Drawing fan art used to be shunned upon and considered repugnant in the artist community. Just like fanfiction it wasn't taken seriously and had many artists using fake names in order to show appreciation for their favorite series. Today this type of art is accepted in many communities, especially the literature and writing communities, as stated by the wonderfully whimsical librarian Betsy Bird in this article.

Even KidLit TV whose mission is to create fun new ways to reinforce an appreciation of reading that children will carry with them for the rest of their lives, appreciates fan art. On the show "Ready Set Draw"illustrators teach kids how to draw one of their characters and then kids send in their drawings of that character!

As a fan artist, I lived through the years when some teachers would toss out pictures of fan art or anything "fan" related, when fan art blogs would be shut down, or even when kids were bullied for doodling their favorite character on a notebook. Today I'll be pointing out the top six perks of being a fan artist and show you why being a fan artist rocks!

1. The Requests - If you run a fan art blog you're bound to get requests from many different fandoms. But sometimes the requests are "too good to be true" that you end up laughing your head off when you're drawing that request.

2. Friendships - No matter what fandom you draw for, if you make someone laugh, cry or even get a comment that says "you're like my best friend on the internet" it's all worth it.

3. New Discoveries - The hashtag #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend is just one of the many goodies fan artists will discover on their fandom scavenger hunts. If you type in Captain America Civil War for example that's where the fan art shenanigans will begin.

4. Improvement - With every piece of fan art you create sooner or later you'll see an improvement in your drawings and even come up with an original style.

5. Possibilities - Running a fan art blog doesn't just end there. Once you grow an audience you can even open a fan art shop where you can sell tTshirts, pins, tote bags and possibly open your own business.

6. The Shippings - If you're a big shipper of well, almost anything, there is no stopping you from expressing yourself through your art. Are you a big shipper of Destiel (Dean x Cas) from "Supernatural"? Well ship away friends, because canon or not your fan art can help that ship set sail!

There are so many reasons to become a fan artist. If you love to draw or just draw for a hobby, expressing yourself as a fan is all that matters. All you need to ask yourself is: What are you a fan of?

My Fan Art Blog