One of the serendipitous pleasures of the internet is the discovery of talented artists depicting gay and bisexual men and our lives.

Let's start with Greg Fox's beguiling  cartoon soap opera, Kyle's Bed and Breakfast.  In common with most male gay artists, Greg Fox shows his men  as muscular and handsome and without a gram of unnecessary fat, pretty much consistent with the long tradition in American cartoons of unrealistically beautiful depictions of the human form.  And perhaps this is one of the great advantages of drawing our dream men instead of writing about them: we don't have to use our imagination, as the artist has already done it for us.

I think the dark guy's ("Breyer's") undies are wonderful.  Vive le Canada!   I like his legs too.  But then I would,



Michael Breyette's art is justly celebrated.  His men are quite perfect, and his pastel paintings are minutely and carefuly detailed.  There's a magical, fantastical air to them, and when you look at them you feel as if you have escaped from the horrid realities of life.  Look how beautiful the blond in this image "Coasting" is.   Dark eyebrows contrast with the blond hair; the nose is lovely; the lips exquisite; the look sultry.  And behind him, there is the sea on a hot day, a light that is Greek, air which trembles and deceives.  A whole story in a picture:  and here you see that imagination is in fact required, not to picture the hero of our story, but to create the story itself in our minds.  In fact a recently published book, Illustrated Men, available from Amazon and his website, is a short story collection inspired by Breyette's paintings.  Breyette also has a blog.



 Steve Walker is perhaps best known as the artist who illustrated the covers for all Michael Thomas Ford's novels.  Yet there is more to him that that.  It's easy to confuse Steve Walker with Michael Breyette.  Superficially their styles are similiar.  Yet I find Steve Walker's images much more poignant and sorrowful that Michael Breyette's.  Often of men alone, or with a dog, or reaching out to another man, whose indifference is obvious in the consummate way he's been drawn.  Breyette's is the sunnier disposition.  Look at this painting called Someone to be Loved .  The desperate clasp of the kneeling man; the firm grip of the standing; the knots of tension and worry in their muscles.  Sublime.




I first encountered Sven de Rennes (Sven of Rennes: Rennes is a city in Brittany, three hundred kilometers west of Paris) when I saw a charming -- and deliciously French -- story about an encounter on a TGV in France.  It's curious how the American artists I discuss here are so strongly influenced by the classic Marvel comic way of showing men, whereas Sven de Rennes is clearly firmly within the Francophone tradition of cartoons: Asterix, Tin-Tin, Jacques Martin ("Les Légions Perdues"), where facial details, for example, are more caricatured than in the American tradition (which is not to say the American tradition isn't nevertheless stylized)


  

Bishonen Works by P L Nunn has a very different perspective on male bodies and male-to-male sex.  Her drawings of androgynous young men are in the tradition of 'slash' or m/m, in other words, art or writing celebrating gay sex and love written by women for women, often taking heterosexual characters from soap operas or serials and making them "turn gay" (Spock/Kirk from Star Trek, for example) .  I find them intriguing, erotic and unique.  Judge for yourself. 

The Art of Nickie is a blog showing the works of this talented artist.  This image 'Wet Jogger' is beautiful.  Notice the careful attention to detail.

 

There are numerous gay comic book novels around.  Many of the artists, though, don't have their own websites.  The collaboration of Franze & Andärle, who drew and coloured Black Wade, a story about piracy and more on the high seas has received a heap of accolades.  You can see samples of their work on their website.  Black Wade is available from Amazon and other on-line retailers.  

Let's not neglect our very own Wilde Oats artists: Zaza, Eve le Dez and Gene Moore. You can enjoy a full selection of their illustrations in our Art Gallery. Here is a selection from these three artists:

 

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