What makes you want to do fan art?

[DokiDokiTsuna]

I've been a fan artist for a long time, and I think I always will be. But it just struck me as strange that I don't actually draw fan art for 90% of the media I consume. And it's not necessarily because I like them less, or that I don't want to; it's just that the 'spark' isn't there for some reason.

For example, Infinity Train is probably my favorite western cartoon at this point in time...and it literally never even occurred to me to draw fan art for it until just now. EVEN though I've seen all the fan-organized art trends on Twitter/Tumblr and retweeted them at every available opportunity, the idea that 'perhaps I should also participate' just did not enter my head.

And even now that I'm considering it (and I love some of those characters to death) I can already tell that the motivation isn't there. ^^;;; It's really weird...

Despite the lack of motivation, though, I have still tried in the past. I have a file folder full of 'miscellaneous' drawings, and I'm sure about 40% of them are failed attempts at starting a fan art series or even just ONE (1) drawing for one of the many characters I love. I design, I draw, and I quit, over and over again. Anime, cartoons, live action, games; you name it, I've abandoned it.

Right now I have one of the rare ones that actually made it past the scan stage sitting in my WIPs, and the guilt is really eating at me. ಠ_ಠ It's fan art for a Touhou fangame that's just so well made, I feel like a criminal playing it for free...so I figured I ought to do something, at least to let more people know about it.

I managed to color the hair and the hat and the face, and no matter how many times I open up the file I can't bring myself to do any more. >_< Why am I like this, I wonder...

I tried thinking about fan art series I actually stick with (at least temporarily) for clues, but to be honest, it's pretty random. ^^;
For example, consider two series: Series A is an anime I've followed since I was in high school, possibly earlier. It's been one of my biggest inspirations for my own stories, and I've been a contributing member of the wiki (and a translator, recently) for a few years now. Character designs are a little complex, but ultimately not that far off from what I might design for my own series.

Series B is a game series that I've never even played, and that I barely knew existed until maybe 4 or 5 years ago. I've browsed the wiki fairly thoroughly, but nowhere near enough to even think about contributing (not that I have the knowledge). Character designs are way more intricate than anything I would even consider drawing normally; the original character designer and I don't even speak the same shape language (they like circles; I'm more of a triangle person).

And which series do you think I pick? WHICH ONE

^That's Series B, by the way. I suffered through every single one of those chibis for HOURS (if you've ever seen Xenoblade characters, you know these drawings are intensely and aggressively simplified) and yet, the urge to draw another one was always there. And this isn't even taking into account Jin, my muse, who I've already drawn 5 times and WILL draw again.

The most insane part is, I don't even like these characters that much (besides Jin...although, no matter how cute I think he is, I have to admit he's pretty weakly written). I've drawn Mythra three times and I don't even remember what she does. ^^; It's just madness all around; I can't explain this behavior.

And yet, there is one common thread though: a large degree of freedom and creativity. The fan art series that last the longest are usually the ones that allow me to come up with the largest amount of content straight from my imagination.

For instance, my Kirby fan art is a huge network of AU's and different degrees of gijinka (anthropomorphism) design...it's why I don't talk about it often; there's just too much to explain to someone who doesn't already know what's going on. ^^; Anyway, that's probably why it's my #1.

RWBY is quickly becoming #2, and although I do a surprising amount of 'canonical' fan art, what really got me into it was creating alternate designs for the characters...originally just 'improved' versions of canon designs I didn't like, and eventually moving on to more creative designs that I came up with on my own.

Some series I just use as vehicles for OC creation; I don't even bother drawing any canon characters at all (Spider-Man, Splatoon).
Although, even with those where I exclusively draw canon characters, like Xenoblade, I think there's still an element of creativity in translating art that's far away from my own style into something I can actually draw. That was one of the big draws of the XC series; the sheer challenge of chibifying such intimidating designs. ^^ Perhaps with Series A (Symphogear, if you're wondering) there just wasn't enough challenge to overcome my usual laziness.

...Well, that was quite a rant. (oﾟvﾟ)ノ Anyway, my question for y'all is, what makes you want to do fan art, and what discourages you? Do you feel an urge to immediately draw all the characters you love, or does the mood have to be 'just right'...?

[IndigoShirtProd]

Spite..... Extreme amounts of spite.

oh, and I guess a long term or an acutely onset love for a series.

[rajillustration]

Sometimes I do it for the love, sometimes I do it for the views, sometimes I do it for the challenge (like I'm a big fan of making kinda "realistic" versions of cartoony stuff) Overall, fanart gives you a good launching point where you don't have to face a blank canvas. A lot of the character design is already done, so you instead get to focus on rendering and enjoying the process, which I find really beneficial if I'm trying to learn new techniques and stuff like that. If I'm just not inspired to do my own thing: fanart. Fanart is really easy to pick up, but hard to master, so that challenge is always there to keep it fun.

That and most fandoms are really sweet so if you draw a character they don't see much of they leave just really kind comments about it, and it's nice to feel part of a community thing, even if it isn't a community you're really a "part" of.

[TAMAnnoying]

Gonna be 100% honest with you and say that I mostly do fan art that will upset my friends

Like I don’t even have time to read or play games anymore cause I just do art when I get home from work so fan art is just shit I do if it’s gonna get a reaction out of my friends who read/play the same shit I do

[Kaydreamer]

When I make fanart, which is pretty rare, it's usually for one of three reasons:

• I love the character design.
• I think a character is hot.
• It's ship art, because I'm a big sucker for romance.

The bonus fourth reason is that I think it'll sell at conventions, but even then, it usually ticks one of the above boxes.

[N1ghtm4r3]

majority reason i make fan art is if it sparks something, plus i some times like to see how i would do a character

[joannekwan]

Yeah I gotta have that spark to motivate me to make fanart for anything. But you can generally tell I really like a property if I make fanart for it. Especially considering I've got so much else going on, I need that extra push to illustrate something that I don't have to.

For instance, I haven't drawn any serious fanart in over a year. But bam, Blizz drops Sigma's summer skin and I swooned. So I drew him today LOL.
Overwatch is a perennial favorite IP of mine, and I've drawn a lot of it since it launched, but I had slowed down fanart production a lot due to irl things getting in my way. Then Sigma's skin comes along, hits the exact buttons of my aesthetic, so inspiration and motivation. Even if the piece doesn't get a lot of engagement, I still just wanted to draw him looking like that.

[Zin_Trollborn]

Characters that I like for whatever reason, no further thinking as that.
I also like to look at fanarts made by others, you can see how people grasp the characters, how they see them and it's always interesting to me to see another point of view on a same character.
Bonus points if they do fun small comics about them

[BarBarKetrab]

A sense of duty to remind myself of all of the old video games that I love.

And also practice. Drawing fanart helps me practice things like anatomy and more dynamic posing, which I feel I need improve on.

[frgmnt]

My most common reason to make fanart is simple: if I like the character design, it has a lot of elements I find appealing, I'll probably want to draw it. Liking the character is a bonus but not required.
Besides, 90% of what I draw are my OCs so getting a handle on others' designs and trying to draw them is often challenging and I have to do it every once in a while to prevent getting stuck in my comfort zone.

I guess it's just fun to me to try to render the character in my style, like, play around with what would be my take on them.

But also, come to think of it, I think the works I've produced the most fanart for - Yume Nikki and other RPG Maker games - allow for a lot of personal interpretation in the design area, (ofc, since the official look is a tiny pixel sprite,) and this freedom of interpretation is something I find very appealing and fun to play with.

Other than that, sometimes I just want (more) fan content to exist for some obscure piece of media, which leads to a realization I'm an artist and could produce it myself.

Even with all of those in mind, there's a LOT of series I like a lot but never did any fanart for. Sometimes I want to but never get around to it. Sometimes all I can conjure up is a poor doodle not worth posting.

And let's not forget the important reason... for clout. (Hardly any clout if it's a niche dead fandom though - I rarely manage to jump on bandwagons of whatever is flavor of the month, at least not before it's forgotten )

[iHateFridays]

Hmm I tend to make fanart for my fellow creators these days, both to connect and show appreciation for their work XD As for media tho... hmm I guess it's just when I feel inspired and wanna draw something different.

[Caro]

This thread made me realize I haven’t drawn fanart in years! I honestly can’t even remember the last time I’ve done it. I also don’t conventions where fanart really sells nor am I at a point in my career where I feel like I have to do it for any sort of exposure. I didn’t even realize I’ve been so removed from the world of fanart for a really really long time!

I feel like maybe I should do some just for fun/study…

[LCT_m_a_d]

One of my favorite things about seeing fan-artist is the fan's personal style embodied in a character that already exists. I don't prefer fanart that looks too close to the original style.

If you're trying to match their style, then I'd prefer to see you you draw your OC in their fanatic style.

I have a lot of weird thoughts about fanart though as I'm leaning towards doing some regularly

[Crusoe]

I draw fanart for a lot of different reasons. Nowadays it's mostly for challenges and properties I've just finished that I'm enthousiastic about and whose designs I like. (Like JoJo's bizarre adventure). I used to do fanart on request as well

[nathanKmcwilliams]

I generally do fan art when I'm trying to learn about character design. Rarely if ever do I do it just because I like a series.

But the other reason I do it, is so that I have something unique to offer on my Ko-Fi page, and because I like drawing things for other people. So I host a Fan-Art Friday thing where a couple people can ask me to draw a character from anything, as long as it's not one they've made.
I see my art as something to be shared with others, and FAF gives me an outlet for that, and hopefully it makes people happy.

Besides that though, I rarely want to do fan art on my own for fun.

[VibrantFox]

genuine interest or investment in the series/game/franchise/etc or i just find the design aesthetically appealing

Like i've been a sonic fan for years and drawn ton of fanart but then on the other hand is like mario which i only ever drew fanart maybe once or twice and one was just a meme trend that was going on. Even with pokemon a series that I've enjoyed for a while I didn't even start drawing any kind of fanart until sun and moon came out with Guzma.

Plus I've definitely had those moments of "drawing this will be grueling but also designs pretty" with a lot of the jrpg games i like and very specific cosmetic items that were often times loaded with a lot of tiny details.

If anything I'd say that sometimes motivations behind making fanart could be boiled down to this:

[Shanny8]

But you can generally tell I really like a property if I make fanart for it.

In this same boat. I like stuff, but mostly not to the point where I make fan art of it...I bought the Far Sector comic series by NK Jemisin & Jamal Campbell and instantly wanted to take a shot at drawing the main character. I did a piece(it's on my Patreon though)...pretty happy with how it turned out.

Did quite a bit of fan art last year before I re-aggravated my arms again & ended back in hiatus mode.