I have done quite a bit of freelance design work over the past couple of years, a lot of that work has been graphic design work (logos, flyers, brochures), and website work. Here’s the thing, all of that work requires a lot of time, communication, and revision, SO… one of the fastest, quickest, and easiest ways to earn a quick $$, is to open commissions for fan-art on Reddit and Tumblr. You are mostly selling to teens and 20-somethings, who don’t have a lot of disposable income, so I sell a rough sketch that takes me 5 min for $10, clean line art – no color for $15, ect. The more time or complicated the work gets the more it costs, but I still have to undervalue my work. So, I can bust out around 10 works faster than a traditional freelance job and I am getting paid the same.
This makes fan-art great for me, but, I mean, technically, it’s illegal and I could get sued. But unless your name is Anne Rice, most people and companies don’t care, many TV shows and Networks actually encourage fan-artists. So they allow me to make and sell Adventure Time art like the (partially finished)one on the left, and they realize that this does nothing to hurt them and possibly gives the show exposure.
Of course there are examples of corporations and people taking action against fans and artists. I mentioned Anne Rice above, she was notorious for having derivative works removed from the internet, sending cease and desists out to creators. Corporation-wise, Disney is actually notorious for having content removed. Disney removing content is less due to copyright infringement, but more to do with Trademark infringement. Trademarks work very different from copyright, if you don’t protect your trademarked property, you lose your trademark. In an effort to retain their trademarks, Disney will send anybody and everybody a cease and desist. (Though in recent years they have calmed down a bit). This reminds me a lot of the the sampling cases mentioned in Copyright Criminals, I am using and making money off of character designs made by somebody else, but I am essentially making my own work from it. I don’t own these characters, I did not design them and I am not claiming them as my own BUT I did draw this piece of artwork.
Above I also spoke about the freelance work I have done in Graphic and Web Design. This blog post is also supposed to speak on curation, so I want to talk about how I curate my social media and portfolio presence based on how I want clients to see me. My Behance site on Adobe has NO mention or any inkling that I do fan-art. That page has only 100% original non-derivative works on it. My Reddit and Tumblr pages only advertise the illustrative work that I do, and what kind of fan works I am willing to do, you absolutely cannot hire me to design your logo or website on either of those sites. I recently started an Instagram (like 2 days ago) for my art, I am far less restrictive there. I am not attempting to gain a specific audience on Instagram, this account has fan-art, graphic design, web design, 3-D design, and any other illustrations I do, all in one place. My goal on Instagram is not to sell my art or services but to gain an audience in general. I curate my portfolio based on the platform I am on, so the platform dictates the type of client I am looking for.
Abby Martinez 