If you’re staring at the computer screen and thinking “Does not compute”, I suggest you read this. =3

I know there are probably some stamps like this, but one thing I also wanted to do was explain my opinion, as well as bring up some points on this topic I haven’t seen brought up before much. I’m sure most of you do understand this, so you don’t have to read all of my (really long xD) explanation, unless you want to comment on it. If you are going to comment on this, then please read what I wrote here first, and if you have a question I’ve already answered/explained here, I will just quote part of this message in reply. Please don’t start arguments (not that I think any of you would ^-^), or your comments will have to be hidden.

Note: This stamp is not meant to offend anyone, nor is it trying to say that one type of art is more creative than another. (Because really, that would just be silly. The creativity of the art all depends on how the artist uses their ideas.) This stamp was made to hopefully stop at least some of the hate going around against people who draw fanart.


Now, the most common way I see fan artists being insulted/looked down upon is people saying something along the lines of:

“They’re only good at copying other’s ideas.”

“They aren’t embracing their creativity.”

“Sticking to fanart wont get you very far as an artist.”

“If you have talent, why are you wasting it on something unoriginal?”

Etc.

Basically these statements all mean one thing-that some people think fan artists aren’t very creative because they are drawing something they did not make up.

Where is the irony here?


Now before I explain all that, I want to give an example for this topic based on two of my stories. (Because I think stories are a type of art too. ^^) One of them is non-fanfiction, and it is not posted here nor is art for it posted here because I one day hope to publish these stories (they’re actually a series) sometime. However, I don’t consider my original stories to be more creative than my Pokémon fanfiction ones, or vise versa. They’re just different. And they are all stories. They both help me strengthen my writing abilities and my creativity. I don’t see why one supposedly isn't creative because it’s about characters who happen to be Pokémon species instead of real animals. If I changed the characters into my own species or real animals and tweaked the story until it made sense while keeping the plot and the characters' personalities exactly the same, would it suddenly become “completely original”? To those who think so, I don’t see how.


Now…to those who think fan artists are simply only good at “copying others’ ideas”, take a moment to look at your own gallery, or your sketch book, or wherever you draw. Do you see humans? Real animals? Mythical creatures? Plants? Scenery?

Now ask yourself…did you make those things up?

My point is that everyone gets their ideas from somewhere. I may draw pokémon, but how many people draw humans and real animals? A lot. How many draw mythical creatures such as dragons? A lot. How many draw animals they made up themselves that don’t resemble one or more real ones? None that I’ve seen.

So why should one group of people be deemed “unoriginal” by default?


I am not trying to say that the art is unoriginal. I prefer to be optimistic about creativity and I don’t think that “originality is dead”, I think that everyone has the potential to be creative and everyone can in their own way, no matter what type of art they draw. People should draw what they want, and what makes them happy.

On the topic of fanart being more popular (and I honestly don’t see how people think artists draw fanart just to get more pageviews-seriously, that’s ridiculous! It’s called FANart. xD), I have seen many, many popular people with hundreds of comments and favs on each of their pictures and tons of watchers and pageviews, and who don’t draw fanart. So it’s not like fanart is all people care about, like people like to exaggerate. Everyone has different interests, and there will always be people interested in some of the same things you are, so there will always be people out there who would like your art.

Also, if people watch someone for their pokémon art, and they draw some original art, is it really a crime if that original art just doesn’t happen to be in the watcher’s interest? Everybody likes different things. For example, I wouldn’t want to read an original story that didn’t have a lot of fantasy or didn’t involve animals, because I wouldn’t be interested in it.

On another note, why is watching someone for their fanart “bad”? I will never understand why finding other people who share a similar interest as you is such a terrible thing, especially since I and many others have made so many friends by finding people here with similar interests. Is watching someone who draws pandas because you like pandas too bad as well? Then what’s wrong with a fanart interest?

Really, I’m just tired of all the hate. I have my interests in both fanart and non-fanart, and I choose what I want to draw and what I want to fav/comment on. I wish those who look down on fan artists so much would realize that unless they came up with their own unique species, not based on any species on this earth, and made their own settings not based on anything on this earth (or in outer space xD), they do not have 100% original ideas.

Everyone gets their ideas from somewhere, and it’s what the artist does with those ideas that makes something creative. I’m not ashamed of drawing fanart, but I would be thoroughly ashamed to call myself an artist if I stopped drawing what I wanted to draw just because someone doesn’t like it…that is anything but ‘original’ to me.

I believe that any art can be creative and original, not just one kind.

So less hate, more art please.


EDIT: Temporarily disabling comments because I've had to repeat the same things over and over and I've already said what needs to be said. Will open comments again sometime, don't worry. I'm just a little tired of comments about whether or not people think fanart is "right" or "wrong" or what sort of things are "right" or "wrong" to do when drawing fanart-that is not what this stamp is about (it's about creativity) and that discussion of right and wrong belongs on another stamp.