Thank You For Asking

Those nice people over at the Spanking Library have just been kind enough to publish an interview with your humble host, as part of their 'Wellred Weekly' newsletter. If you haven't heard of the site - and to be honest, I hadn't myself before RedRump had his own interview in the previous issue - then it's well worth a visit. Registering gives you access to a vast, catalogued resource of spanking stories, poems and articles - currently nearly seventeen thousand, and growing - not to mention a lively forum and chatroom. Some of the stories are even available in narrated form as audio files, which I thought was a lovely touch.

It's also one of the best run spanko sites I've come across, and has a real sense of community: I should think anyone who regularly comes here could also happily while away a few hours over there.

For impatient types, the interview itself is right here, but I do encourage you to check out the whole delightful facility via the main entrance. Just remember to keep the noise down. I've yet to come across a pretty, bespectacled, pencil-skirted, virtual librarian who paddles visitors for talking too loud - but wouldn't that be a nice touch?

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are! Love Our Lurkers Day 6

So, here we are on LOL Day 6!

As per my last post, today's the day when we say a big hello to our lovely lurkers. That's those of you skulking around the dark corners of the site - and this site has darker corners than most - and eyeing the Post Comment button as though it might jump up and bite you :).

I promise it won't, and nor will I if you choose today to stand up and say, 'My name is Peter/ Annabel/ Fluffy/ EvilMistressOfPain, and I'm a spankoholic! And I like your art/ hate your art/ think you should post more often/ think if you ever post again it'll be too soon.'

Seriously, I do very much appreciate everyone who visits the site, whether vocal or not. It's just that my very favourite thing about this blogging lark is feeling a part of this wonderful international kinky community. And it's hearing from people like you that does that for me, and for every other blogger in the spanko world.

Now, if you're running Flash in your browser you'll notice that I've installed a little lurker bait specially for today. All I ask is that, after you've clicked on that enticing keyhole, you also come back and click on that scary comment button and say hi. Whether you're a regular or this is your first time, it would honestly make my day. :)

Here's Lurking At You, Kid!

Lurking.

Kind of a sinister word, isn't it? It's what robbers and murderers and cave dwelling monsters do. It's what danger does.

It's also the term used for dipping in and out of websites without actually waving your virtual arms in the air and yelling 'Coo-ee! I'm here!' Now, I think there should be a different, less creepy word for this - just plain browsing, for example - but hey, I didn't write the Dictionary of Online Activity.

So 'lurking' it is, and Thursday 10th November (just next week!) is 'Love Our Lurkers' day. This annual event, now in its 6th year and organised by the redoubtable Bonnie, is the spank-blog community's way of celebrating the silent majority of people who waft in and out of our sites while giving the Post Comment button a wide berth - and encouraging them to go ahead, click on it and say a quick hello.

So on Thursday I and lots of other bloggers will be making our special LOL posts, and I hope as many of you as possible - both the regular commenters and the shy types - will stop by and leave a message. We would love to hear from you, and you can be as anonymous as you like - no need for an account to post here.

This will be Underling's Humblings' second LOL year, by the way. Here's last year's post to give you a feel for it.

Finally, apologies to Bad-Penny for using her comment from last year as my post title. It was too good to pass up.

See you on Thursday! :)

Another Country, Another Picture

Some of you wanted an illustration for my story Another Country, so here it is. For those of you who didn't want an illustration, tough - here it is anyway ;).

This may well be my first 'historical' drawing. I hadn't really decided when the story is set and I've deliberately kept it ambiguous, but I thought a little period glamour might be nice for the picture.

In general my fantasies (and thus my works) are contemporary, because I find it easier to project myself into them that way.

I know some of my fellow artists, for example RedRump, have a thing for the fifties and sixties as a kind of golden age of spanking.

But how about your daydreams? Are you a modern day mistress/ miscreant, or a Victorian vixen/ victim? A wild west whipping boy? A medieval martinet?

Does period even feature in your fantasies?

By the way, this is the first time I've uploaded a picture as a .png. It might take a little longer to download, but I'm hoping if it keeps Blogger from compressing it to within an inch of its life it will be worth it!

Oh, and part two of 'Another Country' is almost ready. Hopefully it'll hit the blog in the next few days.

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!

One Hand Clapping

It occurred to me recently that I haven't dedicated much blog space to that purest and most traditional of physical punishments, the hand spanking.

I guess it's a severity thing - I don't like my guys to get off lightly - but then again an experienced lady can deliver plenty of sting without having to wield an implement. And that's before we factor in the added humiliation - the maternal overtones, and the oh-so-intimate contact of her punishing palm on your hot, bare bottom.

And while it's true that hand spanking is relatively hard on the hand, I imagine it brings its own warm afterglow for the spanker that's a nice souvenir of the discipline she's just dished out.

Yep, all things considered: hand spanking - what's not to like?

Half A Mil, Half A Mil, Half A Mil Onward...

A few days ago, Underling's Humblings received its five hundred thousandth page view since, well, whenever it was that Blogger started counting. While I don't expect Mark Zuckerberg to sit up and take notice any time soon, I'm sure my 'real life' friends would be impressed - if only they knew the site existed!

As it is, I'll just have to celebrate the occasion with you lot. ;) So thank you, sincerely, for all your visits through thick and thin (and I think the rate of posting lately probably qualifies as 'thin'!)

Here's to the next half mil. I'll do my best to earn them.