So…its been a while. As much as I want to make updating here a priority I just don’t have the kind of free time I used to. Not that I’m complaining; I’m finally doing what I love and beginning to see an actual career taking shape, but building a career means putting in the time and so my life as Callidus just has to take a back seat right now. I’m not stepping away, I’m not closing up shop, I’m just saying I’m going to update as often as I can, just don’t expect miracles.
To those of you I owe an IM or email…I’m getting to them I promise, please bear with me a little longer. I’m actually way ahead of where I normally am in terms of workload this weekend, so I’m trying to squeeze in as much as possible while my inbox is mercifully empty. But now…time for a little fun.
I’ve been meaning to update my picks blog with some manips, but just haven’t had time to really check out all the new work being done at the Collective. After taking some time this morning to browse some of the latest uploads, I’m happy to say the ridiculously talented people there haven’t lost their touch. In no particular order, here’s the recent entries that caught my eye. Note: you will need a free account at the Hypnopics Collective Gallery in order to view these images.
First up is this nice bit of business from Scifiscribbler. I’ll probably be repeating this throughout, but the single most important step in manipping is choosing a good pic to start with. Personally, I’m drawn to pics that have some strange or unique quality, something not even necessarily mc-related, and I particularly like seeing the creativity that goes into spinning a non-obvious pic in an mc way. This piece also calls to mind a great story by 8-bit called Safeword, which I highly recommend.
Edwinracine is a Collective member who just recently began posting, but his work shows great promise. Again recalling my maxim on unique images, I really like the flavor of his work. His source material calls to mind corporate stock images, but twisted in a delightful way. His images contain no nudity, but are erotic nonetheless; an excellent study in less is more. Subtle, reserved, and innovative, I really like the direction this artist is going.
ooae10 likes voluptuousness and I don’t blame him/her at all. A casual glance at this artist’s gallery reveals a predilection for curvy and, refreshingly, natural women. ooae10’s work has a very classic feeling, as I’ve said before, and never fails to recall William Lee, Maddy Rose, and the other early legends of hypno-manipping that so influenced me. While the methods may vary, the theme running throughout this wonderful artist’s work is just how beautiful an entranced lady is.
My biggest problem with Jasmine is picking just one or two images from her extensive library to try and represent the broad range of her talent. While her images run the gamut from minimal and erotic to shocking and overt, her captions tie everything together in a style that is all her own. With a strong emphasis on BDSM, D/s, and humiliation there’s lots of fun fetishes accompanying the mind control in her work. Another artist who finds images I’d never think to use and spins them in a wickedly mc way.
While not trying to play favorites, I’ve got several pieces from this last artist to talk over. Although I’ve seen the name around the Collective, I’d not actually had an opportunity to check out SilverSurfer’s catalog before today and it was a very pleasant surprise to see such a talented artist with such a comprehensive gallery. A man after my own heart, there’s a bit of MD, FD, a nice selection of TTT, but the initial thing that drew me in was a gallery that contains a healthy selection of manip series, each presented as a Flash slideshow.
His work is wonderfully erotic and he makes use of graphic elements and special effects to great effect. Another artist with great source material, some of his work makes me just a bit jealous; I’d love to have a crack at some of his images. One series, that I’ve had filed away waiting for some inspiration, SilverSurfer has turned into a wonderful little spy-genre mc series. His story telling ability is obvious in these larger series and honestly I don’t think I would have done as good a job as he has. Its fantastic to see really good source material live up to its potential in the hands of a really good artist. SliverSurfer is definitely someone I’ll be looking forward to seeing more work from.
And speaking of manips…I’ve got a small animated series that I’ve had sitting on the shelf for a while now that I think I’ll finally be able to put up, so be on the look out for that later this week. Until then I hope you’re all doing well and I’ll see you (sooner rather than later this time).