What I wouldn't do

I've never done commissions, so I've never had to think much about what I would decline to draw. But I read another erotic artist's guidelines yesterday, and it got me to thinking about what mine would be.

Children, obviously. I say 'obviously' – maybe it's not obvious. Stanton, after all, drew adolescent girls fighting. But I'm even uncomfortable with websites and stories with the word 'teen' in the title. Yes, there may be some 2257 fine print about the characters portrayed being over 18, but if the title says 'teen' or 'teens', both producer and consumer know what the attraction is. I'm probably going to be a little squicky about it. I won't knowingly go to a web site that promotes itself that way. I've seen a few 'teen boxing' or 'teen wrestling' items out there that left me feeling uncomfortable.

Snuff or fatalities. This is sort of odd, really. People die in literature and movies all the time. John Wayne dies in Sands of Iwo Jima, but no one calls that a 'snuff' film. Even so, I don't think I would draw a fight scenario that involved the death of a character.

Maiming. I don't want to single anyone out, but I've seen stuff in this regard that just turned my stomach. Anything that's a lasting injury is off limits.

Miss Spencer gets nailed with brass knuckles
in Rumble Roses XX.

Weapons. I think it depends on the weapon. My life experiences have put me in contact with people who have been the actual victims of violence with real weapons, ranging from guns to planks of wood to pliers, and that definitely colors my attitude.

In the Rumble Roses video games, you can score major damage points by picking up a pair of brass knuckles and punching your opponent between her legs. Frankly, it was sexy to have Reiko pick up those knucks, shake them a couple of times to weigh their heft, then smack Miss Spencer right where it would do the most good. But folks, I've seen people who were actually hit with brass knuckles, and it's not like Rumble Roses at all. They're illegal in most states, and with good reason. So, Rumble Roses notwithstanding, I think brass knuckles would be out for me.

Knives and swords and such would be even less acceptable. I know there's a lot of 'gladiatrix' art out there with broadswords and battle axes and whatnot, but it's too violent for me, especially when people have been sliced up with them. I was even grossed out by the slashing murder of Katma Tui in Green Lantern – in my opinion, it was totally inappropriate.

I've drawn one catfight with weapons, and I think the sexual overtone of the heroine's 'guns', plus the fact that they're lying spent on the ground, makes it clear they're not exactly weapons at all. My notion here was that the guns, used correctly, induced a shuddering, debilitating orgasm in the target. In this case, though, the green-skinned alien girl seems to have been immune to them. (But feel free to make up your own story. You don't have to follow mine.)

I've never drawn anything involving strap-ons or other sexual devices as weapons, but I probably wouldn't be averse to that.

Scat. Nope. Just nope.

Blood. A trickle of blood from a bite or a split lip is okay. Blood spattered on the walls and ceiling, or any amount of blood that would suggest a crippling or fatal injury, is not.

Animals. Well, how do you have a catfight with an animal, anyway? But no, no bestiality.

Rape/victimization. Rape is obvious, I think. But a personal taboo that may be less apparent, because it's part of mainstream entertainment, is anything where a woman is taken somewhere against her will and forced to fight, or do anything else. I know there have been a couple of movies lately with that theme (and it was even in an episode of The Fall Guy), but I won't indulge in it.

The rest of this post will probably sound bizarre. The women I draw are not real, and yet I feel like I am connected to them. They are my creations. They're soft, sexy, curvy, feminine, adorable women whose lust for each other manifests itself in a special, sexualized combat. Even though they live only in my imagination, I would not wish on them any of the brutality I have seen in real life.