One of the greatest benefits of having this blog is the excitement of meeting new artists that send in their work to be published in our artist channels.  This past week, because of our open policy about posting works from artists around the world, Giancarlo Giovine, an Italian artist living in Sicily, sent in about a half dozen pencil sketches of sexy men in a variety of erotic settings.  The first thing that came to mind when I saw the sketches was that he must have been influenced by the art by Tom of Finland, however, when I inquired as to his inspirations, I got quite a surprise when he told me that his inspirations come from general classic art with a special emphasis on Sandro Botticelli!  That has to be the first time that an artist drawing gay erotic art told me his inspiration came from Renaissance art…but in retrospect makes perfect sense.  Classic art and especially Renaissance art was full of male nudity so it stands to reason that one could find inspiration to create modern gay art using that as a source of inspiration.  

Although Giancarlo is inspired by classic art, he has received no formal art training and is a self trained artist working from only his fantasies and dreams.  Once he conceives of an idea, he, like many artists, makes a rough sketch on paper, blocking out all the elements of the pinup that are essential to tell the story.  Once he has roughly composed the piece, he then begins to apply color, filling in every detail, shade and nuance to convey the story he wishes to tell. It’s interesting to see how artists generally follow roughly the same work flow whether or not they’ve received formal art training.  Even more surprising is that it seems there are quite a number of very competent artists creating very stimulating gay art working only from their inspirations and passions, sans any formal training at all.  I guess some of us, like Giancarlo, are just born to be artists.  

Giancarlo’s art has been used as illustrations for fliers, advertisements for gay discoteques and other venues and he is always available for private art commissions.  He is also seeking a publisher for some of his gay graphic novels and would appreciate any contacts or referrals that might help him find the right publisher to work with.  Please contact Giancarlo by email for his rates and availability. If you know publishers of gay erotic art that would be interested in Giancarlo’s work, please pass his email address along to them or refer them to this blog post.