It's no surprise that muscle, bodybuilding and muscle worship is a fascination of ours here at MuscleService and because of it, we appreciate all forms of art that highlight that alpha power! Artist WideBros, who first got my attention at drawing huge pecs and bubble butts was awesome enough to speak with me and share more about his passion, his obsession with muscle and what pornstars have provided inspiration in designing his characters.
Eddie V: First off, where does your artist name WideBros come from?
WideBros: So that's a bit of a roundabout story. I knew that if I wanted to publish my work online, I'd need a catchy name to go along with it. Entirely separately from that, I was wondering what a good name for big, muscly, fratboy character might be. There was a porn star called Chris Wide, and I always enjoyed that name. It felt like easy way to sum up his shape – from that came the name Scott Wide, which I later used for one of my Original Characters (OCs). The word ‘Wide' just seemed to seep through my work from then on, not least in the shape of my characters' chests, and so WideBros emerged as a possible name to work under.
When it came to developing a name for my work, there were a few contenders floating around that I can no longer remember. WideBros (an easy way of summing up my characters) was one of those, and I think what put it over the top was the fact that I could actually get the URLs for it on Tumblr/Instagram/Twitter etc! Sometimes you come up with something but the internet has already claimed it! I'm very happy with the name, it's served me well, and I feel it's only become more relevant to my work with time.
Eddie V: Tell us how you came to practice your craft! Was the goal to always create the sexy homoerotic art we’ve come to love you for or more modest pieces?
WideBros: I used to draw all the time as a kid – eventually that started to transition into drawing muscular figures, but only in a pretty rudimentary way. I stopped drawing almost entirely for a very long time – many years later, I became a big fan of artists like Rokudenashi. It didn't really occur to me to try to draw anything of my own, until an idea floated into my head about a drawing I wished I had of myself standing with Superman, Captain America and the Hulk. I thought about commissioning one of the bara artists we know and love to do it – but as I thought about it more, I remembered how I used to enjoy drawing and wondered if I could ever do something like that myself. And that's kinda how it got started – funnily enough, I've never actually made that drawing I was dreaming of! Maybe someday.
I started off just doodling in notebooks, but I quickly decided to buy a drawing tablet, because I knew I would need to learn that style of art to achieve what I wanted. My supporters on Patreon even got to see some of my earliest drafts – I showed how they evolved into my current barbarian character, Thrognar. I think they look pretty hilarious now, but everyone was very supportive!
As for modest/hardcore, I've always been interested in both. I love drawing a good sex scene, but I also love to show the characters in classic comic book poses. Doing heroic things before it all gets dirty – I really enjoy that contrast.
Eddie V: Most of your art is about muscular men (which we clearly love) getting fucked, sucked or getting their pecs/nipples worshipped! Are there any real life inspirations and stories to those designs?
WideBros: Well, perhaps not shockingly, I'm a big fan of muscle in real life too. I wouldn't say I'm a bodybuilder, I've never competed, but that's a hobby that's even more important to me than my art. As for the designs, it's a common complaint that female armor and costuming in videogames and comics is too revealing and demeaning to the character. Understandable, but me being a bara artist, my solution is to make it an equal-opportunity offense. I absolutely love taking the costumes of famous characters and re-imagining them as skimpy, thong-centric, and a total showcase of their mighty physiques.
In terms of the fucking, sucking and whatnot – I wouldn't say they're based on any specific real-life situations beyond just being things we all enjoy! Although sometimes my stories can get – a little rough? Rest assured, that's all pure fiction!
I'm not sure if you'd call this a real life inspiration, but something else that is important to my OC work is the idea of a world where male-male contact is not seen as something out of the ordinary. To be more specific, if I were to create a world where *all* the guys are explicitly and strictly gay, that would feel rather artificial. More interesting, I think, is a world where those sorts of interactions are every bit as standard as male-female, giving all guys more of an opportunity to express themselves if they feel so inclined. In some ways, that may be the way the real world is heading. My interpretation might not be the most realistic then, but I think it's the most fun!
Eddie V: We love to see art imitate real life. Who are some of your favorite bodybuilders, athletes and/ or pornstars? Have any inspired any characters in your designs? I know Caesar has haha
WideBros: Absolutely! Caesar is undoubtedly my all-time favorite, and is also the only real-life person I've ever drawn. The man behind Caesar was kind enough to give me permission to publish those drawings. His cocky attitude and sly facial expressions always brought so much life to scenes that can too often be devoid of personality, and of course he was a competing bodybuilder with a god-like physique. I like to think that those expressions he made have influenced the way I draw my characters' faces. There'll never be another quite like him.
Other pornstars that are inspirations for me artistically are Tom Katt, Ty Fox, Billy Herrington – all those beefy types. It's not an individual pornstar, but those MuscleHunks videos of muscle men flexing, stripping down to skimpy thongs, wrestling and so on also provide a lot of helpful ideas!
Pro bodybuilders are perhaps my biggest inspiration, of course – nobody provides physique reference like a bodybuilder. Some of my favorites are Florian Poirson (look him up and take a look at that jaw – he was inspiration for Thrognar and Scott's faces!), Derek Lunsford, Vitaliy Ugolnikov, and Kai Greene (nobody poses like Kai Greene).
Eddie V: What is your favorite fantasy that you have drawn to date? Favorite pic?
WideBros: I suppose two big fantasies of mine are a big bodybuilder locker-room orgy – which at last I got to draw in the finale of my Junior Champions comic – and a non-sexual one, being a classic fantasy/D&D combat scene. I think there's a lot of room for me to grow there, but I took my first stab at it with my OC Thrognar a little while back as he breaks out of a dungeon. In the future I'd like to expand on that and have scenes of superheros or fantasy characters and monsters fighting and doing all those cool combat poses we love. I'd also love to draw more kissing and rimming scenes – they can be tough!
Eddie V: When did you start finding out you had fans following your artwork? Any messages from fans that have stood out to you?
WideBros: I started publishing my work online just as Tumblr was imploding, which was briefly very scary! Fortunately Twitter emerged from the wreckage as a decent alternative for gay artists, and there was an immediate and very supportive response, for which I'm eternally grateful. I absolutely love talking to people about my drawings, the stories, and the characters. I love it! So don't ever feel shy to ask me about them.
As for messages that have stood out – I've actually made some true lasting friendships, so they're definitely the most valuable to me. Who would have thought that drawings of beefy dudes in thongs could bring people together like that?
Eddie V: We are all about supporting others who have similar interests. Any other artist you love to follow?
WideBros: Of course! So many. They're bigger names than I am, so there's not much point in me listing them, but AbsoluteBleu, DizDoodz, Hotcha, Patrick Fillion, Rokudenashi etc are all deserving of your attention and your dollars. If you're into CGI art, take a look at LuckyStallion – he has very similar sensibilities to me. Big burly himbo heroes getting their asses handed to them! He also gives a lot of story and context, which is a huge plus for me.
Eddie V: How often do you produce new content?
WideBros: I'm always drawing something or other, and I just upload things as I finish them. I have to do things this way as I also have a day-job.
Eddie V: Is there a project you’ve been working on you cannot wait to complete? What is new for 2021?
WideBros: I've actually just finished up my largest comic ever – I try not to leave too many things hanging at once. So I'm excited to start some new comics in 2021. In particular, it's been a very long time since I drew Herc and Supes, my two favorite characters for fanart. I think it'd be fun to see them in the comic format that I favor these days. I also have a much more clear idea of what I want to do with my ‘Might and Muscle' OC universe, so look out for more on that front!
Eddie V: Where can people follow and reach you at?
WideBros: You can find me under ‘WideBros' on Twitter and Patreon, and ‘widebrosart' on Instagram! Unfortunately I'm not able to accept commissions, simply because there isn't enough time in the day! That being said, I do love hearing suggestions and feedback from my supporters. Sometimes ideas will trickle in to published drawings!
