Kama Sutra

Several months ago I was commissioned by Penguin Books, India to illustrate a well very known story with a long historical meaning: the Kama Sutra written by Vatsyayana, and translated by A.N.D. Haksar. I knew immediately that this was something that I wanted do, although I didn't have a clue about its content other than it being a book about sex. As I began reading, I realized that the story was more than a sex manual, but rather a guide to living a virtuous life; there were sections in the book which were devoted to family life, arranged marriages, and the qualities of a rural gentleman.

The Kama Sutra has been done many times over, and so it was tricky for me to consider how to participate in this historical dialogue through my artwork. I did a lot of research, puling up images (especially from the past) of drawings and paintings of the Kama Sutra. Many of them showed couples, or more, having sex with their genitals exposed. Moreover, there was a kind of statue-like expression in these characters faces and gestures. I decided at that moment that I wanted for the figures that I drew to have more emotion, and to suggest that they were enjoying sex; for me sex can be playful, lustful, and even funny.

As I read through the book, I realized that much of it was rooted in metaphor, using plants, and animals analogously with sexual positions and the various roles that one might take-on while having sex. As a result, I decided that this would be my approach on how to illustrate the book, using these metaphors as a cohesvie tool to help communicate the concept of sex. Haksar's translation was incredibly poetic and I wanted to try my best to keep the spirit of it intact. As much as sex is about body contact, it's also about the mind, and so there was opportunity to try to come up with ways to suggest genitals and sex without showing "too much." It was also challenging to try to address gender roles in my images because I wanted all of the characters regardless of whether they were "top" or "bottom" to be sexually empowered. I allowed the text to inform my decision of who was on top. One such illustration is about the best spots to kiss. The Kama Sutra describes areas on the body such as the hair, cheeks and eyes and thighs that pertain to a woman's body. To me, this suggested that the woman was the recipient of this kiss.

Fortunately I had the privilege to work with an opened-minded and talented art director who in turn had the freedom to allow and trust me to explore illustrating this book. We knew that we wanted 50 images to appear within the Kama Sutra and for them to be presented in a contemporary way. It was important that I kept the images lush, and colouful, and to encourage the veiwer respond firstly to the superficial qualities of the picture and then notice the narrative, or concept afterwards. Sex for me is about participation, the lead to one's climax, and being in control of one's body - for it to be satisfying means that it needs to appeal to all parties involved, and so with this book I made sure to consider the way in which the viewer might read, or participate with the images. I was very conscious about how the drawings related to each other, and how they related to the edges and gutter of this book. The illustration entitled, "A Woman's Itch" above is a good example of this. I was inspired by an image that Istvan Banyai did for Playboy years ago, which showed a zoomed in composition of a woman thumbing through the pages of a book that lay on her lap. For me, this was the epitome of an erotic drawing, because although the viewer could not see the folds of the vagina, the way in which Istvan drew the pages suggested just that. I wanted my images to have sex with the viewer's mind, and to titillate him or her in a non-lascivious way.
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I need to give some shout outs because this project took a lot of energy, and time. As much as I loved the process, and as much as this is one of my favourite projects in my career thus far, it was incredibly daunting also, and so I needed some help. Illustrating the Kama Sutra lasted for about 7 months from start to finish, and I was very fortunate to have received some help. Thanks so much to Johnny D, Isaac G, and David G for helping me meet my sketch deadline. They were The Saints that turned some of my chicken scrawled thumbnails into tighter drawings that the designer could read, and place into a layout, and then submit to his team and to the editor. Also, a huge thanks to Gavin Morris, art director at Penguin Books, India for allowing this to become a true collaboration, creating an creatively expressive design, and for our 6:00am calls to and from India. And finally, thank you to Rymn, Carrie, and Stephanie (my agents) for hooking me up with such a spectacular opportunity.