I S   T H A T   A   P E N C I L   I N   Y O U R   P O C K E T . . .
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INTERVIEW BY JOE C. CAGE


     Kevin Jeheber can make you break into a sweat and have you sportin' wood without even being in the same room. His iconographic illustrations of masculinity push the boundaries of the art form. And if his colorful sketches could jump off the page like Jessica Rabbit, this would be one wonderful world we live in.

     After gathering the attention of club crawlers and barflys everywhere with the homoerotic images he created on posters and flyers for West Hollywood hot spots, Jeheber entered the Los Angeles-based Tom of Finland Foundation's biennial Emerging Erotic Artist Contest* a few years back and, not surprisingly, walked away with top honors.

     Oddly enough, Jeheber honed his homoerotic art skills as a college student, sketching vividly detailed images of beautiful men for school credit.

     "The first image I had done was for a project in junior college, where you had to take an item and blow it up to quadruple its size and re-create its packaging. I chose a box of Calvin Klein underwear," recalls Jeheber. "But I didn't want to walk across campus carrying a four-foot box of underwear, so when I turned it in, the teacher marked me down for not making it four times its size. Now that I think about it, I should have told her the guy's penis was four times its real size."

     Jeheber's sense of humor and his technique haven't changed much since that early project, even though that underwear model is probably available live and in-the-flesh somewhere within blocks of the artist's Hollywood digs.

     "I still mostly draw from pictures because it's a steady source," he says. "I've looked for people to pose for me but they're always hesitant, which is weird. I always thought, Man, in a city full of vain gay men, who wouldn't want their picture drawn?"

     I guess that leaves out one of the key benefits unique to competent artists: being able to use the pickup line "I'd love to sketch your beautiful body sometime."

     "I've never used that line to get guys into bed," says Jeheber, laughing at the notion. "But I have for the sheer interest of wanting to draw them. People always take it the other way, though."

     One look at any of his colorful, cock-teasing images of porn stars, erotic models, and j/o scenes and it's difficult not to think of sex. Which, of course, makes you wonder if catching wood while indulging in creative expression is a welcome side effect of being an erotic illustrator.

     "There are points where, when you're doing detail and you're so into a piece, your mind tends to wander a bit," confesses Jeheber after some prodding. "But it's not like I'm drawing with a hard-on."

     On-the-job erections may not be common for him, but the same can't be said for those viewing his work, especially the monochromatic illustration of Colt god turned Titan porn star Ray Dragon stroking his cock. This particular pencil sketch showcases Jeheber's skill at capturing and balancing lighting and shadows, with reflections of light casting a hard, sexy sheen over every ripple and curve of Dragon's perfectly sculpted body. The fine detail borders on obessive. Perhaps a lustful homage from another of the model's admirers?

     "Not necessarily," he says cheerfully. "Naturally, a physique is important in some respects, but as for a type I look for, there's nothing particular. But Ray Dragon is definitely hot."

     Actually, I've been collecting old physique magazines and men's fashion magazines forever. Those are definitely an inspiration!"

     "And it's nice to see that homoerotic art is accepted more nowadays," he continues. "The fact that Tom of Finland has a piece in [the permanent collection of] the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is amazing. But I don't consider myself to be specifically an erotic artist. It's kind of hard to define. What is erotic and what is pornographic? I was told [by an exhibitor] that I couldn't show a picture I had done of a guy with an erection, but it was OK to show the one of the guy with a soft dick. And I just think that's funny, because dick is dick."

* Grand Prize Winner of the first Emerging Erotic Artist Contest - 1993. MORE INFO HERE!