As I said, the previous post will have a Part II that goes deeper into the issue of fan art versus fan fiction. I had just begun a page on the Parlor dedicated specifically to fan art related to the AMC series when SAG-AFTRA also went on strike in solidarity with the WGA. In support, the pages on the Parlor about the series are idled. Which means I had forgotten I had written some words about my approach to fan art versus fan fiction.
The Parlor has always been devoted to discussion of the Lives of the Mayfair Witches novels, and the Vampire Chronicles novels the Mayfair Witches appear in. That only changed this year, when the AMC series premiered in January and the Parlor added a section of pages devoted to discussion about the AMC series. However, series or not, it is necessary to have some discussion of fan art versus fan fiction.
There is a section of one of the pages dedicated to the AMC series where I discuss fan art versus fan fiction. There has been some discussion on social media recently regarding fan fiction. To be clear, Anne Rice did NOT allow fan fiction about her characters. Characters are copyrighted.
So, what does that mean for those of us who enjoy creating and viewing fan art?
I cannot speak for anyone else, but I can certainly explain how I define fan art and fan fiction. I'll start with fan fiction.
Say someone writes a fan fiction story about the Mayfair Witches. For example, what happens to Rowan Mayfair after she leaves Blackwood Farm, after she meets with Lestat for the last time. Or what happens to Mona Mayfair and Quinn Blackwood following their departure from both Lestat and Rowan Mayfair. It wouldn't be a series of brief guesses, but an actual story written that the characters are used in. A story not written by Anne Rice, and one in which she had no input whatsoever.
Here, I am talking about writing, not necessarily filmmaking and/or scriptwriting. There is a different set of rules when it comes to authors of novels and filmmakers and screenwriters wanting to adapt the author's novels for the screen. The fan fiction I am referring to would be in the form of, say, novels, novellas, and even short stories written to be read online.
To sum it up, fan fiction like what I'm referring to is not the vision of the original author. The characters created by an author are like their "brain children". When I first read the Mayfair Witches books by Anne Rice, I became a fan based upon those books written by that particular author. Fan fiction that is not the vision of the author who created the original characters and work is not something I care for.
I cannot relate what is in a fan fiction story to Anne Rice's work because it is not her vision.
So, what does that say about fan art?
The type of fan art I like to both see and make is the type created according to what Anne Rice's description was in the novels. This is the type of fan art I try to make. When it comes to the Mayfair Witches themselves, many of us who do make fan art depicting them want the Mayfair Witches to be as Anne Rice described them.
This graphic of the painting of Deborah Mayfair was made from a graphic by Javi Trulove Sims, who based it upon the description of the painting in The Witching Hour. When I made this, AI helped to give Deborah's face more distinctive characteristics that will, in turn, be recognizable in the rest of the Mayfair Witches' portraits. The effect was made using an effects generator, the effect being that the portrait does appear to be an old painting.
There is one more thing I have included in this image. The Mayfair Emerald.
For that, I used SketchUp Pro 2019 to create a 3D model of the necklace. The model does appear to be much larger in other images of the Mayfair Witches on the site, but the actual size is described as about the size of one's thumbnail. If the Mayfair Emerald does appear bigger in other images of the Mayfairs, that is an error on my part.
So here, you see Deborah Mayfair wearing the 3D Mayfair Emerald. That is a very specific description from The Witching Hour. This painting graphic is the type of fan art I like to both see and create.
Closer images of the 3D model of the Mayfair Emerald are displayed on the site, and one is an animated GIF. I have just put several new GIF images of some of the 3D models I've made on Come Into My Parlor In 3D. Still images are one thing, but GIF images show the models much better.
One I am particularly excited about is the Egyptian Keyhole door. The ornamentation along the top is not yet there, but I did want to include the rest of the details before displaying it. For that, I used the door as shown in the house plans on the House of Patterns page. Any errors are my own.
This is my focus when it comes to fan art. The goal is to bring the world of the Mayfair Witches to life as Anne Rice envisioned them. As I learn more, I like to improve on what I've already done, and eventually, create some things from scratch. My biggest goal? To learn how to create the characters myself so I can make each Mayfair Witch appear as Anne Rice described them.