comes with historical associations of ruthless power and exploitation, so it's understandable that the gardener looks at him with respect, no doubt wondering what instructions he's about to be given.

His employer stands very close to him, looking at him intently, his leg poised within inches of rubbing thighs with him. It's like he's itching to get his hands on that voluptuous torso whose subtle forward thrust almost seems to be offering itself up to him. There are tempting, dangling grapes in the background but the gold ring on the gardener's finger suggests there may be an obstacle to plucking anything in his garden today. There are ways and means of course, both fair and foul, but Homoeros leaves the dilemma hanging for our imaginations to conjure with. 

Homoeros - Apprentice

 

That simple device of planting a young Adonis in a potentially predatory environment is used in this image too but the gentleman in charge here seems to possess neither wealth nor beauty nor culture. Probably not a man who can get whatever he wants, so you can imagine the turmoil he experiences when confronted with this creature who has probably turned up late for work due to the extensive morning routine which is necessary for him to go out looking like this. He doesn't seem to realise it yet, but as an apprentice he'll have to suffer all sorts of japes and ribaldry from the other, uncouth employees. It's quite likely those stylish overalls (and more) will be smeared by oily fingers before he goes home.

Homoeros has done a good job on the clothes here which are suggestively tight downstairs but alluringly loose and open above. Oh, to be able to slip a hand inside! The fashion styling looks expensive and gives an impression that this naive apprentice is accustomed to flirtatious display, but has a lot to learn about the work environment and the ways of ordinary men. 

Homoeros - Model 55 Laundromat

 

This picture is part of a series in which Homoeros recreates the famous Levi jeans lauderette ad , 

he's not the first to do so but adds an unexpected twist. 

It's not clear why the fight starts or what it's about, but having enjoyed the thrill of stripping down to an extremely suggestive jockstrap (with very nice, neat pouch) in a public place, model 55 now seems highly vulnerable and about to suffer complete humiliation as the aggressor piles into him with well-honed fight skills. A glimpse of hairy cleft above his sagging jeans suggests a down-to-earth masculinity that bodes ill for our model although we must imagine what the sequel is to be.

We've already had a sight of what else awaits Model 55 (who surely deserves to be named!) in the 'winch image' in Part 1. These connecting threads in Homoeros' work give his models a life and back story which adds greatly to the interest.

Homoeros - 292 Fight

The pitfalls of exposing an attractive body in public places are spelt out even more explicitly in this series. Our luscious hero goes naked into the woods and runs into an ogre-like creature who overpowers him and punishes him before carrying him off to an uncertain but probably intensely physical fate. You can see he's very pleased about his latest conquest - understandably so. I'm not a fan of blood but I'll come back to the punishment topic later in this series. However, I've always been interested in images where a man is forcibly carried off and KO-ing the victim is most basic way of accomplishing it. He's cradled helpless as a baby in his captors arms, but considerably more attractive. A catch of great quality for an ugly ogre I've no doubt, a plaything to relish. Let's hope for his sake it will be less violent play to come.

 

Homoeros - 280 Cowboy and Indians

I've chosen this for the same reason. Although the picture is less polished as a construct, the method of carrying shown is an interesting alternative more redolent of abduction. It doesn't have the 'caring' associations of the ogre's cradle technique above. The cowboy starts off the series fully clothed but his stripping down to vestigial boots and scarf give him extra sex appeal which the Indian is clearly relishing already. The racial element adds a frisson of danger to the abduction that Homoeros illustrates explicitly in another image, but there's an unexpected outcome.

Homoeros - Prisoner_02

 

Back in the 50's the practice of enslavement in ancient times was used by gay artists like Quaintance as a historical context for depicting the imprisonment and bondage of men (usually white). Homoeros' take on the idea is simple but surprisingly powerful, not least because the prisoner is black. Homoeros does not use the word 'slave' so we might surmise that this is a defeated fighter taken as a prisoner. It's hard to say which of the two men is more beautiful but I do love 'sticky out' ears! Together they make an impressive image. The covetous look of the captor is a clue to what  follows in the story but the outcome isn't what you would expect.

More Captivity next time

Read this series from Part 1

Homoeros Gallery Pages

The Art of Homoeros - 1 'Beefcake Boys'

Homoeros - Evandro playing squash (tennis?)

   Homoeros is a prolific producer of male renders featuring handsome, young men with notably slender waists and extremely well-defined muscularity. Very often he illustrates them in conventional, static, beefcake poses, like the one below. The example above is a nice dynamic exception with an unusual subject. It gets an extra accolade for promoting spectacles as an erotic accessory (if not for encouraging the use of a tennis racquet on a squash court!). Homoeros often features clothing in his images and this first part of my article about him focuses on that aspect of his work. 

Homoeros - Evandro, on the building site

If you review this artist's gallery at Deviant Art you will immediately see that he enjoys creating different 'models', often naming them (this is Evandro), then dressing them in various clothes - and undressing them - while placing them in different locations.  If this sounds like playing with dolls, many of his creations do have a certain doll-like quality about them but his preoccupation with this activity reflects a fascination with the capabilities of the render software and a certain interest in exercising power over his male creations. This is quite different to the nurturing pleasure girls get from their dolls! - or is it?

Many render artists (even Ulf!) struggle with creating clothing from scratch, often resulting in 'painted on' garments or shapeless baggies. Homoeros gets round the problem neatly in this example by photographically borrowing a real man's jeans for his model to wear.

Homoeros - Cowboy by Matt

This tribute to the art of 'Matt' shows a deeper artistic sensibility and provides an opportunity to show off his vision of a man's muscular back in a very authentic pose, spiced with a tantalising dose of  'builders bum'. Although his men are always ultimately revealed to have generous, thick endowments and cute bubble butts, he often seems disinclined to let them show very much through their clothing - in stark contrast to Matt's cowboy in the picture on the wall before him.

Homoeros - Massive Trapeze Artist

That can't be said of this image! There are situations where the 'painted on' render look is entirely appropriate. This depiction of a figure in tights compares favourably with the cruder display of Tom of Finland's acrobats, discussed here recently. It's not exactly understated, but is a more believable fantasy of a performing artist than Tom's one. It shows that this artist 'gets' tights as being both revealing and restraining and wouldn't you like to stand close to him! The sense of manly strength created by the simple expedient of an upward looking viewpoint is striking.

Homoeros - Tommy, Star Swimmer

Homoeros sometimes imagines his characters getting together for romantic interludes. This image shows the initial spark of interest between two Speedo-clad swimmers. Everyone loves looking at men in skimpy swimming trunks but good imagery like this is surprisingly uncommon, showing them as randy sportsmen in the public environment of the competitive pool, not just men frolicking at the beach or in a rich man's pool. The erotic shaping of the garments here is idiosyncratic but it's a good illustration of the erotic power of clothing.

Homoeros - Soldier

Making outer garments disappear leaving underwear and the 'tools of the trade' behind is a long-standing, favourite device for beefcake and underwear photographers. It never fails to create the shock of the unfamiliar and imparts to the model great sexual confidence and daring. This military example from Homoeros is eye-catching and memorable thanks to the 'Miss Saigon' helicopter wow-factor and the artist's enviable eye for colour and co-ordination, which is also evident in the other images included in this article. There's a subtle muscularity and balance in this soldier's body which is pleasing and the drooping belt attracts us to his other nice feature. You can have some fun spotting the 'joins' in this picture if you look closer.

Homoeros - Ronnie in College

I've included this example because I like the face and slender curving body. It highlights this artist's preference for narrow waists. The jockstrap is not usually suited to slim, clean cut boys (see my article here) but narrower supporting straps definitely help. Fortunately this lad sports an improbably large backside ideally suited to being 'harnessed' by the jock's open-back design. His pouch suggests some bulky assets at the front with the diving frontal lines making for an almost immodest display quite at variance with Ronnie's innocent-looking face. The rendering of the straps is not entirely successful, but this fortuitously creates the, not entirely unwelcome impression, that the garment is about to fall off - a risky situation in a young male locker room.

Homoeros - Model No 297

This model, unnamed by the artist, is of a more mature mould, with a striking face that looks unexpectedly real and (with a hint of 5 o'clock shadow) very appealing. His body is once again slim with deep cut muscular definition bringing out even the minor muscle groups and decorated with veiny detail. He gazes out of the window as though waiting for someone, apparently intending to greet them naked (insert your own fantasy here!). In this picture you get a chance here to see how Homoeros views a man's sexual equipment and, curiously, his cock is the exact opposite of his body - chunky, thick and very smooth
- and I might add, in the words of mass market restaurant chains, it's succulent too.

Homoeros - Model 55

The musculature of this model is even more pronounced, but it's a chunkier, wider build. His face is characterful and lived-in with shaping round the mouth and cheeks indicative of greater maturity, as is the thinning hair, a devilishly attractive detail I can't recall having seen in erotic art before.

Combined with the slightly dazed look and unsteady pose this model steers perilously close to stereotypical representations of Dr Frankenstein's creature. Perhaps that is what Homoeros intended, modelling men of his own invention is exactly the way he approaches his art. If so this one is definitely an improvement on the original, a monster in size only.

The ropes on the man's wrists and the winching equipment behind him offer a more prosaic but exciting explanation of his downcast, groggy look. Perhaps of his ultra slim waist too, if that's not being too disrespectful. This artist's control over his inventions goes beyond dressing-up games, it has a darker side too and that is what I shall explore in the remainder of these articles about him.   

Go to Part 2 - 'Desirable'

 Homoeros Gallery Pages

Little Known Incidents of WWII (No 3) - Tight Spots and Toto

Animal friends featured occasionally in War Comics, appealing to the young target audience and bolstering the humane credentials of the 'goodies'. In this story Billy, a stray dog, leads the Commandos to the hidden, enemy HQ. Commando missions in War Comics regularly made use of sewers and underground tunnels to penetrate the enemy position or make stealthy withdrawals. (!)

Will Wilkins manage to get into the tight crevice assigned to him? 

The dubious look on his face as he is given this demanding task is priceless.

His colleagues in the background seem to be shrinking from volunteering.

or perhaps they're fantasing about Wilkin's own crevice.

The one on the extreme right looks like Tom of Finland's Kake.

Maybe I'm imagining the gay sub-text, but I always thought 

the 'cockleshell' hats worn by Commandos made them look very cute and sexy.

Images adapted from War Picture Library, 'Ghost Rockets' (Fleetway Library)

Go to No 4 in the series

 Read series from No 1

While you were sleeping

 

The fantasy of being awoken by an attractive, amorous intruder

 is one that crossed my mind quite often in my youth 

and it's nicely played out this sequence from Stag Homme.

You can imagine the sleeper stirring from his dreams,

realising he's not alone in his bed 

and discovering unknown lips are exploring him.

The uninvited visitor's cropped hair and stubbly chin 

create a suitable impression of a villainous intruder, 

so too would the tattoos have done at one time.

There's something very erotic about this image 

with hints of calculating control and confused, but willing, submission

 

A tweak on the joystick is usually a winning strategy.

Sleepyhead goes with the flow.

I think it's in the bag!

(or something like that)

 

Francesco D'Macho and Rob Nelson both look great in this sequence from 2009.

read more about 'Eros' by Stag Homme

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Bareass Banner B(e)arer

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Bareass Buddies Bar Boredom

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