Tickling Artists #68: Interview with Skoufidios

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

Hello, everybody. I’m Skoufidios. Just an outsider with a kink for feet and tickles, trying to make a name for himself. Also known as that nerdy loser kid you didn’t like but then you later would. I specialize in creating fanart and fetish art centered around various nostalgic things.

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

I first started out with making traditional art on paper and with coloured pencils and markers, before then later moving on to scanning my drawings and coloring them digitally for better quality. As of right now, I’ve gone completely digital and I honestly couldn’t be more happy about it, given how it allows me to produce content much faster. That’s not to say that I have lost my roots when it comes to traditional art, however.

When it comes to fetish art, I was naturally inspired by not just one but multiple well known fetish artists, spending hours upon hours looking at their artworks and studying their techniques. Caroos-Dungeon, PawFeather, Dazidentevil and many more.

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

I think it just naturally came to me. Growing up consuming tons of cartoons, it just clicked for me. The way each one had a different artstyle, with a different personality behind it. How these drawings came to life genuinely fascinated me, to the point where picking up a pencil and trying to understand how to draw certain characters, and especially Sonic the Hedgehog, created a sense of happiness in me that I simply can’t put into words.

Same case with tickling. From a very young age, I was fascinated over the concept of being able to control someone’s reactions just by touching them in the right place. It felt very much empowering, and still does to this day.

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

While I’m open to multiple scenarios, by far my absolute favorite is the classic tickle stockade. Toe bondage being one of my favorite types of bondage when it comes to said contraption.

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?

I don’t think I’ve ever considered what the aspects of tickling are that I’m “trying to represent”. For the most part, I’m just having fun putting various characters through some cruel, yet very fun, tickling scenarios. Rendering them helpless against whatever it is that their corresponding tickler is planning on using on either their feet, armpits and everything in between. However, experimenting with other aspects is still very fun, regardless.

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

I believe illustrations of tickling scenes offer more than just being fancy pictures to beat your meat to. More often than not, they provide a look into another artist’s idea of what a tickle session could look like without the restrictions that real life presents. Off the top of my head, various contraptions and mechanisms meant to torment the ticklees in ways that simply don’t exist. Wall Trophies, Tickle Machines and so much more that you can’t see anywhere else; it’s something different, y’know?

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

Tickling can be interesting for a multitude of reasons. It’s enthralling, fun, chaotic, empowering and can be used either as a torture method, something playful or even something pleasurable! It’s a part of life. A part which many people simply don’t seem to recognise, and to me that’s a huge shame.

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

There’s a lot to choose from. But generally speaking, I couldn’t choose even if I tried, as I’m genuinely proud for practically everything I’ve created so far. If I wasn’t proud, then I simply wouldn’t have posted them online for people to see. So choosing even a few, for better or for worse, is impossible to me.

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

Not much aside from the fact that I want to grow into someone who… well, means something to others. At the end of the day, being famous is cool and all, but all I really want is to try and put something out there that people can look at and appreciate. To be the reason they smile, to make them feel through my artworks, to be a respected part of the community!

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

Personally, I’m kinda torn about this topic. On the one hand, if used properly AI can be a very useful tool to mess around with, but on the other hand, the things it can do sometimes terrify me and I really would much rather keep producing what I’m producing without needing to resort to using a “souless” tool.

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