Attaching your name to adult content

iadagraca

I've been doing coloring and background art for a Adult Visual Novel for the past year, it pays well and I really enjoy working on it.

Eventually they asked what I would like to be called on the credits, if I had an Alias or not. And then I realized I never considered that at all.

The other artist on the project has to use one cause their country may take issue with that, but otherwise their other work is promoted under their name.

I live in the US so that's not a big deal for me. I'm aware of plenty of artist who work in the industry or have other careers and provide NSFW or Adult content through Patreon or some other method. But there's other artists who maintain their anonymity either through having a secondary account, or just entirely despite being very popular.

So now I'm wondering what their differing experiences are and why.

But first let me clarify a few things...

• I'm very proud of the work I've done especially the background art
• The work isn't kinky/fetish so that's not the concern
• I'm not worried about family or friends

And as for some specific questions, there's only a few i can think of but really i'd just like personal experiences.

• Even if you keep the adult work off your portfolio page. Is the fact your name is in the credits or you name the game on the resume, can that negatively effect the work you get?
• I've heard of people on the internet attacking artists that do adult work, that a genuine concern?
• Any other issues that may arise from anonymity or using my name?

EDIT: i now realize i botched the title for this.

Steve Schulze

People on the internet attack everyone.

Personally I'd be inclined to just roll with references to the project on the resume and portfolio. I mean maybe minimise the actual sexy stuff, but if the work is good, it's probably going to outweigh the fact that there's some dubious stuff in there. Assuming it's not -too- dubious.

Savannakhet

My brother works as an illustrator and has a specific style that he's developed over the years and has clients who come back to him because they want that style of drawing. (accurately proportioned people, a particular colour palette and so on.)

Now from time to time he's talked about developing a 'new style' something that would be completely different to what he does normally and he said that he would do this under an alias, the idea being that you can create two distinct brands for yourself to sell art to two sets of clients without the first set worrying that you no longer have an interest in pursuing the style that they want.

Apparently is this happens a fair bit in the Illustration business, with artists maintaining multiple aliases.

MagicSugar

iadagraca wrote: »

[*]Any other issues that may arise from anonymity or using my name?

If you have or will have school age kids. Are you okay that your kids' teachers might judge you and your children for the work that you do? What if other parents find out and some of them may feel uncomfortable associating their child to your child? Would you still show for a PTA meeting?

[Note: I'm not judging you for your choices just responding to your question.]

RyanB

I would use a pseudonym. You still get paid and you control who knows that you did the work. Win-win.

rino

let's not forget

http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61374



their careers have skyrocketed since. dicks in portfolio is good luck.

iadagraca

HAHA! Wow that, is impressive.

Thanks for the title change!

I think I like the idea of keeping various aliases for different work. The idea of doing it for different styles is also something I've seen.

MagicSugar wrote: »

If you have or will have school age kids. Are you okay that your kids' teachers might judge you and your children for the work that you do? What if other parents find out and some of them may feel uncomfortable associating their child to your child? Would you still show for a PTA meeting?

I don't have kids but there would be words if was aware of people using that as a reason. But I don't intend to have kids for a LONG time.

dustinbrown wrote: »

There's a difference between nudity and smut, assuming that's what you mean by "adult." More of a concern for me would be how relevant the work is to where I want to take my career.

I'm aware the work you take affects the work you may get in the future. Which is part of why i think the alias idea for different kinds of work is a good idea.

So long as the work is challenging and interesting, yeah I don't mind doing it for a rest of my career.

Steve Schulze wrote: »

Personally I'd be inclined to just roll with references to the project on the resume and portfolio. I mean maybe minimise the actual sexy stuff, but if the work is good, it's probably going to outweigh the fact that there's some dubious stuff in there. Assuming it's not -too- dubious.

To make this clear by including the work in my name I mean like taking some of the background art I've done and putting it in my general portfolio as part of my work history, not the actual adult portions. Maybe mentioning it on my twitter when it's done with like the cover image and a link on where to buy it (clearly stating it's NSFW).

And i think i could do that while still keeping another alias to fully promote it.