Dazzling Blog

I Stopped Drawing Fan Art

I just stopped drawing them, and read below why...

It's normal for an artist to draw things that they are a fan of. Some even are dedicated to only drawing about their favorite tv shows, books and/or games. I used to draw fan art from time to time, but I decided to stopped entirely.

This reason why I stopped is pretty obvious: it distracts me from what I want to do with my art.

I always put so much passion and effort in my original work and always want to bring those original projects out into the world and see them come to life in a way. I want to feel like I did something completely myself and not ride on the "fan art" train. Honestly, it's more like the "fan art trap" than anything.

The moment you drew fan art of something for, at least a month straight, you'll be known for that for a while. Most people would only be looking at your account for only the fan art and the fan art alone. They couldn't care less about your original ideas. Well, maybe some people would, but that's just a small few.

Don't get me wrong, I do this myself with other artists. I'm not saying I'm a saint and never did anything wrong and everyone else does, but every time I do this, I feel kind of bad about it. Like, sure I love their fan art of a character from my favorite game, but sometimes I check out some of their original art from time to time. I like to see people create comics from their little doodles, or even write a small book based on a dream they had. Anything original really. It's refreshing and new, especially when everything is getting gross and terrible reboots these days.

I also like when artists are creating for themselves and not only for others. They love what they do and they want to have fun with their skills, and that's what I want to focus more on. Not the attention I would get from creating something, but focus on creating something I simply enjoy and the satisfaction that comes from it. A lot of the time, I feel empty when I draw something just for the reactions I'll get(if I get any at all that is). If I don't, which is often, it just demotivates me from drawing for a while. That's why I want to shift focus and just simply create without caring so much. maybe someone would stumble upon my art and like it, but that shouldn't be my only goal.

Now, I'm not saying that fan art is completely bad and no one should dare do such a thing, but it's mostly that if one already have original ideas they want to pursue and have the desire to work on, I think it's best to focus more on that. Sure, you wouldn't get a lot of likes/favorites/upvotes, but if you are enjoying every moment of working on that original idea, than I think it's worth it. It'll be a boring and lifeless art career if you're just drawing fan art and that alone based on trends.

If I were to be honest, I used to draw a ton of fan art and fan characters of Sonic when I was in elementary school. Starting from middle school, I went original for the most part, because I want to do something original and want to make a career out of it. I always want to be an artist and writer. Just simply a creator of things I make.

To put everything simply, I like creating different ideas and playing around with them. I just get more enjoyment out if that than drawing Sonic drinking Pepsi with Goku. If I were to draw fan art in some odd, distant future, I'll just create a different alias for it and just do it for fun. Making fan art as a full art career isn't something I would do for myself.