Easing into the final lap

It might be a long lap, but it is the final lap: I'm now writing the last section of my ten-chapter "Sleepwalkers." Since I came up with the original idea when I was about thirteen, I'm proud and excited to to know I've finally been able to turn it into a "novel." I always wanted to do that. Now, I know it'll never get published as an actual book (though I'll admit to fantasizing about that), but it'll get published online. People will read it and, I believe, enjoy it. I'm thinking about posting the first part of Chapter One on this blog soon, just to whet your appetites.

For whatever it's worth, the finished story is very different from the original fantasy. One of the leads is mostly the same person he always was, another is entirely different from her original self, and the third jumped into the story after I started writing it and then proceeded to become the most interesting of all.

Douglas Adams (of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame) said he loved deadlines because he loved the whooshing sound they made when they went past. I don't like that sound, so I'm going to resist the urge to set a deadline for posting "Sleepwalkers." But I think I can at least give you a very fuzzy window for the arrival of the first chapter. Let's say I'll have it up on the EMCSA sometime in the next two months.

The artwork above comes from the Deviant Art gallery of Michael O. His model was the mouth-watering Mosh. I almost chose this Michael O image instead because it's a bit closer in theme to my story; but the puppet image fits in several important ways, and I thought you'd like it better because, come on, it's Mosh. But I could also have chosen this image, so you can really take your pick.

Mosh, entranced

This is my favorite third of a photo set I found on Model Mayhem, by a photographer called lowtechfoto.

You're welcome. :-)

The slave greets her Mistress

I have a number of models and photographers on Deviant Watch, and when I checked into Deviant Art just now, I found these two pictures - and these two alone - waiting in my in box. I think they make a lovely pair; don't you?

At left (and looking unusually stern) is Mosh, photographed by Allan Amato. At right is plastique in veins, shot by Silent Order. Be sure to notice her eyes.

Silver and Cold

Since Jukebox and I are probably just a couple of sessions away from finishing the (rough draft) final installment of our collaboration, I thought now would the perfect time for this particular themed post. You'll understand at least one of the reasons already, if you've been following my blog for any length of time and/or if you know about Jukebox's story-naming convention (Speaking of which, AFI was my idea, and I've always wondered what J thought about that choice; he's definitely not a goth fan). You'll figure out more of the riddle as our trilogy makes its way online....and you'll also figure out a few hints I've dropped in previous posts, whether you knew they were hints or not!

Until then, here are some lovely images of ladies in various stages of iciness, beginning with Ancilla Tilia above (photographed by Iconogenic). Next we have three shots of Meluxine by her favorite collaborator, Mastertouch.

Now here are Sara X photographed by Robot Art Fashion, Hexabelle by I-don't-know-but-don't-miss-the-not-so-subliminal-image, and Kumi Monster by Allan Amato.

And of course, no post about silvery beauty would be complete without at least a couple of rows devoted entirely to Mosh. So here you go. Credits, from left to right on the top row, are Ama Lea, Kencredible, and Jason Simon. On the bottom row, the photogs are Sideshowsito, Harmony Nicholas, and Michael Helms.

You're welcome. ;-P

These are a few of my favorite things: fetish black

This entry ended up being rather different than I intended. See, my recent bluehairs post had given me the idea to do several more posts with hair color themes, and I already had ideas for red/pink and white/blonde (to go with the blue, you see). Well, that naturally made me think that I should do a post about black-haired models, too. But then I started poking around Model Mayhem and my own photo collection, and I ran across so many wonderful pictures of models posing in black that I decided to expand the topic a bit. Then I came across photos I wanted to use where the model's hair wasn't black but her clothing was, and then I came up with a whole subset of depersonalization pictures that really warranted their own separate entry. So in the end I decided I'd limit this post to non-depersonalizing fetish black - and you see how many pictures I still came up with! But don't worry; you can look forward to future posts on all those other topics I mentioned.

Above is a photo of Morgana by Chris Reeve Below, left to right, are Meluxine in a photo by Mastertouch, Dessa Fell by Jerry Bennett, and Darenzia by Nadya Lev.

Next up are Apnea in a photo by Cynthia Davila, Mosh by Sideshowsito, and Jade Vixen by Martin Perreault.

Lastly, here's Kumi Monster by B.D. Miller; Ulorin Vex by Allan Amato; and Marga wearing Bibian Blue and photographed by Phantom Orchid.

Tune in next time for, ah, who the hell knows what else will have occurred to me by then?

Oh my goodness gracious

This is Mosh, photographed by Nick Saglimbeni.

I have another entry planned for later this weekend, but when the image at left popped up in my  Deviant Art mailbox, I just couldn't keep it to myself.

These are a few of my favorite things III

As I mentioned in my last post, I have a bit of a history with art, but nothing like a professional history; and I'm no expert in photography, either. All I know is what hits home for me...and a lot of photographer Lithium Picnic's photos hit home for me. It's the bright colors, the high contrasts, the striking designs, the poses he pulls out of top-flight fetish models and unknowns alike.

That's Mosh at left, in case you couldn't guess; and there are hundreds of Picnic pics of Apnea floating around the web since they were lovers for quite awhile. Below are more photos of Mosh and Apnea, as well as Jade Vixen and some other lovely ladies you've probably never heard of. I got some of these shots from Lithium Picnic's gallery on Deviant Art and some from his gallery on Model Mayhem. They're not necessarily his best work; but after all, I'm not qualified to judge "best" in this category, anyway. I've just picked some shots I like, that I think you'll like.

Lithium Picnic also has a website here.

How to do it right, in my not-so-humble (not to mention completely unprofessional) opinion

Say you've got some pretty good graphics software, a smidge of talent, and a great big MC/robo kink. How do you turn out the kind of images you and others like you really want to see? After all, anyone can make a bug-eyed manga girl or a stiff-limbed Barbie doll. How do you come up with stuff like the images at left and below (which I hope you enjoy as much as I do)?

As you know, I spend a lot of time on Deviant Art and Model Mayhem; and I've seen a lot of good digital art and a hell of a lot of bad digital art. Here are a few observations I've made in the process.

First, if possible (and I realize it might not be), you should get a really good, versatile graphics program - or more than one. The image above and the first two rows below are by Valentina Kallias. As you can see, she makes enough money with her art to afford programs that can produce rust and crumbling stone effects - important for realism, especially since we all know how computer graphics tend to look too smooth and regular.

BTW, doesn't the second image below remind you of a certain Tabico story? ;-)



Of course, Kallias is a professional, and not everyone has the money to afford top-shelf graphics software. So what else can you do? Well, how about working with the "smooth and regular" effect, rather than against it? After all, we're talking about MC/robo fetishism here. You want your subjects to look depersonalized. So hide their faces and/or make it look like they've had all their humanity and individualism stripped away. That works so much better better than trying to give a Barbie doll realistic expressions.



If you explore Kallias' whole gallery on Deviant Art, you'll see plenty of cases where she did try the Barbie doll approach...and IMO failed miserably. So if you're determined to show your subjects' faces, the best route is to start with a live, expressive model rather than a computerized one. Michael O, another professional digital artist who has galleries on both Deviant Art and Model Mayhem, has been fortunate enough to work with some very talented models, including the spectacular Mosh. Even roboticized as they are, there's nothing Barbie-ish about any of these women.