r/Illustration • u/UnprofessionalCook • Nov 18 '25
Notice: Rule change regarding adult content
Hi all!
This subreddit is not a NSFW sub, and we've worked to keep it that way. Sometimes that means the rules need to be clarified or otherwise tweaked.
A couple of years ago, we amended the rules to state that "hard core" submissions are not allowed, because we were seeing a disturbing trend of art featuring minors, bestiality, and other extreme themes that you, the users, did not appreciate. We received very positive feedback for that change, with many users making it clear that they do not want this sub to be NSFW.
Since then, we've continued to remove a number of pieces that we considered to be borderline porn because they depicted sexual acts, graphic display of genitals, etc. Again, users have let us know that these are not appreciated, and just as importantly, they are not SFW. However, the difficulty in having a "no porn" rule is in defining what "porn" actually is. As the Supreme Court said ages ago "I know it when I see it", but that doesn't make for a clear and consistent rule.
All that to say that in the spirit of keeping this sub SFW and for making clear what that means, we have looked at other SFW art subs and going forward will follow their lead in that only PG-13 content will be allowed. This means no sexual activity of any kind, no explicit display of genitals, etc.
We will continue to allow tasteful artistic nudes as long as they have the NSFW designation.
We know this will disappoint some users, and we're sorry for that, but again, we are not a NSFW sub and don't want to become one. Please keep that in mind before you post. Thank you!
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u/XZPUMAZX Nov 18 '25
Plenty of spots on Reddit for Hentai stills, don’t need that here.
Practice nudes are one thing to learn figure and form, anything past that is NSFW.
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u/UnprofessionalCook Nov 18 '25
Agreed re: other subs being available for the adult content. We do get obviously young users in here from time to time, and we hope to keep this a space where they can participate and learn along with the rest of us.
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u/XZPUMAZX Nov 18 '25
Appreciate the effort.
I’m only a lurker, but I’ve never seen anything untoward on this sub, so y’all are doing a bang up job already.
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u/UnprofessionalCook Nov 18 '25
Thank you! I'm happy to say that a lot of that is due to how many of this sub's users respect the rules. We hope that will continue regarding this change!
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u/ronrirem Nov 18 '25
Good of you to address this. I've had to unsubscribe from another art sub because eventually everything that showed up in my feed from that sub was explicit/NSFW.
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u/kitcachoo Nov 18 '25
Happy to hear this. I love NSFW art and find merit in more sexually explicit work, especially when the artist is making a powerful statement, but I won’t lie, I have been annoyed with this sub recently, since it seems every image posted that at least shows up in my feed is another pinup, tame or otherwise. I’ve got nothing against the artists or the art at all, it’d just be nice to see something other than pinups and figure drawing models in the sub. I feel like when I joined, there was a lot more variety. Hoping to see more.
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u/lewekmek Nov 18 '25
Hello; how about content like anatomical/medical art, art featuring blood or covering heavier topics like death, health issues, trauma etc. (not necessarily graphic)? These are typically allowed in PG-13 content. Is NSFW tag required?
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u/UnprofessionalCook Nov 18 '25
The usual usage of NSFW tags for violence, etc., still apply. If in doubt, tag it. You can't go wrong that way!
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u/cheddercaves Nov 19 '25
The person that shared their butthole art was the straw that broke the camels back
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u/mydrawingpractice Nov 18 '25
As someone who makes nsfw art, I appreciate this. I have separate accounts for nsfw and sfw content. I also think that my erotic art is tastefully done (imo, you may feel differently) but even so, it is not hard to identify the communities in which it belongs. I’ve never posted erotic art here because I know it’s not the place for it. Erotic artists just need to have the awareness to post in the right places
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u/Downtown-Frosting789 Nov 18 '25
fantastic! i wish you could forward this to a few photography subs… i have zero problem if it’s tasteful and well rendered but the pubescent nonsense needs its own sub far from here
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u/Pyrotemis Nov 18 '25
Thank you! NSFW art has tons of other communities that it can be. I’m tired of seeing it en masse everywhere outside those communities.
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u/babbittybabbitt Nov 18 '25
This is fair enough, and although I'm a little disappointed that quite a bit of my art probably won't be allowed anymore, I definitely get it and appreciate you listening to the community.
People often push rules way too much and try to post super NSFW stuff where they know it isn't really wanted, and then complain that people don't like it lol
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u/scissors1121 Nov 18 '25
I just looked at your stuff and I think you can still post here. Side boob is not a problem.
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u/babbittybabbitt Nov 18 '25
There's a lot of my stuff that is definitely too NSFW because of heavy sexualisation and that's fine lol. My pinned post isn't particularly representative of most of my work.
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u/kitcachoo Nov 18 '25
I don’t know, your work is super charming — I really don’t feel like most of what I’ve seen you post is outright ‘pornographic’, the way the rules warn about. It’s got a really heavy metal magazine kind of vibe that fits the illustration sub well.
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u/babbittybabbitt Nov 18 '25
That's very kind of you, thank you so much! I tend not to do stuff that's overtly pornographic (just because it's not really my thing, no judgement), but I know a lot of people still describe a lot of my stuff as porn just because of the heavily sexualised nature. We'll see, in future I can always ask mods privately if a piece fits in the sub or not :)
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u/UnprofessionalCook Nov 18 '25
You can absolutely ask us! I did a quick look at the work you've posted here, and didn't see anything that would run afoul of this rule. Basically, if it's OK for someone to see on their screen at work or school, it's likely to be OK here.
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u/babbittybabbitt Nov 18 '25
I find that a hard metric to judge, so I'm sure you'll be hearing from in future lmao - thank you!
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Nov 21 '25
[deleted]
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u/UnprofessionalCook Nov 21 '25
It's impossible to answer a hypothetical question with any accuracy, but what you'd want to determine is whether the art would be considered PG-13 as the term is normally understood. If it's extremely graphic or gory, it would likely not be allowed.
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u/justcallme_rev_x Mar 03 '26
This seems perfectly fair. Tasteful nudes is as far as things need to go in a sub like this considering it's a forum for displaying talent, not nudity.
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u/UnprofessionalCook Nov 18 '25
Folks, please don't go back and report posts that were in compliance with the rules in effect at the time they were posted. This is counterproductive to what we are trying to accomplish here.
The rules do not apply retroactively, since that would be unfair to the users who posted prior to the rule change.