Artist Roundup: IncubusCharmer

Just when you think you’ve seen everything on DeviantArt, here comes IncubusCharmer.

His stuff is the sexiest, and just drips masculinity, youth, and sex. The best part about him is the effort he takes to stay realistic. Realistic artists, with skilled knowledge of anatomy that know which part connects to which, have always had more appeal for me than cartoonier styles or caricatures. The best part of his characters are by far the abs: he remembers it’s far sexier to have a definite shape to the abs than to painstakingly pencil in each one. A close second would be his lips, all of which are thick and sensuous and almost feminine.

Visit his gallery here.

What’s impressive is, his grasp on anatomy is so strong that he can be successful in a cartoony style. Ironically, it takes a lot of realism to be a good caricaturist.

All in all, one of the most distinctive and sexy artists I’ve seen: I certainly would never confuse a work of his with somebody else’s.

Oh yeah: apparently, one of his big specialties is big gay barbarians. (Hey, is there any other kind?)

Part of the reason I like this image down here is because it has the usual patterms of cover art, perhaps duplicated unknowingly. Frank Kelly Freas, my hero, always explained that covers in fantasy, western and science fiction art fit a general pattern that is very studied, and used to get the average reader to buy books.

Usually in the cover image, there’s a threat of some sort, usually vague and monstrous, then you have something threatened or emperiled by the creature to arouse the reader's sense of protectiveness (usually a scantily clad femme, but this time a cute little guy) and finally someone for the reader to identify with that is rising to the challenge of protection. It’s sort of like the Thematic Apperception Tests psychologists give, and despite the sexism, the pattern works on both men and women alike.

You’re probably saying to yourself, “boy, I’ll never let myself be manipulated by cover art,” to which the cover artists are, as we speak guffawing heartily. Why? Someone that’s unaware they can be manipulated are the people for which covers can work their appeal best.