At Kylee, we believe the best art comes from real people with real stories — and the creators behind the work deserve to be seen just as much as the work itself.
That’s why we launched Creator Spotlight — an ongoing series where we sit down with the artists shaping the world of hentai and 3DX art. From their creative process to the characters they’ve built from scratch, we’re pulling back the curtain and letting creators speak for themselves.
For our next spotlight, we’re talking with UrFriend — a European Daz Studio artist who started making art for personal enjoyment and never really stopped. With a focus on sensual, intimate work and a soft spot for athletic women, his art is equal parts aesthetic and heat — and it shows.
---
Tell us who you are. What do you go by, and where are you creating from?
Hello folks! I am UrFriend, in some places I may be referred to as SmutCollector and some just call me UF. Whatever works for you.
I am located somewhere in Europe.
How did you first get into hentai (3D, 2D, etc.) art? Was there a specific moment, artist, or piece that pulled you in?
It's a tough task to pin-point something that feels so distant, but I’ve been watching hentai in all its forms for quite a long while. However, what I can say for sure is that my interest was initially picked by art and animation in the 2D sphere. Only as the time went on 3D art and animations became more prominent and equally impressive.
If I were to tell what got me to do my own stuff, then that’s a way easier topic. Somewhere around 2022 I got my eyes on a 3D adult visual novel called Being a DIK. Let’s just say I REALLY liked it and have been a big fan ever since. So as the time went on, around 2024 I discovered that there was fan-art made of this game and I found out that both the game and fan-art were made using software called Daz Studio. So I installed it and started learning the ropes. It wasn’t nearly as complex or intimidating as Blender, so progress was slowly moving along. I just kept doing art of the visual novel characters I really liked for my personal enjoyment and it was hella fun. I believe the rest you can see on my Kylee page.
How would you describe your style to someone who's never seen your work?
My main focus is to make my works feel sensual and intimate. I want the viewer to get both aesthetic and sexual enjoyment from my works. I don’t really stick to one specific topic or fetish, but boy do I love muscular and athletic women.
Walk us through your creative process. What does making a piece actually look like for you, start to finish?
My process always starts with figuring out what it is that I want to do? In order to never spend much time on this stupid question I constantly write down any ideas that pop into my head and save any image I really like for reference in my future works. So when I need to find inspiration I scroll through all these, until something really speaks to me.
After that I boot up Daz Studio and begin the main workload. This is both the most interesting and at times tedious process, because something can go wrong at any turn. Just yesterday I had a Daz crash only to realize I haven’t saved my progress in like an hour. On the other hand, even if the technical part is working as intended, you sometimes just don’t like how it’s turning out. Regardless of the small mishaps I often see the process through until I feel like I cannot bring this any closer to the image I had in my head.
After the image is rendered comes the chillest part. I start up Photoshop and fix all the mistakes I did during the previous step, add some effects, and do color-grading.
Once I am satisfied with the result I post it on my socials. Yes, I do consider this to be a part of my creative process, since I don't consider the work to be finished until at least one more person sees it and I wouldn’t be caught dead showing this stuff to my neighbour. Art needs a viewer other than its creator.
Where do you find inspiration? What gets you excited to create?
Other artists. I have a lot of sources of inspiration, but at the end of the day other artists are the ones that inspire and motivate me to continue. When I see somebody make something cool I start to wonder if I can do something as good? And it goes from there.
As previously mentioned I also take great inspiration from Being a DIK. I use the characters from that game for my art to this day and I don’t really intend to stop any time soon.
And while I don’t really find inspiration in music, I often use it to set the right mood.
What's the hardest part of your creative process — and how do you push through it?
At times you just don’t like your work throughout the whole process. How do I battle this feeling you might ask? I don’t. I force myself to continue, because that’s the only way I know how to bring something to a finish. For God be my witness I will finish that thing!
In the end, even if it is not up to your own liking, you did make something with your own two hands and that’s what I really like about it: sense of accomplishment. Few things ever compare.
Is there a piece you've made that you're especially proud of? Tell us about it.
I’d say it’s this one. This image was a part of my poster series alongside 11 other images. The idea was to dedicate one image for 12 characters with one being an exception to that rule. This specific piece was the third one I did and is far from what I originally had in mind.
The original idea was simple: take Jill(her name) and make her sit at an office desk, giving her this boss-lady vibe while she is eyeing the viewer, biting onto her pen. I scrapped it because it didn’t feel like it really represented her character, so I decided to sit her onto a piano bench.
Once I started I kept adding small details to the scene until it looked like a scene from a fairytale. That wasn’t the idea nor was it completely intentional, but I loved it! The rest of the work on that set was a creative nightmare, because I don’t think I was able to beat this one with any other image. It remains my little masterpiece. I have it as my wallpaper too.
What does your relationship with your audience mean to you? How does fan support shape what you create?
It means a lot. No better words to say it. Any time someone tells me how much they liked my work, it makes my entire day. Every bit of appreciation I get is cherished by me. It never gets old.
However, in terms of affecting what I create is a different story. I try to not allow the audience to influence what I do. It’s detrimental to my motivation and creative process to do something I might not necessarily be interested in, but keep doing it for likes and attention. I try to avoid that.
What are you working on or exploring right now? What's exciting you creatively?
Well, I happen to be answering this questionnaire in October or in other words the Spooky Month! I am currently focusing on making spooky and creepy, but at the same time sexy stuff. Gotta say, I am enjoying this way more than I should and might not completely stop by the end of the month.
What would you want a first-time viewer of your work to feel?
What do I want them to feel? I want them to feel excitement and preferably get a boner. I want every single one of my viewers to be hungry for more, just like I am for the works of some of my peers.
Any advice for artists just starting out in this space?
If you enjoy any aspect of this, then keep doing it. Practice makes perfect. Keep at it until you get good.
Don’t expect people to be immediately interested in your work, do this for yourself and you will eventually find like-minded folks.
Where can the Kylee community find you and support your work?
Here on Kylee you can find me by @urfriend and check my stuff if you haven’t yet. But just in case you want reach me on some other platforms, then you can find me here:
Twitter: https://x.com/SmtCollector
DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/urfriendwithsmut
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/urfriendwithsmut.bsky.social
---
Thank you to UrFriend for sharing his story — and for reminding us that sometimes the best art starts with just doing it for yourself.
Head over to his Kylee profile and see what’s been cooking — spooky season and all. 👀
Browse Urfriend's profile on Kylee
Creator Spotlight is all about celebrating the people who make this community worth showing up for — fans and artists alike. If you’re a creator and want to be featured in an upcoming spotlight, we’d love to hear from you at social@kylee.io.