The Personal Touch

Ah, Tumblr. What a fickle mistress you are.

If you're a user, tell me if this sounds familiar. When I came across my first spanking-themed Tumblr site I thought hmm, this looks interesting. Lots of pictures.

Then I noticed that all the visitors who'd 'liked' stuff on that site had links to their own, similar sites. And the people who followed those sites had their own sites too, and all of them filled with astonishing numbers of photos and drawings and little animated gifs. I gawped at the goods on display - June, 576 posts - July, 852 posts - like a kid in a sweet shop. On pocket money day.

Eventually, after gorging myself silly for a few hours - and thinking that this was probably the most exciting thing that had happened to me since the birth of the internet - I calmed down and began to wonder what this explosion of pure content meant for the average, old-fahioned blogger like me. Let's face it, if all you want is a heap of spanking pictures - and quite often, that's all I want - you can open a Tumblr page and fill your hard drive to bursting in the same amount of time that it takes you to get past this site's adult content warning. But never mind... wow, look at that. August - 987 posts!

At some point during that first orgy of browsing I spotted a familiar-looking thumbnail - a drawing of mine, scooped up and chucked into that month's bargain bin along with 986 others.

And it looked a little sad.

Now, don't get me wrong - I still got a kick out of seeing it, as I always do. But devoid of context, and swamped by its similarly cast-off neighbours, there was little sense of the amount of thought (well alright, procrastination) or the many hours of work that had gone into it. There was no sign at all of the carefully crafted story I'd written to go with it. A few people had 'liked' and reposted it, but mainly without comment. After all, there were hundreds more to get through.

And, much as I enjoy it, this is the flip side of Tumblr for me. Where once I scoured the web hoping to unearth an exciting new picture or two, Tumblr serves 'em up by the pound. It's impersonal, even cynical. It collects followers with the same ruthless efficiency as it does images, and typically doesn't really engage with any of them. And I think that's a shame.

Which brings me, in a roundabout way, to the real purpose of this post - inviting you to enjoy the very personal touch of some friends of mine who've recently opened their own spanking art blogs, if you haven't come across them already.

First up is OTTO, whose earlier work I knew from the now sadly inactive 'Over Her Knee' site. OTTO is a 3D computer artist: but post-production touch-up, along with expert use of light and shadow, gives his scenes a wonderful painterly look. He's no slouch, either - he's posting most days at the moment - and his work is always full of erotic intrigue.

Next is Banjo, who needs little introduction for anyone who's been collecting F/M artwork for a while. Recently back on the scene after a long hiatus, he was kind enough to email me and say I was one of his inspirations to start blogging again. Also working with 3D software, he produces delicious scenes of humiliation and punishment in largely domestic settings. He writes great stories too. Suffice to say, if you like what you see here then you'll also find much to enjoy there! Oh, he's prolific as well - kind of like Underling with a work ethic.

Very different in style,
RedRump produces hugely accomplished pictures - mainly pencil drawings, and many with a 1950s aesthetic. Indeed retro charm is the order of the day, with vintage photos and magazine scans supplementing his beautiful sketches of no-nonsense wives and hairbrushed husbands.

Each of these blogs is a refreshing antidote to your Tumblr hangover - with pictures in moderation, but warmth, wit and personality in spades.

What, you want to see these guys' work? Sadly, I promised myself way back when that everything I posted here would be self-made. So you'll just have to head on over to their sites, and don't forget to say hello while you're there. It's all about the personal touch!