Fan Art at it's Finest...NOT!!! by Birdiebo

Hey all! My name's Birdiebo and I will be acting as your residential art connoisseur. First, a little background on me and what I do; I’ve been drawing since I can remember and I mainly started out with more of a cartoon/comic book style. But for a little over a year now I’ve been doing all things portrait art, and I can’t get enough.

Ok, now that that’s out of the way, I would like to start the topic of this art entry….fan art. It’s only appropriate that we discuss this hot issue here on Confession’s of a Fan Girl! I myself have done a fair amount of fan art. My style of fan art has ranged from a portrait of Robert Downey Jr. (sigh) to a rendition of Rukia Kuchiki from Bleach as a gift for a friend.

There is truly amazing fan art out there. If you’re looking for some really great fan art there are choices that suit any form of art; realistic, cartoon, comic, digital, photography, the list goes on and on. I love perusing the internet to find different interpretations on characters. One of my favorite things to do at conventions is to seek out my favorite artists and commission them to draw some of my much loved characters. They are like tiny pieces of treasure to take back home and mount on my walls.

However, there is a down side to fan art as well. The type of fan art that “really gets in my craw” is when someone draws Naruto making out or having sex with someone like Sasuke, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy humping in the room of acquirement….Sam and Dean Winchester giving each other that all knowing look. They are brother’s for crying out loud!!!! I’m all about man love, but when it’s TOTALLY out of character it drives me up the wall.

I’m uncertain if there’s a specific name for this type of fan art. What I do know is that Deviant Art (which I frequent every day) is littered with so called “artists” having nothing but this in their gallery. It’s probably usually done by horny suppressed teens. Some of these pieces I realize are commissioned (thankfully no one has asked me to do one) but for some reason, people still seem to flock to these non stop! It's like a swarm of flies attacking steaming plies of crap! The most amazing thing is that no matter how disturbing these drawings are they still get thousands of views on sites like DA. I know I know….you’re saying, “Birdiebo, if you don’t like it just ignore them. There’s no point in getting your knickers in a wad about it!” Yes, I realize this. It doesn’t take away the fact that people think of it as ART, and that’s where it gets me.

These kids (which I’m sure there are some adults out there making these as well) have so much potential on making some really great art. They’re wasting their time on pieces that, I think, are not challenging them artistically. So there it is, my first rant. I know I can’t go on Deviant Art and tell these kids to cut it out…but at least I can bitch about it on here, and that makes me all warm and toasty inside.