In the recent past, as a dealer of Asian erotic art, I've purchased over a thousand works of art. These were all pre-existing works from both the distant past (mostly shunga) and more recent times. For once, I thought it would be interesting to be involved in the creation of a work of art. So, I proposed two ideas for two separate drawings (the other is in "50 Shades of Relief") to my favorite artist, KerbCrawlerGhost.
Infamous Shunga
In this post, you can follow the consignment foray for the second one, from the initial idea to the final work. The theme and format was inspired by the infamous shunga fold-out design from 'Erotic Book of Conjugal Eddies (Ehon futamigata)' book series from around 1803 dedicated to Katsushika Hokusai featuring a "sadistic rape" scene (fig.1).
Fig.1 2019-remake of Hokusai's 'Erotic Book of Conjugal Eddies (Ehon futamigata)'. Here you can find the original from c.1803-06
Fig.1a
Fig.1b
In addition to using Hokusai's design as a starting point, I gave KCG the following ideas:
- The idea is that the scene takes place in France during a plague epidemic in the 16/17th century (?).
- The figures are in similar poses as in the Hokusai's image. Hokusai's design is quite iconic in the shunga genre (as you might know) and therefore it would be nice if there are similarities in terms of pose and composition compared to your drawing.
- The ninja is replaced by a plague doctor wearing his striking outfit/ costume and mask (fig.2).
- The doctor takes advantage of the chaotic situation during the epidemic, invades a monastery and rapes an attractive young nun.
- He's holding a flail with a spiked ball towards a tied priest who turns his plague-ridden face away in shock.
- The priest has a boner just like in Hokusai's design (This could raise the question for the viewer: Is he aroused by the excitement of the moment or was he just fucking the nun before the doctor entered?).
- a reference to the plague epidemic could be the inclusion of rats
This was KCG's reaction to these ideas:
"This is 100% a cuckold scene... considering the ninja is black.. hahaha, i got this! very fun scene to draw...i don't know if the spiked flail would be an accrued weapon... plague doctors used to walk with a cane, in this case it could be a sword hidden in a cane... its more elegant and deceiving what do you think? do you want color on this piece?... I'm thinking on giving this piece a very graphic style, like not Japanese but in between a comic and a Japanese illustration... what do you think?"
Fig.2 "Plague Doctor" (2019) by Derek Castro
The images below show the final piece...
Fig.3 "The Sadistic Plague Doctor" (2025) by KerbCrawlerGhost
Fig.3a
Fig.3b
Fig.3c
Fig.3d
Fig.3e
Become a Premium member now and check out, among other things, an additional images of the preliminary drawing and an interview with KerbCrawlerGhost in which we discuss the finished artwork.
Click HERE for a fascinating treatise of Théodore Géricault's "The Kiss" and Shigenobu's "Satyr and Nymph"
