Is Fan Art Really Art?

Categories: Art & Design and Fine Art, Undergradute

25/02/2021

Is Fan Art Really Art?

If you enjoy creating art, you might have considered going to university to complete one of the many available art courses. If you are considering this route, the University of Bolton is an excellent place to start as it was voted No.1 for Teaching Quality in 2020.* But what if your favourite art style is fan art? Can you take this type of art into more than a hobby? Is fan art even really art?

There are a lot of misconceptions about fan art. While it is growing in popularity and can be found everywhere on social media and apps like DeviantArt, it is often derided as little more than copying or tracing and having little or no creativity. However, this is very far from the truth. When a fan creates art based on a character in a film, TV programme, anime etc., they immediately put their own art spin on that character. The intention is not to pass off the drawing as the original but show what it means to the fan artist, to show their interpretation of what they have seen or read.

Like fan fiction, fan art often involves creating entirely new characters inspired by those that the artist has seen. Doing this involves the same level of skill, creativity and dedication as any other art form including still life drawing. As with any creative element, there are good and bad examples of fan art out there. Some lack skill and knowledge, making the art either poorly drawn or flat and lifeless. In these cases, undertaking art courses that are supportive and designed to guide the individual can help the artist develop their skills and provide new opportunities for expression art.

For some fan artists, these forms of art are a way of learning and practising the skills they need to excel on graphic design courses or as illustrators for graphic novels, comics, and manga. Regardless of why fan art is created, as long as it is completed with the same passion as any other art form from still life drawing to landscapes, it remains a form of art.

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