Tag Archives: Nude Male Art

Celebrating Men in Art

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From the earliest era of fine art, when great artists concluded that beauty in the natural world begins with the human form, the vast majority of them focused on females. No longer. We’re now living in an era of artistic discovery. Creative pioneers, those adventurous enough and driven by the beauty of the masculine form, have been blazing new trails for a while. Painters, sculptors, photographers, writers and choreographers, artists of all kinds are following their inspirations and giving us the magic and mystery of men in the form of art. Add to this list of pioneers a man that publishes a quarterly magazine that presents the art of man, the artists and their stories.

E. Gibbons may be the most eclectic person you’ll ever meet. He’s an artist (some of his work is pictured below). He has placed in the top 10 of a national invention contest with a product in the market for several years via “Staples.” He is considered an origami master, composer of original works for piano, and he is the author of over 25 books using many different pen names. He is a participant in both the NJ and NYC 9-11 memorial competitions, and founder of a small gallery in NJ that is a former firehouse. If that’s not enough, he’s also a teacher.

By E.Gibbons from the Cube Series

No, this isn’t a photograph, which you might have assumed on first glance. Gibbons is considered a passionate master of monochromatic oil painting with neoclassical roots. His work has been featured in exhibitions from coast to coast, and internationally in such places as Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Paris, France, Seoul, Korea, Osaka, Japan and Alexandria, Egypt.

By E. Gibbons, Tim (oil on canvas)

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The magazine:

The Art of Man is a fine arts quarterly journal that seeks to bring balance to a genre of art that overwhelmingly favors the female figure. Every edition includes an historical reference, article on the fine art of the male figure, a directory of over 150 artists, and in-depth interviews with 5 artists that are courageous enough to focus on the male figure as a significant portion of their portfolio.

 This journal does NOT include erotic imagery, photography, cartoons or digital art but focuses instead on classical images in traditional media like painting, drawing and sculpture.

A sample page from The Art of Man

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You’ll read insightful artist’s interviews in every issue:

Excerpt from an interview with Ron Griswold.

Art of Man: Why do you paint the male form?

Ron Griswold: Painting the male form is simply one of the genres with which I am comfortable. First of all, the human form is a challenge to draw and paint and I like a challenge. Second, the female form has so much history. When I work with the male form I can get closer to a personal expression without influence. Third, I use the figure studies to free my hand. Having a general tendency to get really tight, with the figure studies I allow myself to be loose. They are probably closer to drawing than painting, which is the edge I explore a lot when I’m working with the figure.

Art of Man: Have you encountered resistance or acceptance in having the male figure in your work?

Ron Griswold: Both. However there are a lot of people who are happy that the male form is being seriously explored as a subject. A market is definitely there, maybe even a bit pent-up.

Art of Man: Do you see a change in the resistance or acceptance of the male figure as subject?

Ron Griswold: Well, yes. Times change. There are a lot more artists working seriously with the male form today. Back when I first started working with the male figure, eBay had just started up and that is where I sold my first figure works. There were only a couple of artists selling on eBay at the time and there is a better than fifty-fifty chance that I was the first to discover the “male nude” category. Now there are a lot of good artists offering work there. So things move forward and a general acceptance is the track we’re on.

Samples of the artist’s work accompany each interview: By Ron Griswold, The Damnation Continue reading →

The Many Delights of Fepjr Studio

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Mandrake

Some artists are multifaceted, or should I say multi-talented … Frank Porter (aka Fepjr Studio) is one of them. He is equally comfortable behind an easel or a camera lens. This first section shows a few examples of his oil paintings, where Frank creates fantasies in fanciful lands.

To see more of his work, visit Fepjr Studio.

Buttercup

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Drolfle

Through all the mediums Frank Porter is involved in, his appreciation for the male form comes through, as if he’s telling us: Hey, it’s okay to feel comfortable in your own skin.

Behind the camera, Frank creates images in what I would call series. The following are from his body paint series.

Aura 2

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Battalion

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Hellboy

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Green Triquatre Continue reading →

Mon Graffito

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Mon Graffito, photographer and artist, behind his camera.

Mon divides his time between Holland and Rome. In Holland, he lives with his husband of thirteen years in his small, well-kept apartment; his private world, as he calls it, his “refuge from a noisy and dis-ordered world outside.” In Rome, where an artist can unleash his imagination, he stays at a friend’s house.

mongraffito.blogspot.com

That’s right, Mon is an artist. During the course of our communication, Mon drew the above piece and dedicated it to me. I can’t tell you how flattered I am. The next picture gives you a glimpse of another side of this intriguing man.

Everything about Mon is a celebration of the human male, his art, his photography, his lifestyle, his persona, even his magnificent body. Mon’s first artistic encounter began as a child when his father gave him a camera. Here are a few photographs in his portfolio:

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On the street, using various lenses and tricks, he captures faces, fascinated by the limitless contortions of human expression. A few samples.

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And there are the photographs of himself . . . Continue reading →

Jim Ferringer … Master of Male Imagery

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Are male nudes really art? Are men as aesthetically pleasing as women? What about those penises and dangly bits you have to contend with?  We’ve all heard these old cliches and diatribes. Jim Ferringer puts the question to rest with his photography, his instinct for beautiful male images and his amazing creative ability to manipulate pixels.

No rational person can view Jim Ferringer’s work and not come away with a redefined perspective of nude male art. Men are one half of humanity, a  mutually complimentary part that, when combined with the other half, equals the whole. No one doubts or questions female beauty. Jim creates images that urge us to appreciate the masculine side of the equation.

A quote from Jim Ferringer’s website:

“I am fascinated and in love with light. It’s what draws me to the art of photography and what I strive to capture in my imagery. To me the art of manipulated photographs is the ability to see and paint with light and combined images. Through the manipulation of images and the overlaying of textures, most of my work ends up looking like paintings. I am captivated by the beauty of men, all men, and have embarked on a journey to explore that in my current imagery. These manipulated photos explore the world of the beauty of the male body and soul. My work is a reflection of my thoughts as I make sense of the world around me. They are my notes as I navigate through. They are part of a process of a releasing of my sense of self and finding what is beyond my limited thoughts. To me, there is something about the beauty of the human figure which stimulates contemplation of life’s deepest mysteries and stories.” -Jim

What is our most compelling ambition in life? What comprises our endless fantasies and dreams? What is physically and mentally associated with our most basic need? For virtually all of us it’s the need for a companion, a partner in life, and for many of us that happens to be a male. Jim Ferringer’s images explain why.

Original Photo By Jan Griffioen

Using his own photography or that of other photographers, Jim goes to work adding, subtracting, moving, remixing and manipulating pixels with his own unique style until the finished work can be construed as nothing short of original art.

Based on Original Photo by Aurelio Monge.

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Prints of Jim’s work are available at Red Bubble.

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Visit Jim Ferringer’s website at DREAMS AND OTHER MYSTERIES

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Michelangelo’s The Battle of Cascina

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In the autumn of 1504 Michelangelo was given the commission to paint a battle scene intended to be a fresco on a wall of the Palazzo della Signoria as a companion piece to Leonardo’s Battle of Anghiari. This grand project came to nothing: the cartoon was finished – at least in part – by February 1505, but an urgent summons from Pope Julius II prevented Michelangelo from continuing with the work, for which only some drawings survived.

The two battles were notable medieval Florentine victories. The Battle of Cascina was fought on 28 July 1364 between the troops of Florence and Pisa, resulting in victory of the former. A thousand Pisans were killed and two thousand more were captured.

How is this a drawing for a battle scene? Where’s the battle, where are the weapons, the armor, in The Battle of Cascina? Michelangelo, or someone who understood him extremely well, found in a Florentine chronicle one of the few episodes in medieval warfare that involved mass male nudity. In 1364 the Florentine army, at war with Pisa, camped at Cascina by the river Arno and, because it was a hot summer day, the men got undressed and went for a swim instead of constructing fortifications. When the alarm sounded they all had to rush out of the water and go to arms. It is this moment of intense drama, with nudes heaving themselves out of the river and rushing in all directions to grab clothes and weapons, that Michelangelo chose to depict.

The following are individual sketches by Michelangelo related to the Battle of Cascina project. What a fascinating man and era. Can you imagine what went through his mind as he sketched the male form? Today these sketches are worth millions.

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Blair Parkinson’s Fantasy Men

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Some artists create dreams.  Some create fantasies.  Blair Parkinson creates both.  See more of his work at Living Horus Male Nudes.

Blair in his own words:

I strive for some kind of narrative in my paintings, even if it is as small as the within the glance in a subjects’ eye. As a result of this I have recently ventured into the world of graphic storytelling, seeing this as a natural progression of my work, as I find it somewhat difficult at times to “let go” of a character or situation I am trying to portray. I have always been attracted to history, mythology and the way these have shaped the story of mankind. My aim is to remember these stories in my art.

Contrasts between the human figure and various textures and forms that are found in architecture and fabric interest me, and my intention is to explore the interaction between the subject and surrounding space.

My background in theatre design has given me the desire and knowledge to put what I see in my mind onto the blank page in front of me.

Currently I am exploring the endless possibilities of Digital Art, while previously I worked with acrylic on canvas, in pastel, pen and ink and sometimes 3D forms. I also have a preference for strong colours, and contrasting textures and patterns and an obsession with detail.

I believe that painting, as with any creative pursuit, is an access to the Divine, and seek to achieve an essence of spirituality in my work.

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