Fanart fanpoodling - graphics-heavy!

[la_belle_laide]

I've been spending some time on DA lately, looking for fanart of my new favorite, Lord of Light. Being on there so often has made me go back and look at all of my old favorites.

I think about art a lot. I suck at it, totally, but it's often on my mind. Obviously there is art that I fall in love with that is not fanart, if it has some meaning to me or I just find it beautiful or inspiring for whatever reason. But right now I'm thinking mostly about the fan aspect of it. A few months ago I posited that "...with fanfic you've already got an audience who cares about your characters. So you hit the ground running and you take them with you. The character-adoration is already there; a good fanfic writer knows the buttons to press to exploit the fanpoodling love. And that is a skill.

The same goes for fanart, I think. Though, I'm a little less stringent with my "rules" of what constitutes good fanart and what doesn't. That's because—as I've also mentioned before—visual art is a skill that not everyone possesses. We're all taught to write in school, at least the basics. Very few of us are asked to draw. If a drawing or painting is somewhat shoddy or rushed, I can still love it if it embodies something about the work that resonates with me.

Although most of what's on my Deviant Art Favorites list is stellar, I won't lie.

I have three criteria for falling in love with a piece of fanart. 1) It has to be pretty. The look has to appeal to me. I'm not saying that the character has to be attractive, but there has to be something about it that is attractive to me I see a lot of fanart where the characters are too pretty, and it takes away from the soul of the piece, I think. 2) It has to be unexpected. I don't often favorite pieces that show characters in a well-known pose. If I want to see that, I'll just take a look at the canon pictures. (Exemption: fanart for a novel, in which I expect to see the character in a familiar scene – because I never have before, outside of my own head.) 3) Speaking of canon, yeah, it has to be canon. I don't like out of character art. Even if it's AU I'll sometimes love it, as long as it retains the canon characterization.

So I've been going through my favorites, and I feel like sharing a few here which I think demonstrate these criteria in a fantastic way.

CLICK ON LINKS FOR THE BIGGER VERSIONS. :)

As much as I always have, and always will, find real person fanfiction sort of repulsive, and the height of creepdom, I do like real person fanart as long as it doesn't cross any boundaries or turn invasive. Subject matter is everything to me, in art. People have drawn portraits of other people since forever. Here are some of my favorite real people pieces:

Leonard Cohen

My Apologies to Mr. Cohen by ~D0R14N on deviantART

This one seemed to capture his spirit.

Jared Leto

JARED LETO by ~SleepySkater on deviantART

I realize this is referenced almost line for line from an actual photograph of him, but still. Nice work.

Shannon Leto

L 490 - tribute to 30STM by ~jamga on deviantART

I HAVE NO WORDS.

Okay, now back to fictional people art. :D

FFVII
Two FFVII ones, because they are tremendous in their hilarity.

FFVIIAC: Cloud Tossing by *Risachantag on deviantART

Sephiroth Death 1 RETRO by ~TheDailyNissan on deviantART

I LOLled, super hard.

Cloud Strife

Cloud by ~smoothsketch on deviantART

Really unexpected style.

Reeve from FFVII

Reeve - Portrait by ~nachtwulf on deviantART

This is different from the usual Reeve / Cait fanart you see anywhere else, as it includes an actual kitty-cat. I think Reeve's face is pretty. This works for me. It's one of my favorite Reeve pieces ever.

Vincent Valentine by Hwei

ffvii: vincent: blanc by ~elledupomme on deviantART

Beautiful rich red, the deep color associated with Vincent Valentine. Every line flows into the next, and like with the one I linked above this, I love his face.

The Turks, by Hwei

FF7: turks by ~elledupomme on deviantART

The symbolism, and the arrogant smirk on Rufus's face. Love the inclusion of Dark Nation.

No, I don't care to know your thoughts on yaoi.

Rufus+Reeve by ~Celulind on deviantART


Sephiroth

Sephiroth's SOLDIER Days by *Jedi-Art-Trick on deviantART

Again, because it was different enough to get my attention, and I love the change of costume.

Kenshin

Some Kenshin ones, for different reasons. 1) Because it's so awesomely stylized, and the MOVEMENT:

Momiji by =einlee on deviantART

2)Because it's realistic and gorgeous:

rurouni kenshin by ~Mitsuko-Mitsukai on deviantART

3) Because it's different enough that it made me go O_O :

Kenshin by ~Shimizu0800 on deviantART

and 4) Because it's just plain effing hot:

number 40 by ~stan522 on deviantART





Lord of Light ones


Sam as Lord Kalkin:

lightning call by ~paradanmellow on deviantART

This is a scene from the battle at Keenset. The artist didn't even have to specify that; I immediately recognized what I had already seen in my head as I read it. Sketchy lines—I love that hurried feel--with beautiful details in the armor.
Sam as Siddhartha:

Prince Siddhartha and Ratri by ~jubjubjedi on deviantART
The rich colors, and the trickster smirk. Of course, and the frigging GORGEOUS DETAILS.

Sam as Tathagatha:

Yama and Sam-colored by ~jubjubjedi on deviantART
With Deathgod Yama stalking him all evil-like. I love the light here, I love the fact that you can't see Tathagatha's face, I love the angle and the atmosphere.


Leon Kennedy

The Job by ~JudgeOfDeath on deviantART
THE GANGSTER COSTUME. The motion, the expression, everything.


Iron Man by Mel, 2 pieces

Iron Men by *MelUran on deviantART

drunk chibi Stark colored +PK+ by *MelUran on deviantART

Because she is so mind-blowing with the details, and though you can't find most of her FFVII fanart online any more, I, err, have most of it in a special folder. Mel owns a little piece of my soul. The naughty piece. ;D

Raistlin Majere (a link, not a cut.)
Not gonna lie, I like Pretty!Raistlin, and I like him in red robes instead of black.

X Files


Scully:

Scientist Scully by ~aliceazzo on deviantART
Beautiful shading.

And no, I don't care to know your thoughts on yaoi. :)

Stop Pretending Tonight by ~NaSyu on deviantART


So there was my fun little romp through the mind of a fanpoodle who has always had such a ridiculous appreciation for fanart.

If anyone out there has any favorites that they'd like to direct me to, or any thoughts or "OH YEAH, I love that piece too!" comments, please feel encouraged to add them!

Comments

[spatterdash.livejournal.com]

I have nothing to direct you toward, but i had to say that, when i was about 14, i loved me some Raistlin Majere hardcore. Haven't read those books in ages though so i don't even remember much else about them, beyond "mmm, hot tortured yellow-skinned magician."

[shonagonchan.livejournal.com]

Well I'll tell ya, I re-read them all a couple of years ago and I am still not over Raistlin. :) I kind of read them with different eyes and found some really draggy and annoying parts that I hadn't noticed too much the first time. But one thing I can say about Margaret Weiss is that, even though Raistlin is clearly Author's Pet, she had absolutely no problem making him morally bankrupt and occasionally despicable - yet she managed to keep him appealing.

Did I ever tell you that I cosplayed Raistlin once, many years ago? Gold skin, hour-glass eyes, wig and all? It was kind of amazing, the reactions I got. ;) (Not so amazing was the reaction I got from the guy I was seeing, who, in fact, had turned me onto Dragonlance. When he found out I was going to go to the Ren-fest dressed as a man, he refused to go with me, for fear of being thought gay. Yeah, that didn't last.)

[malenka-zeut.livejournal.com]

I find the Leonard Cohen one really engaging. You know me well enough to probably guess my thoughts on the rest of them, and I am more motivated than ever to read Lord of Light!

[shonagonchan.livejournal.com]

Hehe, yup. And oh my god, you're going to flip your crap for Sam. The entire book is so fantastic. Lots of mentions of your old favorite, too: Durga. :D