Muse:
The Art of Ray Leaning by Ray Leaning
Published by The Erotic Print
Society. ISBN-10: 1898998965
Born
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. 
Cruelly
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.
After
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paintings, collated from a back catalogue of previously unpublished work,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.
Interspaced
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
preferred
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 
them
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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