Roscoe, our ad artist

Roscoe (www.roscoestuff.com) was cleaning up his studio the other day and found an interview he did on the phone with 100% BEEF Magazine in 2005 - he feels it makes a good Bio (with a 'lil update/editing) to help you understand his art and where he is today (10/07). It reads below. (Visit his web site for more examples of his work.)

>-> When did you start drawing?

I've drawn for as long as I can remember.

>-> When were you first exposed to erotic illustration?

I was inspired by Tom of Finland, at about the age of 20, but didn't really start doing it professionally until 1998.

>-> Briefly describe your training or process which brought you to where you are today, artistically.

I graduated from college with a BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) Degree and focused on commercial advertising. My mainstream illustration work started to decrease when Photoshop became the mainstream in art departments in the middle 1990's, so fewer illustrators were hired. So, I learned Photoshop like the rest of them. Still work was slow. Nothing lights a fire under your ass to get that money coming in like a mortgage, so, in 1998 I did my first drawing with the intention of selling it. I actually did a dozen drawings an put them up for sale on auctions. I made over $1000, and I had a feeling I 'd found one of my callings in life. That was on Ebay, before they started censoring erotic art.

In 2000 erotica was becoming more and more difficult to sell, because of the censorship issues. So, I started producing art for a couple of different twisted "straight" BDSM web sites that used illustrated stories and comic-book type content. They need their women to be whipped and pinched and clamped/ etc....shit like that. I got really good at expressions because I had to show FEAR in the girl's faces and joy in the faces of their tormentors. WELL, I started getting NiGhTmArEs!!! -and that got kind of old because I really do like women (in general) and I got tired of torturing them (in my art). AND, I sort of got fired anyway, because they said my "art was too cartoony" and not scary enough. So I started looking for the next "John".

I had no other resources at that time, so I was pretty much feeling like a literal ART-WHORE. But I could definitely see my "people-drawing" skills getting better and better. - Then I started creating for HandJobs magazine in '02. I can honestly say that I had never enjoyed more creative freedom than I did working for those VERY cool Seattle-based guys. I recently finished Volume #3 of the HandJobs by ROSCOE - "The Adventures of TIMMY" series. And, now we're finishing up on editing the first two in a long series of downloadable books called; ROSCOE's Big Fat & Nasty BOOK-(#1)-&-(#2) (etc....) - Gotta be thrifty with paper and try and save a tree or two, ya know....and with this web site pulling ALL of my work together (Gay/Straight/Kink/Vanilla) and de-compartmentalizing kinks and letting it be ART for the sake of ART. - THIS is where I am today.

>-> Whose work most strongly influences or inspires you?

I am actually influenced by a lot of different guys out there today; especially, I love the HUN, and his artwork is pretty good too.

>-> Do you draw primarily from life, memory, or photography?

All of the above.

>-> What distinguishes your work from that of other erotic artists?

I copy things I like from other artists. But I think I'm just as good as most of my favorite erotic artists today. I think I fit right in there with the best of 'em.

>-> Okay, if you had to draw one man whose physical presence embodies your artistic vision, who would that be?

I like the way actor Colin Farrell looks, in terms of the perfect "puppy". His expressive face influenced some of the faces I've drawn in my comic books. I'd gladly let him hang around me posing naked for a long weekend or two. Yeah, I'd draw him. Who knows, he might even cum down to the "Big-Easy" to make a movie and get in touch with me to be his Man-Servant after he reads this. That could be cool, too.

>->WOOF. Now, that's a drawing we wouldn't mind having! Finally, what are your future plans for TIMMY?

Well, If you remember from Volume #3, Timmy has landed himself in New Orleans before the storms hit through a strange set of circumstances -- funny thing is, I JUST moved to the U.S.'s Southern-Jewel the same time he did -- so I've been doing some research and presently taking my time and getting THIS next Gay Erotic Comic Book JUST right... So, I've been doing a lot of research for Volume #4: "The Adventures of TIMMY - a VICTIM of MARDI GRAS". It's a twisted tale of rough & selfish, Gay and Bisexual BDSM adventures.

I'm presently feeling like I am doing the best work of my life.

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