The problem with drawing porn

[carloswebcomic]

This is more of a warning to those who might want to become purveyors of fine erotic entertainment and perhaps action based comics as well.

So I do filthy explicit porn on my Patreon, and that's all good and dandy, but there was one thing that always bothered me about doing a comic on a narrow subject (like porn) and had, until now, deterred me. You need to keep upping the ante.
It's quite the creative problem.
When you're doing something which it's main element is action (whether as is hot and steamy or as in BOOM! BANG! KAPOW!), you need to keep bringing a fresh approach to the table or your work will soon become stable. A good example are the Lethal Weapon movies. By the third instalment, shit was blowing up all over the screen but you couldn't care less because you've seen it all before.
You need to keep yourself creative and fresh, but when the subject is limited, it can get pretty freakin' hard to keep coming up with surprises.

So before you embark on your next project, think about how much juice you can squeeze out of it's main premise.

So, anyone has had similar experience?
And if so, how did you deal with it?

[bakasama25]

I guess you could ask the creator of "I draw porn for a living". That comic is somewhere on Tapastic.

[alaingrey]

I'm not sure porn always needs a unique premise to have people interested in it- after all, there's a million pornographic movies out there with pretty much the same scenes and premises. Same for action films.

As for keeping it fresh, making erotic art for money is a really good reason to do a lot of research.

[carloswebcomic]

As for keeping it fresh, making erotic art for money is a really good reason to do a lot of research.

I guess if it was my main focus, I could dedicate a lot more time to it, but as it is, it's a side project which while being terribly fun, it does make me scratch my head sometime trying to figure out what am I going to do nect.

I'm not sure porn always needs a unique premise to have people interested in it- after all, there's a million pornographic movies out there with pretty much the same scenes and premises.

Oh, you'd be surprised. Even with porn, you still need to have consistency and structure to the world you've created. A lot comes from the characters, their interactions and how they fit in the world.
Or maybe I'm just putting in more work than necessary when I could be just be drawing the same thing week after week.

[carloswebcomic]

I guess you could ask the creator of "I draw porn for a living". That comic is somewhere on Tapastic.

That could be an idea.

[alaingrey]

I actually agree with finding a world to be way more enticing, but I wonder if that's because I write. I'm not certain how much that matters to people who are looking for a quick fix. Tinto Brass movies always inspire a lot of erotic art for me, because they're hours long and full of weird stuff. Plus in terms of world building and attractive filmmaking they're great.
In terms of film, but probably applies to art, sometimes a unique premise is a huge turn off- that weird German ET porno is a good idea of a unique premise that was unique for a reason.

[Nio_Kasgami]

So, anyone has had similar experience? And if so, how did you deal with it?

hahaha XD
yes I do with my comics I had the focus to think that it's murder
and I have to imagine "intelligent" and "creative" way's the murder kill her victims...and I can say it's hard to not get repetetive

I think it's all about not reinventing each time....but more adding something new.
I mean Porn in general rest ....sex so it's a lots of time similars they Bang each other and Doing sexy moaning
but I guess it's here maybe we should try to use the environnement or a theme!
so in a way's yes it's rest the same but in a way's it's change a little Each chapter! or each time you try to change the environnement. and try to not repeat the same pose because...maybe your OC wants to explore their companions body..."differently" ;D

(btw....I totally suggest the classic Osen chapter where's they bang in the hot water ;D! )

NioGetCensored

[AnnaLandin]

I can't speak specifically for porn (I neither draw nor read a whole lot of it, tbh), but in general, I think the way forward is not to attempt to one-up yourself. Something isn't better because it's louder or more explosive (or more naked!), and if you just keep going louder, you're eventually going to hit a wall.

Lethal Weapon, for example - they tried substituting plot, character development and good writing with explosions, and that's why we're bored with it.

... at the same time, we don't always need to be fresh and surprising - sometimes, you just need to tell the story (or draw the porn, if you will) really, really well. Continuing on the action-movie comparison - Mad Max: Fury Road is, in its basic components, not very original. It's a sequel to an established franchise, it follows very similar lines - Max wanders into a disaster-zone, gets swept up in someone else's conflict, lots of violence happens, he wanders off again - but where it shines is in how those components are put together, and how well they are used.

There are a few novel things in there (placing women as the central focus of the story, not just as targets and victims, but as characters with real agency and personhood), but to be honest, most of it is predictable. It's still one of my absolute favourite movies of all time because it does what it does really damned well. It's familiar, it's something we've seen before, but damn, is it well-crafted.

I guess what I'm saying is that you can draw porn using staple components, as long as you draw it really, really well. ^_^;

[carloswebcomic]

I guess I jumped into it and feel a bit out of my depth.
I'm trying to make the highest quality porn I can and have no idea how to go about it.
At least I can still make people laugh with it, so perhaps I should focus on that.

[AnnaLandin]

I'm trying to make the highest quality porn I can and have no idea how to go about it.

Speaking as a pretty objective observer (hi I'm on the asexual end of the spectrum) - facial expressions and body language matter a lot. Doesn't matter how well you draw the sticky bits; if your characters aren't communicating their feelings through their faces and gestures, it's just going to look weird.

At least I can still make people laugh with it, so perhaps I should focus on that.

Hey, there's a space in the market for for sex-comedies!

[mariusthered]

Yes I had a friend who drew porn comics but the problem he had was he could not get other work because of the fact he did this stuff. (this was in the days before Patreon and such sites)

If your a professional artist i would recommend if you do this stuff use a different name.

[carloswebcomic]

Yes I had a friend who drew porn comics but the problem he had was he could not get other work because of the fact he did this stuff. (this was in the days before Patreon and such sites)

Really? I guess it depends in which country you live in. Some countries are less tolerant about this kind of thing than others.

If your a professional artist i would recommend if you do this stuff use a different name.

I'm about as interested in becoming a professional as I'm interesting in putting face in a blender.

[heterodont]

There's a surprising number of professional artists who do draw porn and/or risque drawings with their regular name handles...such as Kim Jung Gi and Chris Sanders (character designer for Lilo & Stitch, though his drawings are on the Risque Pin-up side of nsfw)

[bakasama25]

"I'm trying to make the highest quality porn I can and have no idea how to go about it."

Uh, I think that's really difficult to do. If you get past the nice bodies and graphic sex, porn is really REALLY boring. The only thing that can be high quality is the art. If the writing bores readers to death it's not going to be remembered all that much other than the titillation.

If you're doing story with interesting and likable characters with sex here and there just not too much. I can consider that more interesting.

[JustMarshma]

Well, personally, I think that no matter the genre, characters are always the most important element of the story. Whether you do action, romance, mistery, and yes, porn. It's very important to make the readers feel for the characters. That doesn't mean that you need a 50 page backstory for each character, frankly, backstory is not even necessary sometimes, but if you create appealing characters and give them short, effective moments where their feelings are easy to understand, then you got it in the bag!
When you do porn, and most of your panels are dedicated to that, what I think you can do (and I say this more as a long time roleplayer than a comic writer, since my smut comic is still in it's baby steps) is use sex to your advantage. Even if they are strangers, people are very open and vulnerable when they are being intimate, use that to show what affects them and why.
If your character is a pole dancer with a thing for blindfolds, for example, move beyond that kink and think about why she likes them, maybe it's because she actually wants to stop performing and being so active and just be vulnerable and reactive. And you can showcase that by making her blush and giving the other character a warning like "don't expect me to be the way I'm on stage" and that's enough already!
Hope it helps and happy smutting

[mariusthered]

I'm about as interested in becoming a professional as I'm interesting in putting face in a blender.

glad to hear it because when you do this stuff for a living the enjoyment becomes a chore some days, and it's getting harder with all the silly apps around these days.

[carloswebcomic]

glad to hear it because when you do this stuff for a living the enjoyment becomes a chore some days, and it's getting harder with all the silly apps around these days.

Exactly!

Random stuff to go over 20 words minimum limit.

[miseryhunting]

It's funny, cause I was thinking of asking a similar question yesterday. My problem is a bit different in the sense that I find it difficult drawing any type of intimacy - most as innocent as kissing and hugging. They just always end up looking really stiff and wrong and I have no idea how to improve that?
What is your advice? I've tried using references and there's no real difference, i've even used porn videos, with the hopes that multi dimensions would bring more clarity. I'm just not sure?

[heterodont]

A thing I've noticed with nsfw art (even just fluffier stuff like kissing or hugging) is that it has a stronger dependency on the line weights, 'weight' of the pose, and gesture. So everything like where you decide to put a thin line vs a thick line, how the two characters hold themselves that makes it seem believable, and how 'exaggerated' you make the pose look.

It's kinda hard to tell what issues plague you exactly beyond what you stated, because there is always a chance that the stiffness is something only you perceive (youre your own critic)

[El_Psy_Congroo]

This is totally not my bag but here's my 2 cents anyway: character development and story. If it has a good ongoing story it will hold attention.

This might apply more to @Nio_Kasgami but the show Hannibal (with Mads Mikkelson) is an interesting example of upping the ante while still maintaining artistic creativity and character drama. It all works in tandem, each murder is more gruesome and bizarre than the last, which by itself, though shocking loses its appeal after a while, but its the characters and the story that make you stick through. They're mutually reinforcing.