In The Big Bed
Can't say for sure which magazine I submitted this one to but I'm
sure it was quite a while back as the drawing features a Dad being
serviced by his twin sons. That was the original intention in any
case. There was a time when these "daddy/son" images were regularly
accepted by mainstream gay publishers without so much as a "How d'you
do" but something happened. A lawsuit, some strident "Save the
Children" legislation, a cultural shift wherein homosexual literature
came under intense scrutiny.... I don't recall exactly what the
catalyst was. Editors began rolling out periodic laundry lists of
verboten imagery and limited suggestiveness (the most ridiculous of
which was when I was told that I could no longer have a dog or cat
present in the background as it might be construed as an allusion to
bestiality), narrowing the scope of what was permissible. I viewed
each prohibition as a challenge, something that provoked me to explore
new and more intricate devices to convey the sexual fever of what I
wanted to portray without having an editor pull a paycheck out from
under me. I was also (obviously) testing the boundaries of how I could
drape and display fabric as a background. I like these linens and the
figure configuration. All in all I consider this a pretty good
illustration.
— Michael Kirwan
Originally published in Torso
Magazine
In The Big Bed
— 1996 — 8½" x 11½" |