Sabbatical

As you are no doubt aware if you have followed this blog closely or thought of commissioning, I am now on a sabbatical from commissioned work.
This does not mean that I am idling, lounging on my yacht and guzzling champagne like a spoilt billionaire – as if!
For some years I’ve felt the need to get back to the sort of work I made when it wasn’t commissioned, such as the Venus in Furs book. An artist steers a course between work that his inner inspiration compels him to produce, and work he does to satisfy others – and incidentally feed himself! Ideal if he can do both at the same time, but that too rarely happens. Through a combination of circumstances I have now the opportunity to pursue the former and though no artist likes to refuse work offered, especially when it is as pleasant as the commissions I have undertaken, I felt it was now or never to take some time off. Though I cannot show too much you can rest assured that I am fully involved with femdom art projects as much as ever and the finished work will be revealed later on.
For now though I will show the occasional sketch on this page to whet your appetite.

I decided to take this sabbatical last year. Now with the current situation afflicting us all taking on commissions would actually be much more difficult, not least the difficulty of meeting clients and the headache of delivering any completed work .
One final request.
Many professional mistresses whom I have drawn in previous years have been adversely affected by the lockdown as their work relies on personal interaction now denied to them. To varying degrees online income has become important and so, if you can, please take the time to go though my portraits, follow the links to their sites and give them your support. Almost without exception they have been supportive of my art and so I’m trying what I can to help in the current situation.

Wishing you all well -and stay safe!

 

Christmas sketching

Shortly before Christmas I was fortunate enough to attend a lovely play-party given by Nikki Whiplash, whose portrait I completed recently. My role was however not to play, though I did enjoy myself immensely. During ball-busting events and other intense games with the male guests in the main dungeon, I sat in an adjoining room and sketched four of the stunning mistresses in turn, using a mixture of pencils, pen and red crayon. A messy combination but for working fast it seems to work.

Domina Araneae

Goddess Sophia

Chloe Lovette

Cate Fury

This is the magic of drawing – of art in general – 20 minutes before there was only a blank sheet of paper and a pen. After 20 minutes an image of themselves which they were (visibly) happy to receive and take home*.
The sketch will remain there and can be looked at whenever they want. Unlike an experience which lasts only as long as the activity causing it.

My mission was complete – I enjoyed seeing their smiles and giggles, like some party magician, and I drank up my sherry and indulged in the mince pies provided.

Thank you Nikki for putting on such a lovely party!

 

*It’s not always successful. Sometimes I just can’t get it right but generally it works out ok

Venus in Fur

No, not “Venus in Furs” !

It is  “Venus in Fur” without the ‘s’.

It is not a play of the book. Well it is, indirectly.

This is a stage play – and a film now – about a stage director who is auditioning actresses for his own adaptation of the book “Venus in Furs”, and almost in despair of never finding the right one, allows a final audition to an outwardly trashy actress, who not only surprises him by her amazing acting  as the play progresses , but also completely turns his life around.

Confused yet? I was when I first heard of the play. Like many outside the theatre-going public it was when film director Roman Polanski announced he was going to produce his own adaptation in a French translation, with his wife Emmanuelle Seigner and Mathieu Amalric in the lead roles. I naturally assumed it was a dramatisation of the book itself. In fact there are only two actors in the entire play so when I first read about it and then later saw the stills from the movie I was admittedly cool about it.
After all, how could the whole of Venus in Furs be dramatised on stage with only two actors?

Of course I did not make the distinction.

But people kept asking me what I thought of the film (because of my translation and illustrations I was now thought of as some authority, maybe) so in the end I relented, thinking I had to base an opinion and so I sat grimly through the first few minutes. Rather like the director on stage Thomas Novachek (not the director of the play itself, by the way) who gradually warms to the personality of actress Vanda Jordan, I warmed to the script as I realised that the play’s author David Ives really understood the book itself and I started to enjoy the way the two characters reacted to each other and was thoroughly won over as the film ended.

So when the play finally came to Theatre Royal Haymarket in London I was enthusiastic to see it. In company with Mistress Tess and her admirer, we saw Natalie Dormer as Vanda and David Oakes as Thomas in a production directed by Patrick Marber. I was pleased at last to hear it in English instead of subtitled from the French film and it quite lived up to my expectations. Lots of great comic and insightful moments that really reflected the whole dynamic between Severin and Wanda in the original book.

Domina Sara

The wonderful Domina Sara and her partner – famed whip-maker Tony Essentia – run a secluded and extremely well-equipped combination of dungeon and medical room, Fallen Angel Studios  not far from Milton Keynes, between London and Birmingham.

A couple of years back Tony commissioned a gift of a pen drawing of Domina Sara for their dungeon, shown here proudly hanging on the wall and a few weeks ago he also requested this one in pen and blue/red pencil for their new, state-of-the-art medical play facility alongside.It takes pride of place in the clinic itself.

Essentia whips

Domina Sara

Dr Sara 

Learn more about Sardax portraiture and commissioning  at the main Sardax website

Please remember if you are commissioning for a birthday or anniversary to leave a few months as there is usually a waiting list for commissioned artwork.

Fantasy drawing of Mistress Tess

This drawing shows Mistress Tess wearing her adored Louboutin heels surrounded by “rokurokubi” slaves.

 

For the wonderful Femdom Ball in October 2016 I participated by offering raffled prizes.

..six copies of Venus in furs

“The Auction”

…a Sardax original artwork

…and a fantasy portrait of one lucky winner (shown above).
By coincidence the winner of this turned out to be Mistress Tess, who just happened to have a drawing already commissioned – which you can see in this previous blog-post. Of course I could not do this during the evening of the Femdom Ball itself. Nor after a few drinks was I in any state to do so! – but a sketch was made and this served as a basis, as also something to take away as a prize.

Mistress Tess showing her Femdom Ball sketch

Madame Caramel’s marriage proposal

It is always a great pleasure when my commissions bring two people closer and this portrait was intended as the ultimate gesture – a proposal of marriage from Joris to his wonderfully ebullient mistress Madame Caramel, who is the founder and organiser of the renowned Femdom Ball.

Originally the idea was simply to show the situation of Madame Caramel being presented with a card, regally seated on the throne in her dungeon – a very well-equipped premises, by the way – but then we came up with extending the idea by adding a message to this and covering it up with a paper flap for surprise.

Joris presented the portrait card to Madame Caramel during a special surprise holiday in May and she tells me that she was very happy with it and better still, unhesitatingly accepted the offer of marriage. I am so pleased that I was able to play a part in this happy event and wish the couple many years of happiness to come.

Sketching at the Femdom Ball

Much as I enjoy sitting at my work, escaping from the drawing-board once in a while is always a pleasure and Madame Caramel ‘s long-awaited Femdom Ball was a simply unmissable event . She had been preparing for this event for months and it was really one of the best-organised parties I’d ever attended. At a secret and very opulent location in Central London beautifully dressed mistresses gathered from all over the country to celebrate together with their male submissives/slaves. The rules were that while mistresses enjoyed themselves eating and drinking, the men were required to serve them in any capacity they pleased and were neither to eat nor to drink. As my own contribution I sketched three charming ladies from  Mistress Ezada’s House of Sinn , coming all the way from Romania for the event.

(You will recognise Mistress Ezada from other portraits on this site)

Photo by Bobette http://www.crossingtherubicon.co.uk

Now, on-the-spot portraits are unplanned and a leap in the dark – you never know how they will turn out and can be disappointing if they don’t work out well. But it’s a “party trick” for me by now, having made quite a few at London femdom “Pedestal” club and generally they don’t often turn out too badly. They sometimes miss accuracy but I try to convey the character. In this case I had a little champagne to help things along -which I was not really allowed “as a male” but well – artists need a little encouragement 🙂

Miss Tressa

Mistress Lilse

Lady Yna

Pleased to say that all three were very happy with their portraits and I look forward to the next party when I hope to perform a similar function.

Mistress Couple and Master R

This portrait was a special gift commissioned by a slave to Mistress Couple (right) of La Domaine Esemar in the U.S. to celebrate the transfer of management from Master R (left). They stand in the gardens of the Domaine and he symbolically passes a ceremonial whip to her as she touches him in loving respect for the gift.

This is an unusual portrait as not only does it feature two main characters of equal stature, it is also one of the few artworks I’ve made of a dominant male. I paint portraits of dominant women in the main but I am also quite happy to consider commissions featuring dominant men and female submissives too.

Learn more about Sardax portraiture here

Club RUB flyers

Club RUB is one of the most long-established and respected fetish clubs in the U.K. Recently Kim, the founder of the parties, commissioned artwork for six club flyers to be used from July to December. These will be used to advertise their parties and take their subject matter generally from the theme of each party night..for instance -“Old School Night” in July or “Halloween” in October.

It’s not my usual style but it’s dramatic and suited to the fun-loving atmosphere which Kim creates so well for her club.

For more info and updates visit their website http://www.club-rub.com

Club Rub flyer July

Club Rub flyer August

Club Rub flyer September

Club Rub flyer October

Club Rub flyer November

Club Rub flyer December

The Gag Shop Re-enactment

In the post of 24th February  I wrote about a series of four drawings called “The Gag-shop” which featured four internationally renowned mistresses. In an unusual and wonderful development these same ladies – Mistress Ezada, Mistress Akella, Madame Catarina and Lady Victoria Valente  had the original thought of producing a custom photo session, together with videos, to re-enact the series.
I admit, when I first heard about this, I thought that it was a nice idea but nothing would come of it. For a start, all four mistresses have extremely busy schedules and it would be difficult to synchronise all in one place at one time. But to my surprise, as time passed the project was planned with such care and attention to detail that a time and location in Germany was indeed confirmed, convenient for all mistresses, and a professional photographer hired for the occasion. I grew more enthralled as I saw photographs of the props being made and heard reports of what was happening – and flattered too that unwittingly I had brought four mistresses together in a collaborative effort which has since led to them becoming not only partners but great friends too.

But to the photos.

1

No 1 – original painting

In No. 1 Mistress Akella is walking down the street with a ‘dog’ on her leash carrying her purchases on his back. In the background is the gag-shop.

2

No 2 – original painting

As we move into No. 2 we see Mistress Ezada Sinn looking in through the window of the shop, perhaps deciding which gag the dog beside her will be buying.

3

No 3 – original painting

In No. 3 we have moved inside the shop and see Madame Catarina inspecting the various gags in the shop. There are some really exotic varieties here. In the background another lady has just bought some gags and the sales-assistant is wrapping them up for her.

4

No 4 – original painting

In No 4 we see that lady herself, Lady Victoria Valente looking menacingly at her own slave who has spilt her purchases all over the street. There will be consequences for him!In the background we glimpse Mistress Akella again which brings us satisfyingly round to the first frame again.

I was quite amazed at the result and hope you like them too. Please visit their sites for more information and photos:-

From left to right:

Lady Victoria Valente
Mistress Ezada Sinn
Madame Catarina
Mistress Akella

Please also see slavepj’s blog for more offshots and location photos .