It’s that time of year when everyone loves to dress up as their favorite character – it’s Halloween! So how more apt and fitting could it be than to interview adult fanfic artist Digital Distortion.
QC: Welcome to Queerying where we all get to know each other a little bit closer. As you already know, here at QueerClick we are big, big fans of Digital Distortion and LOVE your work. We’ve also seen a very keen interest from a lot of our readers who would love to know more about you, your art, your stories and your fantasies. So it’s wonderful to give you a warm welcome here and we’re so happy that you’re able to take part with us at QC for this interview.
DD: Hi to team QC and all the readers at QueerClick, I hope everyone is well and safe! Thank you so much for including Digital Distortion as part of your Queerying episodes.
When did you first start drawing fan art?
Honestly, I believe that since I was a kid I’ve been drawing fanarts, obviously not sexual, but when I was a kid I drew illustrations based on cartoons, animes and mangas I liked. The erotic illustrations started when I was in college in 2010, at that time in addition to studying I also worked within advertising and entertainment and at that time the rules were extremely sexist, homophobic and excessively exploitive of the female body. It was very common to see the heroes dressed from head to toe and then a heroine fighting in a skimpy bikini in a kind of gynecological attack pose! I decided to distort this in my own distorted parallel world.
Have you had any formal training or go to college or is your digital art all self taught?
I have a degree in Arts, so I understand theory, composition, colors, image planning and movies, etc. But to do what I do in Digital Distortion I didn’t really have any specific training. I found and used a lot of online help and have watched a lot of tutorials on Youtube. I then always try to go beyond what I already know and this is how I have been able to progress and improve. Nowadays I’m venturing into animations.
Did you choose art as a career or was it your hobby/passion that has developed and has taken over from your day job?
I’ve always been connected to the artistic world in some way, I believe I couldn’t live any other way. Besides Digital Distortion I still work with the development of ads in my country.
What other skills and passions do you have and wish to develop in your career such as photography/film/scripts?
I’m the very active type so I don’t like to be stuck or stagnant. I’m always fascinated to try new things and I believe this reflects in my work. So I’m constantly pushing myself to discover new skills and currently I’m studying animation and music. I would love to explore a visual album and to tell a story through music videos and songs.
Do you have any favorite artists who have inspired you or any particular pieces of art works that have influenced your style?
I’m very passionate about David Lachapelle’s work, McG’s movie directing style, and JJ Abrams’ mysterious screenplays. When it comes to the erotic world I LOVE the works of Jack of Hearts, Mr. X-Toon, Gabo, Zane.nox and Martin Führer.
Is Digital Distortion a solo project or do you collaborate with other artists?
It’s totally a solo project. So far I haven’t collaborated with any other artists, but it’s something I would love to try in the future.
Is the artistic life a lonely one and do you have ways to counteract this?
I don’t feel lonely or isolated in the art world at all even though I work very much by myself on my art work. Yes I do probably work twice as much as some people (with my formal day job in advertising and then my solo work with Digital Distortion) but I always find time for my family and friends.
You have an amazing vision to re-create the most popular superheroes into both gay and adult scenes. If you had the budget would you make a full length animated movie feature?
Absolutely yes! I would love to be able to pay professionals to work with me. I have lots of big ideas but unfortunately I can’t produce these alone because it takes a lot of time, effort and money. Did you know that “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” took 4 years to complete with 140 animators working on it? Such an immense team! Currently I’m doing the best I can on my own to create a distorted version of “Spider-Verse”, but to make an animated episode (in my basic animation style lol) it takes me almost two months per episode! Some Patreon members understand this and support me, but others get completely mad and pissed at me because they believe I’m not working, but man, I’m working like crazy to deliver my best as soon as possible. So having a budget to hire people to develop something bigger, better and faster today would be a dream to me.
If you could be any superhero who would it be and what super power would you most like to have?
Something very dark haha, I love witches. I find witches like Sabrina Spellman, Scarlet Witch, Nimue, Hecate, Morgan Le Fey fascinating… I love studying old stories that involve the occult. So as a good witch I would love to be able to cast spells and manipulate probability.
We all let out collective cheers when DC Comics announced that Jon Kent, the super-powered son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, would come out bisexual in the new edition of “Superman: Son of Kal-El #5”. Are there any other comic superheroes that you would like to see “coming out” or any new LGBTQ+ characters being introduced?
Yes, when I too saw the announcement from DC I loved it! I can’t wait to read this comic. I love to see representation everywhere, there are many movies and series nowadays that are inserting more diverse characters as something natural which is great. In the past whenever there was a LGBTQ+ character introduced they were always extremely stereotyped and their insertion into storylines smacked of tokenism. For me personally, Captain America and Winter Soldier from MCU, the way they were presented and built throughout the movies would be much more plausible if they were gay, I think Steve Rogers’ relationships in the movies with women are extremely forced and superficial.
Do you have any favorite adult porn studios?
No, I wouldn’t say I have any particular favorites but I do think most people have their own style and their own type that does it for them. I think there are some some great studios out there with their own themed productions such as Falcon Studios and Men.com
Are there any particular adult pornography models you would love to work with?
I would love to write a story with Colby Keller or Diego Sans. Something they’ve never done before.
Do you participate in Cosplay or Fancy Dress at events like Halloween?
Yes, I’m already dressed up as a Zombie Superman!
Do you have any favorite books or movies?
I love a lot of books and movies! Normally I will have some current favorites, but my all time best would be “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” book and “Charlie’s Angels (2000)” movie both which have a special place in my heart.
How do you see digital art and adult content developing in the future?
I think digital art is becoming more accessible, there are so many resources and help online, so I think that in the future we will have more and more creators. When it comes to adult content I found the reactions to the recent OnlyFans controversy very interesting and but also very insightful. The platform has been a disrupter within the traditional adult industry so it was surprising and encouraging to see the publics reaction in defending the creators and criticising the platform that then went back on its decision. That’s why I think nudity and sex are no longer taboo.
Is there anything you dislike about the art world or that you dislike about your own work?
I love the art world as a whole yes, but I hate art that exploits or harms animals in performance in any way. About my work, well I write fanfics based on works that are mostly American. So there are some speech expressions that characters I use that are compatible with their personality. But as I’m not American, sometimes I find myself trying to write something that in English I can’t express correctly or with the intensity I want. Maybe I use words that make sense in formal English, but perhaps such a character would never speak that way in reality or with that personality.
What’s your vision for Digital Distortion, will you be expanding it into other media?
I would really like to be able to expand and explore more, last year I did “The Little Merman: A Distorted Tale”, which was a mix of live action and animation. I would love to do a part two for this, but it requires a lot of budget involvement and to do a justifiable part two it would have to be with at least 4 real actors. Some of my Patreon members have already suggested that I do a Kickstarter campaign and so this is another idea that I am considering. I would also love to do an original series with real actors based on my fanfic/fanart “Chilling Adventures of Archie”, it would be an adaptation of the story with other actors and characters, not Riverdale/Sabrina, but a live action series based on that story.
What advice would you give to budding artists?
My best advice is that they are persistent and always keep producing. Always strive to keep evolving and learning new skills.
What can you not live without in your life?
The Internet LOL! My life and my work today are totally internet dependent.
When you’re not drawing and creating what do you like to do for fun?
I’m a gym addict. Yes I know it sounds a bit boring, but for me it’s really fun! And I don’t really consider myself as an interesting person LOL!
QC: Well, quite the contrary, we find you a very interesting person! And we love that you’re so passionate about your art too. It’s been wonderful to hear about your life, your new ideas, creations and productions. Thank you so much for being part of our Queerying episodes, it’s been an absolute pleasure interviewing with you. We wish you all the best and we know that our readers will appreciate this insightful and candid interview.
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