Art by George Towne

George Towne - Eric Seated

 It's nice to see a mature subject allowed to express his sexuality.

 More male art by George Towne

Jogger

'Running Time' by Pickedapeck

 Men dressing and undressing, moving from one persona to another, make great subjects.

Pickedapeck's style is very original and modern. Lean and cartoon-y on the surface, it has a wealth of subtle detail that give his pictures and characters life (like sitting the jogger on the stairs to put his running shoes on). He leads them though a mixture of activities, both mundane and surprising that fascinate and build up into a picture of a life that has been led.

 More images by Pickedapeck

You might also like another nice picture of a Jogger by Nickie 
(from mitchmen blog)

click on the labels below for related images

Green Leotard

 

I have a fascination with leotards and bodysuits which seem to be uniquely revealing on a man even though they are only a combination of two commonplace garments, singlets and briefs. 

In this picture by David Kawena the model wearing it happens to have particularly potent, masculine characteristics - alluring Latin looks, a neatly trimmed beard but wild head hair and copious tattoos. The snug fitting garment is normally suggestive of sporting activity - wrestling typically or perhaps swimming and yet this man is lounging, somewhat provocatively, in an antique style of chair in a lushly styled interior. 

The whole combination seems unaccountably incongruous and unsettling and yet riveting. 

It's as if a hedonist had suddenly materialised in a staid, traditional, gentleman's club.

Great image

the model is Jason Suminski

Anxious Moments

Michael Leonard - Athlete

 This intriguing drawing by Michael Leonard seems to be depicting a participant one of those earthy, traditional, wrestling competitions, resting and leaning against a mirror with his pants rolled down for sweaty action. He's gazing off to the side with an expression that might be fear or annoyance. Not an especially handsome man, but very attractive in a masculine way. 

Art by Michael Leonard

Vintage Wrestling

 An image from a recently reassembled, wrestling photo set, produced by the British, vintage, Royale Studio in 1959. It shows the models Brian Lamprill (top) and Tibor Urgay grappling in various poses contrived to avoid frontal exposure and suggestive contact. This one looks a bit of a stalemate!

Royale Studio and it's later incarnation, Hussar Studio, had a brief existence from 1957-63 but reputedly bore the brunt of the arbitrary actions by the British authorities to suppress any form of homosexual expression. They were not the only studio to produce images like this and never featured explicit frontal shots but, uniquely amongst British Studios of the time, they produced photo sets showing men dressed or partly dressed in British military uniforms (tailored to fit tightly) and often involving in corporal punishment scenarios. This seems to have attracted special attention from the Police who confiscated offending material at whim.

This image is taken from the new Royale Studio Open Archive which is attempting to assemble as complete a collection as possible of the Studio's images. 

This particular set is No 37, Urgay v Lamprill 

Moody Maxted

Adam Maxted is a good looking man with a splendid physique. 

You may have seen him on the 'Love Island' reality show

More recently he's been Wrestling on TV's 'World of Sport' 

where his 'tag' partnership with Nathan Cruz abruptly ended with Cruz

blaming him for their defeat in some final or another and (apparently) 

beating him up in an unexpected but rather thrilling post-script. 

Despite these very public enterprises, Maxted seems curiously reluctant to exploit his masculine attractions in the conventional way with modelling engagements. You'll struggle to find him in anything more exotic than sparkly, over-size trunks.

However the promotional image above from his Wrestling career
is mirrored by another (below) from his Twitter account

This one showing a more introspective mood
has  his jeans bulging, ripped and straining and is positively simmering, 

I await further developments with bated breath!

Olympic Wrestling

The sight of one man bodily lifting another using only his strength is one of the most thrilling of sporting moments. These two images show that Greco-Roman wrestling, not only has drama but also moments of unexpected grace and artistic beauty. The leotards help to capture the essential beauty of the human body without dimishing the masculinity of the wearer - at least they do as long as they fit well!

Gymnasts

Bruce Sergeant - Two Gymnasts

As the Commonwealth Games near, our thoughts turn to athletes.

This image was part of a spoof art book covering the life and times of Bruce Sergeant and also featuring work by other artists in his circle of friends. It was compiled by Mark Beard a couple of years ago. The art was real enough but it was all created by Beard, the artists in the book and their stories were pure fiction. Leaving the joke aside, the works in the book attributed to Sergeant are all 1930's style depictions of athletes, rowers, gymnasts etc treading much the same  ground as Leyendecker but in a distinctively different style. It's a terrific collection for anyone interested in the male form and sporting life.

Mark Beard : Bruce Sargeant and His Circle: Figure and Form (Amazon)



Gymnastics

Richard A Wright - Gymnast

The muscularity of gymnasts has always appealed to me and the ring exercises in particular demonstrate marvellous strength. The sport has had a new lease of life in the UK after Louis Smith's exploits in the Olympics and subsequently, but this vintage image by Richard A Wright captures it's enduring masculine appeal.

Sporting Hero

Silencio - Do Sports

I don't share the current fascination for fantasy and magic, but I must admit it has given us some great art. This chunky athlete battling for survival against the undead is by Silencio. I particularly like his pugnacious, slightly puppy-fat face and rugby player build. 

See more at silencio-gga

 

Growing Up

'Josh' by Catherine Opie

This young man with touselled hair and sticky-out ears (I love 'em!) trying to look fierce seems not so much a sporting warrior as the mischievous kid down the block. His natural, trim body and slender arms, undeveloped by gym work, are transformed by the footballers gear but not entirely concealed by it. 

Given that this is an art photo, the way Josh is holding the football seems pretty lowbrow but I suppose it does contribute to the idea of emerging manhood in a corny way. As another reviewer has pointed out, this boy is old enough to serve and die for his country.

No relation

Matteu Mitchman is definitely no relation
but he turns up on 'mitchmen' searches in Google so I thought I'd enrol him here.
Worth a mention.


Photographer Adam Pretty has caught some nice highlights here on the curvature of his 6-pack

Vested

Cut away vest

Continuing my occasional 'vest' images, this one shows the cut away design that highlights muscular shoulders. Incorporating design elements from the Argentine flag has added shape and clean, attractive colours. It also seems to vest the wearer with sporty connections and Latin attributes.

There's a sweetly, submissive element in the kneeling pose

This image comes from the Narciso Underwear range.
There is a site but it seems to be inaccessible.
You can find more images however by Googling them.

I hope to assemble these vest images into a coherent, spiced up article
 on the main blog when I have more time.

Back to vests

Returning to the topic of vests and the things they do for the male physique, this image of Matt Schiermeier grabbed my attention on the Rufskin website. Matt doesn't need much help to show off his physique but the cut of the arms on this garment will enhance any man's shoulders.
Shame about the tattoo.

Athletes Wrestling by Mitchell

Mitchell - Athlete Restrained
This is an early picture inspired by Tom of Finland's imagery. Wrestling is a good context for portraying the male form and strength. Originally published as part of a set called 'Inspired by Tom' which is available at Mitchell's 'mitchmen' Yahoo Group.