But why make fan works when you can do original stuff? It's just how I feel about it. Fan works are a great way to get yourself noticed on the internet before you make the switch to original, though.

EDIT: Actually, I've made a mistake here. I don't regret any of the fanworks I've created.

I make fan works out of the love for a series, its characters, concepts and creator. Sometimes to get noticed as a bonus but I don't do art of anything I don't really love - I've never done Adventure Time art, for example, even though I might get a lot of notes/faves/whatever from that.

I make original works out of a similar feeling of love for my OCs, the worlds they inhabit, their designs, etc. I don't do it for a feeling of superiority over fan artists, but sometimes I do it to be like, "hey look at this character in my head/writing."

I do a mix of both, and I don't think I'll ever stop doing one or the other. The works of other artists, writers, and storytellers are what keep me going with my own concepts. If there was no MOTHER, Negima, Mushishi, Homestuck, Pokemon, etc, I wouldn't be still making art. (And I hope that some day someone feels the same way about my work.)

Of course, that's just how I feel about it. But I really dislike the idea that fan art should only be a way to get yourself known, and not something you can keep doing as you gain followers, presence, and skill.

I stopped making fanart because I also stopped drawing. I'm actually referring to making games when talking about using fan works as a stepping stone. It's a philosophy I adopted for myself, out of necessity due to lack of time. I won't look down on you or anyone else for continuing to make fan works, especially if they are good.

(07-03-2014, 02:06 AM)megaMasquerain Wrote: I really dislike the idea that fan art should only be a way to get yourself known, and not something you can keep doing as you gain followers, presence, and skill.

I cannot agree more with this.


If I could regret anything, it'd be not finishing of some of my fan work spritesheets, but not the fan work itself because I learned from it. I used to love Metroid a lot more when the games were still relatively recent, and I was working on a full SA-X/Super Metroid Fusion style crossover sheet, which didn't get very far.

(07-03-2014, 12:43 AM)Koopaul Wrote: You didn't do fan stuff until you were 18? I did fan stuff when I was 8!

I guess I was thinking of fan works as in stuff you put out for public consumption. Technically I've been making stuff since I was four, when the only game I had was Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt; I used to make Mario enemies out of construction paper.

(07-03-2014, 10:45 PM)Drshnaps Wrote: I guess I was thinking of fan works as in stuff you put out for public consumption. Technically I've been making stuff since I was four, when the only game I had was Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt; I used to make Mario enemies out of construction paper.

Ha! You just reminded me about the time I made all of the Rainbow Island enemies in watercolor.

http://www.spriters-resource.com/nes/rainbowislands/

You guys don't have them!