First of all I am going to define Fan art as I am referencing it for this post.
Fan art is made in tribute to a pop culture subject you love. It can be a mash-up of multiple genres, duplicating visuals from something you love, or original art inspired by a pop culture topic.
If you are nervous about creating and sharing fan art, just remember you can create anything you want as long as you don't sell it (there are ways around this, but I am not a lawyer so I am not going down this rabbit hole).
1. What we love inspires great art.
Anytime I get to create artwork I want to, it is leaps and bounds ahead of artwork I had to create. We all want to create great art, and great inspiration can have a huge impact. If you love movies, why not incorporate a favorite movie into your art? If you love music, let lyrics and the style of the band spur your creativity. Let your muse inspire your next great work. You may be surprised on what comes out!
I created both these posters in honor of 30 Seconds to Mars concerts I was attending. I had them signed by the band as my own 1-of-a-kind souvenir.
2. Your point of view is important.
No matter how many people have done Disney Princesses Like You Have Never Seen Them, we still haven't seen them how you interpret them. Your voice is unique and deserves to be heard. Who knows, maybe your fan art will inspire someone else to create?
I created this Daria/Beauty & the Beast mash-up and Little Mermaid/Star Wars mashup for #inktober2014.
3.There simply aren't enough jobs for EVERYONE to help on the next Disney Blockbuster.
I am not saying you aren't talented enough. I am not saying you don't work hard enough. But the world isn't fair and not everyone will get to live happily ever after working day-in and day-out on dream jobs. I worked 3 and a half years for the Disney Company. I worked in the parks, held 4 professional internships, and was a contractor for 18 months. I moved across the country three times chasing Disney but I am not there now.
So does that mean only those working at Disney get to have all the fun designing Disney stuff? HECK NO!!! We all want to work on the fun stuff. So what is stopping you? Create fan art just for fun, enter contests, and participate in creative prompts on the web that feature a topic you love.
Both of these fan art pieces were created for a Threadless design contests.
4. Fan art will help you find your tribe.
Fan art connects you to other geeks who are inspired to create by the same geeky stuff you are! Fan art is a great way to start conversations on social media with other fans, other artists you admire, and in some cases the original artist, creator, or actor who inspired you. The internet has made it possible for anyone to connect about shared interests. You probably won't land a dream job offer for creating a work of fan art. You might not get a shout out from your favorite celebrity. But if you never create fan art the odds of these things happening is 0%.
I was retweeted by Wil Wheaton for my fun fan art piece!
Someday Steven Tyler may see a piece of fan art I created. But until then I will keep making fan art inspired by his music. Because that musical inspiration will keep me creating for a lifetime.
Just two of the many art pieces I have created inspired by Aerosmith.