It's interesting to see the sign-ups at
yuletart as well as the questions us Mods get from participants and potential participants. Questions that are unique to a fanart fest, I think. Like -- is my type of art acceptable for this fest?
- can I mail my art to my gift-receiver after the fest?
- I don't consider myself a fanartist; can I still participate?
It's really neat, I mean. Do fanfic fests get questions like these? I can't imagine someone being unsure if what they write can be construed as fanfic. Do fanfic participants ever want to submit like poem epics or....?
It's just another example of how in fandom the two fanwork biggies are Fanfics and Fanart - but the fanart umbrella stretches wide and is very nebulous.
In
yuletart a lot of discussion was needed for us to define what constitutes as acceptable fanart for the fest. We made the decision to not allow photo-manipulations, graphics, template 3Dmodel pose-art or vidding*; but we do accept:- drawn art (traditional or digital)
- animation
- crafts (knitting, sculpting, foodart and more!)
- cosplay
and our very VERY murky area:
- photographs taken by the artist (must create style/story)
- collages/paintovers (where the collage is manual and/or is used to create a style/story)
- 3D modeling/texturing/rigging/rendering
I mean! Lookit all of those choices of fanart! This is why I find
yuletart such an exciting and creative fest. But sometimes a bit harrowing for the Mods, heh. We have had to make judgment-calls not just about whether someone's art is acceptable content-wise, but also whether it fits into our definition of 'art' without the situation getting wanky. Anyway. I think we've covered all our bases in the FAQ. Here's hoping we won't have to make such a judgment call this year! The sign-ups are still going wonderfully strong - keep 'em coming!
* I've seen vidding being used under the category of fanart; but do vidders consider themselves a separate category? Or do vidders refer to themselves as 'a fanartist'?
