prokopetz

I keep seeing “callout” posts to the effect of “[popular artist X] once drew a picture of Invader Zim fucking Spongebob Squarepants, so they must be a huge weirdo pervert!”, and I’m like… have y’all ever actually met an artist?

Among most art communities I’m acquainted with, outlandish porn is a thing. Sure, sometimes it reflects some weird fetish on the artist’s part, but far more often, they drew it:

  • Because someone dared them to do it
  • Because someone claimed they wouldn’t do it
  • To hurt people’s brains (there’s a certain stripe of artist for whom “oh my god my eyes” is the highest praise)
  • Because they got into a one-upmanship contest with another artist and things got a little out of hand
  • Because some artists have this thing where if they get a bad mental image stuck in their heads, the only way to get it out is to draw it (i.e., a bit like dislodging a stuck song by humming the ending)
  • Out of pure spite

Never underestimate that last one; I personally know an artist who once spent the better part of two days hammering out a drawing of Inspector Gadget reverse-gangbanging the cast of Scooby-Doo because a buddy of theirs claimed that it was impossible for anything to shock them anymore, and they took it as a challenge.