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For porn... Visuals are not enough. You need SOUL.
13 years ago
I know it seems weird to be saying this about adult material. But one thing I've noticed is that when it comes to drawn or animated porn, there often seems to be very little substance or "life" behind it. I'm no animator. But when I look at adult artwork, I am immediately and instantly turned off by anything that lacks soul or character... and I simply can't be drawn in to a character that doesn't have emotion. If I wanted that, I'd go and buy myself a "Realdoll." ........... Don't google that. It's genuinely disturbing.
Anyway, in drawn and animated porn that I consider "weak," the poses are often stiff and unnatural, and there doesn't seem to be any actual "flow" to the pictures. Take your standard low-budget adult anime, for example. Often when one body part starts to move, every other body part stops entirely. A girl lifting her arms will suddenly lose all movement below her shoulders. And when our eyes are supposed to be drawn to something like a breast jiggle, often everything else will stop moving. It's a dull, weak visual, that gives the appearance of a mannequin, rather than an actual person.
But the worst offender of all has to be the FACES in some of the adult art I've seen. Yes it's true that in most adult films, the focal point is a woman's chest or pelvic area. But for me, the REAL attractiveness comes from a character's personality, which is most openly expressed through their FACE. If the face doesn't have any life in it, the whole picture seems to lose all beauty. It's too often that characters only have about a half dozen facial expressions or less.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7176135/ Take this pic, for example. What makes her look so hot? Yes, she is topless, and she is showing off her butt to the viewer. But what really sells it is her face. Her mischievous, slightly awkward grin. She's teasing the audience, and she almost seems to be giggling through her teeth, knowing that she's driving the audience crazy.
So as you can see, it's not the FEATURES of the character that are most attractive. It's the general FEEL of the picture. We can feel the mood, and our natural empathy makes us feel the same.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7176269/ This pic as well. Not many of you like toons, but this picture embodies the point I'm trying to get across. It's not the bodies alone that we enjoy. It's the MOOD of the piece. EVERYTHING in the body has to reflect the character's mood. Greta's shoulders are hunched. Her head is lowered a bit, and her legs are clamped together defensively. Even her boobs are sorta smooshed together. Her body is sort of "shrinking" at the creepy doctor's touch, and given his uh.... unusual fetish, she has every right to feel that way. We can FEEL her emotions. Likewise, the other skunk looks especially lecherous, the way he has that predatorial hunch, that wide, almost uncontrollable grin, and his gnarled fingers on his free hand, curled like claws ready to grab something. Even his own legs are tight together a bit, as though he was trying (vainly) to hide the huge tent he's suddenly popped.
It's not the FLESH we're attracted to when we see a really good piece of adult art. It's the LIFE. We see a situation that we can FEEL, and thus, we almost feel like we're PART of it in a sense.
Of course, I'm not a master of art. And sometimes I end up doing a pic that has less soul than it ought to, without realizing it.
A case in point: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5709362/ Yes, the proportions are somewhat correct, and the face is cute. But look at how stiff the arms are, how perfectly straight the torso is, and how symmetrical the positioning of the legs is. The problem I have here is that I was thinking in terms of "body parts," and not "body." Every body part seems to be working independently of each other, like they had no connection whatsoever. Also, all the muscles appear to be flexed at once.
Then there's this: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6959990/ Working on my latest character redesign, I ended up drawing myself in a rather unusual fashion. The torso is sorta stiff, the arms are at almost 90 degree angles, which never looks natural, and my face looks to have an odd, almost "preset" expression on it. Also, my dick appears to have simply been slapped on as an afterthought.
So yeah, basically what I'm saying is that when it comes right down to it, a character with personality will always shine brighter than a character whose sole character trait is a sexy body. There's a reason we remember the names of celebrities, and not porn stars.
Even in porn, we need to have empathy for the characters. And if we don't feel it, the artist needs to work on it.
Anyway, in drawn and animated porn that I consider "weak," the poses are often stiff and unnatural, and there doesn't seem to be any actual "flow" to the pictures. Take your standard low-budget adult anime, for example. Often when one body part starts to move, every other body part stops entirely. A girl lifting her arms will suddenly lose all movement below her shoulders. And when our eyes are supposed to be drawn to something like a breast jiggle, often everything else will stop moving. It's a dull, weak visual, that gives the appearance of a mannequin, rather than an actual person.
But the worst offender of all has to be the FACES in some of the adult art I've seen. Yes it's true that in most adult films, the focal point is a woman's chest or pelvic area. But for me, the REAL attractiveness comes from a character's personality, which is most openly expressed through their FACE. If the face doesn't have any life in it, the whole picture seems to lose all beauty. It's too often that characters only have about a half dozen facial expressions or less.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7176135/ Take this pic, for example. What makes her look so hot? Yes, she is topless, and she is showing off her butt to the viewer. But what really sells it is her face. Her mischievous, slightly awkward grin. She's teasing the audience, and she almost seems to be giggling through her teeth, knowing that she's driving the audience crazy.
So as you can see, it's not the FEATURES of the character that are most attractive. It's the general FEEL of the picture. We can feel the mood, and our natural empathy makes us feel the same.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7176269/ This pic as well. Not many of you like toons, but this picture embodies the point I'm trying to get across. It's not the bodies alone that we enjoy. It's the MOOD of the piece. EVERYTHING in the body has to reflect the character's mood. Greta's shoulders are hunched. Her head is lowered a bit, and her legs are clamped together defensively. Even her boobs are sorta smooshed together. Her body is sort of "shrinking" at the creepy doctor's touch, and given his uh.... unusual fetish, she has every right to feel that way. We can FEEL her emotions. Likewise, the other skunk looks especially lecherous, the way he has that predatorial hunch, that wide, almost uncontrollable grin, and his gnarled fingers on his free hand, curled like claws ready to grab something. Even his own legs are tight together a bit, as though he was trying (vainly) to hide the huge tent he's suddenly popped.
It's not the FLESH we're attracted to when we see a really good piece of adult art. It's the LIFE. We see a situation that we can FEEL, and thus, we almost feel like we're PART of it in a sense.
Of course, I'm not a master of art. And sometimes I end up doing a pic that has less soul than it ought to, without realizing it.
A case in point: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5709362/ Yes, the proportions are somewhat correct, and the face is cute. But look at how stiff the arms are, how perfectly straight the torso is, and how symmetrical the positioning of the legs is. The problem I have here is that I was thinking in terms of "body parts," and not "body." Every body part seems to be working independently of each other, like they had no connection whatsoever. Also, all the muscles appear to be flexed at once.
Then there's this: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6959990/ Working on my latest character redesign, I ended up drawing myself in a rather unusual fashion. The torso is sorta stiff, the arms are at almost 90 degree angles, which never looks natural, and my face looks to have an odd, almost "preset" expression on it. Also, my dick appears to have simply been slapped on as an afterthought.
So yeah, basically what I'm saying is that when it comes right down to it, a character with personality will always shine brighter than a character whose sole character trait is a sexy body. There's a reason we remember the names of celebrities, and not porn stars.
Even in porn, we need to have empathy for the characters. And if we don't feel it, the artist needs to work on it.
I mean nothing stops me to get all my kinks inside a drawing and make enormous cocks everywhere, but without a character with a true personality and a reason to do so i simply aint happy with the final work.
It is curious since i started drawing it looked like all my characters were exactly the same, no matter how much i changed proportions, worked on different animals... It wasn't until i started playing with the background story of the characters and time-lines, and emotions... that somehow each character started looking at individuals more than a copy. and it wasn't just me, everyone started looking at them differently.
Criticize not, lest ye be criticized! X3
but hey its porn...really not many folks care about the soul part, I try to do that with two characters of mines.
I beg to differ
ever see Lars and The Real Girl
If that doesn't lack soul then nothing does
I love seeing some spirit or soul to a picture, expression, body language, posing. It's all linked, I find, and when an artist pulls it off, it's awesome, and so much more appealing.
More life is generally needed.
"Oh no, don't! Don't touch me there, ohhhh!"
There's got to be a certain DYNAMIC to the scene. If it's just:
"Sex?"
"Okay!"
........... well, that's boring. :\
But then, your mileage may vary.
Now for some that's how it is and they may be enjoying it, but frankly it just makes it seem like they can't possibly be into it and ruins the scene.
Interestingly I've never seen that in art.... [and will never ask for it XD]
It's really more like roleplay.
Thanks for the advice man. Totally argeed with you.
What matters to me is the sense of touch, sense of motion and momentum, imagination, and emotional connection. Or, if you suck at drawing as badly as I do, humor works in a pinch. This is what separates real porn from mere eye candy, and it is indeed very rare, for some reason. Whether porn or erotica can be considered different things is up for debate.
[url=http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5103955/]Take this pic[/rul], drawn by the guy who posted right above me. Some people may not like the artistic angle, but the emotional part is there in spades. Rarely do I like a picture where the viewer is supposed to be "involved" in some way, but this one does it quite well.
Here's another one. It actually has no exposed bits at all. But the placement of the hands and the sensation of touch is there if you use your imagination.
I can only imagine what girlfriend would get a good laugh out of this one, even knowing what was to follow in a few minutes. It just has the right feel to it, like the scene is both plausible and even familiar.
Goodness. I could write an essay about this one.
Not to mention any picture with a level of self-censorship... even if the actual act is quite obvious and leaves little to the imagination.
Found this artist recently.
You get the titilation of nudity, but they also inject so much personality, character and story into the images. It's not *just porn* it's a human story.
And though I'd hesitate to say it to them, sometimes sexual pictures reek of "artist has no personal experience to draw from"
...It was personality BTW...
But a hot body with no expression at all... is sterile.
Some world we have to look forward to.
Quite simply, yes. Too many people think boobs/cock/nudity/sexual activity = porn. But it's more than that, just like any other art form. If the characters involved are just mindless, emotionless mannequins, then the *feeling* is lost, and the eroticism right along with it.