Ladue High School's student news site

Ladue Publications

Ladue High School's student news site

Ladue Publications

Ladue High School's student news site

Ladue Publications

Fan Content is Viable

Fan+Content+is+Viable

Pretty much everyone in the art world has agreed to one thing: Fanart isn’t real art. And logically that would make sense, right? You didn’t create the story or the characters, you just drew them, so why should you be paid for that? It’s just fanart. I disagree with that, heavily.

The phrase “it’s just fanart” has been used time and time again to devalue hours of work artists have put into their craft. Contrary to popular belief, art, regardless of what it is of, still takes a lot of skill. Just because you didn’t make the characters doesn’t mean it was easy to make the art, and that is what we’re supposed to be grading artists on, not on their ideas or their storytelling, but their skills in art. If you commission someone to draw fanart, you are still requesting their time and hence you should pay them money. Commissioning art is an exchange, and by denying payment, you are stealing from these artists and hurting them. Art is not just a hobby, it can be a lifestyle, and a way of profiting.

An argument often used to delegitimize the work of fan artists is that designing the characters is part of the process of creating viable art, however that’s very easily disproved. A common trait of almost all classical and renaissance era art is that the paintings were all of people who already existed, or of religious figures, neither of which required designing themselves. By this flawed logic, no classical or renaissance art is viable art, as it isn’t “original enough.” At its bare essentials, renaissance art was mostly religious fanart, and we all can acknowledge the masterpieces that were created during that time, so why is fanart any different? Dante’s Inferno was quite literally a Christianity self-insert fanfiction, for god’s sake, and it is considered one of the most influential pieces of literature in the history of Christianity. No, I am not comparing Luke Skywalker to Jesus, however in terms of the skills needed, one could make a portrait of Luke Skywalker or Jesus and it would take about the same amount of skill and time, so why are only one of these considered art?

Fanart always has been and always will be a valid and difficult artform to learn, but humans pursue it nonetheless, because we like to create things we already enjoy. Humans have interests, and we like to participate in them. It is human nature to create for the sake of enjoying what we are making. Expecting everyone who creates to make their own original designs is not only too high of an expectation, but also a boring expectation. Most people look for content related to their current interests, and fanart is exactly that. There is demand, it takes skill, and is well-liked. By all means, it should count as real art.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover
About the Contributor
Caroline Edgar, Opinions Editor

Comments (0)

All Ladue Publications Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Activate Search
Ladue High School's student news site