Of muses and men

I'm dissatisfied today, it happens.

I was very interested in a forum discussion about muses yesterday. I don't think I can have one in the way it's generally perceived as I generally have no erotic interest in the subjects of my work, but it got me thinking about the difference it would make to what I do if I was involved with a man.

There has only been one man in my life in the time I've been in this specific field of art and I can honestly say he did have an effect on what I did. I enjoyed having a man to think about when I was creating the pictures. In the buying stage and the photographic stage I started to think about what he would find erotic and incorporate it.

It's fun having someone to run scenarios by and see if someone else likes it- someone who would be interested that is. If I was to call up my girlfriends and start describing a secretary bending over a desk or a girl reclining in lacy panties, they'd soon stop picking up the phone. Maybe it's better now I'm just doing what I like.

It'd be great to have someone to stand in front of a mirror with and see what works so I could do sketches for some more boy/girl paintings.

If you see me in the sex shop buying a big blow up man- he's for practise posing with. And to prop up looking out of my bedroom window to deter burglars like some people have them in a car.

That's a brilliant idea! (Brilliant ideas like that are probably why I'm single) ;) If you see this post it's just short of a miracle- I'll think better of it in ten minutes and delete it!

Different for girls

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Any ideas?

I'm totally stuck.

This started as an idea- originally I planned the standing figure to be holding the kneeling girl under the chin. I know what I mean but anyway- it didn't work!

Then I thought it should be a man, holding a crop behind his back. That didn't work either. This is only a sketch so far- I just want suggestions on what to do with the standing figure as it currently makes no sense. Maybe get rid of the standing girl altogether... what do you think??

Ok, I give in

I admit it. I can paint men. I just don't want to. These are drawings from life class in art college many years ago.  Acrylic on paper, no idea why I can't paint in acrylic now, guess I just got out of the habit.

I can't wait to get myself back into a life class. Because my models aren't professionals I take photos to work from. I can remember what it's like sitting still for all that time and I can't ask someone to do it for free, but just looking at these makes me remember what a different process it is to working from photos.

I just hope this time the models in the life class are female :)

[gallery]

Bad art..... Guilty!

I've just had the funniest hour of my life. Regretsy is genius, there's no denying it

And.... I'm on it. Oh yes I am.  A few posts down in the art section.  I don't have a photo of the painting so I can't even prove it.

When I'd seen regretsy before I'd actually wondered i they'd come across this most hideous article and they did. I didn't even bother disguising my contempt for it in the description.

It was a year ago, I'd had a really frustrating conversation with someone who told me I was never going to be successful until I started painting big pictures of cocks. Monumental cock pictures were where it's at, apparently. It was just after erotica 09 and I was really fed up with feeling that I had to appear sexually available to sell my work.

As it happens, I am sexually available but not to just anyone! I had one guy on facebook who just wouldn't leave it. No matter how polite I was he was articulate but really offensive and wouldn't accept that I wasn't interested in him and didn't want to answer any more of his questions.  at the same time I was trying to extricate myself from a doomed relationship and part of me just thought I should almost shed my skin, start again, leave the art behind.

Somewhere in my back catalogue I had a photo that had been taken for a laugh and I committed facebook suicide. I painted it on a blank canvas in 45 minutes and posted it up in art groups. The caption said something like "I've had enough, I'm committing facebook suicide- do your worst, report me!"

And they did.

And I bounced back with a better plan and now I don't get the amount of grief I used to. I got my marketing all wrong at the start.

And I still don't like painting men.

It goes back to what I was saying yesterday about what people find erotic. That's just why I did it, it's hilarious!

If I did I'd get myself on as a regretsy regular. I don't know if it's because I've got a funny sense of humour but I love my spot on there. And it sold my revolting painting! And I bought some wine.

Cheers! :D

Dressing up

I forget sometimes how full my dressing up box is. Wigs, hats, masks, feathers, shoes, lingerie, outfits. I love dressing up, I love dressing other people up. It's definitely time for another photo shoot. I have a few new lacy and shiny things which deserve some attention :)

Looking at dirty pictures

I don't use other photographers' work or copy other painters but sometimes when I'm working I think I need to change something, it's usually a facial expression or maybe the hands aren't quite right. At those times I put in an image search and I get lost for hours. It's something I tend to do really early in the morning. And I never keep to my brief. One erotic photography site leads to another, sex blogs, sites for women, sites for men, adult forums.

Sometimes I see things I wish I hadn't. I'm amazed the spectrum of sexual preferences out there. How UN"erotic" are some of the things which turn people on. We're a truly astonishing species. I'd love to elaborate- but I'll spare you the details...

sexy purple shoes

They're delicious! I painted them before but I made them pink so I painted them again on a smaller scale.

purple is sexy :)

Wine O'clock

new painting resting on my tattoo table. I'm still not sure if it's finished. I think I deserve a night off, some wine and a good nights sleep. Cheers :)

Apologising for the naked ladies everywhere...

[caption id="attachment_190" align="aligncenter" width="254" caption="Erotica 09 Painting by Daniel Stedman"][/caption]

It's so grey and rainy today, I've got all my daylight bulbs illuminating my work area and it's still so dark and grim I ust can't summon up the will to paint so I'm just going to write a bit about my life in the real world. Yesterday the man came to read the meter and put a card through the door saying he'd be back this morning.

Recently I rearranged my house so there's no route through straight to the back door and everyone has to come through my front room, kitchen, and studio to get there. There's no back gate and the meter is just outside the back door so short of hiding everything I'm doing and taking everything off the walls I'm about to deal with anything from confused embarrassment, wide eyed voyeuristic interest and a barrage of questions (see previous posts)

I rarely get a hard time from anyone who actually sees me and what I do in close proximity, the mystery is taken out of it. I'm clearly not painting in the nude, or a man pretending to be a girl so that's half the battle.

But maybe I sometimes do feel a bit apologetic about it. Contractors and salespeople are generally male so I don't get any real hostility or suspicion from these strangers who come into my house but I do have a sinking feeling when I know I'm going to have to say something. I wonder what this one will be like.

As you can see from my post photo today I'm pining because I'm not going to erotica at olympia this year. I'd have known so much better this year what to paint for that particular exhibition and I'm sad not to be going. I'd enjoy it so much more if I did it again. And I've never seen Dita Von Teese live, that would be so amazing. And the shopping, all those goodies I could use in my work. Shoes! Corsets, masks, feathers.... I'm sulking.

 

Desire

[caption id="attachment_184" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Desire. 20 x 16" Oil on canvas"][/caption]

As you can see, it's still wet so it won't be on sale for a few weeks. Crimson takes ages to dry.  It's one of those paintings I'll have trouble parting with. It might accidentally get framed and hang on my wall for a while.

:)

 

Now for sale here

Girls

I made this up.  Just started drawing straight on the canvas. I went to my photos to reference the position of the second figure's leg.

Why are they both girls? Because I haven't got the first idea what men look like any more. I'd get one round to model but they're always trouble. Girls look good together in paintings.

I'll have to wait a few days til it's dry before I carry on, and I usually mess these ones up in the next layer so thet might be the last you see of it...

Decluttering

I've been dreaming strange dreams. I woke up really quite traumatised today. For some reason it really made me want to get up at stupid o clock and look through all my half finished paintings and make some hard decisions. Sometimes it makes me laugh to drive around and look for the kind of public bins or skips that people go to to look for free goodies and leave paintings there, just imagining the look on someone's face as they find an unexpected erotic painting.

Some paintings just never work out. I suppose they would if I persevered but if I fall out of love with them too soon I just have to give up. I can think of two I want to keep , I think it's really time to let go of the others. They take up so much space and they just make me feel guilty hanging around pleading with me to finish them.

I've said this a lot of times though- I may now get all my canvases out, look at them and put them away again. I need someone to do it for me so I can't get sentimental!

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Time for some colour

[caption id="attachment_158" align="aligncenter" width="231" caption="Sacrifice 12 x16 oil on board"][/caption]

I don't know when I gave up on colour. I've go all these half finished paintings I really need to get out of the way but my head is full of colour. I've got some ideas and some new paintbrushes, just gotta be brave and escape the grey!

I was going to wear that lip service nun dress to a party in a few weeks but I can't make it so I've given it the attention it deserves by painting it. With those zips it's a bit dangerous to take out...

 

Now for sale here