What I’ve Been Up Too!
Portrait of Billy Lane
Billy mentioned the IMLBB art show, and wanted me to submit to it. Which I did.
It’s been eight months since my last blog post. Time moves fast when you’re having fun! After the series was over, I worked on various portraits and traveled!
I went to my first International Mr. Leather 2026 in Chicago. I had never been to Chicago before, and I barely got to explore the city because that weekend was jam-packed with experiencing “IML” in full. I had the opportunity to work with my friends Clair and Eric at their vendor booth, Cockeye Kink, which was the best choice because they paid for my room and food. I was super happy about that!
I was working and got to meet various people purchasing different leather gear, which was a different experience for me since I had previously been a sales associate for a watch brand. It was different because I never really cared for watches, but I loved selling leather gear because I have way more knowledge of leather gear and styles than I do of watches.
Portrait of rene IML 2025
While I was there, I also got the amazing opportunity to showcase my artwork in their inaugural art show. I had been praying for this opportunity for about two months. The theme was “Defiance and Restraint,” and I had an amazing piece that some of you probably know as “The Submissive.” It made sense to show that piece at the time. I didn’t win any awards, but, you know, winning isn’t everything. I’m proud of myself for getting into the show. It was also the first year, so I’m sure it’ll get better every year. I just hope next year’s theme aligns with the work I have available.
After IML, I spent more time thinking about my next series, or rather, the different paths I could take. I could have gone down the drag scene route, learned more about the art of drag, and drawn many different queens. I could have explored the trans scene and learned more about the trans community. I could have gone back to drawing dog portraits. All these different “paths” are still available to me; however, I wanted to broaden my horizons.
Anatomy Study
Practicing the values and the style of shading.
I then bought four anatomy books and spent a good four months drawing different muscular models in various poses and practicing freehand drawing, mainly from photos. I still do this to this day! I have a sketchbook that I use to practice during my lunch break at work.
I knew this would help improve my artistic skills exponentially, so I showed my friends at Camp Out what I had been working on. We started talking about drawing various sexual or erotic images. This idea had also been on my mind for the past two years, but I felt that I didn’t have enough knowledge of either male or female anatomy to even attempt it. So, after a couple of conversations, I finally started working on it.
Process and Materials
This time, I looked through various pornographic materials I’ve purchased and took screenshots of different positions that made me hard. I then zoomed in on the action because that’s where my eyes tend to go when I watch porn. Once I had my image, I transferred it onto paper.
Similarly to the Leather Men Series, I started working with Regular Graphite from Faber-Castell. For any leatherwear, such as the jockstrap, I used Matte Graphite from Faber-Castell, which felt right and with which I felt extremely comfortable.
I also loved how this image turned out. Once I had the image on the page, I felt like something was missing. I looked at it on my painting easel and thought the background needed to be solid black, almost as if it had been inked. So, I grabbed the most opaque black ink I could find in my supplies and painted the background a solid black. This made all the highlights pop, making them bolder than anything I’d ever seen.
It looked like Tom of Finland and Rex had a baby. They were my key inspirations for this series, along with other erotic fetish artists.
There isn’t any color in this image, and I don’t think color is necessary. The image speaks for itself. It’s in your face, and you can’t look away.
The Fantasy
"Imagine your topping your best bottom boy. You feel his anus closing and opening while you pump into him. The both of you start sweating and moaning. You start to be more fluid with your motions. Losing control of yourself, you pump harder and harder as you're about to burst into him. Then, you burst! Your brain starts to go hazy, and you start to feel relieved. You then look down at your bottom and he's smiling at you. "Wanna go again?" he says..."
