Intro
Welcome friends and new readers. This blog is something I wanted to put together for a while. Visual artists really love fan art. If you know me personally, you probably already know my feelings on fan art, which weren’t really too positive. Since giving it some thought, I realized my views were a bit more complicated than I originally gave them credit for. While I’m not as anti-fan art as I used to be, I’m not particularly pro-fan art either. With all that said, I feel like this would be a good time to go over my feelings on the subject. I’d like to talk about what turns me off of fan art and some good ways to overcome the hurdles with depending on that type of artwork.
Why Don’t I’m Not A Big Fan Of Fanart
When I think about what bothers my about fan art, there are a few things, but one always bubbles up first. My biggest issue is that artists can lose their own identity in creating too much fan art. This is a big one for me because my personal view is that art is a personal, introspective and creative meditative practice. Art rings a bit hollow when Mickey Mouse is on the other side of the pencil. This isn’t to say that someone can’t see a character they like in themselves, and create something new and transformative, but those cases aren’t as widespread as those making fan art for more simplistic reasons. I might have less of a problem the landscape was more tilted in that direction. I am just concerned about an artist not experiencing the joy of unlocking a level of mastery with connecting to others via their own personal voice.
The next two issues are lesser issues, but still issues to me all the same. The first is that having a reliance on fan art can open you up to lawsuits, or legal battles with original creators, corporations or what have you. You see these stories all the time with companies like Nintendo taking down fan made games using their characters or assets or what not. Some companies aren’t as strict and even embrace it, so it’s really about if an artists’ work will step on the wrong foot or not.
The other problem is that an audience primed on fan art, will expect that is all you can do. Limiting your window of growth isn’t really a smart business move. I say that from experience. Especially if you’re financially dependent on your fan art and you step on the wrong corporate toes. I’ve seen many artists get trapped in this situation and it’s sad. They might make a piece of fan art that blows up, get a bunch of fans and lose them once they start making their own stuff. It can be a hazardous road.
Avoiding The Pitfalls
With those issues in mind there are ways to avoid some of the pitfalls of being reliant on fanart to grow. The first thing to be mindful of is that if you do fan art, you might want to do so sparingly. While there are artists that make their whole living from doing fan art, doing so comes with risk. If you are risk adverse or want to use the audience building power of making fan art without being consumed by it, I would suggest that at most, your fan art output should be 25% of your overall output. If you do more, there’s a good chance you will be seen as a primarily fan art centric artist.
The next thing to do, is to work on your own stuff. Interweave your original content with your fan art. You can even transform your fan art into something new (like mixing together two IP’s like Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon). The goal should be that your out put for fan art should be like the seasoning on a dish, not the whole dish.
Lastly, and I really want to drive this point home: You do not own the characters created by someone else. Characters might have a lot of meaning to you, and that’s perfectly fine, but that does not change your legal situation. Many companies are very protective of their IP, and there will be a risk of legal action if you make something that the company does not like. Of course, there are many companies that love their fans and whole heartedly accept and even promote the work fans do, but it is also in a companies rights to protect and sue those who misuse their properties. Just be careful.
Outro
As a general rule, I personally discourage artists from making too much fan art. This doesn’t mean I turn it into a taboo, I just give them the reality of the situation. I believe strongly in developing your own values and voice for your art. That’s something that people do not appreciate enough, and I don’t think artists help by making fan art. That said, I’ve gotten attacked a lot for these opinions, so telling artists not to do something isn’t really the best use of time either.
I do think, whichever way you go, that you should always practice caution if your work involves the work of others. I just want to see artists be successful and self-reliant. However that looks to you, is ultimately your call, just be wary of the pitfalls.