Shadbase

2011 marked the year that the world of online pornography was irrevocably changed by one Shadman of Shadbase fame. This then up-and-coming artist took the world by storm with is propensity to draw male genitalia on female imaginary characters, for reasons that have remained as mysterious as his face. Shad has never shown his face in public and for good reason. He has, however, managed to amass one of the most significant followings among the pornographic art community that appears to be completely unrivaled both thanks to his quality of work and his dedication to his craft.

Cross-Sectional Rule 34

Shadman started off his smut art career very slowly – by drawing some lewd comic books with sexual undertones. It wasn’t long before he came into his own and solidified the style you’ve come to know and love. His biggest passion seems to be making lewd renditions of popular characters. The world of rule 34 has existed, by default, since the advent of the internet. But Shad has taken this concept to new and glorious lengths with his efforts to lewdify any and all characters that manage to make their way into the public eye. Nothing is sacred on Shadbase except smut. That means that you get no withheld punches on this website. There’s nothing but raw sexual energy exuded throughout. As for the rule 34, Shad is superior in two unique respects. He doesn’t just portray fictional characters and he has a fascination with transgendered portrayals. Granted, his website has been very clear, in as clear as legalese can be, that all of the portrayed characters are above 18 and simply reminiscent, rather than clear portrayals of real people. Still, the transgendered portrayals are certainly what put him on the map. When a new cartoon or movie comes out and receives mainstream attention, Shad is quick to follow with his trusty Wacom Cintiq. He produces extremely high quality hand drawn renditions of characters, with a very meticulous attention to detail. Except, where other artists might try to do right by the character by being anatomically correct, Shad is anatomically generous. He will add a penis to damn near every man or woman on the planet, if there’s room. Keep in mind, this isn’t a statement on transgenderism or an attempt to improve non-penis having characters by adding a penis. Or, maybe the latter rings true if Shad has a fetish for male to female transgendered individuals. Regardless, the penises have become sort of a staple of his craft, and while he does not include them in every artwork – he has drawn quite a few vaginas in his time – he will often portray a nude female character and then reupload her, penis attached, so that the viewer can decide what the best version is for themselves.

An Equal Opportunist

Shad might have a very specific art style, but what really makes him shine in the modern pornographic industry is his lax attitude on everything – not just pornography. Given that he shamelessly portrays and perverts beloved characters, it stands to reason that a lot of people react with complaints and criticisms. However, in the age of the internet, art critics and trolls are a stone’s throw apart. To that end, Shad protects his identity by wearing a mask at all times that he has appeared on camera. To this day, his face is unknown to the public. Many internet trolls have made efforts to unearth imagery of his face from his youth or perhaps crack through to his identity, but luckily, nothing substantial has come through yet. Given that a reveal of any kind might draw a target on his back, this is fortunate for both fans of Shad and the pornographic art world in general. As for his personal attitude on the matter, Shad has been unapologetically himself, to the extent that he responds to all criticism of his work with lukewarm acceptance and indifference. He doesn’t judge nor does he want to be judged – his passion lies in the production of more art. He’s not here to make a statement, he’s here to draw. Even when dealing with inescapably political topics, Shad has always addressed them the only way he knew how – by drawing lude art of the people involved. That is, drawing lewd artworks that happen to resemble the people involved, entirely by coincidence. All characters portrayed on Shadbase.Com are 18 or above – no exceptions. Much like fellow porn artist ZoneChan, Shad just wants the world to masturbate, preferably to his artworks, but that’s not a must. He seems to be a true equal opportunist in that he’s only concerned with the hedonistic consumption of drawn pornography, without a capitalist undertone. Shad has never charged for his artworks. They’ve always been available on Shadbase.Com where all of his work is still safely tucked away in storage for the world to see.

Shad’s Wild Style

Aside from the fact the he attempts to cram in as many penises as he possibly can onto as many characters as he can conjure up, Shad has an actual visual style that he has worked hard to cultivate. It draws some inspiration from contemporary artists, both pornographic and vanilla, but it’s evolved quite a bit over the years into a recognizable brand name. Towards the beginnings, when he was mostly focused on comic book style artwork, his style was somewhat lackluster. It wasn’t bad by any means, but lacked any discernable characteristics. In under a year, he managed to iron out his own style, that seems to be optimized for tablet-artistry, but more than that, is extremely recognizable. It’s a two dimensional art style that resembles the hentai efforts of old, but with a western twist and a very Shad-specific shading approach. He’s also extremely recognizable for the way that he draws the human anus. This might seem overly specific, but his approach to genitalia in his art has been so meticulously crafted over time that it’s impossible to not recognize a drawn member as being Shad-borne.

Shadman’s Shad Base

Shadbase started off as a free website powered by WordPress’s ComicPress. If you’ve been on other free comic book sites you might be familiar with this layout. It shows you the most recent artwork, blown up across most of the screen and you can move backwards in time by either using the on screen controls or pressing the left arrow key on your keyboard. ComicPress is the simplest free solution for any comic book artist who’s looking to get a website off the ground, but it’s fascinating to see how far the template site can go in the hands of an amazing artist. Shad doesn’t need a new website. ComicPress has him covered with all the features he’s ever going to need. There are exactly three features on this website. One – there’s the posting of singular full-screen artworks that you can sift through one by one. Two – you have an archive with post categories. Three – there’s a built-in comments section. Shad has done more with a template website than most artists do with sites that they drew themselves. He’s really proving to the online community that it’s not about the size of the Cintiq tablet, it’s about how you use it.

He Lives in Infamy

For some reason, the internet seems to be divided between people that worship Shad as the provider of the best online artwork pornography and those who simply hate what he does. The former are clearly impressed by his talent and would like to see more, but the latter seem to feel distaste at his particular smut choices. On anonymous image boards his art gains a lot of traffic, especially when he comes up with something new. However, it’s gotten to the point that the mere mention of his name is an implication of something startling coming in around the corner. It would seem that not everyone in the world is ready for his unchained approach to artistry. This is very unfortunate given that artists are supposed to, by nature, draw what they feel in the way that they feel it. Shad is one of the most dedicated artists that have ever lived, but he constantly gets flak for being himself to such an unapologetic extent.

Draw Like Shad

In case you’re so enamored with his style and approach to digital art, you can check out his YouTube channel, which, unlike his website, is entirely PG. For the most part, he shows you how he makes his artworks, step by step, which is a great way to learn how to draw like the man himself. If you’re a budding artist or simply someone looking to add some flare to their shading practices, you’ll learn a lot from Shad. His style is far from the best ever invented – if there even is such a thing, but it is the unfiltered translation of his passion onto digital paper, and that amount of dedication can’t be beat. This is perhaps what makes Shad one of the greatest artists of our time.