Fans and Artists: Conventions, Fanart, Profits

The morality of fanart debate is something that comes up a lot in the community. Really, because of that alone, it isn't something I like talking about because every point has been brought up before and it's easy to find justifications and reasons for every side of the argument. But it's pretty much inevitable that I end up thinking about it from time to time, considering this absurd and haphazard major I'm in at the moment (I hesitate to say "career path"; I don't know what my career path is). I will be at MomoCon in Atlanta this weekend with a bunch of schoolmates. Many of us will be holding down tables in the Artist's Alley. Predictably, most of our merchandise features fanart.

I wonder why we do it.

Most replies will contain a list of things, but I find it a bit sad that the first response will almost always be "money." At the moment, I think it might be the first on my list too. Part of it has to do with the current economy. None of us have had any luck finding regular jobs this quarter. No one is hiring. What's the next best thing? Apparently hitting up the local cons and milking the weeaboos for all their worth. Or trying to, anyway. Because of various unfortunate conditions, I operated at a loss when I tabled at AWA this past September. Tabling at conventions is hard, even for the seasoned con-goers and artists. Most I talked to at AWA seemed to have had a pretty bad weekend in terms of sales and monetary profits. Barring certain controversial individuals, it's hard to say that any of them are only doing it for the money. That's the first argument in favor of fanart, right? No one's getting rich off this.

And yet, it really seems like some try. It really bothers me when people go around asking, "What kind of fandoms are in at the moment? What should I fanart?" It seems like cheating if you're not even involved in the community you want to profit off of. It definitely seems like cheating if you haven't even seen the series you end up drawing from. I really think that takes away from it and tarnishes fanart's "reputation" in general. It's called fanart for a reason, y'know? If you're not really a fan, why do you bother? Some say that it's just marketing, and that part of marketing is knowing that sometimes you'll have to draw things you don't like. But this isn't a job. No one is telling you to draw what you don't like -- just in it for the money? That seems almost like stepping on the toes of the companies that choose not to persecute us for borrowing their properties. Besides, marketing? What are you marketing? What kind of impression do you leave of yourself when you ask around for the current fandoms so you can try to profit off the associated fans?

For Otakon a year or two back, an artist I know took suggestions for fanart to make prints of. Among those she ended up with was Lelouch from Code Geass. I hadn't seen the series at the time, but even then, I didn't really take to the fanart she produced of him. It didn't feel like most of her other work, which I'm a big fan of. It didn't feel like her Bleach fanart (she's a huge Bleach fanatic), and it didn't feel like her Persona 4 fanart (same). Months later, when I finally saw (and loved) Code Geass, I went back to look at the picture she'd done. It looked terrible. With my newfound knowledge of the series, the art she'd produced looked ridiculously ill-fit. There was no love. It was obvious. I was actually really shocked at how obvious it was. Of course, this isn't always the case. Some artists can pull of beautiful fanart from series they don't know anything about, but the question is, should they? For the sake the fans who would want to buy it anyway?

I suppose companies, for the most part, see fanart as free promotion. It's really no loss to them since there is no official equivilent of fanart that sales of fanart are taking away from. All it usually takes to justify the legality (or lack thereof) of selling fanart is to cite that fact, so maybe I'm being too idealistic when I get bothered by artists selling things they don't love. I mean, I guess I've been guilty of it too (a pair of Naruto prints, but hey, at least I've seen/read the series? Silly self-justification?). Besides, as a friend points out -- this sort of thing happens in every industry. Except this isn't an industry. This is a niche community. Full of fans. Presumably. Yeah, customers are usually impartial -- who cares as long as it looks good? Wouldn't you feel awkward though, if a customer tried to strike up a conversation about a series featured on your table but that you know nothing about? And you, as a customer -- wouldn't you feel let down if your favorite artist fanarted your favorite series but somehow can't remember the name of the character on the button you just bought?

Besides, even if money happens to be first on your list at a given time, it should never be the only thing on the list.

There are obviously other reasons to sell fanart at conventions though. A lot of people say "exposure." Who are you trying to expose yourself to, and what do you want to gain from their attention? I find it interesting that many of the artists I saw at AWA had no personal website and a pretty minimal Internet presence in general. Having an occasionally-updated deviantART isn't good enough. If you're willing to invest the time and money in a table at a convention, if you're really serious about your artwork and promoting yourself, in this day and age, I consider a website to be cruicial. But maybe that's skewed by my heavy technophile background (ex-computer science major, represent?). If you aren't just selling fanart for the cash, then not working hard in other areas is pretty inexcusable. Trying to make a name for yourself? It'd help if we could pick up a business card and look you up later. It'd help if you had some original stuff you're trying to promote too.

Starting with fanart has led a lot of people into the industry they've long worked towards. Japan's doujinshi scene is the obvious example. What did CLAMP start off doing? What did Maki Murakami start off doing? There are a few OEL artists that can also cite fanart as their claim to fame, like Nina Matsumoto. It's possible, but really, just getting your art out there isn't enough. You need to have original things for people to look at after you fanart gets your attention. For this year's AWA, they've implemented a 50% fanart rule intended to encourage more original art -- only 50% of your merchandise can be fanart-based. Most artists accepted this without argument and many praised the decision, and yet, a huge argument/discussion/stink started in the AWA forums anyway. Some people, apparently, have no interest in doing original art. This bewilders me.

Still, as far as the promotion thing goes. I'm not really sure what I'd be trying to promote either. I've got my (lameass) website (that's in serious need of a remodel and major update), but I am ever webcomicless. My original characters float back and forth between standalone illustrations and school assignments, not fit for sale yet. Aside from money, what do I hope to gain from tabling at MomoCon? More watchers of my work? So that when I do eventually get off my ass and do something that warrants a fanbase, I'll have more of an audience to tap from? Except that I'm not really sure that's what I want my "career" to be, so maybe it's just insurance?

A third reason to table is networking. You can meet a lot of neat people at conventions, many of them sitting behind tables. I should talk to them sometime. That's how anyone gets hired for anything these days, right? You gotta know someone who knows someone who's in a position to hire you or to influence a person who can hire you. To that end though, anime conventions are infinitely more useless than comic conventions. FUNimation's PR guy probably can't do much for you, though I wouldn't say that he'd be completely useless to know. Same with Vic Mignogna. I've been told that attending comic book conventions is pretty much part of the job if you want to work in comics. I wouldn't say the same is true for the manga or OEL scene though because there just aren't as many editors or creative staff attention conventions (that OEL branches are getting slammed left and right now it seems, but that's another post altogether).

Even if you don't intend to work in comics or manga or whatever related fandom industry, I'm sure you could meet lots of interesting and useful people at conventions. Who knows, that guy dressed as Vash could be a creative director at some small business hiring freelancers. I guess if you don't attend many other social events, an anime con is as good a place as any to meet people, and sitting behind a table full of art invites people to ask you about it, right? Maybe that's what I convince myself I'm doing this for because sometimes, I really do lose sight of it all. The money helps, but it isn't everything. I've got nothing I'm proud of enough to promote. So networking, right? That's a kind of profit too. Maybe then I'll actually have a job when I graduate.