DeviantART's second Comic-Con panel began at noon, and the topic was How-To: The Business of Fan Art. After last year's hugely successful Fan Art Law panel, Josh Wattles, makepictures, hoped to reprise the topic, but delve a bit deeper with a panel of professionals. Panelists included BrianKesinger, story artist at Walt Disney Animation Studios, Artgerm, Co-founder / Creative Director of Imaginary Friends Studios, Tomasz Opasinski, opasinski, movie and television artist extraordinaire, Bob Self, MrBabyTattoo, president of Baby Tattoo Books, Christyjoy Rivera from welovefine, and Kay Purcell, damphyr, deviantART staffer and fandom expert.
Just like yesterday, there were a ton of great sound bites we're happy to transcribe and pass along to you all if you couldn't make it to the panel!
"As a kid, I traced a lot. I know that's a four-letter word, but I was able to see the decisions the artists were making."
--Brian Kesinger, BrianKesinger
On why fan artists make great works of art: "If you're passionate about the canon, you might have approaches they couldn't hire someone to create."
--Josh Wattles, makepictures
"Fan art is a celebration showing appreciation for a property you love."
--Stanley Lau, Artgerm
"The world has gotten into a mash-up mode. It's just as much a part of professionals' lives as it is of fans' lives."
--Bob Self, MrBabyTattoo
During audience Q&A, the artists were asked how much money they made.
"I make enough to keep myself happy and keep my family happy so I can keep doing art. If you're in it for the money only, unfortunately that shows in your art."
--Stanley Lau, Artgerm
"Money will come if the passion is there. No one will be excited about your work if you're not excited."
--Brian Kesinger, BrianKesinger
An audience member asked how the panelists get exposure on deviantART.
Brian Kesinger, BrianKesinger: "I like to find Groups relevant to the subject matter. Be thoughtful with your keywords. I spend half my time posting coming up with keywords. Mail other deviant artists. When I was just starting out, I would find other artists and ask, 'Would you mind featuring me in your Journal?' If you're polite and your work is good, it goes a long way."
Kay Purcell, damphyr: "Or draw fan art of that artist's work!"
And now, please enjoy some pictures from the convention room floor!
Art brings people together.
And that wraps up our coverage of Friday's Comic-Con! Tomorrow, deviantART will be holding a panel in Room 2 upstairs talking about: "How-To: Creators + Audience."
If you've missed our other recaps, you can read all about Wednesday's Preview Night here and Thursday's Festivities here.
