AMA — Have You Always Drawn Lewds? (Patreon)

Q: What got you started with drawing, and were you set on lewd stuff early on?

A: I’ve been doodling and playing with art as long as I can remember. I remember drawing a bad Space Man Spiff rippoff on lined paper as a child. I always liked telling stories and I was pretty good at art. But as much as I tried to imitate the daily funnies, I always struggled. It was fun, but didn’t hold my attention.

Then I read Cyberforce.

For those who weren’t reading Top Cow comics in the early 90s, Cyberforce was about a cybernetically enhanced mutant superhero team fighting shadow government agents. Plus, you know, a healthy dose of that sex appeal that was everywhere at the time. It was drawn by the extremely talented Marc Silvestri. Who happens to be my mother’s cousin’s husband’s brother.

Which, much like Lone Star and Dark Helmet, makes us absolutely nothing! But that tenuous degree of Kevin Bacon was how I found myself in possession of some signed issues at a tender age. And they were AMAZING. I had read comics before, of course; comics were nothing new. I stole every day’s comic section. I devoured my dad’s eclectic comic collection: Calvin and Hobbes, The Spirit, What’s New with Phil and Dixie, and Howard the Duck. I loved comics. They were delightful and clever and funny, but Cyberforce was when I realized that comics could be cool. And it turns out that cool factor was really what got me into drawing.

I practiced copying a bunch of Silvestri’s work, though it would take me many many years before I could be half so good without reference. Of course by that point my style had also incorporated a lot of other artistic influences so while my art looks nothing like Marc Silvestri’s there’s still a little bit in there.

A part II: yes, I drew lewd stuff from the beginning but it took me a while to embrace it.

By the time I was a teen I was “the kid that can draw” to my friends and like most teenage boys I was a horny little fucker and that inevitably came out in my art. Though because I was a shy boy, I kept all that stuff to myself. It wasn’t especially racy, but I didn’t want folks to judge and laugh at me (which they did anytime I expressed liking something).

It wasn’t until the internet and my art had matured a fair bit that I started doing lewd art on commission. But I was still trying to be a “respectable” artist. It took a while longer for me to realize no one who was ever going to employ me anyway would care that I drew tits. Besides, I LIKED drawing tits AND I WAS GOOD AT IT! So here I am, having come full circle.

If YOU have a question for me, you can leave it in the comments below!