Hi everyone. This video is a few years old now, and I still get comments on this video and others from people asking me to draw their MLP OC. I am a self employed freelance artist. I don't just make MLP stuff. If you are interested in a commission, visit my main youtube page and watch my trailer video. That has all the information you need about how to get a commission. Please do not ask for a drawing in the youtube comments.
Very interesting points you bring up here Mad Munchkin. I am not an artist myself, but after listening to these topics, it makes me better appreciate the creativity that goes into a lot of these fan works. Thank you kindly for adding your own spin to the Brony Fandom.
I feel annoyed that no one cares about my work. My *original* work. Like, on deviant art, I have gotten a ton of favorites and comments on a The Mangle X Foxy the Pirate fan art (Five nights at Freddy's). But, nothing on my other artwork. I've put hours into these and no one cares. And its mostly criticism that doesn't even make sense. For example, they would call my art 'weird' or 'gay' or other remarks without even telling me whats wrong with it (which points to more than just my artwork). i'll show my friends, expecting great compliments on it, but they just point out everything wrong with it. I just want to tell them how hard it is to get it all right, but showing people who aren't interested in the hobby will just make them annoyed about it. Everyone is expecting a damn Mona Lisa from every artist and i just don't get it. Most of the time people will make annoying recolors to get the respect and attention they want, but they do get both of those things in the end. Mostly, how it goes is: A person will make a stupid character. Then, they will take someone else's artwork and color in their character. Then they will claim it as their own. Then, they will get hate and attention. The person will 'cry' over it and say that they are going to leave that site. People will feel bad for that person, make the person fan art, sub to them or whatever, and the person will be filthy-famous and have tons of friends in the end, even though they didn't do shit. Ugh >_< I just don't get it any more! I try to hard making quality animation, art, videos, and ect., but no one cares what so ever!
I will check out your art, you seem like a nice person and as a fellow artist I know that people need to realize how talented you are rather than to always point out flaws, they could appreciate you as the artist you are
+Dragon Toons I'm one of those people who like to do that so here is some stuff to help you understand: i like things interesting and seeing innocent characters turn upside down and seeing a new side of them and seeing the people that know them react to that is just so refreshing to see and so interesting the intent is not to spoil it for you it is to see how we can twist these predictable characters into something new and interesting wile still being somewhat, even if only a little, themselves. i probably sound psychotic right now what i hate is when a character loses their memories. it may be good for getting past a characters hate for something but when a character loses their memories they are just so predictable it hurts.
Mad munchkin I know this isn't related to the video but this price of fanart was shown in this video: as a fan of Alice in wonderland (yes there is a fandom) I loved the Cheshire Cat art price you have displayed in this video on the 'montage' of pieces it is beautiful and portrays the cat's impish and sometimes disturbing attitude keep up your amazing works of art I love them all!
I can totally relate to the "not wanting to show fanart IRL" shtick. I am soooo terrified of showing my RL friends and family my fanart. I've shown my mom, and she just says "It's cute," or "What's that supposed to be?" My little brother runs away from it, seeing as all i draw is ponies. My older brother and my dad? All they say is "Meh."
It is funny how people react to fan art. Like it can't be as personal or artistic if it's characters from someone else's mind. But can't others' characters be just as much a part of you as your own? Anyhow, I like mad munchkin, and dear Dr. Wolf, and of course lu-UV Silver Quill.
"Torture Porn or Creepy-pasta" HOLD IT! This was probably just a slip of the tongue, but those are Not the same thing's. TP is designed to depict a character getting violated to death for the sake of enjoyment. It's an acquired taste (like morbid jokes) and should never be seen as an interpretation of what someone want's to do (hell most of the time it's just commissioned). It's not my cup of tea either, but being in so many fandoms and learning about them has left me with 1 true saying that I believes always sums it up. To each his own. Creepy-pasta is about telling a story that by it's definition sound's "Creepy". It's not always about death or murder, it's about telling an unsettling story that runs chill's down your spine. (or just sounds silly, depends on who read's it) A good example I can think of is the artist "aisu-isme" from deviant art. She runs a special blog called "Creepy Ponies" and uses them as an inspiration for her art much like anyone else in the fandom. It's a special type of art doesn't depict torture/murder for the sake of pleasure, but more from a different art perspective. Also it's never fair to say that something should never be brought outside the boundaries of what Should be made because it's more mature than what's originally depicted in the content it's based off of. I.E. just because something isn't about sex/drugs/violence doesn't mean fans can't think it can if it gives them inspiration. If not, then the Fallout Equestria universe wouldn't/shouldn't exists. BTW, you should never feel bad because people will notice one piece of art over another. In modern day society, there are SO many works out there that it can be overwhelming to have to shift through and take notice of every piece of artistic work out there. (sound familiar?) People will notice when a fan work is made. Follower's will notice when something original is made. Fans will notice everything. But it takes an Artist to bring them all together.
I never said torture porn or creepy pasta were the exact same thing. I just happened to say then together. I know what both things are and know the difference. I never said that something should never be brought outside it's boundaries. I said I would never draw violence, drug use or sex fan art unless the show it is based on already had those themes. It's a personal choice. Its just not for me. Fallout Equestria doesn't technically count since it is a cross over; fall out has strong violence, sex and drug use, so the themes are acceptable in this case. I'm more a fan of that story because of the video game series Fall Out, as I said in the video.
"Fallout Equestria doesn't technically count since it is a cross over" The term Fallout "Equestria" make's it a crossover of MLP/Fallout. One has sex/drugs/violence, the other is the opposite. So yeah, it's like mixing oil and water, and that's what makes them awesome.
Oh honey, but of course fan art is taken seriously. Fan art allows us to change our perception on the show, without fan art, we would not have flufflepuff, button mash, and other OC's. but not only OC's, there's just some really good art of canon characters. fan art molds and shapes my opinions and love for characters. and if thats not enough, even the writers and artists of the show (not just mlp, but many anime and western shows) are influenced by artwork. lastly, is GEN. 4 not just a different kind of fan art of GEN. 3? fluttershy, rarity, rainbow dash, they were all GEN. 3, and Lauren simply revised them in a fan-art sort of way. her own "fan art" just...happened to kick off alot easier honey, your art is perfect the way it is, i hope your not doubting yourself
This is just something I wanted to put out, I'm not angry or offended or anything: I do art as a hobby but I will spend days or even weeks on one piece if I think it's worth it. I will try my hardest to improve my art skills, ect. I just prefer not pursue it as a career or make money off it. I might one day but for now I'm happy doodling ponies and cats whiles doing requests for friends and maybe painting a little bit. That's it. That simple. I will put hours of work on my art I just prefer not to make a profit of it.
Fan art was what really got me going with drawing. Yeah, I drew on and off but around 4th grade I rediscovered my love for the original Yu-Gi-Oh series (to the point I actually cried because I hadn't seen it in so long. Yes, that was a thing) and it rekindled my love for both the show and drawing. I spend hours, weeks, days and months drawing the characters I loved, trying to make them look perfect and I also explored other things like crochet and knitting when it came to the show, as well as painting. I kept with yu-gi-oh until I started to branch out and began to draw other shows such as Inuyasha, Pokemon, and even characters from my favorite mangas until I began creating my own OCs, starting with dragons until I finally fell into the anime fandom. I don't draw as much fan art today, but I owe it all to fan art for were I am today.
Mad Munchkin, watching your videos actually make me want to be creative and start drawing or teach myself how to do computer drawing and always gives me ideas and makes me want to continue even the smallest of details when coming up with stories, Thank you for keeping me creative :)
I very much enjoy gory fanart and fanfiction, and it's not because of some sick desire. It's because seeing characters in such intense situations genuinely interests me. I am fascinated by how characters are pulled into the darkness, and how they either rise to the challenge or fall. For me it reveals so much more about the character than many other situations ever could. I come from a very innocent household, and therefor would never show my darker fanart to my parents and sometimes even my friends. But it's just so intriguing that I can't resist creating it. I prefer stories where the character defeats whatever evil or darkness had taken hold of them, but I can bend to either situation. However, I have seen rather sick minded people who take very pure concepts and rip it apart just for the fun of it, and that does not please me. But that doesn't mean they're evil or anything. Another reason why I enjoy dark fan content is because it's very real. Life isn't all happy happy joy joy, and to see a character struggle with that is so satisfying to see. Well, I hope this comment helped! Have a brilliant day (or night) ^w^
It's unfortunate. I myself am an artist who did not focus on fanart. I found that 10 year olds drawing things disproportionately or even tracing would get more views than any of my original art or fan art from lesser known IP. Eventually, it ate away at me so much that I took my art down and mostly switched to other creative outlets. It's too hard to compete with the flashy IP when you draw original work.
Wow. You probably don't check the comments on old videos, but just felt moved to post. I'm really loving going through your videos and hearing your opinion on various subjects. This one in particular was interesting because it allowed me to compare my own artistic medium, writing, in regards to fan art/fiction.
This made me feel a bit better, since I was wondering about this, too. I always feel way more passionate when making a piece of fan art than my "own" art.
Beautiful video, Mad Munchkin. This gave me a great deal more pride and passion for some of what I do as an artist. I love to draw comics, involving the main character, Phyllis, placed in different stories and media. For instance, my first few were of her battling as a Mage in the wilds of the video game Skyrim. (Not sure if you've heard of that before.) then it expanded and she began going into books, movies, and TV shows. Despite the immense pleasure I felt at making these comics and situations, I tended to feel that it was rather silly. I mean, no one but myself ever really saw them, much less actually understand the humor and emotion. Thank you so much for making this. Good luck as an artist!!! (By the way, I think the pictures you make are beautiful. It's obvious how much time and effort you put into each one. Nice work!)
"We only find our voice after sounding like a lot of other people" -Neil Gaiman (I think that's how the quote went...) "No idea is new. Whoever thought up the first talking tree saw a tree and knew what talking was, and put the two ideas together." -One of my writing teachers (I think early high school....) I think fan art can be seriously taken as art if it is crafted as a serious work of art. If it's making one's own eye candy or like a Mary Sue fanfic in that it is made to satisfy ones own fantasy, then I don't think it can be taken as seriously. Same thing if the fan work makes offenses at rather than honors its source material. However, it the fan work is created as one would create real art, then I think it could be real art. Take the Disney movies for example- Disney didn't come up with the story of Hercules or The Little Mermaid, but it took the story and made good art out of it. I believe that adding your own personality into the piece is part of it. Especially if the source material is being used to bring out a point- allusion is a highly respected literary device. As for the first quote, fan art I think is a good way for us to train our own styles and voices. But boot camp can't be where we stop- use what you learn in fanart in your original work. It's like when using a trope- as all the reviewers will say, it's okay to use tropes as long as you add something new to them. Characters are supposed to leave an impact on the audience, and fan art I think is a good way to pay tribute as well; even religious pieces are made to say, "Whom we follow is worthy of this." And if you make something with all your skill and heart, the honor your piece gives to the source material is incredible. Art is that wonderful intersection between subjective and objective value, where a piece can be of great sympathetic and technical value. I appreciate a complicated song in choir when I a) understand the composer's and the poetry's meaning and b) took music theory. Fan art both tributes the original work and improves the one creating work, so I see no reason why we should not consider fan art as real art; it can't be the only work we do, nor can it be nixed. It's just those pesky crappy ones that give fan art a bad rep :P
Hey, Mad Munchkin! I happened to stumble upon your channel today, and I happen to love it! Your opinions are reasonable, and you always have a valid explanation for disliking, or liking, something! I just wanted to say, also, that this video has given me lots of inspiration. I appreciate people like you who give newbie artists like me honest inspiration. I may only be writing fan-fictions and drawing fan-art now, but I want to be an original artist like you are, someday. Thank you so much for the inspiration you have given me.
At 7:59 I highly agree that using shock value that sounds both out-of-place and needlessly confusing isn’t the right kind of attention. I find it sad that art made by artist who use these subject matters in a respectful but also interesting way doesn’t get as much attention as say...someone who draws a creator’s (who has just passed away) character getting screwed by the Grim Reaper and excusing it as “letting out feelings”.
I really enjoyed all that you had to say about what goes into making art a career. Especially the "having an eclectic portfolio" part. As a software developer, I sometimes think of my work as being something of an art (albeit one that is really hard to appreciate at a glance); so that was some good career advice about the level of effort required.
It is very important for a artist to evolve and adapt to new things. For example when I started off in my drawing career, I only drew cats, then after testing the waters a little more, I went into drawing nekos, then ponies, then dogs, birds, people, ect. adapted to my fandoms (Like mlp, Steven universe, Under tale, ect.) I tried different styles and I use them for certain things or certain fandoms
Forgive me if this was said already. I did a cursory look threw the comments but didn't read every single one so I may have missed it. Friendship Is Magic is actually, in essence, a fan production. The show itself is based on the stories that Lauren Faust thought up as a little girl with her own dolls. Shes said this on a number of occasions. As an artist she works on her own stuff all the time. She was pitching Galaxy Girls to the Hub when they gave her FiM and she's currently working as a character designer for the massively original Wonder Over Yonder. But her biggest claim to fame was a fan project. A fan project with a lot of money and the backing of the original owner, but a fan project none the less. The BBC Sherlock, the RDJ movies, and about a million other renditions are fan works of the original Doyal books. Disneys Hercules is technically fanfiction. Actually, most every movie Disney has ever made is fanfiction with very few exceptions. Technically, every rendition of Star Trek after the original is fanfiction. Technically, Doctor Who from 9 on is fanfiction. Technically, Equestria Girls is Hasbro's fanfiction... So ya. Everything you said in this video is spot frigin on. We, as artists, should always be striving to do more, to do better, but we shouldn't discredit fanart as "not real art" just because its based on something else. That fanart may end up being the next big TV show, or movie, or novel, or anything.
This...this is AWESOME When you said to have fun in what you do and not worry about popularity through fan art, I actually went through another mindset. I have a deviantart account, but very few watchers, and I realize now that if I enjoy making my art, I'll be happy. And that's all I need. Thanks!
My problem when it comes to MY art is that i often create more original characters than cannon ones; that can be a weakness because it prevents me from expanding my talents and seeing what I am capable of. Though I DO draw official characters every once in a while, its really only because one or two of my own original characters are in the picture too. But Mad Munchkin you've inspired me to try doing some pictures of official/ cannon characters - my own original characters.
I actually have such a hard time drawing fanart. I have no clue how much of the original style I should keep, or how to keep the character identifiable, etc. It's a shame, really, because most of the time I spend sketching is trying to come up with a look/outfit for the person, and drawing pre-existing characters would not only help out there, but would motivate me more.
That happened to me once with coloring complaints. It's horrible. The character was dark pink, but the person looking at the picture saw her as red and I worked damn hard on that picture. Strangely enough that person was the only one to complain and no one else did. To this day I believe it was something with there monitor.
My great-great-grandfather was a mezzotinter; he made acid engravings of other people's paintings and then printed copies off to people who wanted them in their houses. It was only monochrome but the colour was lush. Now I confess that until I had dug into my genealogy I had never heard of him, but in doing so I discovered that he apparently is notable enough to have his own (small) fan club. No, nothing he did was "original", and yes, he was arguably less an artist than an artisan, but that was enough for him to gain some modest artistic respect. No fan artist will ever be granted the kind of immortality to which artists aspire, but that is as much to do with the circles they travel in than anything else. After all, what are the works of Warhol and Lichtenstein, if not fan art? But they were good enough and, arguably more important, in the right places at the right time to get noticed by the right people. And really, once the craft itself is mastered, that is all art is; getting noticed by the right people. Who's to say that Picasso is better than Monet, or that Van Gogh is better than Picasso? And yet it is Van Gogh that sells at the highest prices today, just as someone else will in a few decades.
10:37 is my Mad Munchkin fanart! Yaaay!! Either way, I admit to bring the one who draws more fanart then original works, but I still make my own original stuff.
Ozamu Tezuka made a Bambi manga with permission when the movie came out because he's a huge fan of disney. It is technically fan art but also done by a professional story teller, so do what you like
"If a characters eye or hair colour isn't right people will get hyped up over that detail..." THIS! Omg! I always find it so fascinating and yet absurd that superficial things overrides the deeper qualities of a work.
I've noticed more and more that lots of people (the ones who harp on fan works) treat a canon universe as law or sacred. Almost as if it's something that shouldn't be tampered with or altered in any way. These people don't seem to grasp the concept that human beings are naturally creative and very imaginative. We may love canon universes, but that doesn't mean we wanna remain there all the time. We like to expand, explore, and create our own worlds within an already established one. As you stated, it's a way to pay tribute to an already existing entity. It's rare to find people creating fan works of a subject they don't like. Fans create art from subjects they love and have a deep investment. It's amazing how pissed people will get about fan created content. You touched very briefly on shipping (probably because it's not something you partake in) and it's a subject that, I think, receives more scrutiny and hate than most other matters involving canon vs fanon. To this day, I still don't really understand the underlying reasoning behind so much blind hatred and disgust for fanon works. People claim it's "disrespecting" and "butchering" what's already established in canon, which is ludicrous. Anything within canon can't be butchered by fanon, because they're two separate entities. One is the established world everyone knows and accepts, while the other is considered more of an AU. AU's don't "harm" the credibility of an already established work. I could go on and on about this, but I'll end it here. :) Sorry for the wall of text. I feel somewhat strongly about this subject, which leads to rambling. ^^;
As someone who writes a ton of DC fan fiction, and is working on 7 original comics, a trilogy of novels, a stand alone novel, an anime, an American style cartoon, and 2 musicals I can attest to the fact that fan art is very serious. Although I do kind of use my fan fiction as practice for my original works.
For me, I draw and write fanart as stepping stone, so I have have experience when I do my Original art, and it may be a good way to get people to check out my Original stuff later on.
YES THANK YOU!! hahahaha! I keep saying the same thing ,Harley was never a real blonde. XD I love you for pointing that out since she was created for the animated series exclusively before she became a fan favorite. mad, youre always so fun to watch no matter how old these videos are. :D
As an Artist who stopped drawing for.. more years than I care to admit. Yes, years, I appreciate what you have to say in this video. What finally drew me out of my extreme art rut? MLP, a show, like many others out there, I had never intended to watch, eventually did, and.. well the rest is history so to speak. None of it's scanned as I don't have much done and, well, my scanner died at some point between when I was still using it and now, likely from moving so often. Part of what started my art rut were multiple incidents of my original art being taken, altered to remove my name, and then claimed by another. After so much of that, it didn't feel worth it, but after so long I feel.. well, stupid for backing away from what I loved because of it, and to anyone reading this, please, PLEASE don't stop drawing if this happens to you. Fight it, report it, keep drawing, otherwise you do end up regretting it greatly. Anyhow, as off topic as I've gone, sort of at least, I'll just say.. Great video, and love your art. Also look forward to seeing more, MM. :)
There's a good story on FIMfiction called "my roomate is a vampire" it's from Octavia's point of view and the 2 main characters are Octavia and vinyl (as you would probably suspect)
1:10 FULL METAL ACLHEMIST YESYESYESYESYESYESYES SO MUCH YES! I just got into that anime a couple weeks ago. Every time i get into something, everything related to that just gets thrown in my face and im like YES!
I feel fan art should be taken seriously. It can add a more detailed story to an existing plot. Like with FiM, all the fan art with the background ponies, it allows a more interesting experience for those who view the original. Plus with it, the fan art (I'm including fanfiction), the fans of the show can help make the story the way they want it to be, so it's more fun.
Fan works intrigue me. To me, it all comes down to the quality of it. if it's good and not just meh or ugh then it intrigues me. Sometimes it can even be better than the original or take the character and story to a whole new level. As a writer, I write my own novels, but I dabble in fanfiction (lately I've been writing quite a few!)--mostly only when I find a character or story that really interests me or connects with me (or else I never write or start the fanfiction at all). But because I put a lot of work into it, I sometimes consider the fanfictions even better or on par with my original novels. That's just my take... (P.S. You're a really great artist! I'm always jealous of people that can draw XD)
Hi Maddie, First off, I love the art you make from what I've seen so far, please never stop (though I didn't think you would)Second, I use the same spelling of Maddie, ironic there.Third, you're awesome, have a hug!
Oddly enough, in a way I totally get what you're saying, even though I don't draw, paint, sing, or make videos. My "art" (the kind I actually enjoy doing and am good at) is purely martial. I've studied several styles over the years, and it's a passion and hobby for me. I don't compete at all (not counting the few sport fencing tournaments I competed in during college), and most don't get to see me practice, but believe me when I say I do treat it seriously and consider it a genuine art form (although there is certainly much more to it than just that). There is technique, crispness, sharpness, flow, creativity, careful planning, and a variety of styles that goes into my training, just as there is when an artist like you starts drawing something on a canvas I would wager. The way I see it, making fan art is no different from learning a pre-established fighting style, which of course is a serious thing among us fighters. We do that all the time, at least as often as people develop their own fighting style I'd say. Like you with your drawings, I take my inspiration from others in the field, but also like to add my own original work to it. In terms of the broad general concept of borrowing from other artists and adding your own original material, there's really no difference. Bottom line is that art is art, no matter the medium or the source material, and it should be viewed as such in a serious and professional manner in my view.
I'm going to agree with you on a lot of these points even though I'm not actually in any of the mentioned fandoms. As a writer and artist I generally use my personal OC's in my fan fictions just to further improve my writing and characters them selves. I'd go into further detail about my methods of creating OC's but I'm not going to fill the comments section for the sake people's sanity😬
This topic really hit home for me. I have close friends that have told me on multiple occasions that doing something like fanart or fanfiction is a waste of creative talent. If your an artist or a writer you should be making your own story with your own characters and it's a shame that so many people that are those things don't do that a waste of their creativity on fan works. That you shouldn't have headcannon that goes against the regular cannon because that's not what the original creator wanted. Sometimes even saying that some head-canno an insult to the original creator's idea. I know this may sound out of proportion but that maybe because it is. When they said that I felt kinda insulted, like they were saying that I'm wasting my effort. (Sigh)
The problem I have with fanart is that I rarely show what I made either based on the fandom's reputation and/or known only to draw things about it. Trust me I've drawn plenty of the villain I obsess over who will remain anonymous but since the fandom has long since been dead for a while (I joined when it was already dead ;~;), I didn't get notice so i stopped (or at leas tried to...) Since then and before then, I have dozens of characters of my own and have every hole and detail about them and the plot they're in filled out but only the closest of friends know a small bit about it... One reason is that the plot is severely thick (in my view) and hard for me to explain everything. Also one of my angers is that someone makes a non experienced "joke" piece and they get a ton of views, likes, comments, etc... and then someone else who has alot of experience makes a wonderful art piece that is original barely gets exposure and it really bugs me. It's just like popularity. The people who should be hated are loved like kings and queens and the nicest people get all of the damage it's hard to view and experience.
I have seen very few fan-based creepypastas mainly because I don't really like enjoy them as much as original creepypastas. They are though (similar to how your describing art) a lot more popular than anything completely original. Examples of fan made creepypastas include MLP creepypastas, Sonic EXE, Ben drowned and technically even slender man is a fan fiction. Stories like these I feel kind of misrepresent the community, but hey, a lot of people enjoy them, so I'm fine with it. Art is a better way (in my opinion) to create something for a fan base, and even though a lot of songs, stories, and costumes inspired by characters can be good, I prefer looking at Fanart rather than any other genre 😅 (I talk too much.)
Oh, and one little note I wanna give to the topic, yeah, I draw fanart because I like to do it and have fun while doing and love to see other people enjoy it too. Actually some of the fun I have with fanart is because I know I can give some people joy with it. Some people actually wrote me that I brought some joy to them when they had a shitty day, or that I kinda helped them out with my art through darker times. And I'm really glad I'm able to do something like that and bringing some little sunshine to some people. :-) Of course I also try to help out other artists sometimes. ^^
i personally have a distaste for fan works but not in the interpretation you might expect. i love looking at artwork online which has kinda given me the title of King of the Noobs since despite the fact i can actually draw decent enough i actually prefer to hang with the more amateur artists. i often find i learn more from them that i would from the more accomplished artists on the web. so i love looking at fan art of shows and things. i love how people put their own spin on things. however, i myself don't do fanart. for me i find it rather restricting because i have to work with a book half written rather than experiment with the full capability of my mind. oddly enough though i am part of the Good Guy Fan Fiction group. A GGFF is a story in which the source material has a dark, depressing or unsatisfying unhappy ending and so fans rewrite it to instead wrap things up in a happy fashion. i get to see quite a lot of difficult subjects to cover which i'd rather not repeat but i'm not ignorant or afraid of these topics and i'll write a realistic resolution to the story. i find news reports a good source of nasty material and in some cases i've even been able to help the victims with good advice after being seasoned by experience and from things i've heard from people who've experienced it themselves. it's so odd for most people that i fan fiction life itself rather than fiction but i think only real life can provide the unbelievable cases it does on such a regular basis and touch on things no fiction creator dares explore. i myself have been subject to more than a few fan works of myself and my characters. in fact there's quite a steady flow and i thoroughly enjoy reading my emails even the hateful ones. people always ask why i allow people to use my characters if i'm not fond with what the fans do with them and i answer that i can't restrict a person's thoughts only the distribution of them. if they want to show me doing weird then go ahead, i might not approve of it all but the mad torrents of ideas make trends that often i like. not sure i like the association with my character and drugs but even then some have done it in a light and humorous way that gets a chuckle out of me. vore however i roll my eyes at. i think i made the biggest mistake by saying i don't like the concept. people seem to be going quite a distance out of their way to put me in vore now. firstly because they know it'll get a reaction uot of me and secondly because it's become the thing to do and now that's considered a trait of my character now that they end up in random situations like that. kinda like a bad luck brian sort of thing. i'm not that mad really like everyone thinks i am but forgive me if i just turn the page on that one, i have no interest in that topic. i mean, i've been put in just about everything now. sometimes a foot fetishist might make something that's fairly innocent or even sadomasochists might grip me with fascinating writing but i think the sexual content is done for me. i honestly have never been so turned off. i've seen enough porn of me to last a lifetime, it's boring, i want something to peak my interest and show me something new and the porn really doesn't do that. i could honestly find an almost identical image to any porn art that people can send me and before you say it it's absolutely not original to include random food items in it, that's the most overused thing you can think of. so i like fan works of other stuff i can see how people experiment with it, i like making fan fiction of real life things and like fan art of me, but i don't like making my own fan art of published material and i don't like being put in porn. i don't hate it, it's just overdone for me, i have very little invested interest. not that i love the sound of my own voice but i just like to say my thoughts for those that tldr'd.
Hey Mad Munchkin, I have a bit of a question here: How did you learn to draw digital art? I'm trying to perfect drawing with colored pencils at the moment, but I wist to eventually move on to digital art for bolder colors (this may just be the type of colored pencils I get, but the colors are always a bit dull when I try coloring) and a better time sharing it. The only problem is I can mess up on a stick figure when it comes to drawing on the computer. Do you just have to get used to it, like a little kid gets used to holding a pencil, or does it take years to perfect? I wish to maybe to art as a hobby as I grow older, and maybe as a way to earn extra money once I get a job (I'm still not old enough to have a job quite yet.) But how did you learn to draw on a computer? Your art is fantastic, and it would be nice to know how a great artist learned. But then again, I have a long way to go. I'm still trying to find out how to mold something into what I want it to be, my own style and creation. Sorry I'm rambling, its just that I love to draw, and I one day want to be able to create things out of sheer inspiration and hard work, and have people enjoy seeing something. I want to make people happy, and get them through a hard time (I also consider becoming a youtuber when I am older, but I don't know what I would want my image to be.) But who knows, maybe one day I can be good at creating art, like you are! You are an amazing artist, have an great personality, and aren't afraid to speak your mind!
I used to suffer from the same issue, but then I found a serious drawing app on a tablet (the iPad). I don't have a job either, but I still put out digital works using this. Note that using a touchscreen drawing method takes a bit of getting used to, but if you work at it, you can get it very fast, even in under a week. Hope I helped! (as another note, try aiming for an app that takes itself seriously. Layers help a lot, but most "kiddie" apps don't have that".)
I somewhat see where you're coming from. I show what I find online to my brother. My brother who does not understanding where the art originates can't fully appreciate it. Whenever I find greatfan work I see the real beauty in it, for I already have strong feelings for its origin. Of course this also brings bias to fan work for people who already have a negative view towards the origin. I'm sure you know what I mean.
Thanks for the tip about the Joker Blogs, it's good. The Joker is a great model for me - Be creative, be yourself, don't be ashamed of yourself when you're a little strange.
I know what you mean Mad Munchkin. I am a artist myself, and what you are saying brought this to my mind. I am a collage art student, and I find myself agree to something that my instructor teaches. That is summed up in this saying: "People were People, before they were People." Putting it in simple terms, what we do has already been done before in some way or another. In some ways it seemlier to what you said in the video: Alter, adept and evolve. Because as artists even original artwork is based off of something in reality. By taking something he artist alters the image, adapts it as need be and evolves in there skills and abilities. Now coming back to the People, saying. One of the best examples of this is that of the masters, and their art. If you look at their art, and knew their history you would find that they studied another master. Thus, people have been studying another artwork and coping it time and time again. After all the only way to understand something is to do it. Now I come to the point of this rant. You asked if by doing fanart you are taken seriously in the industry? I say that it is since if any one says other wise, you can then even the famous masters of the art world shouldn't be either since they did the same. Anyway thats all I wanted to say.
"innocence killed" "something great chopped into pieces" I am so happy u said that. I was not looking at the screen because I knew u would show a cupcakes image. I am one of those that hates creepypasta, but I respect people if they like it. Watching Cupcakes was a lifetime mistake I made, and I still have nightmares of it. I (accidentally on TH-cam...) saw cupcakes when I was six, I always try my best to avoid those type of things, especially during nighttime. I saw avatar (the movie that is pg-13) when i was 7 seven, and I am IN LOVE with it, I would guess I was scared of cupcakes because I am a fan of mlp (including G3, but not anymore) since I was 3, and also because it happened very slowly, and the very creepy music.
+Chica del Panda Cupcakes traumatized me too. This Mad Munchkin video looks fine to me (this is just based on my opinion). The only Cupcakes image is the one in the thumbnail. It has Pinkie Pie's face with some blood splattered on it. By "torture porn" standards that one image is quite mild.
The line between inspiration and ripping off is a fine and ambiguous one. A majority of the fanart I have seen can easily be considered art in its own right, but that doesn't mean that fan-made work "inspired" by the show is inherently art. There is no shame in taking inspiration from external sources, so long as you make it a bit your own: drawing it in your personal style, drawing your own original character in their style, in a pose or wearing an outfit you personally drew on them, expressing an abstract concept that has meaning to you but not featured in the canon, etc. The word of the day here is customization. I personally have several folder full of fanart that I may have more or less been a fan of, but the reason I saved them is because of the tone they expressed, the artists did a great job of expressing that tone and the characters depicted were just the canvas to express with.
Fan art also has its moments when it succeeds where the show failed. A perfect example would be King Sombra fan art, in which artists put him in situations that would have made him a better villain. Mickeymonster is a prominent example in that regard in that he not only makes the best Sombra fan art. My personal favorites are _Fear and Hatred_ and _Love and Fear,_ as they are far more reminiscent of Sauron than Sombra in the TV show (MLP being a kids' show notwithstanding).
Fan art actually can be taken seriously in the professional artist setting. A number of pop artists have actually used well known characters from animation and comics in exhibits. I believe Lichtenstein was one to use panels from old comic books. More recently a Japanese artist has used anime characters in his art. Also I understand your sentiments on torture porn and creepypasta. I feel kind of the same way about rule 34 on most things.
I just wish I could create proper illustrations for my Sonic Fanfiction... I mean, this is something I am literally pouring my heart and soul into, that is how invested I am in it... but I can't even illustrate my drawings properly outside of a portrait of one or two characters!?
Sounds like you and I are in the same boat Maddie. I have BFA with a concentration in Painting. Like you, I learned how to draw by drawing cartoons (and taking art class) as a kid. I've had a DA page for years (over 9 now), and my original stuff was getting very little attention, so in the past year I've been doing MLP fanart and my Watcher count went through the roof. I actually planned this because I knew creating fanart would get me more attention since it had an established fan base. Now I have a question for your Maddie. Just exactly how are you able to do Commission fanarts without getting any copywrite problems? I went to my first Anime convention and majority of artists there did fanart stuff. I wonder how they were able to do that and not get into trouble since the original stuff is technically not theirs? Great vid.
i am an artist only by hobby, i never studied art, i guess i got the skills from my father, he is a real artist, he makes his life out of it, now that i am an adult i regret never taking my art seriously, i started as you drawing anime and cartoons i liked (specially DBZ and Batman from the comics) .... Fan art is taken seriously by fans, and i agree with you, we are biased when it's our favorite show. But i also love original art specially about magical creatures and such. Btw your art is awesome!!!
Well said Mad Muchkin. You're paintings are impressive, much more than mine, I can only sketch at the moment, haven't had much practice painting, and I mostly focus on human pictures, more specifically, Ancient, Medieval and Fantasy Arms and Armour. I'm more a writer than a painter, and even then I'm just starting out. Have you considered drawing fan comic books? Seeing as how you're a fan of Batman (Me too, I love Batman) I think it might be an interesting route to take to test yourself, as both an artist and story teller. Just an idea I'm planting, make of it what you will.
I can't draw, so I write. I just finished adding in a scene for the Gala chapter of my FiM fanfics, starting with 'First Gear.' Next up I'll edit it, and then find someplace I want to upload the chapters. Got any suggestions? I'm also working on my season 2 parallel, 'Second Gear.' I'm probably about halfway through, considering I use some episodes from canon, and go off in original directions for Gearhead in others. I want to complete 'Third Gear' before I start 'The Dark Wars,' so I complete the set-up, and also so the changes that happen are as dramatic as they can be -- I'm rewriting Equestrian history here. 'Canterlot Crew (tentative renaming for my version of 'Equestria GIrls)'' will follow, and then another arc focusing on Chrysalis before I get back to 'Fourth Gear' settings. Of course, by the time I get there I will no longer be writing in parallel with season 4. I wonder how far I can reinterpret Tirek and Discord to fit. I want to ask: would anyone be interested in drawing my original characters for me? Unfortunately I cannot afford to pay a commission, but if you're still interested please let me know, and I'll message you some descriptions.
Eh, I love making art of characters I love. No other reasons. I used to be afraid of drawing my favorite characters because they would look ugly if I drew them, and I'd feel terrible for sullying them. But I'm confident now and it just makes me happy. I don't care about being taken seriously because of fan art. I have family, friends and fans that make me feel like I'm taken seriously. I also had someone whining about not wanting to make fan art just to get views. To me, it's not about getting views. It's about drawing something you love and having fun while doing it. When people like my characters so much that they want to draw them, it makes me so happy xD;
I feel like when you join a fandom and contribute to its base, whether by fan-art, fan-fiction, or just reading/reviewing whatever it is; it becomes part of who you are in a sense. So when people see things that you have drawn/ written, and they did not know previously that you were into that, it becomes awkward for you purely because it is a personal part of your identity. It is similar to how characters in books reflect the writers personality, and how an artist's pieces tend to reflect how they are feeling at that time. Essentially, that feeling is just like not wanting to go up to a total stranger and tell them about your personal life in detail.
Julia Winns (also as a part of the Homestuck fandom (whoops) I actually find it difficult to draw many other things that aren't related to the webcomic itself, purely because it is familiar and so common in my life now)
Julia Winns (also as a part of the Homestuck fandom (whoops) I actually find it difficult to draw many other things that aren't related to the webcomic itself, purely because it is familiar and so common in my life now)
When I draw Pokemon I try to make them realistic, and I enjoy making real creatures into cartoons. I love combining universes in my head and changing realities of games and shows. Also, most fan art I do is usually after I see fan art, and I like to recreate it it my own way. I do enjoy commenting on these because I feel like I'm making my own video, but without visual or audio content.
I would like to thank you for this video on a personal note. I started out as an original artist because I belived, and a bit still do, that making my own mark on the community would be better then showing others I could draw something I see. I don't mean to hate on your ideals because your art is amazing. I just, at first, enjoyed making my own characters doing what they do in there own worlds, I find more passion for doing that. But then only a few people will look at it, worst off, they just say it's crap because they don't truly understand. For example one comic of mine features a character who's father came from the sun. Many of my collage classmates would always question, if not flame that character as being an anomaly.because it's hard to see his father, being an alien from the sun mating with a human. To me there just a bunch of jerks, but it really hurt me, I didn't want to make that series anymore. I then started to do more fan art, but still draw it in my own way. MLP for example, I had to give it an adult theme because I have a hard time drawing cute. So I made it into an alter world were a war goes on, that way I can still admire the characters and how they were made but make them in a way that could be possible if the event in my series happen. To make a long story short, I like your art, you are great, and your video inspired me to keep drawing original work. Sorry for the lengthy comment, I just wanted to get that off my chest.
yup, I've seen people being put off by even the most minor of things, like in the warrior cats fanbase, i've seen people get screamed at for giving one character a red collar instead of a purple one. and half the people who do the screaming threaten to unsubscribe the person
Fan art, like every other form of art, has it's value based on *who* is judging it. Yes, I do believe that fan art should be taken seriously due to how many artists started and/or discovered their passion for drawing from doing fan art. Whether it was for a High School/Collage course work, something you wanted to take a shot at, or selling Doujinshi. It is very sad how some "fans" can flip out over such a minor thing.
Amazing artwork and an interesting insight to the topic of fan art and how it is seen. Seeing and listening to your work inspires me to keep drawing and to keep improving. Thanks for creating an insightful video and inspiring me as an artist.
Art is my life I love doing it I don't care if people hate it I know I'm not perfect and that's why I'm doing it to get better at it. I do fanart mostly because it's fun drawing something you love and other people love to from a show,movie, eta I love what I do now I keep my art as mild as possible when it comes to shipping art like drawing them hugging or just doing something together I don't take things to far mostly because I don't know how and I don't want to. I don't take my art seriously (well most of the time).
Cool vid. I've seen a few of your videos now and this one is probably my favourite of yours so far. Personally I feel that the extent to which fan-work is or is not taken seriously depends largely on the audience. I'm surprised that you did not include Andy Warhol in that line-up, since if anyone is interested in the commodification of image and pre-existing popular culture, it would have to be him. Personally, drawing is a hobby for me so if I draw something it is usually going to be purely for fun. Mostly Star Trek and other sci-fi fandoms -- although I did do a pic of the Death Star over Hogwarts for the son of a friend of mine. Fiction is more my thing, and I find that fanfic has an interesting status since it is not -- technically speaking -- legal, or even universally accepted by original creators. As a writer, I can only really sell original (non-fan) works even though I have been published in fanzines before. I think that a lot of people consider fan-work to be taking the "easy way" out. But in many cases it is also a very good exercise in characterisation and getting things "right", as it were. And I find that it can be just as great a challenge to capture the voice of an existing character as to create one of your own. (Of course I've attempted both!)
In the Power Rangers a short movie which was essentially fanfiction made it into the legitimate canon, so fan art certainly has a place to be taken seriously in entertainment. Conversely, when the entire cast of Katawa Shoujo face off at Summerslam, it's a gray area.
Y'know, I would always get embarrassed when I show my fan art to my friends and family, because I draw gorey stuff! But the reason why is because my friends know me as a sweet, kind, shy kind of girl, not a dark person. My best friend knows about this and, I'm NOT obsessed with it! I'm just an artist with a different way of seeing things. I don't draw violence at all, I just have my style and interest of things. I would sometimes draw dark-looking scenes that look cute or cuter than they are.
I feel the same about friends seeing my art. On Colors! 3d gallery, i drew vore, but my friend made an account. BUT, he got into vote too, so i don't feel weird anymore :)
You know funny thing about the "wrong color" complaint.... I really like Luna's human fanarts. Personally I think Luna in human form should have dark skin Which I do address in comments, but I still LOVE every bit of that type of fanart. If sb draws a dark skinned human version of Princess Luna than they have extra bonus points from me ( She has the darkest colour pallet in the show together with Chrysalis so its nice to see that being taken into consideration) but Good art makes great fan art & sometimes a creative take on characters clothes over shadows ANY mishaps of the artistic liberty in the Colour pallet
I personally like the grimdark part of the mlp fanbase, and I've drawn a few grimdark pics myself. I guess the reason why I like it is because I like gore. I don't believe it is because i'm sick, or I want to do so myself it's just cool to me. Also placing usually innocent characters in darker situations (as long as the characters are faithful) can be interesting to see what they would do. Cupcakes was good for me because it didn't seem like a stretch that pinkie pie would jump there therefore it seemed faithful to the character.
![[Bad] - YouTube ВСЁ? (победа VK и прощание с подписчиками)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pQ1bCOW5270/mqdefault.jpg)
Hi everyone. This video is a few years old now, and I still get comments on this video and others from people asking me to draw their MLP OC. I am a self employed freelance artist. I don't just make MLP stuff. If you are interested in a commission, visit my main youtube page and watch my trailer video. That has all the information you need about how to get a commission. Please do not ask for a drawing in the youtube comments.
Mad Munchkin I personally draw realistic mlp characters, mainly alicorns, but over the last few months my skills have evalved.
Very interesting points you bring up here Mad Munchkin. I am not an artist myself, but after listening to these topics, it makes me better appreciate the creativity that goes into a lot of these fan works. Thank you kindly for adding your own spin to the Brony Fandom.
DRWolf001 hello
Oh dear god.
All biblical paintings are just Jesus fanart.
Why?
Why did you put this in my brain?????
Because someone else put it in mine and I found it hilarious.
Mad Munchkin
Okay yeah It is hilarious, but if rags of lightning start thundering about me it's on you. XD
well. most of the paintings are naked.
Daringdosbiggestfan scp6.9-32 beta
shhhhhh!
Rule 34 no exceptions
Riley Collins well, theyre already humans, so its not really an exception.
I feel annoyed that no one cares about my work. My *original* work. Like, on deviant art, I have gotten a ton of favorites and comments on a The Mangle X Foxy the Pirate fan art (Five nights at Freddy's). But, nothing on my other artwork. I've put hours into these and no one cares. And its mostly criticism that doesn't even make sense. For example, they would call my art 'weird' or 'gay' or other remarks without even telling me whats wrong with it (which points to more than just my artwork). i'll show my friends, expecting great compliments on it, but they just point out everything wrong with it. I just want to tell them how hard it is to get it all right, but showing people who aren't interested in the hobby will just make them annoyed about it. Everyone is expecting a damn Mona Lisa from every artist and i just don't get it. Most of the time people will make annoying recolors to get the respect and attention they want, but they do get both of those things in the end. Mostly, how it goes is: A person will make a stupid character. Then, they will take someone else's artwork and color in their character. Then they will claim it as their own. Then, they will get hate and attention. The person will 'cry' over it and say that they are going to leave that site. People will feel bad for that person, make the person fan art, sub to them or whatever, and the person will be filthy-famous and have tons of friends in the end, even though they didn't do shit. Ugh >_< I just don't get it any more! I try to hard making quality animation, art, videos, and ect., but no one cares what so ever!
I will check out your art, you seem like a nice person and as a fellow artist I know that people need to realize how talented you are rather than to always point out flaws, they could appreciate you as the artist you are
Thats the struggle, man. All anyone can really say to someone in your position is to just keep going, don't give up blah blah blah. Usual shit.
OMG mangle x foxy...I LOVE THAT SHIPING!!!!!!!
I'm a p-problem? ;-(
No no I was saying I like that I've never seen her art befor!!!
I don't like when people turn innocent things into crap. (I feel you)
+Dragon Toons ikr like they turn fnaf into like CRAP for example Fnac/ Five nights at candys but the penguin jumpscare is funny
Samurai Sista IKR1 I hate fnac
Dragon Toons well I still think the penguin jumpscare is funny
penguin:may I take your order
ikr... it scares the crap out of me
+Dragon Toons I'm one of those people who like to do that so here is some stuff to help you understand: i like things interesting and seeing innocent characters turn upside down and seeing a new side of them and seeing the people that know them react to that is just so refreshing to see and so interesting the intent is not to spoil it for you it is to see how we can twist these predictable characters into something new and interesting wile still being somewhat, even if only a little, themselves.
i probably sound psychotic right now
what i hate is when a character loses their memories. it may be good for getting past a characters hate for something but when a character loses their memories they are just so predictable it hurts.
Mad munchkin I know this isn't related to the video but this price of fanart was shown in this video: as a fan of Alice in wonderland (yes there is a fandom) I loved the Cheshire Cat art price you have displayed in this video on the 'montage' of pieces it is beautiful and portrays the cat's impish and sometimes disturbing attitude keep up your amazing works of art I love them all!
Olivia LPS Thank you, that means a lot. :)
+Mad Munchkin i can't show my art so mine isn't taken seriously
+Mad Munchkin I really don't draw that much so I don't really take it seriously at all and I barely Draw at home anyway
+Olivia LPS I HAVE THE SAME FIRST NAME!!!!!
I love Alice in Wonderland
I can totally relate to the "not wanting to show fanart IRL" shtick. I am soooo terrified of showing my RL friends and family my fanart. I've shown my mom, and she just says "It's cute," or "What's that supposed to be?" My little brother runs away from it, seeing as all i draw is ponies. My older brother and my dad? All they say is "Meh."
It is funny how people react to fan art. Like it can't be as personal or artistic if it's characters from someone else's mind. But can't others' characters be just as much a part of you as your own? Anyhow, I like mad munchkin, and dear Dr. Wolf, and of course lu-UV Silver Quill.
Yeah.
Yeah... I don't show my Circular Gallifreyan writing to people irl for that exact reason.
:/
Just goes straight over their heads.
Flick Wise Yeah. I taught one of my friends on here. she wrote her name in Gallifreyan and showed it to her mom, who told her to COLOR IT IN.
"Torture Porn or Creepy-pasta" HOLD IT!
This was probably just a slip of the tongue, but those are Not the same thing's. TP is designed to depict a character getting violated to death for the sake of enjoyment. It's an acquired taste (like morbid jokes) and should never be seen as an interpretation of what someone want's to do (hell most of the time it's just commissioned). It's not my cup of tea either, but being in so many fandoms and learning about them has left me with 1 true saying that I believes always sums it up.
To each his own.
Creepy-pasta is about telling a story that by it's definition sound's "Creepy". It's not always about death or murder, it's about telling an unsettling story that runs chill's down your spine. (or just sounds silly, depends on who read's it)
A good example I can think of is the artist "aisu-isme" from deviant art. She runs a special blog called "Creepy Ponies" and uses them as an inspiration for her art much like anyone else in the fandom. It's a special type of art doesn't depict torture/murder for the sake of pleasure, but more from a different art perspective.
Also it's never fair to say that something should never be brought outside the boundaries of what Should be made because it's more mature than what's originally depicted in the content it's based off of. I.E. just because something isn't about sex/drugs/violence doesn't mean fans can't think it can if it gives them inspiration. If not, then the Fallout Equestria universe wouldn't/shouldn't exists.
BTW, you should never feel bad because people will notice one piece of art over another. In modern day society, there are SO many works out there that it can be overwhelming to have to shift through and take notice of every piece of artistic work out there. (sound familiar?)
People will notice when a fan work is made. Follower's will notice when something original is made. Fans will notice everything. But it takes an Artist to bring them all together.
I never said torture porn or creepy pasta were the exact same thing. I just happened to say then together. I know what both things are and know the difference. I never said that something should never be brought outside it's boundaries. I said I would never draw violence, drug use or sex fan art unless the show it is based on already had those themes. It's a personal choice. Its just not for me. Fallout Equestria doesn't technically count since it is a cross over; fall out has strong violence, sex and drug use, so the themes are acceptable in this case. I'm more a fan of that story because of the video game series Fall Out, as I said in the video.
"Fallout Equestria doesn't technically count since it is a cross over"
The term Fallout "Equestria" make's it a crossover of MLP/Fallout. One has sex/drugs/violence, the other is the opposite. So yeah, it's like mixing oil and water, and that's what makes them awesome.
Nother great video---wait, is that my fanart? ^^ Forget what I just said, AWESOME video, Mad Munchkin! Thankyouthankyouthankyou
What was your fan art? When was it?
Oh honey, but of course fan art is taken seriously.
Fan art allows us to change our perception on the show, without fan art, we would not have flufflepuff, button mash, and other OC's.
but not only OC's, there's just some really good art of canon characters.
fan art molds and shapes my opinions and love for characters.
and if thats not enough, even the writers and artists of the show (not just mlp, but many anime and western shows) are influenced by artwork.
lastly, is GEN. 4 not just a different kind of fan art of GEN. 3?
fluttershy, rarity, rainbow dash, they were all GEN. 3, and Lauren simply revised them in a fan-art sort of way. her own "fan art" just...happened to kick off alot easier
honey, your art is perfect the way it is, i hope your not doubting yourself
This is just something I wanted to put out, I'm not angry or offended or anything: I do art as a hobby but I will spend days or even weeks on one piece if I think it's worth it. I will try my hardest to improve my art skills, ect. I just prefer not pursue it as a career or make money off it. I might one day but for now I'm happy doodling ponies and cats whiles doing requests for friends and maybe painting a little bit. That's it. That simple. I will put hours of work on my art I just prefer not to make a profit of it.
I cant believe you put my drawing among the fan art!!! I'm so flattered! Thank you. :)
Fan art was what really got me going with drawing. Yeah, I drew on and off but around 4th grade I rediscovered my love for the original Yu-Gi-Oh series (to the point I actually cried because I hadn't seen it in so long. Yes, that was a thing) and it rekindled my love for both the show and drawing. I spend hours, weeks, days and months drawing the characters I loved, trying to make them look perfect and I also explored other things like crochet and knitting when it came to the show, as well as painting. I kept with yu-gi-oh until I started to branch out and began to draw other shows such as Inuyasha, Pokemon, and even characters from my favorite mangas until I began creating my own OCs, starting with dragons until I finally fell into the anime fandom. I don't draw as much fan art today, but I owe it all to fan art for were I am today.
Hm.... Perhaps I *should* take myself seriously as an artist...
Mad Munchkin, watching your videos actually make me want to be creative and start drawing or teach myself how to do computer drawing and always gives me ideas and makes me want to continue even the smallest of details when coming up with stories, Thank you for keeping me creative :)
I very much enjoy gory fanart and fanfiction, and it's not because of some sick desire. It's because seeing characters in such intense situations genuinely interests me. I am fascinated by how characters are pulled into the darkness, and how they either rise to the challenge or fall. For me it reveals so much more about the character than many other situations ever could. I come from a very innocent household, and therefor would never show my darker fanart to my parents and sometimes even my friends. But it's just so intriguing that I can't resist creating it. I prefer stories where the character defeats whatever evil or darkness had taken hold of them, but I can bend to either situation. However, I have seen rather sick minded people who take very pure concepts and rip it apart just for the fun of it, and that does not please me. But that doesn't mean they're evil or anything. Another reason why I enjoy dark fan content is because it's very real. Life isn't all happy happy joy joy, and to see a character struggle with that is so satisfying to see.
Well, I hope this comment helped! Have a brilliant day (or night) ^w^
Whoa.
I never expected my art to be featured! Thank you so much!!!
It's unfortunate. I myself am an artist who did not focus on fanart. I found that 10 year olds drawing things disproportionately or even tracing would get more views than any of my original art or fan art from lesser known IP. Eventually, it ate away at me so much that I took my art down and mostly switched to other creative outlets. It's too hard to compete with the flashy IP when you draw original work.
Wow. You probably don't check the comments on old videos, but just felt moved to post. I'm really loving going through your videos and hearing your opinion on various subjects. This one in particular was interesting because it allowed me to compare my own artistic medium, writing, in regards to fan art/fiction.
This made me feel a bit better, since I was wondering about this, too. I always feel way more passionate when making a piece of fan art than my "own" art.
Beautiful video, Mad Munchkin. This gave me a great deal more pride and passion for some of what I do as an artist. I love to draw comics, involving the main character, Phyllis, placed in different stories and media. For instance, my first few were of her battling as a Mage in the wilds of the video game Skyrim. (Not sure if you've heard of that before.) then it expanded and she began going into books, movies, and TV shows. Despite the immense pleasure I felt at making these comics and situations, I tended to feel that it was rather silly. I mean, no one but myself ever really saw them, much less actually understand the humor and emotion. Thank you so much for making this. Good luck as an artist!!! (By the way, I think the pictures you make are beautiful. It's obvious how much time and effort you put into each one. Nice work!)
"We only find our voice after sounding like a lot of other people" -Neil Gaiman (I think that's how the quote went...)
"No idea is new. Whoever thought up the first talking tree saw a tree and knew what talking was, and put the two ideas together." -One of my writing teachers (I think early high school....)
I think fan art can be seriously taken as art if it is crafted as a serious work of art. If it's making one's own eye candy or like a Mary Sue fanfic in that it is made to satisfy ones own fantasy, then I don't think it can be taken as seriously. Same thing if the fan work makes offenses at rather than honors its source material. However, it the fan work is created as one would create real art, then I think it could be real art. Take the Disney movies for example- Disney didn't come up with the story of Hercules or The Little Mermaid, but it took the story and made good art out of it. I believe that adding your own personality into the piece is part of it. Especially if the source material is being used to bring out a point- allusion is a highly respected literary device. As for the first quote, fan art I think is a good way for us to train our own styles and voices. But boot camp can't be where we stop- use what you learn in fanart in your original work. It's like when using a trope- as all the reviewers will say, it's okay to use tropes as long as you add something new to them. Characters are supposed to leave an impact on the audience, and fan art I think is a good way to pay tribute as well; even religious pieces are made to say, "Whom we follow is worthy of this." And if you make something with all your skill and heart, the honor your piece gives to the source material is incredible. Art is that wonderful intersection between subjective and objective value, where a piece can be of great sympathetic and technical value. I appreciate a complicated song in choir when I a) understand the composer's and the poetry's meaning and b) took music theory. Fan art both tributes the original work and improves the one creating work, so I see no reason why we should not consider fan art as real art; it can't be the only work we do, nor can it be nixed.
It's just those pesky crappy ones that give fan art a bad rep :P
Can u plz talk about ur opinion on MLP creepypastas?
McKenna The Gamer Girl, this is from 2014, try commenting on something newer
Found your channel today and watched a ton of your vids. Love where your mind is at and love your art too.
Hey, Mad Munchkin! I happened to stumble upon your channel today, and I happen to love it! Your opinions are reasonable, and you always have a valid explanation for disliking, or liking, something! I just wanted to say, also, that this video has given me lots of inspiration. I appreciate people like you who give newbie artists like me honest inspiration. I may only be writing fan-fictions and drawing fan-art now, but I want to be an original artist like you are, someday. Thank you so much for the inspiration you have given me.
At 7:59
I highly agree that using shock value that sounds both out-of-place and needlessly confusing isn’t the right kind of attention. I find it sad that art made by artist who use these subject matters in a respectful but also interesting way doesn’t get as much attention as say...someone who draws a creator’s (who has just passed away) character getting screwed by the Grim Reaper and excusing it as “letting out feelings”.
I really enjoyed all that you had to say about what goes into making art a career. Especially the "having an eclectic portfolio" part. As a software developer, I sometimes think of my work as being something of an art (albeit one that is really hard to appreciate at a glance); so that was some good career advice about the level of effort required.
It is very important for a artist to evolve and adapt to new things. For example when I started off in my drawing career, I only drew cats, then after testing the waters a little more, I went into drawing nekos, then ponies, then dogs, birds, people, ect. adapted to my fandoms (Like mlp, Steven universe, Under tale, ect.) I tried different styles and I use them for certain things or certain fandoms
Forgive me if this was said already. I did a cursory look threw the comments but didn't read every single one so I may have missed it.
Friendship Is Magic is actually, in essence, a fan production. The show itself is based on the stories that Lauren Faust thought up as a little girl with her own dolls. Shes said this on a number of occasions.
As an artist she works on her own stuff all the time. She was pitching Galaxy Girls to the Hub when they gave her FiM and she's currently working as a character designer for the massively original Wonder Over Yonder. But her biggest claim to fame was a fan project. A fan project with a lot of money and the backing of the original owner, but a fan project none the less.
The BBC Sherlock, the RDJ movies, and about a million other renditions are fan works of the original Doyal books. Disneys Hercules is technically fanfiction. Actually, most every movie Disney has ever made is fanfiction with very few exceptions. Technically, every rendition of Star Trek after the original is fanfiction. Technically, Doctor Who from 9 on is fanfiction.
Technically, Equestria Girls is Hasbro's fanfiction...
So ya. Everything you said in this video is spot frigin on. We, as artists, should always be striving to do more, to do better, but we shouldn't discredit fanart as "not real art" just because its based on something else. That fanart may end up being the next big TV show, or movie, or novel, or anything.
This...this is AWESOME
When you said to have fun in what you do and not worry about popularity through fan art, I actually went through another mindset. I have a deviantart account, but very few watchers, and I realize now that if I enjoy making my art, I'll be happy. And that's all I need. Thanks!
1:54 I THINK I'LL TRYYYYY DEFYYYYYING GRAVITY
YOU SEE HOW IIIIII AM DEFYYYING GRAVITYYYYYYY!!! AND YOU CAN'T PULL MEEE DOWN
My problem when it comes to MY art is that i often create more original characters than cannon ones; that can be a weakness because it prevents me from expanding my talents and seeing what I am capable of. Though I DO draw official characters every once in a while, its really only because one or two of my own original characters are in the picture too. But Mad Munchkin you've inspired me to try doing some pictures of official/ cannon characters - my own original characters.
I actually have such a hard time drawing fanart. I have no clue how much of the original style I should keep, or how to keep the character identifiable, etc. It's a shame, really, because most of the time I spend sketching is trying to come up with a look/outfit for the person, and drawing pre-existing characters would not only help out there, but would motivate me more.
That happened to me once with coloring complaints. It's horrible. The character was dark pink, but the person looking at the picture saw her as red and I worked damn hard on that picture. Strangely enough that person was the only one to complain and no one else did. To this day I believe it was something with there monitor.
My great-great-grandfather was a mezzotinter; he made acid engravings of other people's paintings and then printed copies off to people who wanted them in their houses. It was only monochrome but the colour was lush. Now I confess that until I had dug into my genealogy I had never heard of him, but in doing so I discovered that he apparently is notable enough to have his own (small) fan club. No, nothing he did was "original", and yes, he was arguably less an artist than an artisan, but that was enough for him to gain some modest artistic respect. No fan artist will ever be granted the kind of immortality to which artists aspire, but that is as much to do with the circles they travel in than anything else. After all, what are the works of Warhol and Lichtenstein, if not fan art? But they were good enough and, arguably more important, in the right places at the right time to get noticed by the right people. And really, once the craft itself is mastered, that is all art is; getting noticed by the right people. Who's to say that Picasso is better than Monet, or that Van Gogh is better than Picasso? And yet it is Van Gogh that sells at the highest prices today, just as someone else will in a few decades.
Your art is amazing! I especially love the Edward and Alphonse ponies :3
10:37 is my Mad Munchkin fanart! Yaaay!! Either way, I admit to bring the one who draws more fanart then original works, but I still make my own original stuff.
Ozamu Tezuka made a Bambi manga with permission when the movie came out because he's a huge fan of disney. It is technically fan art but also done by a professional story teller, so do what you like
"If a characters eye or hair colour isn't right people will get hyped up over that detail..."
THIS! Omg! I always find it so fascinating and yet absurd that superficial things overrides the deeper qualities of a work.
That blinking animation reminds me of how some of the DS Kirby games have it. I like it
I've noticed more and more that lots of people (the ones who harp on fan works) treat a canon universe as law or sacred. Almost as if it's something that shouldn't be tampered with or altered in any way. These people don't seem to grasp the concept that human beings are naturally creative and very imaginative. We may love canon universes, but that doesn't mean we wanna remain there all the time. We like to expand, explore, and create our own worlds within an already established one. As you stated, it's a way to pay tribute to an already existing entity. It's rare to find people creating fan works of a subject they don't like. Fans create art from subjects they love and have a deep investment.
It's amazing how pissed people will get about fan created content. You touched very briefly on shipping (probably because it's not something you partake in) and it's a subject that, I think, receives more scrutiny and hate than most other matters involving canon vs fanon. To this day, I still don't really understand the underlying reasoning behind so much blind hatred and disgust for fanon works. People claim it's "disrespecting" and "butchering" what's already established in canon, which is ludicrous. Anything within canon can't be butchered by fanon, because they're two separate entities. One is the established world everyone knows and accepts, while the other is considered more of an AU. AU's don't "harm" the credibility of an already established work.
I could go on and on about this, but I'll end it here. :) Sorry for the wall of text. I feel somewhat strongly about this subject, which leads to rambling. ^^;
As someone who writes a ton of DC fan fiction, and is working on 7 original comics, a trilogy of novels, a stand alone novel, an anime, an American style cartoon, and 2 musicals I can attest to the fact that fan art is very serious. Although I do kind of use my fan fiction as practice for my original works.
For me, I draw and write fanart as stepping stone, so I have have experience when I do my Original art, and it may be a good way to get people to check out my Original stuff later on.
YES THANK YOU!! hahahaha! I keep saying the same thing ,Harley was never a real blonde. XD I love you for pointing that out since she was created for the animated series exclusively before she became a fan favorite.
mad, youre always so fun to watch no matter how old these videos are. :D
What you said about why you draw make me wanted to draw your words are so inspiring
As an Artist who stopped drawing for.. more years than I care to admit. Yes, years, I appreciate what you have to say in this video. What finally drew me out of my extreme art rut? MLP, a show, like many others out there, I had never intended to watch, eventually did, and.. well the rest is history so to speak. None of it's scanned as I don't have much done and, well, my scanner died at some point between when I was still using it and now, likely from moving so often.
Part of what started my art rut were multiple incidents of my original art being taken, altered to remove my name, and then claimed by another. After so much of that, it didn't feel worth it, but after so long I feel.. well, stupid for backing away from what I loved because of it, and to anyone reading this, please, PLEASE don't stop drawing if this happens to you. Fight it, report it, keep drawing, otherwise you do end up regretting it greatly.
Anyhow, as off topic as I've gone, sort of at least, I'll just say.. Great video, and love your art. Also look forward to seeing more, MM. :)
There's a good story on FIMfiction called "my roomate is a vampire" it's from Octavia's point of view and the 2 main characters are Octavia and vinyl (as you would probably suspect)
I learned to draw manga by being inspired by N and Iris from Pokemon BW. They helped me inspire a whole novel series I'm attempting to write!
1:10 FULL METAL ACLHEMIST YESYESYESYESYESYESYES SO MUCH YES! I just got into that anime a couple weeks ago. Every time i get into something, everything related to that just gets thrown in my face and im like YES!
I feel fan art should be taken seriously. It can add a more detailed story to an existing plot. Like with FiM, all the fan art with the background ponies, it allows a more interesting experience for those who view the original. Plus with it, the fan art (I'm including fanfiction), the fans of the show can help make the story the way they want it to be, so it's more fun.
Fan works intrigue me. To me, it all comes down to the quality of it. if it's good and not just meh or ugh then it intrigues me. Sometimes it can even be better than the original or take the character and story to a whole new level. As a writer, I write my own novels, but I dabble in fanfiction (lately I've been writing quite a few!)--mostly only when I find a character or story that really interests me or connects with me (or else I never write or start the fanfiction at all). But because I put a lot of work into it, I sometimes consider the fanfictions even better or on par with my original novels. That's just my take...
(P.S. You're a really great artist! I'm always jealous of people that can draw XD)
I think you're art is the best I've ever came across, not lying!
Hi Maddie, First off, I love the art you make from what I've seen so far, please never stop (though I didn't think you would)Second, I use the same spelling of Maddie, ironic there.Third, you're awesome, have a hug!
As always, love the passion you have for what you do
Oddly enough, in a way I totally get what you're saying, even though I don't draw, paint, sing, or make videos. My "art" (the kind I actually enjoy doing and am good at) is purely martial. I've studied several styles over the years, and it's a passion and hobby for me. I don't compete at all (not counting the few sport fencing tournaments I competed in during college), and most don't get to see me practice, but believe me when I say I do treat it seriously and consider it a genuine art form (although there is certainly much more to it than just that). There is technique, crispness, sharpness, flow, creativity, careful planning, and a variety of styles that goes into my training, just as there is when an artist like you starts drawing something on a canvas I would wager.
The way I see it, making fan art is no different from learning a pre-established fighting style, which of course is a serious thing among us fighters. We do that all the time, at least as often as people develop their own fighting style I'd say. Like you with your drawings, I take my inspiration from others in the field, but also like to add my own original work to it. In terms of the broad general concept of borrowing from other artists and adding your own original material, there's really no difference. Bottom line is that art is art, no matter the medium or the source material, and it should be viewed as such in a serious and professional manner in my view.
Can just say, that is so true. The world doesn't always like my art and I wish to be better but that doesn't mean I or anyone else should stop.
I'm going to agree with you on a lot of these points even though I'm not actually in any of the mentioned fandoms. As a writer and artist I generally use my personal OC's in my fan fictions just to further improve my writing and characters them selves. I'd go into further detail about my methods of creating OC's but I'm not going to fill the comments section for the sake people's sanity😬
This topic really hit home for me. I have close friends that have told me on multiple occasions that doing something like fanart or fanfiction is a waste of creative talent. If your an artist or a writer you should be making your own story with your own characters and it's a shame that so many people that are those things don't do that a waste of their creativity on fan works. That you shouldn't have headcannon that goes against the regular cannon because that's not what the original creator wanted. Sometimes even saying that some head-canno an insult to the original creator's idea.
I know this may sound out of proportion but that maybe because it is. When they said that I felt kinda insulted, like they were saying that I'm wasting my effort. (Sigh)
0:52 omg I forgot the musical name but I love the song loathing
The problem I have with fanart is that I rarely show what I made either based on the fandom's reputation and/or known only to draw things about it. Trust me I've drawn plenty of the villain I obsess over who will remain anonymous but since the fandom has long since been dead for a while (I joined when it was already dead ;~;), I didn't get notice so i stopped (or at leas tried to...)
Since then and before then, I have dozens of characters of my own and have every hole and detail about them and the plot they're in filled out but only the closest of friends know a small bit about it... One reason is that the plot is severely thick (in my view) and hard for me to explain everything.
Also one of my angers is that someone makes a non experienced "joke" piece and they get a ton of views, likes, comments, etc... and then someone else who has alot of experience makes a wonderful art piece that is original barely gets exposure and it really bugs me. It's just like popularity. The people who should be hated are loved like kings and queens and the nicest people get all of the damage it's hard to view and experience.
I have seen very few fan-based creepypastas mainly because I don't really like enjoy them as much as original creepypastas. They are though (similar to how your describing art) a lot more popular than anything completely original. Examples of fan made creepypastas include MLP creepypastas, Sonic EXE, Ben drowned and technically even slender man is a fan fiction. Stories like these I feel kind of misrepresent the community, but hey, a lot of people enjoy them, so I'm fine with it. Art is a better way (in my opinion) to create something for a fan base, and even though a lot of songs, stories, and costumes inspired by characters can be good, I prefer looking at Fanart rather than any other genre 😅
(I talk too much.)
Oh, and one little note I wanna give to the topic, yeah, I draw fanart because I like to do it and have fun while doing and love to see other people enjoy it too. Actually some of the fun I have with fanart is because I know I can give some people joy with it. Some people actually wrote me that I brought some joy to them when they had a shitty day, or that I kinda helped them out with my art through darker times. And I'm really glad I'm able to do something like that and bringing some little sunshine to some people. :-) Of course I also try to help out other artists sometimes. ^^
The last sentences were very inspiring!
i personally have a distaste for fan works but not in the interpretation you might expect. i love looking at artwork online which has kinda given me the title of King of the Noobs since despite the fact i can actually draw decent enough i actually prefer to hang with the more amateur artists. i often find i learn more from them that i would from the more accomplished artists on the web. so i love looking at fan art of shows and things. i love how people put their own spin on things. however, i myself don't do fanart. for me i find it rather restricting because i have to work with a book half written rather than experiment with the full capability of my mind. oddly enough though i am part of the Good Guy Fan Fiction group. A GGFF is a story in which the source material has a dark, depressing or unsatisfying unhappy ending and so fans rewrite it to instead wrap things up in a happy fashion. i get to see quite a lot of difficult subjects to cover which i'd rather not repeat but i'm not ignorant or afraid of these topics and i'll write a realistic resolution to the story. i find news reports a good source of nasty material and in some cases i've even been able to help the victims with good advice after being seasoned by experience and from things i've heard from people who've experienced it themselves. it's so odd for most people that i fan fiction life itself rather than fiction but i think only real life can provide the unbelievable cases it does on such a regular basis and touch on things no fiction creator dares explore. i myself have been subject to more than a few fan works of myself and my characters. in fact there's quite a steady flow and i thoroughly enjoy reading my emails even the hateful ones. people always ask why i allow people to use my characters if i'm not fond with what the fans do with them and i answer that i can't restrict a person's thoughts only the distribution of them. if they want to show me doing weird then go ahead, i might not approve of it all but the mad torrents of ideas make trends that often i like. not sure i like the association with my character and drugs but even then some have done it in a light and humorous way that gets a chuckle out of me. vore however i roll my eyes at. i think i made the biggest mistake by saying i don't like the concept. people seem to be going quite a distance out of their way to put me in vore now. firstly because they know it'll get a reaction uot of me and secondly because it's become the thing to do and now that's considered a trait of my character now that they end up in random situations like that. kinda like a bad luck brian sort of thing. i'm not that mad really like everyone thinks i am but forgive me if i just turn the page on that one, i have no interest in that topic. i mean, i've been put in just about everything now. sometimes a foot fetishist might make something that's fairly innocent or even sadomasochists might grip me with fascinating writing but i think the sexual content is done for me. i honestly have never been so turned off. i've seen enough porn of me to last a lifetime, it's boring, i want something to peak my interest and show me something new and the porn really doesn't do that. i could honestly find an almost identical image to any porn art that people can send me and before you say it it's absolutely not original to include random food items in it, that's the most overused thing you can think of. so i like fan works of other stuff i can see how people experiment with it, i like making fan fiction of real life things and like fan art of me, but i don't like making my own fan art of published material and i don't like being put in porn. i don't hate it, it's just overdone for me, i have very little invested interest. not that i love the sound of my own voice but i just like to say my thoughts for those that tldr'd.
Hey Mad Munchkin, I have a bit of a question here: How did you learn to draw digital art? I'm trying to perfect drawing with colored pencils at the moment, but I wist to eventually move on to digital art for bolder colors (this may just be the type of colored pencils I get, but the colors are always a bit dull when I try coloring) and a better time sharing it. The only problem is I can mess up on a stick figure when it comes to drawing on the computer. Do you just have to get used to it, like a little kid gets used to holding a pencil, or does it take years to perfect? I wish to maybe to art as a hobby as I grow older, and maybe as a way to earn extra money once I get a job (I'm still not old enough to have a job quite yet.) But how did you learn to draw on a computer? Your art is fantastic, and it would be nice to know how a great artist learned. But then again, I have a long way to go. I'm still trying to find out how to mold something into what I want it to be, my own style and creation. Sorry I'm rambling, its just that I love to draw, and I one day want to be able to create things out of sheer inspiration and hard work, and have people enjoy seeing something. I want to make people happy, and get them through a hard time (I also consider becoming a youtuber when I am older, but I don't know what I would want my image to be.) But who knows, maybe one day I can be good at creating art, like you are! You are an amazing artist, have an great personality, and aren't afraid to speak your mind!
I used to suffer from the same issue, but then I found a serious drawing app on a tablet (the iPad). I don't have a job either, but I still put out digital works using this. Note that using a touchscreen drawing method takes a bit of getting used to, but if you work at it, you can get it very fast, even in under a week. Hope I helped! (as another note, try aiming for an app that takes itself seriously. Layers help a lot, but most "kiddie" apps don't have that".)
hmmmm, I never thought to use a tablet before! I usually use the computer, but using a tablet is a good idea! Thanks Smiles McCat!
No problem, glad I could help!
hey, umm.. my advice is do what Smiles McCat said, or get a drawing tablet. they work very well
I somewhat see where you're coming from. I show what I find online to my brother. My brother who does not understanding where the art originates can't fully appreciate it. Whenever I find greatfan work I see the real beauty in it, for I already have strong feelings for its origin.
Of course this also brings bias to fan work for people who already have a negative view towards the origin. I'm sure you know what I mean.
Thanks for the tip about the Joker Blogs, it's good.
The Joker is a great model for me - Be creative, be yourself, don't be ashamed of yourself when you're a little strange.
I know what you mean Mad Munchkin. I am a artist myself, and what you are saying brought this to my mind. I am a collage art student, and I find myself agree to something that my instructor teaches. That is summed up in this saying: "People were People, before they were People." Putting it in simple terms, what we do has already been done before in some way or another. In some ways it seemlier to what you said in the video: Alter, adept and evolve. Because as artists even original artwork is based off of something in reality. By taking something he artist alters the image, adapts it as need be and evolves in there skills and abilities. Now coming back to the People, saying. One of the best examples of this is that of the masters, and their art. If you look at their art, and knew their history you would find that they studied another master. Thus, people have been studying another artwork and coping it time and time again. After all the only way to understand something is to do it.
Now I come to the point of this rant. You asked if by doing fanart you are taken seriously in the industry? I say that it is since if any one says other wise, you can then even the famous masters of the art world shouldn't be either since they did the same. Anyway thats all I wanted to say.
The other day I drew Slash and Axl Rose from GnR in Naruto style, because I love both things and wanted to know what they looked like in the show...
"innocence killed" "something great chopped into pieces" I am so happy u said that. I was not looking at the screen because I knew u would show a cupcakes image. I am one of those that hates creepypasta, but I respect people if they like it. Watching Cupcakes was a lifetime mistake I made, and I still have nightmares of it. I (accidentally on TH-cam...) saw cupcakes when I was six, I always try my best to avoid those type of things, especially during nighttime. I saw avatar (the movie that is pg-13) when i was 7 seven, and I am IN LOVE with it, I would guess I was scared of cupcakes because I am a fan of mlp (including G3, but not anymore) since I was 3, and also because it happened very slowly, and the very creepy music.
+Chica del Panda Cupcakes traumatized me too. This Mad Munchkin video looks fine to me (this is just based on my opinion). The only Cupcakes image is the one in the thumbnail. It has Pinkie Pie's face with some blood splattered on it. By "torture porn" standards that one image is quite mild.
The line between inspiration and ripping off is a fine and ambiguous one. A majority of the fanart I have seen can easily be considered art in its own right, but that doesn't mean that fan-made work "inspired" by the show is inherently art. There is no shame in taking inspiration from external sources, so long as you make it a bit your own: drawing it in your personal style, drawing your own original character in their style, in a pose or wearing an outfit you personally drew on them, expressing an abstract concept that has meaning to you but not featured in the canon, etc. The word of the day here is customization. I personally have several folder full of fanart that I may have more or less been a fan of, but the reason I saved them is because of the tone they expressed, the artists did a great job of expressing that tone and the characters depicted were just the canvas to express with.
Fan art also has its moments when it succeeds where the show failed. A perfect example would be King Sombra fan art, in which artists put him in situations that would have made him a better villain. Mickeymonster is a prominent example in that regard in that he not only makes the best Sombra fan art. My personal favorites are _Fear and Hatred_ and _Love and Fear,_ as they are far more reminiscent of Sauron than Sombra in the TV show (MLP being a kids' show notwithstanding).
Fan art actually can be taken seriously in the professional artist setting. A number of pop artists have actually used well known characters from animation and comics in exhibits. I believe Lichtenstein was one to use panels from old comic books. More recently a Japanese artist has used anime characters in his art.
Also I understand your sentiments on torture porn and creepypasta. I feel kind of the same way about rule 34 on most things.
before i got into MLP Fan art, most of my original artwork has always been dark. i even do Alien franchise fan art of the Xenomorphs.
I just wish I could create proper illustrations for my Sonic Fanfiction... I mean, this is something I am literally pouring my heart and soul into, that is how invested I am in it... but I can't even illustrate my drawings properly outside of a portrait of one or two characters!?
Personaly when I see cupcakes the short, I find it funny and cool because someone so creative to make Pinkie doing that.
Sounds like you and I are in the same boat Maddie. I have BFA with a concentration in Painting. Like you, I learned how to draw by drawing cartoons (and taking art class) as a kid. I've had a DA page for years (over 9 now), and my original stuff was getting very little attention, so in the past year I've been doing MLP fanart and my Watcher count went through the roof. I actually planned this because I knew creating fanart would get me more attention since it had an established fan base. Now I have a question for your Maddie. Just exactly how are you able to do Commission fanarts without getting any copywrite problems? I went to my first Anime convention and majority of artists there did fanart stuff. I wonder how they were able to do that and not get into trouble since the original stuff is technically not theirs? Great vid.
OMG the olaf and charmander picture was SOOOOO cute
i am an artist only by hobby, i never studied art, i guess i got the skills from my father, he is a real artist, he makes his life out of it, now that i am an adult i regret never taking my art seriously,
i started as you drawing anime and cartoons i liked (specially DBZ and Batman from the comics) ....
Fan art is taken seriously by fans, and i agree with you, we are biased when it's our favorite show. But i also love original art specially about magical creatures and such.
Btw your art is awesome!!!
Well said Mad Muchkin. You're paintings are impressive, much more than mine, I can only sketch at the moment, haven't had much practice painting, and I mostly focus on human pictures, more specifically, Ancient, Medieval and Fantasy Arms and Armour. I'm more a writer than a painter, and even then I'm just starting out. Have you considered drawing fan comic books? Seeing as how you're a fan of Batman (Me too, I love Batman) I think it might be an interesting route to take to test yourself, as both an artist and story teller. Just an idea I'm planting, make of it what you will.
you just inspirerd me to create more fan art but make it higher quality and better
looking and add color
I can't draw, so I write.
I just finished adding in a scene for the Gala chapter of my FiM fanfics, starting with 'First Gear.' Next up I'll edit it, and then find someplace I want to upload the chapters. Got any suggestions? I'm also working on my season 2 parallel, 'Second Gear.' I'm probably about halfway through, considering I use some episodes from canon, and go off in original directions for Gearhead in others. I want to complete 'Third Gear' before I start 'The Dark Wars,' so I complete the set-up, and also so the changes that happen are as dramatic as they can be -- I'm rewriting Equestrian history here. 'Canterlot Crew (tentative renaming for my version of 'Equestria GIrls)'' will follow, and then another arc focusing on Chrysalis before I get back to 'Fourth Gear' settings. Of course, by the time I get there I will no longer be writing in parallel with season 4. I wonder how far I can reinterpret Tirek and Discord to fit.
I want to ask: would anyone be interested in drawing my original characters for me? Unfortunately I cannot afford to pay a commission, but if you're still interested please let me know, and I'll message you some descriptions.
you can post it on tumblr or devaintart :3
Eh, I love making art of characters I love. No other reasons. I used to be afraid of drawing my favorite characters because they would look ugly if I drew them, and I'd feel terrible for sullying them. But I'm confident now and it just makes me happy. I don't care about being taken seriously because of fan art. I have family, friends and fans that make me feel like I'm taken seriously. I also had someone whining about not wanting to make fan art just to get views. To me, it's not about getting views. It's about drawing something you love and having fun while doing it. When people like my characters so much that they want to draw them, it makes me so happy xD;
I feel like when you join a fandom and contribute to its base, whether by fan-art, fan-fiction, or just reading/reviewing whatever it is; it becomes part of who you are in a sense. So when people see things that you have drawn/ written, and they did not know previously that you were into that, it becomes awkward for you purely because it is a personal part of your identity. It is similar to how characters in books reflect the writers personality, and how an artist's pieces tend to reflect how they are feeling at that time. Essentially, that feeling is just like not wanting to go up to a total stranger and tell them about your personal life in detail.
Julia Winns (also as a part of the Homestuck fandom (whoops) I actually find it difficult to draw many other things that aren't related to the webcomic itself, purely because it is familiar and so common in my life now)
Julia Winns (also as a part of the Homestuck fandom (whoops) I actually find it difficult to draw many other things that aren't related to the webcomic itself, purely because it is familiar and so common in my life now)
When I draw Pokemon I try to make them realistic, and I enjoy making real creatures into cartoons. I love combining universes in my head and changing realities of games and shows. Also, most fan art I do is usually after I see fan art, and I like to recreate it it my own way. I do enjoy commenting on these because I feel like I'm making my own video, but without visual or audio content.
I would like to thank you for this video on a personal note. I started out as an original artist because I belived, and a bit still do, that making my own mark on the community would be better then showing others I could draw something I see. I don't mean to hate on your ideals because your art is amazing. I just, at first, enjoyed making my own characters doing what they do in there own worlds, I find more passion for doing that. But then only a few people will look at it, worst off, they just say it's crap because they don't truly understand. For example one comic of mine features a character who's father came from the sun. Many of my collage classmates would always question, if not flame that character as being an anomaly.because it's hard to see his father, being an alien from the sun mating with a human. To me there just a bunch of jerks, but it really hurt me, I didn't want to make that series anymore. I then started to do more fan art, but still draw it in my own way. MLP for example, I had to give it an adult theme because I have a hard time drawing cute. So I made it into an alter world were a war goes on, that way I can still admire the characters and how they were made but make them in a way that could be possible if the event in my series happen.
To make a long story short, I like your art, you are great, and your video inspired me to keep drawing original work.
Sorry for the lengthy comment, I just wanted to get that off my chest.
yup, I've seen people being put off by even the most minor of things, like in the warrior cats fanbase, i've seen people get screamed at for giving one character a red collar instead of a purple one. and half the people who do the screaming threaten to unsubscribe the person
I take your art seriously, I mean damn Some of your pieces are BEAUTIFUL Munchkin
Fan art, like every other form of art, has it's value based on *who* is judging it. Yes, I do believe that fan art should be taken seriously due to how many artists started and/or discovered their passion for drawing from doing fan art. Whether it was for a High School/Collage course work, something you wanted to take a shot at, or selling Doujinshi.
It is very sad how some "fans" can flip out over such a minor thing.
1:10 is Edward and Alphonse Elric from FMA
Very inspirational! ^-^ I'll think about this when I draw. :3
Amazing diskussion skills! I love you and all your videos!
Amazing artwork and an interesting insight to the topic of fan art and how it is seen. Seeing and listening to your work inspires me to keep drawing and to keep improving. Thanks for creating an insightful video and inspiring me as an artist.
Art is my life I love doing it I don't care if people hate it I know I'm not perfect and that's why I'm doing it to get better at it.
I do fanart mostly because it's fun drawing something you love and other people love to from a show,movie, eta I love what I do now I keep my art as mild as possible when it comes to shipping art like drawing them hugging or just doing something together I don't take things to far mostly because I don't know how and I don't want to. I don't take my art seriously (well most of the time).
Cool vid. I've seen a few of your videos now and this one is probably my favourite of yours so far.
Personally I feel that the extent to which fan-work is or is not taken seriously depends largely on the audience. I'm surprised that you did not include Andy Warhol in that line-up, since if anyone is interested in the commodification of image and pre-existing popular culture, it would have to be him.
Personally, drawing is a hobby for me so if I draw something it is usually going to be purely for fun. Mostly Star Trek and other sci-fi fandoms -- although I did do a pic of the Death Star over Hogwarts for the son of a friend of mine.
Fiction is more my thing, and I find that fanfic has an interesting status since it is not -- technically speaking -- legal, or even universally accepted by original creators. As a writer, I can only really sell original (non-fan) works even though I have been published in fanzines before.
I think that a lot of people consider fan-work to be taking the "easy way" out. But in many cases it is also a very good exercise in characterisation and getting things "right", as it were. And I find that it can be just as great a challenge to capture the voice of an existing character as to create one of your own. (Of course I've attempted both!)
In the Power Rangers a short movie which was essentially fanfiction made it into the legitimate canon, so fan art certainly has a place to be taken seriously in entertainment.
Conversely, when the entire cast of Katawa Shoujo face off at Summerslam, it's a gray area.
Y'know, I would always get embarrassed when I show my fan art to my friends and family, because I draw gorey stuff! But the reason why is because my friends know me as a sweet, kind, shy kind of girl, not a dark person. My best friend knows about this and, I'm NOT obsessed with it! I'm just an artist with a different way of seeing things. I don't draw violence at all, I just have my style and interest of things. I would sometimes draw dark-looking scenes that look cute or cuter than they are.
I feel the same about friends seeing my art. On Colors! 3d gallery, i drew vore, but my friend made an account. BUT, he got into vote too, so i don't feel weird anymore :)
You know funny thing about the "wrong color" complaint.... I really like Luna's human fanarts. Personally I think Luna in human form should have dark skin Which I do address in comments, but I still LOVE every bit of that type of fanart. If sb draws a dark skinned human version of Princess Luna than they have extra bonus points from me ( She has the darkest colour pallet in the show together with Chrysalis so its nice to see that being taken into consideration) but Good art makes great fan art & sometimes a creative take on characters clothes over shadows ANY mishaps of the artistic liberty in the Colour pallet
I personally like the grimdark part of the mlp fanbase, and I've drawn a few grimdark pics myself. I guess the reason why I like it is because I like gore. I don't believe it is because i'm sick, or I want to do so myself it's just cool to me. Also placing usually innocent characters in darker situations (as long as the characters are faithful) can be interesting to see what they would do. Cupcakes was good for me because it didn't seem like a stretch that pinkie pie would jump there therefore it seemed faithful to the character.