The Last Post of 2007

It's been a great year so far. We got a late start in August, but response to AchillesHeelArt has been overwhelmingly positive. I'd like to thank every member who joined this year. I've enjoyed hearing all of your feedback, and especially loved getting your requests. It makes me happy to help to fulfill all of your tickling fantasies.

I'd love to hear more from you about what you'd like to see in 2008 and how we can make the site better. I've got two new artists lined up to appear in the member's section in early 2008, but I hope to get many more than that involved.

For the last update of 2007, we've answered two requests. First, Sloth provides "Officer Down", which depicts a State Trooper, overpowered and foot tickled in his own squad car.

My piece, "Not So Fast" is in response to a member who really wanted to see what happened next after the "Submit" image on our submissions page. It's posted in the free section, because it's serving another purpose. This will be the image that non-members see if they attempt to access the pay area. For you navel lovers, this features belly button tickling.



I hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year, and I'll see you in 2008!

Achilles

The Challenges of Holiday Travel

Does anyone else out there have parents that are still living in the Stone Age?

You don't realize how dependent you are on internet access until it's taken away from you. My Dad doesn't own a computer or even want one. And forget about a wireless wi-fi signal. In order to get online, I've got to either find a free public access spot (not easy to do in the small town where I'm from) or pay a Starbucks 10 bucks a day.

Anyway, I'm sure everyone is busy with their own holiday last-minute shopping and will be spending time with their loved ones on Monday.

I wanted to let you all know that the update this week is a small one, and will be posted at some point between late Monday and early Wednesday. There is only a single piece from me this week.

The following week, the last of the updates for 2007, we'll be posting at least two images, one from me and one from Sloth, both of them answering member requests.

And finally, some of you may have noticed that Chad's gallery has disappeared from the site. Unfortunately, we had a disagreement about some basic issues regarding content, and he will no longer be a part of the site. We are going to do our best in 2008 to bring aboard more artists and more content.

Have a Great Holiday!

Achilles

Happy Holidays To All!

Hello everyone!

Sorry I fell a little behind this week. This is my first holiday season trying to handle both a full-time job, my new website and all the craziness of shopping and traveling. Please be patient over the next two weeks. I promise, the updates will happen, but they may not be uploaded until very late Monday evenings or very early Tuesday mornings until the 1st of the new year.

This week is our very first Christmas update, and both Sloth and I decided that Santa would be our tickle target. I illustrated some dire consequences for Santa after he put coal in the stockings of all the male ticklers on his 'Naughty' list.

Sloth's piece this week also features Santa getting the tickle treatment. See if you can tell which version of ol' Saint Nick this is from the clues in the thumbnail.



It's been a great first year for AchillesHeelArt, and we've been having a blast providing content for all of you who love male foot and tickling illustration. I hope to see many more of you in my member's section in 2008! We'll be doing our best to bring some more talent into the mix so that we can give you a greater variety of artwork.

Good luck with all of your last minute shopping!

Achilles

Based on a Story

Hello everyone!

This week my drawing answers the request of a member who sent me an old story that was posted on the famous Jack's Male Tickling Rack website years ago. The story was called 'The Stocks' and though the author was unknown, CatInHat from MyFriend'sFeet was credited with editing the story so that it was m/m in content.

The story involves Samuel, a strapping young blacksmith being interrogated by a randy king who takes a special interest in Samuel's powerful, hairy body. I won't post the entire story here, but I will quote the passage that I illustrated, as I found it the most exciting part:



"Instruct the dungeon master to have this peasant stripped naked while he is in the stocks...also, fix irons upon his wrists and fix his arms in a position above his head, so that he may become weary from the discomfort of not being able to lower them."

Samuel was now getting nervous as six guards led him out of the Royal Court and down into the depths of the dungeon below. When he reached the dungeon, two guards held his hairy arms as the dungeon master removed his clothing and his boots. Samuel struggled, but it was no use against six strong men, bent on following the King's orders.

The dungeon master place Samuel's feet in the stocks and he saw them close down--he locked them in place, and he began to feel a great fear. His wrists were indeed bound in irons, and then the irons were fastened to a large thick rope which hung from the low ceiling of the dungeon. Then the dungeon master withdrew from his sash a thick black cloth which he tied around his head, covering his eyes. All was dark.

At that moment, Samuel became aware of a familiar voice. It was the King!

"Thank you for preparing this man for me, Claudius. I shall interrogate the prisoner personally." The King announced as a flicker of a smile ran across his face. "Leave at once!" The dungeon master obliged and the King walked over to where Samuel was helplessly bound, hand and foot...whereupon his tone became sinister.

"So, you think you're so strong...you cannot be broken...we shall see, my little serf. You shall not be so boisterous upon your departure from this place. You have the King's Oath upon that!

"You know not what discomfort is...but you shall!" And with that, Samuel began to feel what seemed to be a feather caressing the inside of his arm. He giggled a bit, but as the feather continued to trace lower and lower, he knew it was going to reach his armpit. He was shocked. "Is this how the King will try to make me divulge the location of my coin bag?" he thought to himself. Indeed, the King had a very full day planned for the strapping Samuel.

The King's feather was now making small circles in the crux of Samuel's armpit and he was finding it to be most uncomfortable.

"Your Majesty...that tickles! Please stop! Haaaa....Hooo."

To Samuel's horror there was no reply, but the feather continued down his sides, ever so lightly grazing over his nipples and hairy pectorals, tickling more his skin than the ribs themselves.

"Oh Sir, I beg you, you will drive me to madness! Please stop!" He did not. Samuel felt that feather gliding over his nipples ..from underarm to underarm...traveling over his nipples on the way. His skin was crawling...it was most unnerving to Samuel not to be able to pull his arms down...but there was nothing he could do about it."

And here is Chad's description of his piece this week:

Bob decided his pal Chuck needed a vacation. The two go to the same S&M club together, so they took the advice of their pal and went to Isla de la Pluma for a relaxing spa treatment.

That's it for this week! Next week brings our special Christmas update, along with a brand new winter image for the home page!

Achilles

A Short Break

This week, Chad provides two pieces seen here for the first time ever in color, while I prepare images for our holiday season. Our main homepage will be updating soon with a Winter image featuring a certain Jolly Old Elf, being jollier than usual.

Chad's first piece takes place In a remote tribal nation in a greener part of Africa, where young warriors prove their value to the tribe by making the late-afternoon journey of the 'Kuchimo'. They must pass through a valley of lush plants which take sustenance from the salt and nutrients in the sweat of the traveler. This journey must be taken naked or nearly so...

Also, a ticklish merman runs afoul of a feathery-limbed sea tickle monster in 'Tentickles!'.

My small contribution this week is my self portrait for my gallery page. It's a glimpse into the inner workings of my brain as I come up with my latest creation.



I hope everyone is getting all of their Christmas shopping done. And with that, another plug for my CafePress store: I've got lots of fun t-shirts and other goodies for that special tickler or ticklee who has everything.

www.cafepress.com/achillesheelart

Achilles

A New, Familiar Face!

We're very proud to announce our first new addition to our crew, Chad, the artist formerly known as ChadPet. His first piece for us is titled 'Converting the Barbarian' in which the wicked priests of the Temple of the Jade Dragon are trying to convert local brute Hronga to their faith.

In my piece this week, the Genie from my very first posted piece returns and finds himself on the other end of the feather in 'Second Wish'.



This is only the beginning! In the early part of 2008 we'll be bringing more artists into the fold, to offer variety in the artwork you can expect to see as a member.

Enjoy this week's update!

Achilles

Two More Requests!

Hey everyone,

This week we've fulfilled two more member requests! First up in my piece: a certain former reality show star takes part in a new program with a challenge that leaves him breathless with laughter in, "The GayMazing Race".

In Sloth's piece, a college student takes revenge against a professor who gave him an unfair failing mark. The student makes some marks of his own in "Making The Grade".



I hope everyone enjoys these drawings, and that you all have a great Thanksgiving holiday!

Achilles

One Image This Week, And A Surprise...

This is a light week for updates: just one image for my gallery fulfilling the request to see John Goodman's bare feet tickled. I know he might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I feel like I nailed the likeness. And let's face it, the guy has enormous feet. Who doesn't love that?



This week's surprise is something I've been working on off and on over the past few weeks. I wanted to get this finished in time for everyone's Christmas shopping.

Presenting: The Official AchillesHeelArt CafePress merchandise store!



Check it out when you get a chance. The link will be added to our site shortly, in our main navigation sidebar. I'm mostly selling t-shirts, and some of them are perfect for that special tickler or ticklee on your Christmas list.

See you next week!

Achilles

AARRREEEESS!!!

Any videogamers out there? This week my piece pays homage to a certain 'War God' who gets hogtied by his own chains in a piece that could only be called 'Kra-TOES'.

Sloth provides a piece that answers a request we had recently for some 'forced foot worship'. Well, from the look of things, the wrestler getting his feet licked eventually didn't need to be forced to enjoy it. This piece contains some explicit content.



And speaking of requests, I'd like to take a moment to list all the ones we've received so far, but haven't yet fulfilled. This is partially to organize them for my benefit, and partly to let everyone know what they can look forward to in the coming months.

Here they are, in no particular order:

-A college professor, getting tickled by a student who doesn't think he deserved that 'F'.

-Something involving a certain hulking, green man's giant feet.

-A young blacksmith, tortured in stocks by a wicked King and his soldiers.

-Tickling as a modern art installation.

-A casting director, screening young, ticklish talent.

-A gang of cops, tickle torturing a poor inmate who is handcuffed to his jail cot.

-Carlo Masi, on display in stocks, offered up for $50 a tickle for charity.

-A very hairy-chested Italian type, tied down and tickled by a smooth muscleman.

-A classic beach burial scene with a poor guy's feet tormented by his two buddies.

-The 'Orcs of Tickle Earth' getting a taste of their own medicine.

-John Goodman's giant bare feet tickled while he sleeps.

-Christopher of the Sopranos getting tickle interrogated while a bound Tony looks on.

-A sequel to 'Good to be King' in which His Royal Highness is getting tickled a bit more vigorously.

-Some bearish men, at the mercy of man-tickling plants and snakes.

-Brandon Johnson, tickling his buddy's bare feet in some wooden stocks he constructed.

-Prince William, overpowered by a gang of his mates.

-A state trooper, overpowered and tickled in his own police car.

-Sean Hannity, being forced to rethink his poliTICKLE views (sorry, couldn't resist that one).

-'Everybody Loves...to Tickle Raymond'

-And finally, a certain Reality Race winning TV star, getting his pits tickled in an all-new challenge.

WHEW! So, as you can see, we have a lot on our plate. So far, we have managed to keep up with two new pieces each week, so those 20 requests should only take about 10 weeks to get through. I hope you stick around to see how they turn out! Please be advised that we're going to try to get through the ones listed above before we get to any new ones that come in.

Enjoy this week's update!

Achilles

The Trade Off

This week we're fulfilling two member's requests with a Mafia interrogation scenario, and an illustration of a security guard overpowered by two masked robbers.

Sloth and I decided to try a little experiment. We each began an illustration and sketched in the basic drawing. Then, we swapped drawings and finished the other's piece.



It was interesting to see how our styles meshed, and I think both pieces came out successfully. To see the differences between the initial sketch and the final work, we posted the drawings with special rollovers. Roll your mouse over the colored drawing, and the sketch will appear. To download the final color art, you'll have to use the text link at the bottom of the window.

This week's drawings both feature sock tickling, since those were some of the first requests we received when the site launched. Recently, a member warned us against becoming too "footy" and to make sure that we balanced it out with more body tickling.

I will do my best to see that the coming weeks include pieces that focus on other sexy, sensitive regions of the body. ;)

Have fun!

Achilles

The Tickler With A Soul

In some of the e-mails I've received through the site and the MySpace page, I've been asked to show what I look like. I will admit to being a bit shy, and as far as I'm concerned the focus of AchillesHeelArt should be on my work, not me. I am adding a self portrait sketch to my member's gallery soon, but this week presents me with a unique opportunity to give you a glimpse of what I look like.

As you will no doubt learn via some of the subject matter of my drawings, I'm a huge nerd. I'm a fan of comic books, sci-fi, toys, videogames, the whole nine yards. Needless to say, I'm a big fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and of just about anything Joss Whedon puts out.

A good friend of mine recently returned from a special effects college where she learned everything from fashion makeup to building and attaching prosthetics. She needed some practice and I needed a Halloween costume. We both decided it would be fun to make me up as Angel, the vampire with a soul from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.



She went all out: she created a plaster cast of my forehead and eyes so she could sculpt a perfect fitting vampire brow, she took a dental mold of my teeth to fashion me custom fangs, and I bought some scary yellow contact lenses.



I couldn't have been more thrilled with the results. The reactions from people at the party I attended were priceless. I actually had people backing away from me in fear.



Of course, now this has me thinking of a piece involving Angel and Spike...or maybe Lindsey and Angel...

See you soon!

Achilles

Happy Early Halloween!

Today is the first in a planned series of quarterly updates to the home page. The main image will change with the seasons, and we'll keep an archive of those in the free section after they get taken down.

I hope everyone enjoys todays spooky update. I realize the piece has a tickling machine theme similar to the last one, but let's face it: the classic Frankenstein scenario is just perfect for a tickling scene. A huge, hulking brute tied to a table, being experimented on. This is a little embarrassing to admit, but I remember getting a charge (no pun intended) from the brief glimpse you got of Peter Boyle's feet in Young Frankenstein when he first appears in the film. He's covered by a sheet except for his huge, bare feet sticking out over the end of the table he's strapped down to.



The bolts of electricity tickling poor Frank were only possible because I attended a Photoshop seminar for my day job, and the speaker taught us a bunch of nifty tricks. Generating amazingly realistic lightning was one of them. If only my bosses knew how I was putting those skills to work!

Sloth's piece this week was not a request, but one he pulled out of his own imagination. It's the classic nerd vs. jock scenario, with a scrawny guy taking advantage of a burly jock who used to torment him. For anyone with a cast fetish, this one's for you!

Next week we'll be back to posting requested images. Here's a short list of some interesting ones we've received in the last few weeks:

-A State Trooper, overpowered by a scruffy thug, handcuffed in his own cruiser with his boots pulled off...

-A certain HGTV star, constructing some homemade wooden stocks and tickling a buddy in them.

-Prince William, ganged up on by some of his mates.

-Some bearish men, imprisoned and tickled in the wild by man-tickling plants and snakes.

Have fun with this week's update!

Achilles

1 Member, 2 Requests

When we first opened a few months ago, we immediately got a couple of requests from one of our first members to join the site. Not only did they arrive quickly, but they were some of the most elaborately described scenarios we've received.

This week, Sloth and I each tackled one of these. My piece is called "Pinned" and here's the original request:

"There was drawing in an old karate magazine in the 70’s that I found incrediblely erotic as a child. I would appreciate it if you would consider recreating it for your site. It was called THE PIN. The victim was a large man with dark hair. He was wearing the traditional white karate outfit called a GI. He was laying on his stomach and the drawing showed nails or pin heads driven through his karate outfit into the wood floor at strategic places. These "pins" held his muscular body firmly in place on the floor. In the drawing, his face was covered with forced laughter and his large fists were furiously beating the floor in futility as he laughed helplessly. The drawing showed his one leg was extended straight out with pins or nails driven in to the karate outfit at strategic places. His large bare foot extended beyond the edge of the karate outfit. A much smaller man sat on his other thigh facing the bigger man's bare feet. One of the smaller man’s hands was tightly grasping the bigger man by his ankle so the big man’s other leg was bent back at the knee. (similar to a hogtie position) . The smaller man had reddish blonde hair. His ears were imp-like (think Dr. Spock) and he had a cruel smile on his face as stroked a large feather back and forth across the bottom of his victim’ huge bare foot."

The particular member who requested this scenario also has a fondness for the work of Etienne, so I attempted to draw the victim in his style.

Sloth's piece is an illustration of an aging jock who picked on the wrong three punks in a bar, and wound up tickle tortured in his own tent. I'd post that original request too, but it was about three pages long. ;)



The "PIN" request was just about perfect: it wasn't too difficult of a scenario to illustrate and it had plenty of descriptive details. That's a great standard to follow when requesting art from us.

I hope you enjoy both pieces this week! I know at least one member who will be happy.

Achilles

The Process

By now, everyone who visits this blog and my website is intimately familiar with the image that I'm breaking down in this post. It's one of the first pieces of new erotic artwork I produced when I made the decision to get back into fetish art.

I thought I'd use it as an example to illustrate how a typical drawing that I produce for the site is made, from the earliest sketch to the finished piece.



Every piece begins with a few very rough sketches to map out the basic idea of what's going on in the piece. I knew I wanted some sort of 'tickle machine' to be featured in this image, since it's such a popular fantasy.



My idea was to make the homepage look like a magazine cover, in the style of the old men's adventure magazines from the 40s and 50s. At first, I was going to have the poor victim at the mercy of some Nazi-like soldiers, but I eventually decided that I'd stick to scientists, since this was going to be the first image everyone saw when they visited the site.



The soldier was replaced by another scientist, and the background details were added to the piece. I do a lot of the shading in this stage of the drawing, as I don't ink over the pencils. Instead, I scan it in and clean up and sharpen the linework in Photoshop.



Once the drawing has been digitized, the basic colors are blocked in. This step is a lot like filling in a digital coloring book.



The final step involves shading and detailing all of the colors, adding little details such as the computer read-out screen on the control panel, and adding any captions or text. Another effect that was added was a layer of distressed paper texture to give it even more of an old magazine feeling.

And that's what it takes each week to bring you a new drawing!

Achilles

Our First Requested Piece!

Technically, this wasn't the first request we received but it is the first one we've delivered. Someone asked us to show a certain newscasting silver fox getting foot tickled by a disgruntled intern, and this week we're proud to present that piece.



Also, Sloth provides a less action/more anticipation piece this week with his "Goldilocks and the Three Bears". I'm sure there's going to be a sequel to this one...

One thing I learned this week: I've always known that capturing a likeness in a drawing is tricky, but now I know that capturing a likeness that is laughing is next to impossible. Thank god for Google image search. You can find just about anything on there, including laughing and smiling celebrities. In fact, I've started a little collection of male laughing faces for use as reference material for future drawings.

I've got some especially good ones of one of my favorites, David Boreanaz. There might just be an Angel piece in the near future...

I hope everyone enjoys this week's update!

Achilles

Pick on someone your own size!

The two pieces in this week's update unintentionally follow the same theme: a tiny man menaced by groups of larger ticklers. Those of you into giants will love my piece this week, as several giants hold a captive still while others apply feathers to his defenseless, sensitive regions.

Sloth's piece features the return of the character from his very first piece, who he has decided to name "Buck Nova". In this week's adventure, poor Buck is at the mercy of some giant robots equipped with some very large feathers.



This week officially marks the end of the 'buffer' that we gave ourselves before opening the site. Coming up next will be some of the very first requests we received after we launched. We'll still be coming up with our own ideas from time to time, but we've got a healthy lists of requests to get through first.

Take care,

Achilles

Bear Feet

While I enjoy all types of men, I must admit a bit of a fondness for the bears. Stocky, hairy men tend to have wide, thick sexy feet. My piece this week is appropriately titled 'Bear Trap' and it depicts the cruel fate of a bear caught in the woods, while two of his buddies look on in horror. I already have the sequel to this piece in mind, in which the three bears take revenge on the Forest Ranger.

Sloth's piece this week shows two cops who definitely cross the line in their interrogation room. This drawing is actually very similar to request we received a few weeks ago, asking for a prisoner tickled in his jail cell. This piece was completed before that request came in, so that one is still on the way.



Getting back to the subject of bears, we received a request this week for an illustration of John Goodman and his huge bare feet getting tickled while he sleeps. That's one I'm looking forward to tickling...er...tackling. ;)

Keep an eye on this blog in the coming weeks. I may be posting more often than just once a week, and will begin writing about more than just the current updates.

Achilles

Early Sketches

Today's update includes the first time we're posting an early sketch of a drawing. Sloth began last week's Orc piece with a completely different perspective, but he decided to abandon it and start from scratch. We thought you might want to see his early thoughts about the gang of tickling Orcs. Because it's not a finished piece, we're posting it in the free section.

Also in our free section is the picture I made for all my MySpace friends to thank them for adding me to their buddy lists.

My member's piece this week is one of my favorites so far. It doesn't exactly depict tickling against someone's will, but rather for the pure enjoyment of it. A weary king calls his loyal jester into his court for a few laughs...



I hope you enjoy this weeks updates! We're busy working on some of the requests we received when we first opened.

Stay tuned!

Achilles

Greetings from the Beach!

Hey everyone!

I'm on vacation this week, but I'm still checking in for your requests and continuing with the weekly updates. The weather is great, and there's plenty of footwatching ;)

This week we've got our very first adult content piece from Sloth, involving some rather kinky Orcs. Fans of fantasy creatures should really check that one out. Also my piece is the first drawing of a Mexican wrestler character, who may make more appearances in the future.



The requests are really starting to roll in. Here are just a few of the ones we've received over the past week:

-A very hairy Italian man tickled on his muscular but very ticklish feet by a smooth blonde man.

-A Carlo Masi type locked into stocks and offered up to passersby for $50 per tickle.

-Cops tickle interrogating a prisoner in his cell.

-Tickling as a modern art installation...this one was great, and to describe it too much would ruin the effect. ;)

-A blacksmith, tickled in a dungeon by a king.

-A casting couch scenario, with a casting director tickling the eager actors.

These are all wonderful suggestions, and they've given us tons of material for the near future. I will remind everyone that for the next few updates, we're still pulling images from the head start we gave ourselves before we launched.

One thing I want to point out is that not too many members (or non-members) are taking advantage of our free gallery section. We have a Photopost feature in our free section that allows artists to post their own tickling artwork in a gallery that they create for themselves. I hope more people take advantage of that section soon.

Have fun!

Achilles

Our Very First Update. Happy Labor Day!

We're proud to present the very first update of the site since we opened last week. Below is a glimpse of what can be found in our member's section today:



As you can see, my drawing this week features a Chinese dragon which leads me to a request: can anyone out there read Chinese characters? I did some research for this particular drawing and included two characters which I believe represent the words "dragon" and "tickle". However, I could be completely off base.

We've gotten in some great requests this week, including the following:

-Anderson Cooper tickled by a disgruntled intern.

-A mafia interrogation scene involving sheer dress socks.

-An overpowered security guard tickled for information, also in dress socks.

-Two very elaborately described scenes from our very first fan to request artwork, Jay. They're too long to get into here, but they're good ones!

Concerning requests: We gave ourselves a bit of a head start with our artwork, so we would always be a couple of weeks ahead of the demand. That means that requests won't start showing up for a couple more updates. Stay tuned!

I'd like to thank every single member for joining. We couldn't do it without you!

Achilles

Early Feedback, and About Updates

I wanted to post a message about the frequency of updates for the site. We'll be updating on Mondays, which will give you a little something to look forward to at the beginning of the week. I'll be posting to this blog on the same day of each week.

Early response to the site has been great, and I've appreciated all of your feedback. Here's an excerpt of an e-mail I received the other day:

"I just joined, and I wanted to tell you how much I am enjoying the site. I love the work of both artists, and I am really impressed with how Achilles' work has evolved and, in my opinion, gotten hotter and more creative...I also love Sloth's Indian picture. The drawing is utterly original and drawn beautifully. I would like to see more stuff like that--creative fantasy with an interesting perspective...I would also love to see some forced foot worship thrown in with the tickling. I also love pictures showing the reaction right before the tickling actually starts."

There will be a lot more fantasy scenarios to come, and I had already given some thought to including some foot worship scenes into the mix as well. I also agree that sometimes the anticipation of the tickle can be just as hot as the act itself.

I hope you're all enjoying yourselves! Until next Monday,

Achilles

And so, it begins...

Welcome to the first installment of my weekly blog!

More than ten years ago I discovered the community of male foot and tickling fans through the mail order club The Foot Fraternity by accidentally stumbling across one of their ads in a magazine. This was pre-internet, before it was as easy as typing the word "tickling" into Google and having hundreds of sites at your fingertips.

I'd always been aroused by tickling, but had no idea that I wasn't alone. Material on the subject of male tickle torture was rare, and I when the contacts I made through the FootFrat found out that I was an artist I got many requests for drawings. I did roughly a dozen black and white illustrations, and traded them for some other materials.

Years later, the internet arrived and suddenly tickle fetishists had ways to find both material and each other. I was surprised to find a few of my drawings showing up on message boards now and then. They had sometimes even been altered to fit someone else's specific fantasy.

I've been working as a professional illustrator for the past 10 years, and I recently made the decision to get back into fetish art. This site is the companion to my male tickling illustration website www.achillesheelart.com. In this blog I'll be addressing questions I receive from members, listing the most interesting requests I get that week and occasionally posting sketches of works in progress.

Achilles