Fan Art?

Post by **PixarVixen** » April 21st, 2006, 2:46 am

I had an idea for a new section on Animated-News. I know I've seen Macaluso post some of his art here, and I'd like to do the same. Does anyone else think there should be a section just for fan art?

While I'm at it, here are some sketches I've done for Meet the Robinsons and Doogal:

~~=oP

Post by **ShyViolet** » April 21st, 2006, 4:18 pm

That's very cool...wish I could do that. *jealous*

J/K

Post by **Macaluso** » April 21st, 2006, 8:31 pm

I would rock the hell out of that section.

Post by **PixarVixen** » April 22nd, 2006, 12:11 am

Yes you would! And I'd be right there to rock it with ya. Heheh.

~~=oP

Post by **chernabog** » April 22nd, 2006, 2:12 pm

Wow those are very cool. I wanna submit some artwork now, but I can only create my own things. I'm no good at drawing other cartoons

Post by **Meg** » April 22nd, 2006, 5:24 pm

Original artwork is the best kind!

Anyway, I used to be obssesed with drawing Lion King fan art.

(Unfinished)

Not really fan-art, but I like it.

Post by **Hoagiebot** » April 23rd, 2006, 3:28 am

I used to draw a lot of fan artwork back a few years ago. I especially loved a lot of the absolutely adorable female Disney cartoon animal characters that were worked on by Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Jonston, so I used to draw fan artwork of those characters a lot to try to pick up elements of that drawing style. Now, several years later, you can see the results of a lot of my fan art drawing by seeing my "Disneyesque" original character, Foxee™ the Arctic Blue Fox.

Anyway, since this forum topic is for fan artwork and not for plugging my current projects, here are a few of my old fan drawings from years past:

Here is a drawing that I did of that very fine lady vulpine from The Fox and the Hound, Vixey!

I can't say for sure or not, but rumor has it that a young Disney animator named Tim Burton was originally assigned to animate Vixey in several scenes. As the story goes, Tim Burton had a difficult time animating a character that was so "cute," and his work turned out so poorly on the character that only his footage showing Vixey from a distance could be used and that he was reassigned to another character. Unfortunately I can't verify the story' authenticity, but it's a neat story none the less!

Here is a drawing that I did a few years back of Duchess, the mother cat from The aristocats, and to this day my favorite Disney character:

Here is another drawing of Duchess that I did, only this time she is with her kittens. This drawing was actually an editorial cartoon that I did for an Indy Media print newspaper back in 2004 after I initially heard about all of the Disney traditional animation studios closing worldwide.

And lastly, to add some variety to the mix, here is a drawing that I did of the classic Warner Bros. character Penelope Pussycat. If you are wondering why she is an upright walking "furry" cartoon character here instead of a quadruped cartoon cat like she is in the classic Chuck Jones shorts, that is because this drawing of Penelope Pussycat is based off of her character design from the more recent animated film "Carrotblanca."

Please be kind when you critique these drawings, because they don't represent my most current work. I haven't drawn any fan artwork in quite a while bacause of how wrapped up I have been with my own original projects. In any case, I very much hope that you enjoy them.

Lastly, to add my two cents about whether or not there should be a fanart section added to the Animated-News Forums, I would have to vote "No." While it is fun to show off your artwork and artistic abilities from time to time (and as you can see I am no exception to wanting to show off my own work every once in a while), the sad truth of the matter is that fan artwork is in a grey area legally, it is off the topic of what the Animated News website is supposed to be about (e.g. news stories about the animation industry), and at the same time there are plenty of websites already out there specifically for fan artwork. So my vote, for what little it's worth, is to not have a fan artwork section added to these forums.

Post by **chernabog** » April 23rd, 2006, 5:57 am

Well I'm very impressed with everyone's work. All very good indeed. (sighs)

Post by **Ben** » April 23rd, 2006, 4:24 pm

Hoagiebot wrote:Lastly, to add my two cents about whether or not there should be a fanart section added to the Animated-News Forums, I would have to vote "No."

So...um, why are you showing off your art here in this "Fan Art" thread??

Post by **Meg** » April 23rd, 2006, 5:34 pm

Lastly, to add my two cents about whether or not there should be a fanart section added to the Animated-News Forums, I would have to vote "No." While it is fun to show off your artwork and artistic abilities from time to time (and as you can see I am no exception to wanting to show off my own work every once in a while), the sad truth of the matter is that fan artwork is in a grey area legally, it is off the topic of what the Animated News website is supposed to be about (e.g. news stories about the animation industry), and at the same time there are plenty of websites already out there specifically for fan artwork. So my vote, for what little it's worth, is to not have a fan artwork section added to these forums.

That's true. While it's fun to show off here and there I wouldn't want a whole section devoted to it.

Post by **Macaluso** » April 23rd, 2006, 5:55 pm

Grey area? As long as you drew the whole thing yourself, and aren't selling it, there's no grey area. There's nothing illegal about it.

Post by **Hoagiebot** » April 24th, 2006, 5:41 am

Macaluso wrote:Grey area? As long as you drew the whole thing yourself, and aren't selling it, there's no grey area. There's nothing illegal about it.

Not true. Under United States copyright law, drawing somebody else's cartoon character is considered copyright infringement, whether you are making money off of the the fan drawing that you created or not. So drawing fan artwork is technically not legal. In addition, if the cartoon character has been registered with the U.S. Federal Government, a a state government as a trademark, or if it can be considered by common law to be a defacto trademark (e.g. like Mickey Mouse), than you can get charged with trademark infringement as well.

The only small "grey area" that exists is part of the United States copyright law "fair use" clause that says that you are able to create "parodies" of other people's copyrighted works in order to make a statement about them. That clause is important for First Amendment reasons, because it protects peoples' ability to draw parody's of Mickey Mouse to ridicule the Disney Company in an editorial cartoon, for example. That is how cartoonists like Berkely Breathed are able to show one of his "Bloom County" comic strip characters eating Snoopy from "Peanuts," or the "Family Guy" cartoon showing Minnie Mouse stripping in front of Walt Disney without getting a lawsuit by the companies that own Snoopy and Minnie Mouse, respectively. In fact, the "parody" clause in Copyright law still doesn't give you gauranteed protection against a lawsuit-- it just gives you a little bit of protection to defend yourself with in court. It's actually up to a Federal Judge to decide whether your drawing is an example of parody or copyright infringement.

If you would like to learn more about United Stated Copyright law (and I suggest you should if you are going to be drawing a lot of fan artwork in your future), I suggest that you check out these websites:

Copyrights FAQ Version 1.3 by Mel. White & Glen Wooten
www.rexx.com/~jaguar/copyright.html
This FAQ on United States Copyright law is extremely well written and easy to understand. On this page definitely be sure to check out the the twelth frequently asked question, "As long as I don't charge anything, it's not a violation, right?" It backs up what I wrote above completely.

United States Copyright Office Circular 1: Copyright Basics
www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html

United States Copyright Office Frequently Asked Questions about Copyright
www.copyright.gov/help/faq/

Basically, when artists like you and I draw fan artwork we are literally gambling on one thing and one thing only: that we aren't worth the copyright owner's time to track down and file a lawsuit against. That is where not selling the fan artwork that you draw can be helpful for you-- it makes you a much less worthwhile violator to pursue than someone who is selling and making money of of their copyrighted characters. Now when it comes to people drawin Disney or Warner Bros. fan artwork just for fun like we are, most corporations will take the stance that it is not worth the time, money, and bad public relations to sue their own fans for such minor and financially unharmful copyright infringements. But don't let that fact let you start thinking that what you are doing is actually legal. Just because the vast majority of fan artists don't get sued doesn't mean that they can't be-- as I mentioned earlier, you are really just taking the gamble that you aren't worth their legal department's time. While 99.9% of fan artists will probably never be bothered, not everyone makes it out unscathed. There is a
famous news story about how Disney threatened some Florida day care centers with legal action after a volunteer artist painted murals containing Disney characters on the day care centers' walls.

Post by **Macaluso** » April 24th, 2006, 7:38 pm

DeviantArt and numerous other websites that aren't even about art, have fanart sections, and don't have a porblem. I don't see how this would be any different.

Wha'ever. Anyway, since I've not posted any art in this topic, here's an assload.

Post by **PixarVixen** » April 24th, 2006, 8:57 pm

My favorites are the one of Stitch and the Brave Little Toaster gang, Mushu, the pirate themed Kingdom Hearts one, Kuzco, and your very interesting video game pics. I'd say the last one is like a goth version of Super Mario Bros. Very cool, man.

And I'm gonna miss you over on dA.

~~=oP

Post by **Brandon Neeld** » April 24th, 2006, 10:19 pm

Awww!!! *Lurvs the Kim/Ron one!!!*