What’s new
Are your images distorted?
23rd August 2022
Since we upgraded our software a few weeks ago, a handful of people have reported that some images on the site appear distorted. Though we initially thought it was a browser issue, it turned out to be a glitch in the latest update of Drupal, the (usually extremely reliable) web-building tool we use for the site. It’s now fixed, but though we’ve done a thorough check there may still be a handful of images that still appear distorted. If you are unlucky enough to find an image that has slipped through the net, we’d be grateful if you could let us know – an email to [email protected] is best – which portfolio and image number is still appearing stretched sideways. Many thanks!
Spanish style and imagination
14th August 2022
The Spanish artist Celedonio Perellón is today’s new addition, including his superwoman character Bunda (named for her fabulous derrière) and some remarkable Gamiani illustrations. Enjoy Perellón’s work now by clicking here.
Everywhere (almost)
12th August 2022
This is you, folks! A map of where @honesterotica’s 10k+ wonderful Twitter followers live – and what an international lot you are. We feel so honoured to have you on board, makes the whole project worthwhile. But ... c’mon Iceland and Madagascar ...
Playing your cards right
10th August 2022
Giuseppe Zaccaria, better known as Pino Zac, was a pioneer of satirical cartoons in his native Italy, but he only produced one erotic portfolio, a set of playing cards combining the clever use of suite symbols and his boundless imagination. See them now by clicking here.
Stripped-down erotic comics
9th August 2022
Another important comic artist today, the prolific Argentinian Solano López, who in his late 60s turned to drawing erotic comics, including the classic Young Witches series. See his work now by clicking here.
A spanking good read
7th August 2022
Another of those wonderful 1930s Parisian flagellation novels today, this one with better-than-usual illustrations by the French artist Étienne Le Rallic – as far as we know his only foray into the genre. See The Pleasure of the Whip now by clicking here. Enjoy!
Small but perfectly formed
5th August 2022
In the last twenty years erotic bookplates have become popular, not to be pasted into books but to be be framed and displayed; the etchings of the French artist Patricia Nik-Dad are perfect examples of this genre, and you can see more than a hundred of them by clicking here.
A little light flagellation
4th August 2022
For those of you who like period spanking literature, we’ve just added Pierre Noël’s 1932 illustrations to the French flagellation narrative Diana Gantée, the Parisian Madame who trains young women to the manner required by her clients … See them now by clicking here.
Sex, sofas and ravens (ravens?)
3rd August 2022
A great new artist for you all today, the German Bodo Klös, with his wonderful etchings and drawings of naked bodies, ravens, and a touch of wry humour. You can see a large selection of his work now by clicking here.
Sense and censorbility
27th July 2022
Today’s new artist is the Mexican Areko Martiánez, who in two productive years of blogging before being censored from the internet produced several hundred sensitive pencil drawings of young men enjoying each other’s bodies. See his work now by clicking here.
Important recent updates
✨ Illustrator and portfolio lists
One of the most common requests we get (and the responses to the recent questionnaire confirm this) is that it would be really useful to have complete listings of all the artists and portfolios on the website – as of May 2026 728 artists and 2,003 portfolios!
So we’ve listened and heard … and by following this link you will find files with these listings in alphabetical order (and where there are several portfolios with the same name their artists will be in order too). The lists are in PDF format, so you can download, save and search them. They duplicate what you can already find in the artist and portfolio listings on the website, but if you’re really into erotic art and illustration and would like a quick ready reference, you should find these invaluable. Enjoy!
✨ Helping you to find your way around
You asked for it, we’ve done it – all the artists on the site now have a set of ‘Similar artists’ links at the end of their biography, so whether it’s bookplate artists, spanking artists, gay artists, whatever, you can cruise easily from artist to similar artist. Have fun!
✨ Hans-Jürgen Döpp, 1940–2025
Few people have shared their wisdom, experience – and wonderful collection of erotic art – more than Hans-Jürgen Döpp, who sadly died last year at the age of 84. For more than half a century Hans-Jürgen devoted himself to the study and collection of erotic art, not as a marginal curiosity or a private indulgence, but as an essential part of human culture. Through his work as a scholar, teacher, curator, author and collector, he helped establish erotic art as a serious field of artistic and historical enquiry. He was an enthusiastic supporter of honesterotica, sharing more than 200 of his portfolios with us, helping to make the website a unique resource of erotic art that would otherwise have been lost to the world. Read our tribute to Hans-Jürgen here.
✨ The difficult mirror
Artists, childhood, and the challenge of looking
At a time of growing concern about online child safety, we are very aware of how we handle the sensitive subject of depictions of children in art, especially ‘erotic art’. We have added an important Themes and Topics article here, which helps explore how artists over time have depicted naked children, and why it is as important to think seriously about what art is for and how we look at and experience it as about what is actually being depicted. Read the piece and see what you think.