I haven't featured a lot of drawings on Graceful Nudes before, but I am honored to make an exception to show you a small collection of outstanding drawings of Jacques Miller.
Drawings show the beauty the artist sees, just like photography, but in drawings the artist has more control on what she sees and what she draws. By inspecting the drawings of Jacques Miller one can really see his view of the world and his grasp of beauty. It takes a lot of practice and a developed aesthetical sense to produce such beautiful pieces.
It's not strange for a man who gave the world so much to give it much more, perfect beauty.
Enjoy!
I think that the thing that's making many miss the main point of tasteful nudes is the quick labelling that we're used to in real life. When viewing tasteful nudes your job isn't to label or to judge, your goal should be a profound enjoyment of beauty while transcending material thoughts or any distractions, i.e. it should be similar to meditation; approached with a clear open mind and a passion for the life forces and the discovery of truth, whatever that truth may be.
Let's imagine that you're at a park and that you encountered a magnificently beautiful rose, the rose's beauty stopped you from thinking about your worries, your fears, and the bombarding thoughts that are racing through your head. You no longer hear the barking of the dogs or the noise of the children, the rose absorbs your complete and absolute attention with its simple beauty.
What would you do if you're in that situation?
I liken those who suddenly have an urge to pick that flower and to deprive the world and itself from its selfless beauty as those who start having sexual fantasies about the models. Not that sexual fantasies are wrong, but sex is beauty that's shared, not beauty that's forcibly taken, not even in one's head.
Others may just look away and get back to their train of thoughts, continue being distracted and even regret "wasting" a few seconds contemplating the beauty of the rose. Those not only lose an opportunity to have a few rare moments of inner peace which may enhance their ordinary daily functions, but they also miss the point of life. Sometimes one needs to be a machine, but not giving the machine some rest will lead to quick erosion of its parts.
Also, There are those who will mindlessly point at the flower and start talking about its sexual function and the evolutionary benefit of flowers represented in their ability to attract certain species of insects that will aid in the pollination process and the reproduction of those plants. It's great knowing the function of something, but that function should lead to even more fascination, not total obsession. There's no point in pointing at nude female bodies and saying that those forms are the result of eons of sexual and natural selection without seeing the complete picture and appreciating what one sees, with an open mind and beautiful emotions.
Then there are those who ideally start inspecting every aspect of the flowers beauty, see how the lines and curves join together to form that picturesque view. They pay attention to the fine details that others miss in their hurry, they let themselves take what the rose is trying to give the world, which is simple beauty. Those benefit the most and rediscover themselves and life through the simple dedication of a few moments to unleash their pure human emotions and to get to know their true self without any artificial boundaries or limitations.
I think that we all can lead more satisfying lives if we take a few moments each day to enjoy life, in all its magnificence and beauty. Seeing beyond the material rose and aiming for the higher meanings that can direct us towards a better future and alleviate the stresses of our modern lives.
Experience beauty!
The first thing that attracted me to Patrick Jan Van Hove's works is the honesty of them. I am indeed very glad to having found a photographer who's brave enough to show the bodies of the models the way they really are, and by using normal model. There's no need to be lipophobic unless you're a blind follower of the media, and there's nothing to hate about striae unless you're a plastic surgeon.
Few are the ones who are daring enough to capture ordinary ladies and to bring mundane settings to life as he does. If you take a look at his models you will notice that they don't have the "perfect body", yet they are absolutely beautiful. It's just a testimony that beauty can be found everywhere, not in a fancy studio and a model whose bloodstream is full of glucagon.
Another thing to be admired about his works is that he works with a lot of pregnant women, showing the beauty of the fascinating conception.
My words aren't enough to describe the images that you can find in this gallery, therefore I invite you to go ahead and to feel the inspiration of beauty.
In real life I often admire a person who has principles and who's doing everything for a reason. In my opinion doing anything without having a good reason is like being a toothed wheel in a clock, you are there and are doing a good job but have no idea why you're there and don't care about it. It's those idealists who have principles that I admire the most, because those are the ones that are changing the world.
A website has a character, I treat every website the same way I treat a person. In real life you can find a greedy person without morals, someone who's working just to get money but managed to maintain some morals and values, and that who's working to make the world a better place. To me, FEMJOY is like that second person(money + some morals), and I have some good reasons that have led me to that conclusion.
They offer a smorgasbord of content, varying from the very erotic(I am not using this adjective in a good light) to the highly artistic and retouched sets. This is a good thing, but I don't see any text anywhere that says why they have such a variety of content. Most of the text describes the girls in a way that I will never use to describe them. I honestly don't care whether you, my dear visitor, prefer a certain "body type" or a certain look of a woman, why should I?
In my opinion the text must describe the true model's personality or the editor's feelings, not a fake biography or how her body is perfect(nobody's perfect and no body is perfect). I want to hear how a certain set inspires the editor or how it is different from the other sets that are out there. A set that doesn't add to a website subtracts from it, as those sets act as rust, they spoil the appearance of the sets surrounding them at first, and then completely destroy the look of a page.
But then two updates per day is a high rate of production and you need to feature those quick erotica sets in order to satisfy your users and to meet your deadlines. Whenever I see a website with a high rate of updates I almost always think that the true motive behind the creation of that website is monetary gain. Every true artist in history has a limited capacity of production, and inspiration comes randomly. Therefore, you can't expect a steady rate of updates because you can't predict an artist's ability to produce a masterpiece.
This great collection also leads me to think that they are trying to satisfy the taste of all of their visitors, it isn't a bad thing, but it also reaffirms my belief that it's all about the money.
I am not trying to judge them, they have wonderful photo sets there(and I will keep promoting them as long as they are ethically treating their models), but I always prefer that person who has a vision, whose beliefs are everywhere and who inspires those around her. Most of their videos are absolutely beautiful(they had an unstable update rate, but now that a video is added periodically I can guess that their quality is going to deteriorate). I may be biased because I am comparing every single website to a my favorite website(Body In Mind), but I still think that they will have much more to offer if they state their philosophy(if it's not related to using beauty to make money) openly. It will make each and every visit worthwhile.
However, when I put all of this aside. I realize that their sets are still able to inspire me, let's take this Jadi set for example, it's name the tree of knowledge means a lot. It can mean that beauty is the source of all inspiration and wonder, and that's not just feminine beauty. Beauty is the ultimate teacher of the world. The set is beautiful, Demian Rossi is highly skilled, and Jadi is beautiful(I am really wondering whether she has an eating disorder or not, beauty doesn't mean being as thin as a coat hanger). It's worthy to watch this beautiful set, but it is still missing the secret ingredient of beauty, a belief.
Embrace Beauty!
From Russia With Love, it's a very catchy phrase. I remember coming across this amazing website back when I was a baby beauty lover, and I really liked it. It was a great disappointment for me when I found out that it no longer was open for new members.
However, this have all changed. Alexander Fedorov's From Russia With Love is back with all of its power and beautiful galleries, and I am celebrating its return by offering you this artistic gallery from there.
Alexander Fedorov has his works almost everywhere: Domai, Body in Mind, MPL-Studios, Just Teen Site. The list can really go on, and if that's a proof of something it's a proof of his photographic skills.
I have to admit that his works are sometimes too sexual for me, but it's a victory as one of the websites that understand and respect beauty is back once again. :)
I hope that you will enjoy this gallery of tasteful nudes by Alexander Fedorov.
Raging thunder, black skies, dead sun, an endless black sea of ashes on the horizon, and a complete destruction. There's no hope, no living thing. Everything has died as a result of human greed.
As it seems that this is the end, beauty resurrects itself. It's a new dawn, and the time for life to be reborn in the hostile world.
Beauty will never die.
Sometimes one falls into a really dark mood, with no hope and no will to do anything. Whatever may be behind those strange moods I have discovered a great way to get rid of them, it's the healing power of beauty once again.
I was in a gloomy mood early in the morning today, it wasn't because of alcohol or anything similar(didn't go to a party). It was one of those mysterious moments when you suddenly lose your hope and feel that everything around you is pointless.
Usually, when I have that mood I don't want to do anything new. However, I visited Domai today, and all of a sudden that mood simply disappeared. I am not lying, it just vanished(if it didn't then you wouldn't be reading this now). I had a strange power to rearrange everything and to start doing whatever I was procrastinating. It's really amazing what true beauty can do to one's soul.
I discovered this cure a while ago by chance when I was at Body In Mind, since then wherever I feel blue I just visit Domai or Body In Mind and just get rid of that nasty mood. It works!
Try it the next time you're feeling down, you will be glad you did.
It seems that beauty can be better than Prozac. Thanks Polyna for being who you are!
Another Richard Murrian series on Graceful Nudes and a dissatisfied David. I rarely am satisfied when adding M-U-S-E galleries, and I have a pretty good idea why.
Let's start with the paragraph on this gallery page(I didn't write it, they did):
"INDOCHINE: Introducing Valaria, our newest exclusive eighteen year old Muse. Half-Vietnamese, half-Czech, her young exotic beauty resonates in this gorgeous new series.
Photographed nude for the first time." - M-U-S-E
I have many objections, first the eighteen year old part makes it sound like teen porn or a way of satisfying a pornographic fantasy of some viewers. What's so special about being eighteen? I am eighteen and it's one of the last things I say about myself while introducing myself. It sounds to me like some line used to promote this gallery.
After that awkward paragraph they then mention that it's her first nude photographs ever. O.K. we all may mention that it's the model's first time if she looks nervous as a way to excuse any nervousness that may appear in the gallery, but its position here is pointless as she apparently is pretty comfortable with her nudity. Another promotional line.
After that introductory paragraph the first thing that you're likely to notice if you have seen the previous M-U-S-E galleries featured here is that this gallery is very similar to them(Michaela and Jana come to mind). This "templating" is a sign of the loss of one's creativity, a photographer without creativity is making porn, not erotica or tasteful nudes. The subject becomes the female body, and add all that artificial erotica(not that obvious in this gallery) and you've got a new gallery to make some money. This shouldn't be the way artists think; some very successful artists died in debt. Of course I am not saying that Richard Murrian should start roaming the streets with a camera, some posters, and an empty cup. What I am saying is that personal satisfaction and creative work is the pride of a true artist, and from where I stand this is not where M-U-S-E is heading. Mr. Murrian has a great skill, he just needs to listen to his inner mind for a while and to capture the beauty of his models instead of trying to capture something that's not there(sexuality represented as erotica).
The models are beautiful and brave, this is something that every photographer should respect. Don't make her another face in the crowd, show her for what she really is, make her beauty shine and make her stand out, believe me, this is much better than listening to any marketing teams and probably will make money if you wait for a while or market it to the right people. Aiming for the lowest common denominator means that you will show what nudity was never meant to offer.
I am not a fan of erotica, but if you want to do it right, then do it when the model is feeling sexy. You can't tell a beautiful model to put her finger on her lips and to spread her legs, take a picture of her and call it art. That's not art, that's abject pornography.
Anyway, this gallery is to honor Valaria and her beauty. Enjoy!
What does the word paradise mean?, our version of paradise may be different but it probably has some common elements, beach, sunset, green plantations, tranquility, and beauty, but what if you can adorn this paradise even more by the beauty of the pure human form. This is what this gallery is about.
Silhouettes are a very common theme in nude photography, and this gallery clearly follows this theme. It certainly isn't a one of a kind gallery, but it's still a beautiful gallery.
I really liked the pictures in which Nata is in the air with the sun directly behind her. It adds a lot of radiance and gives Nata a centralized role in the images, with the sun rays carving a shadow of her perfect beauty. This puts a lot of emphasis on her beauty and makes her the center of attention.
A beautiful sky, a sunset, a tranquil sea, a lot of warmth, and most of all a beautiful model. I believe that this is what most of us can call paradise.
When I was young, I used to hide whenever I did anything wrong. It was more of an instinct than a learned social behavior. My mother didn't need to find out what I had done in order to know that something is wrong; I guess that this saved me from just standing there and feeling guilty all day.
I bet that some of you have noticed a similar behavior from your own offspring. Those are the days where anything wrong couldn't be hidden easily; One doesn't learn the art of deception during the early years of life.
"You only hide what you know is wrong", my mother used to say that many times during my adolescence. It's ironic though how we rarely apply this rule to, our own selves, our bodies.
Print a big poster of Stanislava's smile and put it up on your front door. It won't be long before someone angrily knocks your door(or hits it with a stone) and ask your to remove it, or to black spray her body.
She must hide her body, we must neglect the existence of her beauty, we must never enjoy her carefree nudity without suffering the venom of that guilt serpent that has been put into our minds.
What's so wrong about nude bodies?, Do they remind us that we're vulnerable?, Do they remind us that our cities and the artificial things that we take as shelter can be removed in a blink of an eye?
Well, Nude bodies don't arouse the sexual monster that was nurtured to serve the greed of others. They don't kill, they don't rape, they don't hate..things that are practiced on a daily basis in our "cultured" societies. They just take the blame.
They are not bad, nasty, or wrong. They shouldn't be hidden, we shouldn't be ashamed of ourselves.
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