Hawt Tee, 9x12 inches acrylic on cotton paper by Kenney Mencher

 

Hawt Tee,  9x12 inches acrylic on cotton paper by Kenney Mencher 

An otter is lean and hairy. Almost never as hairy as a bear, and perhaps not as lean or boyish as a twink, but if you had a body size and hairiness scale of ‘twink to bear,’ you’d find otters comfortably taking up a good chunk of the middle ground. Hold on (you may be thinking)… isn’t that a lot of guys?

A lot of guys may be otters without realizing it.
Yes, this is kind of true. It seems that a lot of guys could be seen as otters, whether they identify as one or not.

A cisgender male, with a traditionally masculine aesthetic, someone who has an ‘average’ level of body hair, a bit of scruff, fluff, fur, whatever you’d like to call it. Otters look similar to what you might call the “guy next door” type.

Hold on, isn’t this more toxic masculinity?
Not exactly.

The ‘masculine aesthetic’ part isn’t key to otterness. Otters don’t focus on masculinity as a behavior type or “masc for masc.” There are loads of femme otters, and some non-binary otters too.

Some have claimed that being an otter is part of a transitory phase between twink and bear.

When a lot of otters get older, they may well become bears ‘physically,’ even if they don’t prescribe to the bear community or go to bear events.

This is painted by first drawing the subject with lithographic crayon on Rives BFK paper. Then I applied washes of acrylic paint in transparent and opaque washes. Rives BFK is paper is mouldmade in France and has a smooth, absorbent surface. Rives Papers, made of 100% cotton, are acid free, soft-sized, and buffered.