spanking art and feedback loops

Last week, Abby Williams used a delightful drawing to illustrate her Talk Like A Pirate Day-themed flash fiction.

My appreciation for spanking art is almost entirely inherited from Tom. He's one of those old-fashioned chaps who prefer drawings to photos when it comes to porn. Webcomics and graphic novels are even better (it was Tom who introduced me to Oglaf, which I spent half of Sunday reading from the beginning. No spanking, but a must for anyone who likes high fantasy, black humour, and cock). Now, I'm a 21st century girl when it comes to media, and I prefer my porn in the form of well-written literature, fanfiction, or glossy photos and videos. Artwork can be hot (I recently enjoyed this piece by Endart), but women's bodies are too often drawn idealised-skinny, which bugs me. And spanking art does tend to remind me that I never do any, and I should - and creative guilt can sour the kick of even the best erotica.

However, after knowing him for 6 years I have a reasonably good sense of Tom's taste, and when I see a spanking drawing which would press his buttons, it tends to press mine, too. You see, if he looks at it and is turned on, it's probably because he's thinking of me - and knowing he's thinking about doing wicked things to me is incredibly hot. So that generates a feedback loop: I see something I think he'll like; it reminds me of him; I imagine me and him in place of the couple in the drawing, and that turns me on, so I send it to him.

So I texted him the Pirate Bride image that Abby used, and started exploring the artist's website, Patty's Spanking Gallery. There are some lovely pieces here. Lots of romantic D/s, curvy women and gentle, firm, bearded men. Look:



Tom liked them, too. Now I just hope we'll get the chance to act on our mutual fantasy before too long :)

a mouthful of happy

How's this for quirky fetish art? These designs are by Myk Goldtooth of the Goldtooth collective, and I think they're fabulous. I love the surreal element in each image.





I mean, the psychedelic dunce cap is pretty cool, but the raver smileyface ball gag is awesome. I want one. :)

the historical punishment of juveniles

I've just discovered a fascinating website: an archive of historical material about the corporal punishment of juveniles. It's lovingly researched, focussing mostly on the punishment of boys, and contains a wealth of primary sources, including illustrations, press cuttings and personal accounts.

I could get lost in this collection for hours. Schools, reformatories, the military, judicial punishments, care homes are all covered here. There are sections on the cane, birch and tawse, richly embroidered with historical drawings, photos and accounts from the time. Like these two, showing the caning of boys in the navy:


1906 drawing of a shipboard naval caning, published in 'The Humanitarian', a campaigning journal

I was caught doing something which if I had been in the navy proper would have got me 'cells.' I was brought before the captain of the training ship and sentenced to 12 cuts of the cane. I was taken at once to the sickbay and told to strip off except for my socks and was given a pair of white duck punishment trousers. These are always worn by a boy who is to be caned. Then I was marched into the gym where the master-at-arms checked to see that I hadn't sneaked in any padding. I was told to stand to attention and the surgeon general came in with the regulating petty officer, who is always deputed to give the cuts and was carrying two long canes.

I was made to lay over the end of the gym horse and was held in position by two well-built boy ratings. The captain came in and said 'Carry on' and the RPO lifted the cane in a wide semi-circle to the back of his head and brought it down with considerable force. After each stroke the master-at-arms called out 'Cut delivered sir.' At the end of the 12 cuts I was taken to the sickbay where my injuries were inspected. The marks had already turned a mauve-blue in colour.

(A sailor recalls being caned as a boy in a naval training establishment; punishments of this kind continued into the 1960s and 1970s.)

Or these descriptions of 19th century judicial birching:


A 19th century birching table used in Scotland. This ingenious design subdues the prisoner by confining his arms through two holes cut into the table top.

The two boys were both found guilty of theft and sentenced to receive 12 strokes of the birch. The sentence was to be carried out at 1pm, after the birch had been pickled for two hours. It consisted of a number of long thin lashes tied to the end of a stick about 2 feet long. Each lash had a resemblance more to wire than wood. At the appointed time the magistrates arrived to witness the punishment and the sobbing boys were brought in. A move was made to the courtyard at the back of the gaol, a dull, bare piece of ground surrounded by high walls. In the middle of the courtyard had been placed a bench, similar to a school form.

"Now then, down with your trousers, quick!" said one of the constables Although the two culprits obeyed the command their movements were not very rapid. One of the constables quickly unbuttoned one of the fellow's braces, and his trousers were pulled down so as to leave his buttocks bare. Almost with lightning rapidity he was placed on his stomach on the form. One constable at one end held his hands with an iron grasp and the other took the wretch's legs.

The official who held the birch stepped forward both hands holding the rod, and with all his might and main commenced to administer the punishment. The boy began the most piteous howling and yelling and red marks appeared almost immediately across his buttocks. After three strokes his right buttock was like a piece of raw beef. After the sixth stroke the constable moved round to the other side of the form and administered six hefty strokes across the left buttock. The boy evinced the most unearthly yells and blood was immediately drawn. The constable took pride in the fact that the culprit would not be able to sit down for quite a time.

(eye-witness account of a juvenile birching, published in the Pall Mall Gazette in 1887)

There's dozens more; enough to satisfy any spanko appetite. Go, explore, indulge yourself. It's well worth a look.

my first try at spanking art

I'm in the middle of moving house at the moment, so apologies if my posting schedule is interrupted in the next week or so. I'm still planning to organise something exciting for my blogiversary, and will hopefully get the chance to post about that soon :)

I've mentioned here or there that I'm a fine artist and webdesigner in my vanilla life. I'm not completely out, which is why I've never posted any of my art here; my two selves need to remain separate. My art, too, is pretty vanilla: queer in places, but kink isn't one of the subjects I address. You could say that I don't need to create paintings to express my kinky side, because that urge is satisfied in making spanking films and writing this blog. But people have always asked me whether I do spanking art, and suggested that it would be the perfect integration of my two selves. The answer has always been no - but maybe I might in the future. To be honest, with no strong personal need to explore this side of myself through my art, the only reason to create fetish paintings is commercial, and I'm not particularly keen on that as an artistic motivation.

But a couple of months ago, a friend asked me if I could do some spanking drawings for him, and after sitting on the idea for just long enough that he thought I'd lost interest, I finally sat down and had a go a couple of weeks ago. I've never done anything like this before - line art isn't my usual style, and spanking isn't my usual subject matter. So these are very much a beginner's attempt. It was surprisingly satisfying, though. I might do more of these.





The spankee is loosely based on me, which isn't ego, just my inability to draw figures and having seen more photos of myself being spanked than any other model! These are obviously only sketches, but if I did more I'd probably try to work them up to greater levels of detail. And perhaps add colour, but I'm not sure about that one - what do you think? I'm also considering ditching the ink pen and doing a couple in my usual medium, as oil paintings, to see if I feel more at home that way.

As these were both for a friend, the subject matter was based on his tastes and preferences. I'd quite like to do some for myself, illustrating some of my own fantasies - and I'll probably find that if I do, I'll feel less like a fish out of water. I'm glad I was asked to do these, though, or I'd never have taken the plunge, and it feels good to have finally had a go. Let me know if you have any ideas for scenarios or themes - it'll give me more motivation to repeat the experiment. And I could use the practice :)

Surrealist spanking

I visited Paris recently to meet up with a friend. It was a whirlwind visit - I was there for 24 hours, courtesy of the Eurostar (which I hadn't had the pleasure of using before, but am now thoroughly converted to). My friend and I spent our afternoon at the Pompidou Centre, which I hadn't visited since I was about fifteen. It's far too big to do in one day - we flaked out after three floors and ran outside in search of fresh air and glâce. But while we were there, I saw a very interesting painting by Max Ernst which I hadn't heard of before ...



Apparently it's called (wait for it ...) The Virgin Chastises the infant Jesus before Three Witnesses: André Breton, Paul Éluard, and the Painter.

I hadn't heard of this painting before, although apparently it caused a huge controversy when it was created in 1926.

While looking up the details of the piece, I did find this article by a writer called Gypsy Scholarship, connecting this painting with a traditional song called Bitter Withy - also about the Virgin Mary spanking the child Saviour. Which is kind of cool. (Plus I got to feel smug for recognising the word "withy" after my recent experiences with weaving willow.) Gypsy Scholarship's post also mentions that André Breton (one of the Surrealist artists depicted in Max Ernst's painting) also painted a Madonna/child spanking piece, but typing "Andre Breton spanking madonna" into Google doesn't yield any useful results. If any of you know the work in question please feel free to enlighten me in the comments! And link to a picture, naturally. :)

I don't know much about Surrealism, but as far as I can make out the image of the Virgin as a strong disciplinarian is intended to contrast with traditional representations of her as the ideal of feminine passivity. In challenging the conventional trope Ernst seems to be trying to bring the image of the Madonna and child more in line with real human experience. I'm sure it's more complicated than that, but today is way to hot for me to attempt art criticism. I'll leave you with the strange fact that three surrealist painters - including the artist - are watching the proceedings. A comment on critical scrutiny, or plain old voyeurism? Who can tell?

Right, that's more than enough culture for today. It's 30 degrees in London and far too hot to think. I'm going to take a cold shower, and then Mr C is going to introduce me to my new wooden hairbrush, after which I'll probably need another cold shower. I hope you're all enjoying the heatwave just as much as we are :)

Hickory Switch Porter

Near Tom's flat (well, his old flat, technically - he's currently in the process of moving out) is a rather wonderful old-fashioned off licence. It caters particularly to real ale drinkers, which suits Mr C and myself down to the ground. The place is a treasure trove overflowing with weird and wonderful bottles by breweries you've never heard of, with mythic, faintly obscene-sounding names like Verger's Tipple and Mossy Ring. Home from home. We haven't tried all of them yet, but while browsing the shelves a while ago we did discover this:



I couldn't believe it when I first saw it. And then I saw the name of the artist: Lynn Paula Russell. Who is, of course, the same person as Paula Meadows, a very well-known spanking artist and model whose work was featured in various editions of Janus in the '80s, and who ended up editing as well as illustrating its sister magazine, Februs.

Quite what one of her illustrations is doing on a beer bottle, we have no clue. In case you can't make it out, the text on the label reads:

If you know someone who's been bad give 'em a taste of the switch ... the Hickory Switch! They'll surely come back for more of this smokin' ale. This beer also makes a great ingredient to chili, BBQ Sauce, or as a marinade for red meat.

Which all sounds like it was written by an American wannabe rather than a serious ale enthusiast, and has damn all to do with hickory switches or bare bottoms. Nonetheless, their website confirms that the Fallen Angel Microbrewery are Sussex-based, as English as I am, and a decent-looking independent brewery. And strange as it seems, Paula seems to be illustrating exclusive art for their beer labels on an ongoing basis. (I wonder if she's a real ale drinker too? She and I seem to have several other things in common...)

If you're a fan of Paula's art, it's well worth a browse through the Fallen Angel website, which includes several previously unseen illustrations. Most of it's relatively tame by Februs standards, but there are a couple of more risqué images, such as Kama Sutra or Tawny Rose.

Sad to say, we didn't enjoy the beer as much as the label - we both agreed that it would be better suited as a marinade than a drink. But kudos to Fallen Angel, all the same. I can't bring myself to criticise any brewery that has such excellent taste in art.

bowing her head

I've got a scary painting deadline to meet by the end of this week. It's my own fault - I've known about the deadline for a couple of months, but it's easy when there's so much else going on in my life to leave things to the last minute. I'm probably going to be up all night getting this finished in time, which means I won't be able to spend the night with Tom as we'd previously planned. Damn. I'd suggest that he punishes me, but my procrastination when it comes to painting is so deeply entrenched I'm honestly not sure spanking would help with it. :(

Of course, this morning, rather than getting on with my work like a good girl (or, indeed, a sensible adult who doesn't want to disappoint paying clients) I've been browsing EndArt. I only discovered this spanking art website half an hour ago and I could spend all day exploring it. I'll resist today, and just add it to my bookmarks until I've got this painting finished. But before I return to my easel, I wanted to post the link for any of you that haven't seen it already.

The 'schoolroom' section is, unsurprisingly, my favourite. I love the stylish girl brimming with poise and personality in Corduroy Burns. Two more of my favourites are Unwilling to Confess and The Tutor's Report Card, where the wretched body language of the blonde girls speaks volumes about their hopelessness and submission. Spanking photos always have the models holding their heads unnaturally high to let their facial expressions be visible. It's one of the hardest things I've had to learn to do on film shoots, as my natural response to real pain is to bow my head and hide my face in my hair. I can understand why facial expressions are important for the viewer, but I find these pics of girls hanging their heads really emotive.

Similar body language is featured in this picture, which I just emailled to Tom with the comment that it made me think of him:



The title of the piece, "More Than a Lapdance", might suggest that the girl's attitude is a raunchy one, and she's in for a surprise when she encounters that hairbrush. But that's not how I read this picture at all. To me, her posture seems vulnerable and submissive. She's sexy, but she's also absolutely his.

Well, that's my interpretation. I may possibly be biased :)