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Passions behind the mask

The way I define erotic art (and I should know!) is that as you look at an image before you is the way the thought forms in your mind of “…..ok……..I can see what’s happening in the picture, and I can imagine what happened up to this point, but I’m now wondering what is going to happen next, and I’m excited at that prospect.” That is my definition of it, that subtle nuance of eroticism that piques your interest, opens up lustful possibilities and excites the thoughts within you.

That’s the sort of challenging painting I love doing.

 

But, would you think it was *erotic* if all the people in the picture are fully clothed?

And that you could only see little more than their heads? Plus just the one hand that isn’t touching anything remotely naughty?

And that those heads were partly hidden from the viewer  anyway so you couldn’t see the whole of their faces.

 

Would you consider that to be erotic ?

I bet you’d think not, and yet this latest painting I’ve just finished features all of that, and is most definitely erotic. Without a doubt.

 Because….. you fill in the blanks, the parts you can’t see, in this painting. Although there’s not a lot to fill in, you can do it, and you want to do it, because of the look on the threesomes faces. That, and the fact they’re wearing carnival masks, which are erotic just on their own, I think. Because it opens up all sorts of variations within the erotic world when you wear one, and when you see others wearing them. Because I think it pushes the boundaries a bit more with what you may just want t0 do, or want doing to you, whilst you’re hidden behind that sexy mask.

And it’s erotic for the three people who are in this painting, even without them wearing carnival masks, but the masks make it deliciously decadent, daringly deviantly desirable, definitely daunting, and decidedly devilish 🙂

So, to describe the painting, which is called “Masked passions” – it features three people but the main aspect is between the two women, the dark haired man is almost incidental to the painting, and yet he plays a huge part in it. He’s not even looking at the woman who is so close upfront of him, and yet he is so acutely aware of her, he is just about to touch her as his hand slides around infront of  her to caress her neck and about to slide down towards her neckline. If he wasn’t doing whatever it is he IS doing (and we can’t see his other hand at all) to the woman in fuschia pink on the right that she’s enjoying so much her mouth open in an exquisite Ooouuw of sensual enjoyment, then the woman in the black dress with the gold mask wouldn’t be so intrigued with it. She wouldn’t be standing there slightly apart, her eyes wide open with amazement, her lips open with erotic intrigue,  curious to watch the scene played out infront of her, and just possibly about to join in. Because that’s the erotic bit, the look on her face, as a voyeur overlooking the scene, and the thoughts going through her mind. And the way you decide what she does next – she may just stand and watch, she may join in and touch the other woman in the same way as the man is doing, or whilst he touches her she might join in to complete the threesome, or she may tell the man to go so that she can touch the other woman making the man the voyeur instead, or she may just dismiss him altogether as the women caress each other, or she may tell the man that she wants to be next with what he’s doing, or she may just walk on and find other aspects to watch instead. So many options, but which will it be? Well, that’s up to you, and you may well consider something that I’ve not thought of – it IS your fantasy after all! 🙂

But whatever you decide upon, it will be because of the look on her face. 

 

And it might be even more erotic if you consider that the man’s hand on the right many not actually belong to the man you can see. Maybe there’s another man there too….. ooh……. that’s made you think hasn’t it…..

 I told you it was erotic! 🙂

I’ve painted it in watercolours, with a touch of gouache, pleased with the strong colours that give it the dramatic ambiance. The masks are a mixture of gold and purple, the woman in pink wearing the feathered and jewelled gold and purple mask which helps to bring the other two people together, she is the crux of the threesome, which is why her carnival mask is an amalgam of the purple of the mans mask, and the gold of the other woman’s ornately decorated mask. It is her closed eyes, and her open mouth that describe her enjoyment of the sensual touches she is receiving as she floats off into a blissful state. But its also the man’s closed eyes and mouth that show that he is quietly but confidently touching her, and enjoying those erotic touches too, fully aware of the impact he has on her. But they are both totally unaware of the third person, the woman watching from close by. They will show surprise if she chooses to join them, and maybe smile in delight if she makes the group a three.  I wanted the background to be an indistinct mix of swirling purples making the gold masks more prominent from the complementary colours portrayed there. The faces in clear detail as you look for their expressions – only the mouths and eyes giving any clues.  

 

So, would you think it would be possible to paint an erotic picture with all the people fully clothed? And have I managed it?

2 thoughts on “Passions behind the mask”

  1. You’re so cool! I do not suppose I’ve truly read anything like this before. So good to find somebody with a few unique thoughts on this subject matter. Seriously.. thank you for starting this up. This web site is something that is required on the internet, someone with some originality!

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