Tag: Artwork

Lilli

I’m continuing the Barbie theme from my previous post with a post on her origin story. Apparently, while Barbie was named for it’s creators daughter, the original inspiration came from a German doll called Bild Lilli. That in turn was inspired by a German comic strip from the 1950’s.

The exact nature of the original Lilli seems to be open to some question. Descriptions online vary from a sassy and aggressive party girl, through sugar baby to straight out escort. She was obviously a male fantasy figure, but seems to have been portrayed with a lot of character and agency. There’s probably a PHD or two to be had in tracing and analyzing the lineage of the character from the original Lilli to the modern movie incarnation.

The caption apparently reads “Do you have time, Hugo? I’m in a horribly bad mood and I have no one to let off steam on.”

Boring Lady Cafe

Continuing the theme of outdoor cafés and ladies taking an afternoon aperetif, here’s some fun artwork by Amlensky. I’m not quite sure why he chose to call it the Boring Lady Cafe – it looks anything but boring – but I like the playfulness of it. The tip or spank option is a nice touch for the waiters.

You can find more of Amlensky’s femdom artwork on DeviantArt or at his Patreon.

A Worried Look

I dug into the archives for this one. It’s from an old tumblr dump I took some years back. I’ve no idea who the original artist is, but it looks to be set in the 50’s, judging by their clothes and appearance. Inspired perhaps by the pulp novels of that time? I love their expressions. He looks worried. She looks both predatory and scornful. The clothes being neatly folded on the chair is another nice touch for setting the scene.

Mr. and Mrs. Stokes

This 1897 portrait, by the famous American artist John Sargent, is of a Mr. and Mrs. Stokes. It’s unusual for the era, with Edith Stokes front and center in casual street clothes, while her husband Newton takes a more passive background position.

I love the dynamic, with the wife full of life and confidence in the center, while he adopts a neutral, almost servant like position. The same dynamic and energy captured in a modern photograph wouldn’t look out of place on my femdom social media feed.

According to this article it was originally supposed to be a more traditional painting, featuring her in an evening gown standing alone near a small table.  It was Sargent’s idea to switch to street clothes and pose her petting a Great Dane.

But when the dog became unavailable the day Sargent went to fetch it, it was Newton himself who, as he writes, “had a sudden inspiration, and offered to assume the role of the Great Dane in the picture”

Given the dynamic of the picture, and the fact the husband was inspired to take the role of a dog / supporting accessory in the picture, one can’t help but wonder if there was a hint of femdom in their relationship. This article on the pictures expresses the view…

Newton was ahead of his time, confident and secure enough to be relegated to the literal shadow of his wife.

Which may well be true, but it might also be true that he actively enjoyed that role.

Concentrated Kink

Here’s an image with a very high density of kinks. There’s all sorts of fun stuff going on – bondage, leashes, feet, heels, whips and crushing. It’s extreme, yet somehow it captures the sense of a real life play session.

Sadly, I’ve no idea where it’s from or who the creator is. I found it lurking in a obscure folder on my hard drive. I suspect I got it from a tumblr years ago. Reverse image search didn’t turn up any useful leads.

Loviante Artwork

Today’s post features an artist I’ve not covered here before – Loviante. Their work is often quite extreme and explicit, but also has a surreal, dreamy feel to it. Or maybe a nightmarish feel if your kinks don’t happen to run the same way! I like it a lot, while also sometimes finding it a touch disturbing, which is quite something considering all the kinky art I’ve seen over the years.

The work below, sourced via Twitter, is entitled ‘Temple on Madison Street.’ It’s a lovely variation on the theme of worship, with the detail in the Temple’s frieze being particularly beautiful.

You can find more art from Loviante via their Twitter feed and at their DeviantArt site.

Georgian Sexcapades

Anyone interested in the history of kink and femdom will probably enjoy this blog post by Anne O Nomis. It gives a behind the scenes glimpse of a new TV series about the history of sex and specifically about an episode on Theresa Berkley (featured here in a previous post). Working in 1820s London, using her own studio equipped with custom BDSM furniture, she was arguable the first modern dominatrix. Although she’d not have used that term to describe herself. Hopefully the show will live up to the level of research and care that Anne O Nomis has clearly put into it.

The above image dates from 1752, slightly before Theresa Berkley’s time. It’s a British print that now resides in the Library of Congress.

Dreamy

I’ve had an occasional but reoccurring dream since I was a kid. It’s one where I suddenly realize there’s some sort of exam tomorrow and I haven’t studied for it. Fear and panic ensue. Given my last significant exam was for a postgrad degree in my early twenties and I’m now in my early fifties, you’d think my brain might have given up panicking by now. I guess at this stage I’m stuck with it forever.

In the last few years a new dream has started periodically featuring in my mental movie theater. It’s one where I’m naked and just starting an amazing session with a fabulous domme when somebody entirely inappropriate shows up. Dream me never remembers to lock the playspace door. The visitors might be coworkers or friends or relatives. A couple of nights ago it was my Mother. She didn’t look happy about what she found. Fear and panic ensued. Freud would no doubt have a field day.

Amusingly I have a physical record of the effect her unexpected appearance had on me. I’ve been wearing a health tracker that, among other things, records my heartrate. My sleeping rate is fairly steady at 50 bpm. Right around the time of the dream there’s this narrow but very visible spike where my heart rate shoots up to just over 90 bpm. Getting my fight or flight reaction to kick in isn’t unusual in a session, but I don’t think it has ever been triggered quite like that before.

I’ll finish with an image of another dream scenario – inapproiately naked in a public space. I’ve fortunately never had this one but it seems to be a relatively common nightmare. Artwork is by Underling who sadly stopped posting to his site several years ago.

A Cocktail and the Lash

Churchill famously described British naval tradition as rum, sodomy and the lash. I’m not sure if there’s any rum in the cocktail being poured below, but there’s definitely a lash and he’s posed perfectly for a bit of sodomy as well. Looks like a fun way to experience that particular historic trio. Judging by their clothing the image is set in Churchill’s era, although I’m not sure when it was actually created.

I found this via the madam is all tumblr. I’m afraid I don’t the source or original artist.