Christopher John Ball Fine Arts Photographer and Writer

Muse: The Art of Ray Leaning by Ray Leaning

Published by The Erotic Print Society. ISBN-10: 1898998965

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Muse: The Art of Ray Leaning by Ray Leaning - Published by The Erotic Print Society. ISBN-10: 1898998965Born in the United Kingdom, in 1959, Leaning describes his early life as that of a solitary child who first taught himself to draw by copying the superhero characters that inhabited the Marvel and DC comics in which he sought solace. In addition to this he sought inspiration from the books that his older brother brought home from art school. Within these pages he found the works of Lichtenstein, Warhol and Allen Jones and it was from these that he taught himself how to grid-up and resize pictures and then use these techniques to create life-size cardboard cut-outs of characters from the comics. Even at that early age he found himself attracted more to the female superheroes, such as Catwoman and Supergirl, than to the male characters.

As he matured into a teenager he found himself inspired by the album covers of Roger Dean and the music of Pink Floyd, The Stones, David Bowie and Led Zeppelin. Muse: The Art of Ray Leaning by Ray Leaning - Published by The Erotic Print Society. ISBN-10: 1898998965Cruelly labeled as an 'idiot' by some of his teachers, due to undiagnosed dyslexia, Leaning, like so many creative children before and since, found sanctuary within the art room and classes run by understanding art teachers who praised his work and encouraged him to continue.

Muse: The Art of Ray Leaning by Ray Leaning - Published by The Erotic Print Society. ISBN-10: 1898998965After a series of unfulfilling jobs Leaning accepted a place as a mature student at Exeter College of Art, where he studied Fine Art Painting, and graduated in 1984. From there he has worked at various publishing houses, taught and exhibits each year at Erotica - the London fetish show held at Olympia.

'Muse - The Art of Ray Leaning' is the first monograph to be published of this artist's work and contains over 150 examples of his drawings and paintings, collated from a back catalogue of previously unpublished work, and shows how Leaning has developed from emerging talent into a professional artist.

Muse: The Art of Ray Leaning by Ray Leaning - Published by The Erotic Print Society. ISBN-10: 1898998965Interspaced within the artworks, and showing that Leaning has a particular talent for narrative, is an auto-biography that is informative, humorous, often self depreciating, at times very endearing and one that I really enjoyed reading - containing much that many a struggling artist could empathise and identify with.

Though he doesn't call himself a 'fetish artist' - much of his work could be said to fall into that category. The models, or muse to give his and their preferredMuse: The Art of Ray Leaning by Ray Leaning - Published by The Erotic Print Society. ISBN-10: 1898998965 description, are often depicted as strong, stylised beings that are somewhat romanticised and betray Leanings early comic book inspirations. Though technically good and executed perfectly - the black and white illustrations I found a little cold and repetitive after a while. I much preferred the colour work, particularly the early examples that exhibit the same vulnerability, warmth, humour and humanity of the person that comes across to the reader in the auto-biography.

'Muse - The Art of Ray Leaning' is published in a soft cover and reproduced to a high standard, on high quality art paper, that does full justice to the artworks - allowing Muse: The Art of Ray Leaning by Ray Leaning - Published by The Erotic Print Society. ISBN-10: 1898998965them to come alive on the page. This monograph is recommended to all those with an interest in the fetish genre and also to any aspiring artist - who will find the text educational.

Review by Christopher John Ball

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