Tickle artists #126: Interview with Tickle Sniper

1) Do you want to tell us something about yourself and your art?

Sure thing! My name is Zentaro Sogeki, or Zen for short. I go by Tickle Sniper! (Well, technically TickleSniper because DeviantArt’s a demon for not allowing you to put spacebars in your name lmao.)

I specialize in AI NSFW anime-style tickle art, often focusing on expressive, scenario-driven scenes. At the time of this interview, I mostly scout female characters from Danganronpa, Genshin Impact, and Vocaloid. But trust me, the scope’s only getting bigger. I plan to expand to characters across anime, video games, VTubers, and even original OCs!

On the outside, I do wish to keep my real life anonymous, but I’m honestly just a reckless guy who doesn’t know what the word “Overwork” means. Many ideas and too little sleep! Sometimes I just stay up overnight completing a few works of mine and end up sleeping at 8 AM XD.

2) What techniques do you use to draw? Do you have a favorite artist that inspires you?

I wouldn’t say ‘draw’ fits, since AI makes the first thing you see here… But the techniques I use to do my work? BY DESTROYING THE LIVING SOUL OF MY WALLET, OF COURSE!

It’s like having a passive skill that absorbs a portion of your HP mid-battle while boosting your Attack Power when shooting a bullet! (I sure need a balance patch on this one…) I use NovelAI, a paid generator, to create the base images. Then I jump into Photoshop to trim, add props, adjust lighting and shadows, add motion lines, refine outlines, and polish every last detail. I do switch between the two to enhance the scene, add characters, and make it feel more alive!

I’ve been experimenting with NovelAI for over a year now, and I’ve got around three years of Photoshop under my belt! So yeah, I know my stuff.

Eeeeeh, I wouldn’t say any artist ‘inspired’ me to use AI. What really sparked me was the overwhelming flood of low-effort AI tickling content some folks spam on DeviantArt and Pixiv.

The amount of spam has led to the question, “What if, instead of machine-gunning out 20 half-baked images, someone full-zoom focused on sniping just one?” That’s where my mindset clicked. No specific artist inspired me… The bad stuff did.

But as for a favourite artist in general? BillVicious and BluishFeather have been killing it for years! Been a supporter of them for a long time!

3) How much was the passion for drawing born in you? And the one for the tickle?

My Level 1 Spawnpoint was actually Photoshop. I tried digital drawing before, but it never really clicked. Even with a drawing tablet, it just felt like I was forcing something that didn’t match my flow.

But my passion started by treating art like a puzzle, especially through AI. I started using it like a game: Spotting bad anatomy, fixing shadows, and learning what works. It actually helps me improve my eye for detail. Eventually, I plan to start drawing under a different persona for safer projects, where I can really dive into anatomy and full workflow.

As for tickle-drawings? Def a fetish that’s been with me for as long as I can remember! I tried making a few drawings of these in the past, but just like the rest of my drawing experience, it just felt a bit off… Who knows when the time comes that I’ll depart from my sniper role, but I still have a lot to learn while I’m at it!

4) What are the tickling scenarios that you prefer to draw?

Storytelling, Variety, Interaction, and Fantasy! (Or SVIF, sounds funny lmao).

Meaning, I usually enjoy creating scenarios that focus on character interactions, with the storytelling either described in the image or its description, featuring a wide variety of unique backgrounds, random encounters, and almost always set within the Anime-Fantasy genre.

Seeing characters laugh in imaginative, surreal settings is way more exciting than tossing them into yet another default tickle machine. I want to create scenes that feel truly unique! Like a dream, not a template.

One way I explore variety is by organizing my scenes into what I call ‘named skills.’ For example, one is called “Tickle Hunt” when a Seeker searches for the hiders, in which the hiders get caught in a tickle punishment in a comic-page style! Another is “Tickle Randomizer”, where bizarre and mysterious foes ambush the ticklee! Like mermaids, doll-like creatures, skeletons, and other surreal beings you wouldn’t expect.

One of my works, “Meiko in the Haunted Tickle Doll House (3/3)”, is one of my most popular pieces in my Archive. Creating unique characters with distinct personalities is definitely one of my special skills! In the Meiko project of parts 1/2/3, there’s a character I designed named ‘Clarissa,’ who doesn’t exist in any official source!

Between these three works, I did my best for her to look nearly unchanged, which isn’t an easy feat in AI for a character with no database.

5) What are the aspects of tickling that you intend to represent with your art? Example: the laughing, the wriggling, the relationship between tickler and ticklee?

Much like my approach to storytelling, A few key elements I aim for are unique backgrounds and snipe concepts that stand apart from the rest, often with a fantasy twist.

But the thing I have to put my Sniper Rifle on full zoom-in? Expressions.

Expressions are one of the most important parts if you want your piece to truly come alive. When it comes to tickling, it has to be done with extreme precision. Otherwise it may be deemed a soulless art, and it’s very easy to fumble that part. AI already struggles with generating the right expression, so you need a sharp eye to spot the closest match. Or like me in a few situations, you end up muttering ‘Fine, I’ll do it myself,’ and just outright hand-draw the expression in Photoshop.

6) Online there are countless photos and videos of tickling sessions. In your opinion, what do illustrations offer more than images of real life?

Well, surprise surprise! Did you really think Fantasy wouldn’t show up in this question too?

Sure, real-life videos may feel more alive. But illustrations? They’re way more creative. You can’t exactly make a video of a girl trapped underwater while being tickled by mermaids, she’d drown before the tickling even starts lol.

You can make ANYTHING in an illustration. Androids, Tentacles, Plants, Obama in a wheelchair… It’s a free canvas.

It’s the Wildcard of life.

7) In your opinion, what makes tickling so interesting for fans of this phenomenon?

Honestly? I think tickling is one of the weirdest but most precise forms of chaos. It’s playful, it’s humiliating, it’s emotional, and it’s unpredictable. That mix is what gives it its lasting appeal.

To me, There’s something oddly fascinating about watching someone lose control through laughter, because no matter how hard they try, they just can’t stop it!

It’s like the perfect contradiction: light, soft, harmless… AND YET VERY DEVASTATING!

8) What are your works of which you are most proud?

At one point, I received my very first request on DeviantArt. I figured it’d be a great way to test my skills, since I had never handled a request before.

I gave them clear instructions: tell me exactly who the target is, who the ticklers are, what body parts to focus on, the pose, and the background. Their choice? The ticklers would pin down the ticklee’s limbs, either by holding with their bodies or sitting on them, and tickle her in specific spots right on a beach shore!

All was decent and all, but one crucial thing that raised the alarm: THOSE CHARACTERS DIDN’T HAVE A SINGLE DATABASE! That’s one of the biggest weaknesses in AI art. No database means no stability. I’ve seen plenty of people say, ‘Sorry, can’t do that character.’

And so… It was disastrous for me… I was frustrated… I was all in despair… It’s like… I just couldn’t do it… Until you realize that I just lied in the entire sentence! HAHAHAHA!

A true sniper NEVER LEAVES A MISSION! That’s the whole pride in my work! I don’t fold, I jump into the battlefield! (Unless the request is something like the eiffel tower with limbs tickling king Julien, that stuff will one-shot me instead lmao.)

With precise Photoshop linework, I pulled off the unthinkable! Bringing 0%-database characters like Generica from Crush Crush into a scene being tickled by Willow, QPernikiss, and Nutaku, and I’m proud of that achievement!

The ticklee’s expression wasn’t 100% perfect in my opinion, but it worked. Seeing the requester that happy made it all worth it.

9) Do you have any particular artistic goals for the future?

My main goal is to expand my Sniper Archive on DeviantArt and create work people genuinely enjoy. I’m also hoping to start taking commissions so I can eventually turn this into a way to make a living.

NovelAI’s great, but it’s not free. It’s not cheap either, and I deeeeefinitely don’t want to go into debt to feed it with my money for some in-program currency system.

Thought of opening Patreon, but their NSFW rules are literal garbage. BillVicious was one of the people I subscribed to through that site, and yeeaaaaahh… Because the rules changed, he got banned from that site. I could open one, but I literally can’t include any of my stories in post descriptions without risking the auto-bots nuking my content. I can still post there, but it kills a huge part of the storytelling, just isn’t fun.

Other than that, I want to create many more unique scenarios and characters to be tickled in many ways, as well as some rewards for people who wish to subscribe to my content in the future. Seeing all the positive comments really makes me want to keep going!

10) Do you think AIs will end up enriching or impoverishing the art of tickling representations?

Generally, AI has been improving significantly, with greater precision and control, and it has definitely progressed far better than in its early days.

But when it comes to today’s AI tickling art specifically? AI’s got a bad rep… and honestly? It kinda earned it.

A lot of folks act like they’re the next tickle-Jesus after posting a few ‘lucky’ AI images, but they skip the key ingredients: Emotion, Pose, Uniqueness, and Consistency.

Look, I get it. People want to use AI for their ticklish fantasies, and that’s fine! But the results often come off as repetitive, soulless, and lazy, flooding platforms with low-effort spam. And let’s be honest, most of it just isn’t fun to look at. It’s all quantity over quality, with the same expressions, the same scenery, and anatomy that looks drawn during a mid-earthquake.

– I’ve seen tickle scenes where a feather floats near a ticklee’s armpit and the girl’s laughing like it’s Judgment Day, while the tickler’s eyes are pointing in completely different directions! HAHAAAH!

Yeah, AI is controversial, but I try to treat it more thoughtfully and carefully than most do.

The name ‘TickleSniper’ reflects how I approach my work: with precision and intent, rather than relying solely on luck. I refine each piece, tweaking even the smallest details until it feels right, even if it takes a while. Am I perfect? Nope. Even snipers miss a shot here and there, so yeah, a few of my works might have flaws.

But I’m not trying to be “better than artists.” I want my AI work to make sense, to be worth looking at.

How? Easy. I treat AI like a tool, not a slot machine. I don’t just withdraw and run. I invest until it hits the mark. I get why artists hate AI, it’s built on scraped art. That origin casts a shadow over even the best-looking pieces.

Additionally, I don’t call myself an “artist” when the first source of the art is generated from AI. Handmade artists are the real deal. Always have been. Always will.

I may call myself a sniper, but the real artists are the freakin’ COMMANDERS!
So my final answer? Yeah, generally, AI’s best use is as a tool for inspiration. But if you’re creating AI art, it has to be backed by real effort. You can’t just hope the AI gives you a good image and call it a day. That kind of laziness not only ruins the reputation of AI art, it drags the whole field down… What it really takes is a good eye, a clear vision, and the ability to spot what’s off. Without that, you’re just gambling with pixels and rolling the dice, not creating something that others actually enjoy…

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