fan art

noun

variants or less commonly fanart
: artwork based on popular works of fiction (such as books, movies, etc.) that is created by fans
Fan art is unofficial drawings and other renderings of famous characters. "Push the boundaries," said Brian Kesinger, an artist at Walt Disney Animation Studios who sells his own prints on the side. "Fan art isn't about rules. It's about expressing yourself."Jonathan Horn
And the Slender Man story itself inspired everything from video games to fanart to a … horror film.Aja Romano

Examples of fan art in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
For Adobe’s go-to-market team, this includes collaborating with influencers, gathering feedback from younger users during pre-release testing and developing features that align with Gen Z’s creative pursuits, such as fan art, music visuals and social media graphics. Melody Brue, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025 Catch up quick: The Whataburger Museum of Art launched on Instagram in 2021, after the pandemic sidelined the company's plans for a brick-and-mortar fan art gallery. Megan Stringer, Axios, 24 Feb. 2025 Visible behind him were walls of framed fan art, a cardboard cutout of Bernie Sanders sitting in the cold, and Piker’s huge puppy, Kaya, taking a nap. Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2025 In fan art, Misty is often illustrated in color palettes of glamorous gold and white. Eric Francisco, Rolling Stone, 1 Mar. 2025 Someone’s left what looks like fan art featuring the character on her tombstone, which is low to the ground and modest by Mickey Rooney standards but is nevertheless emblazoned with a sketch of Nurmi in her signature black mermaid dress. Alison Willmore, Vulture, 21 Feb. 2025 Whataburger is taking its fan art from a digital space to an IRL gallery for the first time. Megan Stringer, Axios, 24 Feb. 2025 That role would eventually go to Jak Malone, a huge admirer of the team’s previous work who’d made his way onto their radar by making fan art. Juan A. Ramírez, Vogue, 14 Feb. 2025 And there’s a plethora of theories and ideas and concepts, and the fan art is so creative. Kalia Richardson, Rolling Stone, 25 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1969, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fan art was in 1969

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Cite this Entry

“Fan art.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fan%20art. Accessed 19 May. 2025.

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