Bondage Bonus

These de Mullotto pieces are the last of those received from the very generous Bridgitte, a bonus of bondage art from a fine young lady who has enjoyed a close relationship with the artist.

 

As noted in prior posts, these represent some of the earliest attempts of any artist to compose work of this nature in a CG environment. Today, the discipline has been well refined. I post them here for the sake of completion.

 

The artist worked as an illustrator in a variety of fields simultaneously, but signed these works "de Mullotto" to protect his professional identity.

Mark of the Master, his epic of Satanic bondage and submission, was recently reprinted by 'Wet Angel', a division of Creation Books. The quality of the 'Stanton Archives' original (1980) is definitely superior in terms of printing and reproduction, but the reprint is worth having if you don't have the Stanton version.

In the new printing, the text font has has been changed, and a double-page spread that appeared in the center of the 'Stanton Archives' version now appears across the inside of the glossy front and back covers.    

 

Wherever you are today, Mr. de Mullotto, I wish you well.

The Genius of deMullotto

 

On April 15, 2009, I wrote up my first deMullotto post:

http://phantomofpulp.blogspot.com/2009/04/potent-art-of-de-mullotto-strong.html

deMullotto is the brush name (?) for a Michigan-based artist who has created some of the most extraordinary B/D-S/M art I have ever seen.

My introduction to him was the publication 'Mark of the Master'.

An accomplished, commercial graphic artist in the entertainment business, he chose the name deMullotto in order to separate his B/D-S/M work from his bread and butter work; in a close-minded business, this decision enabled him to labor comfortably in both worlds.

Shortly, 'Mark of the Master' will be re-published by Creation Books.

The Creation Books printing of 'Mark of the Master' is the first volume in their Satanic Archives series.

After my initial post, I was contacted by a generous woman named Bridgette, a lifetime submissive.

 Bridgette is the model in this image

Bridgette is a trusted friend of and has worked with Mr. deMullotto, and was kind enough to inform me that he's been very sick. Due to his illness, he is now unable to use his hands to create the magnificent art he once did.

After a couple of email exchanges, Bridgette sent me jpegs of the pieces now appearing in today's blog.

 

 

Unlike deMullotto's earlier work, these are Photoshopped creations; deMullotto was one of the first artists to use Photoshop for work of this nature. Now much imitated, he pioneered a fresh and provocative form of computer graphics, and was at the forefront of a game-changing movement.

I hope you enjoy them.

They represent some of the final creations of a truly great artist whose talents are not as widely known as they should be.

I wish the ailing Mr. deMullotto well.

 

"The Rembrandt of Bondage Illustration"

I discovered the powerful work of the late Robert Bishop (1945-1991) in '87 when I was combing Melbourne's porno bookshops for a rare Greenleaf paperback.

The illustration above adorned the cover of F.E. Campbell's The Seigneury II from HOM Books (House of Milan), the leading publisher (at the time) of bondage/S&M-themed literature and paraphernalia.

Beginning life as a manufacturer of fetish clothing, the company grew into a primary producer of books, magazines and videos thanks to co-founders Barbara Behr and Yogi Klein.

On the back cover of most of F.E. Campbell's 100+ bondage novels, you would find this:

To read an F. E. Campbell novel is to enter another world: a world filled with lust, pain, intrigue, agony, and ecstasy. The author gives his tales of maiden woe a decidedly English twist. It is here that the eternal damsel in distress finds herself presented in sympathetic fashion to a cruel modern world, where she must deal with the physical and psychological aspects of loving restraint.

Campbell was a talented English writer approaching his twilight years who took the writing of novels with bondage themes very, very seriously.

The result is a cannon of extraordinary work that is rich in characterization, written with great attention to detail, innately aware of its readership, tightly plotted, and skilfully resolved.

Robert Bishop, who often signed off as "Bishop" provided provocative, gorgeously rendered illustrations for all of Frank Campbell's novels, and for other HOM projects including the Fanni Hall comics.

Initially influenced by John Willie, the Michigan-born and educated artist worked for Centurian Publications and Harmony Publications early on in his career. His style met with resistance from Harmony because of their strict guidelines regarding the consensual nature of the fiction they were putting out.

At HOM he found a more liberal artistic environment that allowed him to produce the amazing, airbrushed masterpieces that ended up adorning Campbell's novels and those of writer Geoffrey Merrick.




Bishop's work, like the work of Toshio Saeki, has a strong, situational theme to it.

Each image evokes a world way beyond the frame.




Bishop's settings often provide a soft, stark counterpoint to the action.


The work has a brilliant sheen to it that Bishop achieved with the pencil and the airbrush.



One of the more explicit examples of Bishop's work.




Superb!




One of my absolute favorites -- Bishop's take on a "Rocking Dog" with accompanying "pet".


The illustration below (which I had blown up to poster size and placed on my living room wall) provoked outrage many years ago when a friend of my ex-wife took exception to it.

She insisted that it be taken down from the wall during her visit.

Naturally, she was shown the door.


Exquisite use of color.



Panel from one of Bishop's mind-bending comics.

Note the wonderful "Hut of Horror" in the illustration at top left.

Sadly, Robert Bishop, dubbed "The Rembrandt of Bondage Illustration", used a gun to take his own life at 46.

The work of this card-carrying Apostle of Pulp will live on forever.

R.I.P., Sir!