Fan Art is any sort of work of an existing intellectual property, made by fans for other fans of the same piece of fiction. Popular works such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, and other similar bodies of work have got a lot of art created by fans. Often, many of these fans simply create the art because they love the original work so much. And a lot of these fans post their work on the internet, for other fans to appreciate.
So why do fans create this sort of fan art anyway? Well, it is actually because they really love the original work. And they want to showcase their love and appreciation for a piece of fiction through the art that they produce. They also want to lend their own creative voice when it comes to the ideas put out by the original work. And fan art is a way for some fans to give back to the original work and change it in some way. So you could say that fan art is some kind of discursive practice, wherein fans can also contribute to the narrative of the original artwork.
Star Wars Fan art
Star Wars it quintessential sci-fi movie series. And therefore, there is naturally a lot of fan art as well. Fan art of Star Wars can range from existing characters to new characters created exclusively by fans.
Lord of the Rings Fan art
Lord of the Rings is a classic trilogy of fantasy books. And it has even spawned a popular series of movies as well. The fan art of Lord of the Rings is incredibly popular on the internet.
Mass Effect Fan art
This is fan art of a series of video games that tell the sci-fi future of humanity that has expanded beyond the local solar system. There are a ton of fans of Mass Effect, and consequently, there are tons of fan art of it as well.
Blade Runner Fan art
Blade Runner is a sci-fi film that shows the struggle of androids in a fictional future. Fan art of Blade Runner usually depicts other more imaginative settings of the original film. The film is famous for its futuristic noir setting, and many fan artists expand upon that artistic work.
Is fan art legal?
Yes, fan art and posting it online is actually legal. As long as the fan is not passing off the artwork as their own work, then they are free to post it online. It is also illegal for fans to sell any part of the original work that they are not licensed to do. If fans can follow those two guidelines, then it is very much safe for them to continue posting fan art of stuff that they love. This is because fan art is protected under the creative common media artistic license.
In fact, fan art is actually encouraged by some owners of the original artistic property. This is one way in which intellectual property owners can encourage more participation with people in the fan community. Some fan artists have even become officially licensed illustrators of the original works that they created fan art for!