'Captured' by Arkady Sviatchennik
Arkady Sviatchennik's latest picture, submitted to his DeviantArt gallery yesterday, is entitled 'Captured' (#1.)
https://kamerijk.deviantart.com/art/Captured-717849368
For this, his fourteenth manipulation, he has provided the following explanatory text:-
'A slave raiding boat has been roaming the coast around Temit for a couple of days. After mooring near a deserted beach, the pirates set off to explore the surrounding area. It didn't take them too long to spot two young girls collecting firewood near a village, some two hours away north. Although one of them did try to resist, the girls were easily captured, then stripped and briskly marched to the boat. When they have collected enough booty the raiders will set sail to some slave trading port where they will quickly exchange their loot for gold.'
This is a highly attractive composition, with consistent sunlight and expressive details such as the tormented form of the tree, and the dhow just beyond the surf, which contributes to the background story. Eulalia has responded to the details, with an early comment on the two recently enslaved subjects:-
'Good facial expressions on both girls, arousing imagination - what's happened? What's going to happen to them? A picture full of hints and possibilities, dominated by the sinister storm-broken tree.'
The central figure of Alice derives from Femjoy's 'Droplets on my Skin' (#2) which forms part of her Crimean coastal sessions by Valery Anzilov. In the original, Alice has just crawled out of the sea, looking remarkably sirenesque. Arkady has reduced the shiny, wet look and added scratches and bruises to reflect her recent struggle with her captors (one of whom is now sporting bandages!) It appears as though she has just been untied from the bindings on the branch above her head.
When I commented, 'I do not recognise Alice's companion, although both girls have similar features and might be taken for sisters?' Arkady replied, 'the idea that they might be sisters hadn't occurred to me, but is very interesting indeed. It would make their predicament even worse, making each of the two girls afraid both for herself and for her sibling ...
Actually, would you believe that Alice's companion is (partly) Alice herself, who'd been sitting (or should I say squatting) forgotten somewhere on my hard drive for quite a bit of time, her crossed wrists seeming to beg for some kind of rope. Can't remember where I found the original photo though. For this picture I lent her a new head (plus a few scratches), more befitting to the dire circumstances. Neither do I remember where that head came from. An indispensable young woman.'
Whilst neither of us could identify the face of the foreground girl, I succeeded in identifying Alexey Bessarab's 'Emerald World' (Amour Angels) as the source of the Alice body image (#3, #4) In fact I had previously used the hair and shoulders from the same picture in 'Ecce Femina 1' (#5.) Not only that, but I had stolen a march on Arkady by using the same 'Droplets' picture for the face in 'Ivdaea Capta 13' (#6.) There is something curiously satisfying about seeing my choices endorsed by other artists!
Commenting to Arkady, Maha Shiva referred to Alice's popularity in DeviantArt manipulations, saying, 'Poor Alice can never catch a break wherever she goes--your page, my page, or Bob's page.' This prompted Arkady's response about her mysterious, enduring appeal, 'Alice is always ready to serve. There's that something about her, but I haven't quite determined what it is yet.' But, as Shiva says, 'We don't need to know what it is; we just know that we like it.'
Elsewhere, Arkady noted that 'Alice is an inexhaustible fountain of inspiration', and he has also described the attraction of photo manipulation as an artistic medium:-
'I'm an amateur illustrator (and observer) of the life of slave girls, especially those living in imaginary civilisations (say around the Persian Gulf) many centuries ago. I started years ago by idly drawing nude girls in pencil on paper, then found that the web offered a wealth of nude models I could tap on and launch into a new existence, so I'm now dabbling in photo manipulation. I use The Gimp, which has answered my needs reasonably well so far.
I'm not into "serious" BDSM, extreme violence or gore. But of course a slave girl has to be restrained or punished occasionally, or she wouldn't be a proper slave girl. I started posting some of my "oeuvres" on Deviantart only recently, and am grateful for the kind reception they have received so far.'
Arkady Sviatchennik's latest picture, submitted to his DeviantArt gallery yesterday, is entitled 'Captured' (#1.)
https://kamerijk.deviantart.com/art/Captured-717849368
For this, his fourteenth manipulation, he has provided the following explanatory text:-
'A slave raiding boat has been roaming the coast around Temit for a couple of days. After mooring near a deserted beach, the pirates set off to explore the surrounding area. It didn't take them too long to spot two young girls collecting firewood near a village, some two hours away north. Although one of them did try to resist, the girls were easily captured, then stripped and briskly marched to the boat. When they have collected enough booty the raiders will set sail to some slave trading port where they will quickly exchange their loot for gold.'
This is a highly attractive composition, with consistent sunlight and expressive details such as the tormented form of the tree, and the dhow just beyond the surf, which contributes to the background story. Eulalia has responded to the details, with an early comment on the two recently enslaved subjects:-
'Good facial expressions on both girls, arousing imagination - what's happened? What's going to happen to them? A picture full of hints and possibilities, dominated by the sinister storm-broken tree.'
The central figure of Alice derives from Femjoy's 'Droplets on my Skin' (#2) which forms part of her Crimean coastal sessions by Valery Anzilov. In the original, Alice has just crawled out of the sea, looking remarkably sirenesque. Arkady has reduced the shiny, wet look and added scratches and bruises to reflect her recent struggle with her captors (one of whom is now sporting bandages!) It appears as though she has just been untied from the bindings on the branch above her head.
When I commented, 'I do not recognise Alice's companion, although both girls have similar features and might be taken for sisters?' Arkady replied, 'the idea that they might be sisters hadn't occurred to me, but is very interesting indeed. It would make their predicament even worse, making each of the two girls afraid both for herself and for her sibling ...
Actually, would you believe that Alice's companion is (partly) Alice herself, who'd been sitting (or should I say squatting) forgotten somewhere on my hard drive for quite a bit of time, her crossed wrists seeming to beg for some kind of rope. Can't remember where I found the original photo though. For this picture I lent her a new head (plus a few scratches), more befitting to the dire circumstances. Neither do I remember where that head came from. An indispensable young woman.'
Whilst neither of us could identify the face of the foreground girl, I succeeded in identifying Alexey Bessarab's 'Emerald World' (Amour Angels) as the source of the Alice body image (#3, #4) In fact I had previously used the hair and shoulders from the same picture in 'Ecce Femina 1' (#5.) Not only that, but I had stolen a march on Arkady by using the same 'Droplets' picture for the face in 'Ivdaea Capta 13' (#6.) There is something curiously satisfying about seeing my choices endorsed by other artists!
Commenting to Arkady, Maha Shiva referred to Alice's popularity in DeviantArt manipulations, saying, 'Poor Alice can never catch a break wherever she goes--your page, my page, or Bob's page.' This prompted Arkady's response about her mysterious, enduring appeal, 'Alice is always ready to serve. There's that something about her, but I haven't quite determined what it is yet.' But, as Shiva says, 'We don't need to know what it is; we just know that we like it.'
Elsewhere, Arkady noted that 'Alice is an inexhaustible fountain of inspiration', and he has also described the attraction of photo manipulation as an artistic medium:-
'I'm an amateur illustrator (and observer) of the life of slave girls, especially those living in imaginary civilisations (say around the Persian Gulf) many centuries ago. I started years ago by idly drawing nude girls in pencil on paper, then found that the web offered a wealth of nude models I could tap on and launch into a new existence, so I'm now dabbling in photo manipulation. I use The Gimp, which has answered my needs reasonably well so far.
I'm not into "serious" BDSM, extreme violence or gore. But of course a slave girl has to be restrained or punished occasionally, or she wouldn't be a proper slave girl. I started posting some of my "oeuvres" on Deviantart only recently, and am grateful for the kind reception they have received so far.'
