Hey Noomi! Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m female erotic artist and illustrator, I’m 25 (if it’s anyhow important) and I am exploring the majestic world of pornography and sexual fantasies with all the kinks and weird fetishes.
My art has no boundaries because I was moving them gradually with each painting I made. Now I’m completely free to portray whatever might come to my head. I also stand for sexual freedom and openness, I think it’s essential to provide a safe environment for women and minorities to express themselves and not to be afraid of stereotypes and prejudices. Yes, women and other genders also watch porn and fantasize about rough/gentle/weird/unusual things.
Your erotic art is beautiful. Did you always create erotic art drawings?
I started drawing erotic art in 2017 when I realized I need to draw what I want – I need to break the stigma around porn and female sexuality. I wasn’t thinking much about it, it was very obvious for me straight away. My art was always quite sexual – I was always interested in human’s sexuality – but of course I was afraid that my parents would not understand it as they were always quite strict and patriarchal. They wouldn’t accept their daughter being an erotic artist.
Watercolor was also very obvious choice as it’s my main media since childhood. I had an urge to build my visual language in this media, I didn’t want to work in digital only because it’s what is asked from illustrators right now. I was always more of an artist rather than illustrator – I go my own way.
How is it being a woman in the art sector, with a product that is slightly more stigmatized than your fellow artists? Do you feel you have the same opportunities as your male counterparts? Are you taken as seriously? Or is gender not an issue?
I think I might have even more benefits as a woman doing erotica than men – but at the same time I get much more harassment and prejudice. I am scared of unpleasant and aggressive reactions from my real life audience, that’s why I hide my identity and don’t really post my photos – I don’t want to be a target. People on the Internet react very positively to my art and even if some of them send me dick pics – I just block and forget about it, but I know that some women get attacked and abused by stalkers who traced their location online.
Your Instagram has 185K followers, why do you think people relate to your erotic drawings? And what /who are your inspirations?
I get many very touching responses from my followers about the healing effect of my art – I’d never thought that my art can be anyhow useful for others and I am very happy it is. I draw mainly non-conformist fetishes and fantasies and this helps some people to realize that their own fetishes and fantasies can be beautiful and they are not alone in this. Even the “weirdest” kinks are okay if they are consensual and built on respect and trust. Also watercolor helps to show sexual act as something very expressive, beautiful and mesmerizing.
I’m inspired by my own experience and also porn movies. I draw mainly from them, catching the poses, looks, subtext, the psychology behind the attraction. The process of transforming a movie scene into art fascinates me. Every movie scene has so much potential to be transformed into painting – gestures of actors, scenery and details – it’s a visual language in itself. These things speak to an audience on a subconscious level and when they are transformed into watercolour, it becomes something completely new.
Your art blurs the lines between stigma and social acceptance just as KK is doing. Do you feel the world is ready to start breaking down those barriers and hang this art in their homes?
Oh yeah, definitely! As I am selling my prints and originals, I am well aware of people being ready to hang this art in their homes.
What is the strangest/favourite piece of art you have ever created?
I think it would be group scene. It’s one of the earliest pieces when I just explored very different niche themes and was all experimental about it.
I love it because I remember how much I enjoyed the process of drawing so many human bodies in one painting, and the lines just connect very naturally. This painting is quite brave and slightly controversial, it might push boundaries for some people for sure.
When you are creating a private commission piece, what is your process and how much influence does the customer have?
Everything is very simple with commissions – people usually just send me references and trust me with the process completely. I appreciate this trust, it’s extremely precious as in their place I’d be very paranoid and nervous about the outcome. People don’t even ask for the sketches usually, which is maybe more because I simply don’t do the sketches haha. My clients don’t really influence my process much, only ask for adding some small details or removing them, or changing hair color and etc.
If you could paint one person, dead or alive, who would it be? And what would they be doing?
I’d paint my last client as I still need to draw the commissioned piece for him…
What advice would you give to other women wanting to start a career in creating beautiful erotic drawings?
Well, I always encourage people to do arts. I think it has a soul healing effect and it’s healthy for everyone to do some arts once in a while.
If we’re talking specifically about women doing erotica, I’d advise not to give up, to understand why they want to do this and what this genre means to them. Do they want to base it on their own experience or draw from the references only? Maybe erotica helps them to heal their sexual traumas or explore themselves somehow. The reason why they want to work in this medium might provide texts along with their paintings. Or if erotica is simply showing the beauty of human body, that’s also a g0od reason! A person who wants to draw erotica needs to understand the purpose of this and then everything else would come to them naturally.
There are no rules for women specifically in this genre. They can show they faces or hide them, they can base their art on their own experience or completely distance themselves from the things they draw. Their art can serve social purpose celebrating the body positivity and feminism or not aim to make any statements at all.
There is no universal advise for everyone. Maybe only one – be true to yourself and don’t draw things which do not speak to you. I hate to see lifeless, cheap erotica on Instagram which was only made as a copy of somebody else’s successful work.
What are the next steps for you?
I want to do more editorials and illustrations. I also want to collaborate with brands and find myself a proper agency to try and draw on different themes. I am planning to also paint on the larger scale and find a gallery which would host an exhibition for me, doing both fine art paintings and editorial illustrations. Basically, I just want to evolve myself as an artist and develop my career further. Maybe even study somewhere again – who knows.
Thank you so much Noomi, we look forward to seeing more of your work x
Some of our other favourite erotic artists
Betusha Rapatusha – We first introduced Betusha on our Instagram and our followers loved it! Her art is sexy AF and so beautiful. There is no limit to her work, she uses watercolour, acrylic, oil and even occasionally paints on clothes.
Liana Maher Art -Liana Maher is a London-based artist who works to capture the myriad expressions of female bodies. Her black and white ink and charcoal drawings show the many facets of womanhood, from sensual to vulnerable, bold and secretive. Simple, expressive lines create a sense of the body emerging from the world, giving the viewer space to create their own personal stories and connections with the works.
Sophie Tea Art – If you’re a fan of colour you’ll be obsessed with Sophie. Sophie’s Instagram bio says ‘I get sent more nudes than you’ and quite frankly we’re jealous.
Written by the Killing Kittens team.