[Fanart] Sungminnie~

[fishpatrol]

I find the experience of drawing fanart for a book-based fandom (e.g. Harry Potter) is distinctively different from an animated fandom (e.g. Prince of Tennis), and both are different from drawing for a 3-D fandom (e.g. Super Junior). To make things easier, I will refer to book-based fandoms as 1-D fandoms and animated ones as 2-D fandoms.

You can take the most liberties with 1-D fandoms. There is no set image for the characters; there may be certain physical traits that are commonly associated with the character, but they're hardly set in stone. I could draw a circle with glasses, a lightning bolt, and scribbly black hair. Most people would say, "Hey, it's a really crappy picture of Harry Potter!" If I drew another circle with a slanted smile and light hair and a heart around the two floating heads, people would say, "Hey, it's a really crappy H/D picture!" But I could also draw Draco with streaks in his hair and piercings everywhere and call it "Draco Gone Punk" and most people would think I'm on crack, but they'd still nod and say, "Yeah, the artist is on crack, but we suppose that Draco could look like this if he, y'know, went punk." And any style of drawing goes! Realism, anime/manga, cartoon...

With 2-D fandoms, it's even easier to draw recognizable characters because animators are lazy people at heart and will dress the characters the same way for as many frames as possible and have them maintain the exact same gravity-defying hairstyle throughout the entire series. Again, any style of drawing would be suitable as long as one preserves the defining physical features of the character.

Now, 3-D fandoms (including bandoms, movie fandoms, TV fandoms, etc) I find a whole lot trickier. Characters/group members/etc change their clothes, change their hair, and generally have less defining physical features. I find that it's more difficult to establish a style of drawing that renders the character recognizable (other than portrait/realism or caricatures -- both of which are awfully difficult to do well without extensive practise). No longer can I draw a circle, slap on some hair and expect people to recognize the character, even if I provide the fandom to limit the number of possible characters.
In conclusion: trying to draw fanart of the Suju members is tricky business.

What do you guys think? Do you find that drawing/looking at fanart for different types of fandom-sources a different experience?

I also find that 2-D fandoms tend to have the most fanart, which is not surprising since they are equally art-based as they are story/plot-based and characters are more easily translated into fanart, while 3-D fandoms rarely have any (this may be an over-generalization -- Lord of the Rings, for example, would be an exception -- LotR could be categorized under 1-D fandoms, but I believe the slew of fanart came after the release of the movies). 1-D fandoms are probably not overabundant with fanart either, but the ever-so-prolific HP fandom kind of skews things.

Anyway, all ramblings aside, I believe that Sungmin ought to win the Most Adorable award and he looks awfully cute in pink (I realize there are thirteen guys in this picture. Just look for the bright pink).
And lookit him play with this kitty alkjdafl;jdsULTIMATECUTENESS♥♥





That would be Heebum dangling from the crook of his arm. (Does Heechul even let the other members play with his cat?)
I'm not sure if you're actually supposed to hold a cat that way. .____.;;
The balloon probably should be ~*~Sapphire Blue~*~...but blue wouldn't match with the colour scheme.

Comments

[trolleys.livejournal.com]

ILUSM!! This is wonderful. Kittyyyyyy omg =^ω^= (is that His Heebumness?) [ETA: nevermind, I fail at reading comprehension lksjdf] I love that you drew this in anime style while retaining Sungmin's distiguishing traits, like his aegyo innocent eyes and smile. And of course the hair. ♥♥♥ As for the balloon, I agree; maintaining harmonious color scheme definitely takes higher priority ^^

Dude, I agree 110% with you about 1/2/3-D fandoms. I'm having a blast in Kpop fandom, but I do miss the artistic freedom of working with HP characters. It's sort of frustrating to start off a picture not with the attitude of "how can I make this into my own?" but rather "how can I make [insert real person] not look like a total retard?" fdklajsd. BUT on the flip side, it keeps fanartists on their toes and helps develop their sense of human anatomy (seriously, the DBSK/Suju boys are great to draw from since they make so many special/odd/dynamic poses!). One can't be lazy when depicting SJ, that's for sure ^^; And hopefully drawing each member will get easier with practice. ...If not, there's always the option of drawing stick figures while pretending to go for irony. XD

[fishpatrol]

I love that you drew this in anime style while retaining Sungmin's distiguishing traits, like his aegyo innocent eyes and smile.

This makes me ever so happy to hear! ^0^ Sungmin's smile is so distinctive and I really wanted to capture that in my own style. Thank you<3<3!

Trying to draw real people is making me pay more attention to the details of facial features of people in general, which is something that I never consciously did. Perhaps this tendency will generalize and I will become a more observant person? Haha~

but rather "how can I make [insert real person] not look like a total retard?"

I think you're doing really well with this point! I admire your works so so much because they're done in your own distinct style while maintaining sufficient features that define them. I don't know how to describe it, but your characters look like who they're supposed to look like and they also look really good? *flails*

[trixie-chick.livejournal.com]

i feel rather similarly... i don't much care for art based on real people, whether it be fanart or, for instance, comics for shows like buffy or stargate... it CAN and IS done well by some artists, particularly when they use the real people as a jumping off point of inspiration and fit the 'look' into their own style, but even comic art of fictional characters that tries to be photorealistic ends up looking ugly to me. =X it's illustrated, plain and simple. it just fit into the artistic universe of illustration, not photography.

/two cents

i don't really know the guy you're drawing there that well (though that vid of him playing with the kitten is OFF THE CHARTS ON CUTE) but your drawing is absolutely adorable. ^___^ i love the way you've colored it, and the smile! plus, the KITTEN. socute!!!!!! that kitten is gonna squirm out of his arms in a second, but maaaan, soadorable!! ^_^

*snugs!!*

[fishpatrol]

I've seen photorealism that is astounding, but in a way, I admire more the people who can make the character look like the original person that it was based off of in their own (2-D) style. I do agree with you that attempts at photorealism of often do fall flat (*shoves own attempts under shelves*).

Hee, I can't decide if I want a Sungmin or a kitty more! ;)
Thank you so much<3! His smile is like his trademark and I really wanted to capture it, so I'm glad you like it!

*snugs back*

[happy-gogogo.livejournal.com]

This is so cute, great job!

[fishpatrol]

Thanks so much! :)

[disutansu.livejournal.com]

Wow. I don't think I've ever analyzed this 1-D, 2-D, 3-D thing that thoroughly or even tried to put it in words, but I think you really hit something there. I think it's what all of us "know" but we haven't really... thought about it? XD;; What you say is true. Unless it's realism, I don't think many people would recognize drawings of 3-D people. It's really impressive though, and perhaps take a lot of talent. *fails at that*

[fishpatrol]

Haha, I haven't thought about it until I found myself in a 3-D fandom and wondering what the heck I was supposed to do. XD I've seen 3-D characters drawn well (and recognizable) in 2-D form (I've seen a bunch of House MD chibis and caricatures that were done superbly well), but you're right, it takes a load of talent to pull it off. X3

[mylittlebambi.livejournal.com]

by saying 3-D with LOTR as an example, you mean the realism style? mhm, that's quite difficult. not all people could do realism & i myself think that realism, as well as abstarct, are the most difficult styles....for now. are you capable to do all three types? mine usually 1-D or 2-D, used to be very 2-D but now i think i mixed it XD so as my bro. my friend's pure 2-D while another friend's....100% realism T---T

1 thing though: aw, i'm jealous you can draw pics so much & color them with PS *i'm sucks at coloring and PSing....need tablet for that*

[fishpatrol]

By 3-D fandoms, I'm just referring to visual sources that involve real life people -- so, y'know, bands, movies, TV shows, and etc. The LotR fandom seemed to boom after the release of the movies, so I categorized it under "3-D fandoms" rather than "1-D fandoms" (which encompasses book-based fandoms). I'm not sure if I was being very clear, haha. XD; I meant the 1/2/3-D thing as the type of fandom rather than the type of art that is produced.

I'm still in the early stages of learning PS. I'm not very confident with colouring in general, so I'm happy that you think it turned out alright. :) I don't have a tablet either, but I figure I should get used to digital colouring with a mouse before I invest in one. ;)