pondering my reactions to fanart vs those to fanfic

[ratcreature]

I haven't been following fandom newsletters for that long, but they highlighted and made me notice that I my reactions to announcements of fanart compared to those of fanfic differ significantly. It's the same with announcements in communities, but in newsletters there's often a bunch of fic links and a bunch of art links, so it became more obvious for me.

I always check out all the art (well drawings and such, I'm not much interested in photomanipulations or icons), regardless of the pairing or content, or whether I know the artist or not, simply because it only takes a few seconds to take a look at the art and decide whether I like it, and then maybe looking closer or slightly longer at some details (I'm not on dial-up, but I'm also just talking about the time it takes to take something in once a page has loaded not connection/bandwidth issues). Whereas I don't click on most of the fic links unless they make me curious in some way, maybe the title sounds interesting, or I heard of the author, or it's a pairing I like, anyway something more than just the link being there, simply because it is always more effort to decide whether I'll give fanfic a try, even if it is just reading the summary and author's notes. So it's quite a bit harder for fanfic to get noticed by me.

OTOH fanart somehow has much less impact for me than fanfic. I mean, fanfic characterizations, arguments, theories and the like, affect how I see the characters and plots in the source, and how I interpret them. Sometimes it's a slight, but cumulative effect (sort of like a fanon build-up), but occasionally it also happens that a single story is just so ingenious in its interpretation of canon that after reading it I see the source differently, for example like a theory or fanwanking that's the background or basis for a fic to explain something, or just a great view inside the head of a character that makes me understand them, things like that. Fanfic I like also kind of stays with me much longer than even the fanart I like most. Somehow, at least so far, fanart has never had such a lasting effect on me. The way a character is drawn may really work for me, but that's more the surface. It doesn't change my view of the character.

So I'm more likely to look at any fanart, and I really enjoy the visuals of good fanart, it produces immediate reactions, and I may feedback, but it's somehow "weaker" for me than fanfic. And I'm curious whether it is the same for others. So have you ever looked at a piece of fanart and it had lasting impact beyond the image and the immediate reactions/emotions it evoked, the way fanfic sometimes has?

Comments

[kid-nova.livejournal.com]

Interesting comments there [Bad username or site: rat creature @ livejournal.com]. It's always positive and constructive, I feel, for people to write about these sorts of things and this is a topic that I can definitely relate to. In most respects, I agree largely with what you say: I almost always check out fan art whereas I am much more discerning when it comes to reading fan fic. This is because of several factors:
1) I get a quicker 'hit' from fan art because, as you say, it's right there in your face
2) I'm a comparatively slow reader and I have a short (internet) attention span and limited online hours per sitting. If a fan fic sounds like it will interest me, I'll take a note and come back to it later. Much later. ;)

This said, the best fan fic does tend to leave a longer, more lasting impression and can often directly convey so much more than a single piece of art. But let's look at why this might be the case. A drawing or a painting might take up your average sized computer screen and you spend say two minutes max looking at it. In many ways, you get out of it what you put into it. A fic on the other hand often gets to use more of your time and demand more of your attention. It can work directly on you and lead you in a way that most fan art isn't always able to. But that's not to say that fan art has a 'weaker' impact. I find both mediums are capable of being almost equally inspiring.

Also I don't deconstruct fan art anywhere near as much as I do fics. If it looks hot or has pretty colours I'm generally in favour of it, though I can obviously still provide constructive feedback. I tend to be much more critical of writing because its flaws are easier to see and, sometimes, easier to avoid/correct.

[ratcreature]

I tend to be much more critical of writing because its flaws are easier to see and, sometimes, easier to avoid/correct.

Huh, for me it is the opposite. I find it hard to figure out why a story works or doesn't work for me (well except in cases of extreme badfic), whereas with artwork I find it easy to see what I like and what is lacking for me, because with drawings I see the technical side and style choices far more readily. But then I had never any interest to learn writing as a craft or to analyze literature, but I like both for drawings. (though sadly application of theoretical knowledge is much harder, especially as a lazy, non-practicing slacker like me, as I sadly note every time I try to draw muscles, apply foreshortening techniques, or draw shadows and perspective and a bunch of other stuff *g*)

I think what's "weaker" for me with fanart and why I chose that term isn't so much the emotional impact, tough that is shorter, or the enjoyment, but really just its argumentative power (or rather lack thereof) to make me see characters differently. I mean, fanfic can make me see the source itself and the characters in a different light but fanart (excepting fan comics, those also have narrative like fanfic) can't truly "touch" my concept of the source, especially not if the source already has visuals like comics or tv. I admit that for example the LOTR movie visuals influenced how I now visualize the book even though I had read it over a dozen times before ever seeing the movie, simply because I don't naturally imagine books very visual while reading. OTOH my brother for example disliked some of the creatures intensely, because they looked really different in his head based on the descriptions in the books.

[kid-nova.livejournal.com]

Some more interesting comments there. Also, sorry for referring to you as "rat" before. I don't know how that happened. I must have been distracted mid-writing that sentence and forgot to add the "creature" to it.