How to show a sex scene without turning away readers?

[Kamikaze]

I definitely agree with @joannekwan! She's got it right.

Outside of that I can suggest one other thing, but understand that at this point there's no way you can fix this unless you redo everything. This is not something you do with THIS particular project, but something to keep in mind with future projects:

So I took a look at your comic and I think one of the biggest problems is one that my team and I really ran into early on. Your style doesn't fit the story you're trying to tell.

Let me use the comic my team and I have been working on for an example of what I mean.

Okay so Kamikaze, much like your work, isn't meant to be for younger readers. It's violent, it's got heavy themes, and eventually, like you, we're going to have to address sex. So we do our artwork, the general look of our characters and we come up with this:

It's not bad artwork at all. In fact everyone we showed it to loved the art! But the problem was, they had a very hard time seeing THESE characters going through brutal gang violence, dealing with heavy subjects, or even having sex...without feeling uncomfortable about it. The artwork above looks like a kids show...and you can't tell a serious story on the level of say Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad and have it taken seriously if it looks like that. So, we had to age up the artwork to fit it.

After reworking the art, aging it up, making it more angular, and sharp, we ended up with this:

This style worked much better for our needs, and came across as an 'older' and more serious artwork that we could show doing what the story called for.

So basically what I'm saying is that your artwork, while good, shows underage folks doing explicit stuff, and the style of your comic doesn't share the same gravity that the story has. I really hope that makes sense. If you have any questions let me know, I'm happy to explain further if I can. :3

[VermillionWorks]

But the problem was, they had a very hard time seeing THESE characters going through brutal gang violence, dealing with heavy subjects, or even having sex...without feeling uncomfortable about it.

Sorry the first part of my post here doesn't have much to do with the topic at hand, but this is one of my problems with some animes like Elfen Lied. All of this dark, horribly brutal stuff is happening, but in an adorable generic anime style with the big, cutesy eyes...and the girls even have pink hair. I mean, I had several problems with Elfen Lied, but the style mixed with the terribly dark themes made the contrast funny to me. =/ There's more than one anime like this too, it's so confusing to me.

As for the topic, I think @joannekwan summed it up the best. I've seen some pretty....erm, erotic scenes in comics that really didn't show anything at all. Though I suppose it also depends on the type of audience you're going for. If you're fine with aiming for a more adult audience, then you can go a bit further with it, but if you want it to be a little more open to everyone, then you'll really have to show very little of any sex scenes; just hint at them if anything.

I have graphic violence in my comic that I know not everyone will want to see. I have kind of resigned myself to the fact that not everyone can/will be into my comic partially for that reason (as well as because of the genre and themes), but I prefer not to hold back on violence in a horror comic (matter of taste), so I've just decided to be cool with this. =P

[Mharz]

@VermillionWorks "School Days" was way worse. Seriously, how did a slice of life school romance anime featuring cute characters ended up with a disturbing ending?

As for the topic, if you can find a way to censor the sensitive parts like something obscuring that area that would be fine better yet just do some kind of abstraction that implies they're having an intercourse.

[demthorshie]

Like what some of the others have mentioned above, try to be somewhat discreet with sex scenes I guess. Try not to hunker down your comic with too much nsfw content I guess if it isn't meant to focus on that sort of stuff entirely.

I have drawn sex scenes in past comics. The scenes did have an air of erotica to them but I tended to leave a lot to the viewer's imagination (ie. No genital shots, no visible penetration). In my experience, my readers seemed to appreciate it too!

[mariusthered]

Thank you for the feed back so far.

@Kamikaze: I understand your point and while i'm not going for a rougher look I am at present in the middle of polishing up season one. the characters featured in the sex scene to come have not been introduced yet but I will say they are both adults, I have no intention of such scenes with my Teenage cast outside the normal teenage stuff. I hope to change the style a bit as I move along but at present I have 32 chapters to revamp for Tap before I'm back to new stuff.

@VermillionWorks: like you I have resigned myself to the fact that i'm not going to have a swave of people rushing to follow my comic. although I hope I can find more subs this year. The fact that I show spanking in places as justified punishment just puts people off despite the comic is set in an alternative society and some reader just cannot detach for the society around them. Just because I write this stuff dose not mean I agree with it but either way it builds a wall that will not matter how hard I try stop me getting readers, but I love my characters and my comic city anyway.

@avimHarZ: yes obscuring objects this might work well in the scene ...noted!

@demthorshie: yes I have noticed having too much NSFW pages tends to get in the way of subs, trying to work around that without dumbing down the stories.

[alakotila]

Whatever you do, do it WELL.

For my first sex scene in my comic I chickened out and legit did a one-panel sex scene. I still laugh about it. It probably did more harm than good. I later realised I had shorted not only the characters, but the readers, who had grown to care for these characters. I went back and edited the scene with another page ^^;

Now.

If it's a scene with characters well-known and loved by your fans, don't short them. If you've been building up these characters and their relationship, and If it's important to show it, you should be true to the characters and the story. It can be incredibly difficult to draw if you are not used to it, but it's also a good challenge. I recently did another, and a much more important one than the one-paneler, and it took a looooot of drafting. I had a friend look it over first, too, which I often don't do. Maybe do that? As for what to draw, focus on things like hand-holding, touching, kissing. Insinuate action but you don't have to show it. Fade in and/or out of the scene to make it seem as though there is more (but we are not going to see it).

And for the love of all that's good, keep goofy sound effects (like 'thrust') far away from your comic.

If it's a scene of characters we don't know well yet, or if it's their introduction scene.... Honestly, since I don't have emotional investment in their story or them as characters, less really IS more. I think I would be wondering why a creator chose to open up a scene or introduce two or more characters like this. Maybe if you want to establish they are sexual right off the bat or something. Keep it very short in that case.

You may turn away readers either way.

That can't be helped. As long as you've been writing well, your readers probably suspect it'll happen. People can generally tell what a comic or story is about upfront based on your story's tone, so as long as it's not a total surprise, it won't be jarring for readers.

It's strange we worry about this so much. I sure do. Yet people get kicked unconscious; shot with arrows; hell, there's a blood mage in my story. Yet heaven forbid the intimacy!

[mariusthered]

Yet heaven forbid the intimacy!

yes indeed, it should be the most natural thing in the world and no big deal but sadly society over history has twisted and tainted such acts and left us with shadows that we must tread most careful. thank you for you advice.

[scythe]

Wait? What? Sex scenes turn AWAY readers? What planet am I on?

[mariusthered]

I ask myself that question daily but it seems just showing boobs was too much for people to handle ( Hmm? bad choice of words me thinks) aww you know what I mean lol

[scythe]

Clapping is too much for some people. Honest to god... clapping. Just make what you want to make, and if you lose readers, who cares? You know what they say, try and please everyone and you end up pleasing no one.

ps. I love boobs.

[alakotila]

To be honest, it's more like the TYPE of scene that would turn me away. If it was offensive or fetishising then yeah, it would turn me away! Those scenes that happen for no reason would turn me away. While nudity should not be a problem, objectified characters are. It's a tricky area! Reader numbers do tend to fluctuate around these scenes.

@aronthemason It's weird how we have such blocks about these things, yeah. I hesitate to call it the most natural thing because asexual people exist and they are not broken or unnatural for any lack of sexual desire. Point is though, seems like you need it for your story and characters, so don't shy from it. If it is non-consensual you should put up a warning of some sort.

[demthorshie]

I actually have to agree with you here. It's funny how no one bats an eye at extreme violence in movies and comics,, but how dare these two consenting adults manifest their love in the form of sex xD?

I think during the sex scenes I provided in my past comics, I actually ended up getting WAAAAAAY more views, comments and subscribers than usual! If the scenes are well done and tasteful in nature, I don't think you'll be turning any viewers away, you'll probably gain some. Humans are fond of sex after all!

[eschaefges]

well, i had someone tell me a scene was too erotic when a boy imagined a girl was waiting in bed for him... there was no nudity shown, she was under the sheets in his mind looking kind of seductive. In my brain, this was a scene equivalent to similar scenes in Aladdin, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, or the Great Mouse Detective.

But I've learned people's mileage varies so greatly... it's best not to worry or overthink it. My rule of thumb is, "would i be embarrassed to show this to my parents?" - if so, I generally steer away. However, do what works for you! Write for yourself, not the subs you don't have

[dsandoval3]

draw sum booty everybody luvz booty

[joseleivaj]

I agree with some comments in here, why does society frown so much about sex? I mean we can have extreme violence, beheadings, mutilations, and death, but god forbid we show a penis/fingers/whatever entering a random body hole or something. I'll never understand it.
It's not just about tapastic, it's about society in general. when did violence become more acceptable than sex? when did an act that clearly hurts another being or even kills him become more acceptable than two (or more) people having some consensual fun where no one is hurt?
It blows my mind.
Now, I DO work as an erotic artist so this probably bothers me more than others but still...

[Aspie_Gamer]

hashtag free the nipple

Seriously though, you can show a guys nips, but do the same with a girl and all of a sudden, its disgusting or needs a NSFW tag. When I see a bare chested woman, I don't automatically think about sex or get a funny feeling down there. A woman with a nice chest is nice indeed, but I've never understood why boobs are so sexualized in the media.

[mariusthered]

@joseleivaj and @toadsteroven I agreed with both points,
but I have been drawing the nude human body since I was a teenager at life classes.

If there is a need for it in the story and done in the right way everything has it's place.

[zjwestbrook]

Right?! I read this thread just because I was so confused by the question.

[eicue]

What about using silhouettes only?

[mariusthered]

that is an idea i did think about and might use in the future. this thread is quite old now and i passed that scene i was taking about ages ago
if you want a look it's Here NSFW