Men, huh? Can't live with 'em. Can't strip 'em and spank 'em. Well actually, you CAN, in this little corner of cyberspace. Around here, fully grown males are at constant risk of humiliating bare bottomed correction - hence the 'humblings' of the title.



Saturday 15 October 2011

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!

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for the post! Yes, tumblr can be something... ! Haven't had the experience of seeing our pics posted there, tho :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good Post! I haven't even looked at tumblr, mainly because of what I've heard about how devoid it is of comment.

    I enjoy the interaction we get with people that read our blogs. Even though the comments are few and far between.

    My Wife and I have enjoyed your blog for a long time, and your artwork in amongst the best. We were glad to see Banjo return, and Red Rumps work is awesome. Otto also is doing a great job with his blog. I do hope you all are around for a long time.

    We really appreciate the time and art you put into all your work. I think artwork shows so much more than you'd ever see in a photograph.

    Sorry this was so long, (getting off my soapbox now)

    Again thanks to all the artists for their hard work.

    James

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Underling:

    I believe the advent of the tumblr sites may have greatly aggravated my carpel tunnel! That said it does feel a bit like gorging myself on cheap Halloween candy after awhile. And none of the original image creators get credit which sucks. It can also be a real problem if you want to re-post any of those images. I got into a bit of trouble and found that Google pulled some of my blog posts when people complained. I have always been very scrupulous about giving credit when I know what the source of the original image is as you know. But some of those photos seemed to be all over the place so I saw no harm in re-posting them... DOH! I will no longer post any image on my blog unless I know where it came from and can give proper credit where credit is due.

    I applaud RedRump Otto and Banjo! Femdom art rules! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. One of the weird facts of life, I think, about the internet is that it can cripple you with excess. You go to download some fonts, and you end up with 10,000 - literally! Girls in latex bikinis - 10,000 more.
    About the value of pictures...by themselves, not much anymore. Hard to imagine that a hundred-and-fifty years ago successful artists would tour with a single painting, set it up in a darkened room with seating and a stage, and actually make money, just like a movie. There would be people stomping out in anger saying, "This is an outrage!" if the artist broke with tradition in the smallest way. Things have changed...but not completely. Now is the time for the fleet-of-mind. The public has not lost their need to be entertained.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks! I have "followed" two of your recommendations.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I recently discovered Tumblr
    And i was able to see over a thousand femdom photos in less then 30 minutes.But only three or four of them were any good. Most seemed to be of porn star models holding a whip half heartedly for the camera.

    Ive said it before here.And i will say it again. Quality ALWAYS beats quantity

    I agree with you about the artists that you mentioned.They are all good. You and Banjo especially are good at making art that comes alive and tells a story.Or lets the viewers mind create its own story.Most spanking and femdom photos and artwork dont seem to be able to do that

    Banjo has just started blogging again.But the rest of artists that you mention[including yourself] are fairly new. I think thats great! We viewers will have lots more of your art to look forward to.And we seem to be entering a "Golden Age" of spanking art.
    Thank you Underling for all of your great artwork.and im gratefull for all of the artwork by Banjo,RedRump and Otto ,too

    ReplyDelete
  7. SometimesSpanked, you're welcome. And I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Tumblr picks up your pictures!

    James, thanks for the nice comments. And don't apologise for the long post - it's great when people take the time to write a little more. Glad you also enjoy the other artists I listed.

    HMP, you do indeed go to a lot of trouble to credit artists, and it's admirable. I long ago resigned myself to the fact that pictures simply can't be protected on the web, and in any case I'm genuinely flattered to see mine reposted! I guess from the search terms used that a lot of people come to the blog after seeing a drawing of mine elsewhere, so it's all good. I considered also adding the URL rather than just my signature logo, but I think it's too much clutter.

    OTTO, I agree that the internet has a tendency to overwhelm - but I still like to think that a single picture can be a treasure all by itself. Every now and again I'll come across one that really wows me, usually for an undefinable reason.

    Giles, thanks for visiting those other artists, and especially for following their sites. It's always encouraging to log in and see a new 'face'.

    BOB, I hope you're right that we're entering a new golden age - that term's especially fitting for RedRump, I think - because Tumblr is digging up gold reserves as fast as they can be replenished!

    ReplyDelete

Comments (concerning adults only, please!) are greatly appreciated.

Your feedback makes the blog worthwhile. Thanks for taking the time!