Working in the adult industry since 1999, with connections and ties dating back to the early ’90s, fetish artist Jay E. Moyes regards all he has done so far in the adult industry as interrelated. For six years, he worked in AVN’s production art department, and he also spent a year working for a high-level ‘rock star’ porn company doing art and helping with their productions. Since then, Jay has been working in publicity on various projects and as a fetish illustrator.
Jay’s fetish interest began while attending Foothill College and meeting two dommes; he came to realize that he wanted to dedicate his art to his budding interests. His artwork background to that point had been pen and ink illustration, with Jay considering a step into editorial illustration. Fortunately for Jay, at the time, most fetish publications were low budget, many black and white in fact, and his contributions required no screens, working well in newsletters and photocopied zines. As the internet took over, Jay’s artwork required less bandwidth and disk space overall, and he came to the unique style he has today. I was lucky enough to sit down with Jay and learn all about what, why, and how he does what he does.
Might I assume, like many creative folks I know, that you have been drawing a long, long time?
Since I could hold a pencil. In school, I was aiming to become an engineer but burned out as I hit high school. Instead, I went the graphic design route. Sci-fi was inspiring, and there was so much with space going on in the 80’s, so that crept into my fetish art early on. You can still see it in some new pieces.
Does one slowly start to draw more ‘interesting’ images as one’s libido sparks, or was it something specific that led you to draw the sexy stuff you do?
It was less about the libido sparking the images and more about the libido fueling them. Having teenage surging hormones and not drawing human anatomy well was a very daunting combination. In high school, I made a serious effort to do better with human figures. I’d start with tracing my favorite artists and, from there, reached a point where I could freehand the curves and figures naturally.
The trick was, I wasn’t in my kinky stage yet. I was doing some pinup art and liked drawing girls with guns. When I got into kink, that’s when I could really feel the libido driving the artwork. Even though the pieces were much less explicit, they were much more emotional for me.
As I’ve gotten older and hormones aren’t turbocharging through me, the content I’m creating isn’t pushing me as far. On the other hand, what I’m drawing still resonates in the heart. When I feel the twitch and drive below every time I work on a piece, I know I’ve hit on something special.
Is what you draw an extension of your real-life experiences or more your fantasies, or a combination of the two?
It’s much more about the fantasies. There’s some stuff I’ve been able to try. Obviously, the sci-fi stuff isn’t going to happen. For the more realistic pieces, if I did everything in my art and more, I’d have no time to draw or work. I can barely afford my fetish gear as it is! But that’s why it’s fantasy. A big chunk of fetish art is a safe space for me.
Is there any subject you have tried to draw again and again but just can’t seem to get right or to your standards? Something that consistently alludes you?
Landscape and nature, but no one’s complaining! For those daunted, it’s about practice. For example, I’ve had to remind myself that I’ve done less than 100 color acrylic pieces. That’s nowhere near mastery of a media, and I’m lucky for the great response. When you see a great comic artist, they’ve drawn everything hundreds of times.
Regarding figure drawing, I have to credit the pre-covid model drawing workshops from Tom of Finland Foundation and Gallery Girls. Even though I’ve done this for a very long time, you could quickly see improvements after the workshops.
There is so much to consider under the umbrella of ‘fetish.’ Do you have one kind of image/scene/object that you like to draw more than any other?
I’m drawn to squishy and shiny fetish gear again and again. An awesome part is to work things into the reflections too. There’s a tactile feel to drawing it and going back and forth with the pen or brush that’s very addictive. Doing that around breasts, cocks, cooches, and butts amplifies the feedback. Drawing a collar or cuff is awesome, but adding in those little zigzags and highlights keeps me going. You can see that in the boots and shoes I’m painting too.
What is on the horizon for you in the near future?
In the works is a FetishForLife.com 2022 calendar. It’s just barely safe for work. The plan is to have an official announcement on the calendar before October.
Art with wood and silk screening are also looming on the horizon. It feels a long way away, and I didn’t think it was going to happen. As I organize the house and get finances in order, the time and space will be there.
The paddles I paint on are all hand-made from here at the office air-conditioned by God himself. It started with pine paddles I cut out of scrap wood. Then I experimented with some paddles in birch. Every one of those is a signed prototype. The next run would be a set of 100 paddles created from a template. All of that run would be signed and numbered.
When Rick Castro of the Antebellum fetish art gallery first displayed my paddles in Hollywood, he thought I bought cheese boards from a store. Castro honestly thought it was a joke that I made them by hand until I showed him pics of me covered in sawdust, sanding paddles in the back yard. I should have been doing that in an apron and high heels.
How can people find your work or contact you?
FetishArtist.net is the hub for everything I’m working with. That has the e-mail, social media links, and store stuff. There’s too much going on to do commissions right now. I’m FetishArtist on Instagram and Twitter.
Almost anything I show on social media is up for grabs; just make an offer. I just haven’t pushed it due to shipping in times of Covid and the fiascos with the U.S. Post Office.
FetishForLife.com is for those who want to get their hands on something of mine right now, The link forwards to my Cafe Press Store. There’s t-shirts, mugs, stickers, and even panties with my artwork. You’ll find my Fetish For Life merch there. And, I’ll tell you a dirty secret. A lot of my work has sold, and I can’t display explicit images there, but if there’s something your readers want a print of, they can drop me a line through FetishArtist.net or one of my social media accounts, and I can send a link to buy a print.
