What is Fan Clipart?
Fan clipart, or fanart, is a term for any type of artwork by fans of a particular book, television show, movie, video game series or other media property. This includes art drawn (in any medium) and everything from fanfiction to remixed music. There are many misconceptions about fan clipart that we have decided to set the record straight on with this article.
Facts:
1. Clipart isn’t that artistic.
Clipart can be anything from the simple, literal images of your characters or franchises to the more unique and creative creations that pull inspiration from pop culture. It all depends on the artist’s style!
2. Everyone knows artist is a better job than clipart artist.
In fact, in fan art, artists go by many different names: photographers, graphic designers, animators and so on – yet everyone is simply called ‘artist’. This is where the misconception comes from – artist being a better job than ‘clipart’. But aside from some media professionals and script writers being actually ‘artist’, this simply is not true.
3. Clipart is harmless, just like signed cards.
Nothing could be further from the truth! Fan art is almost always done with no intentions of being a profit-making endeavor and therefore, is not made with any copyright infringement in mind. If a creator has the rights to the copyrighted characters they are referencing, they will be more than happy to grant permission to fan artists who choose to make money off their creations.
4. There’s no value in fandom artisting.
It may seem that way but on the contrary: fandoms are extremely creative as a whole and can be very creative with their own specific interests and interests related to that fandom in particular. You can read about it here .
5. Clipart is the same as fan art.
While they may be linked, they are not the same thing. Fan art can be anything, while clipart is a specific type of art that involves characters or franchises trademarked by someone else. Clipart can be very elaborate and take a lot of time to create – it simply depends on what style an artist has decided on.
8. There’s no such thing as original clipart? Everything is a remix?
Again, this could not be further from the truth! It all depends on what you mean by ‘remix’ but it certainly doesn’t apply to everything – there has also been fan art creations that weren’t inspired by anything at all!
9. There is no such thing as good, bad or ugly fan art.
Known universally as the truth! Fan art can be any style and any quality from the simplest and most basic drawings to the more elaborate and impressive creations that look like they should be in a professional studio! There’s no such thing as good or bad when it comes to fan art; what matters is how someone feels about their own creations.
10. Fan art is only for character references and fanfiction.
Use:
Fan art has been used in fanworks like fanfiction, character sketches, digital artwork, sites dedicated to the works or their creators and even commercial websites. Fan artists can be found creating for any fandom that is popular or well known in their own specific areas. Fan art is only for character references and fanfiction. Fan art has also been used in many other ways as we’ve already pointed out above! There’s no such thing as only drawing characters – it’s much more than that!
There is no such thing as bad fan art. Very true! Fan art can be of any style and quality from the simplest and most basic drawings to the more elaborate and impressive creations that look like they should be in a professional studio! There’s no such thing as good or bad when it comes to fan art; what matters is how someone feels about their own creations. Fanart is limited to fan fiction, artwork, sites dedicated to their creators or just drawing characters. Fanart has also been used in many other ways as we’ve already pointed out above! There’s no such thing as only drawing characters – it’s much more than that!
Advantages:
1. The creator of the fanwork does not have to rely on the quality of the art to make it look professional.
Sometimes people think that because it’s “just artwork” that quality isn’t important. However, fan art is often NOT full-blown illustrations or photos with background or character detail – they are just simple sketches that can be easy to do without being half-assed and amateurish! This means that artists don’t need to spend hours drawing detailed characters using expensive equipment and therefore can focus on their other skill sets like writing, editing or acting instead.
In fact, some artists don’t even bother using their own penmanship in order to save time!
2. They can better express themselves with their art.
With fan art, artists can create their own unique versions of characters or even add new minor characters in the forms of fanart or story! As long as the original artist has said that it’s okay, these creations are completely legal for anyone to make and enjoy! Artists often have the opportunity to show off their original personality and voice with fanart. Fan creations also tell a story in order to create a visual impact on its audience.
3. It promotes creativity and artistic interest.
Since most modern media focuses on CGI (computer generated imagery) and other forms of animation, traditional art seems to be going slowly out of style.
Disadvantages:
1. It may be plagiarized by others on the internet.
With the rise of new media, there is also a rise in the popularity of comic books, video games and other forms of fantasy media that are often only made better with fanart! Fan creations usually get popular when they’re shared and because of how easy it is to find fanart on the internet, it’s very easy to steal it and pass it off as your own creation. This could cause legal issues if an artist ever wants to sell their work in the future or if they want to use someone else’s work for profit-making endeavors.
2. It takes time to create the art itself.
Fanart can take anywhere from a fraction of an hour to several days depending on the complexity of the characters and the style of art used. Artists usually know exactly what they want to do with their work so they can pick a style (color images, silhouette, black and white) that’s best for their creativity. Maybe there is no need for complicated backgrounds or character designs etc. If a fanartist only needs to draw something simple for their fanwork, it’s often easier for them to do that themselves without getting involved with more elaborate projects.
3. It can be quite time-consuming!
This depends entirely on what you mean by ‘hard’ when you say ‘work’.
