Our Favorite Lesser-Known Online Art Subcultures

Simone and Malcolm My Little Pony Commission

As we trot around the online art world, chatting with (and admiring from afar, stalker style) various artists, we frequently stumble into various subcultures that delight and surprise us. Should you not spend much time poking around them, we highly recommend doing so.

Some of our favorites include:

  • Fan art: We love seeing our favorite characters drawn in new styles and situations (who can deny the pleasure derived from some clever shipping?). The great thing about fan art is that it’s hardly relegated to niches outside mainstream society- we see plenty of socially conservative, fully-grown adults getting into Sherlock and Disney Princess fan art- and we love it!
  • Pony art: I admit, I am a huge fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Malcolm even included some MLP fan art in the collection of art he used to propose to me (pictured above). What makes MLP art particularly fun is how you get to think through the sort of pony you might be within the MLP universe. Every grown pony has a cutie mark on their hip- something that represents what he or she is really good at and passionate about. What would your cutie mark be?
  • Furry art: The furry community has been around FOR-EV-ER, and so has its art. When we began recruiting artists for ArtCorgi, we were surprised to discover how many commission artists are also furry artists- it may very well be that furry artists have kept the small-scale art commissioning industry alive over the years!
  • Raunchy art: Back before art commissions began to enter the mainstream, those commissioning pornographic art ranked amongst the top commissioners of original art- alongside furries. We love how raunchy art can bring to life fantasies and kinks that would never make sense in live-action porn or real life- and we love how gorgeous some of the pieces can be! Raunchy art has a long and storied history in the art world (we’re talking thousands of years, bro), and we’re glad the tradition is alive and well.

What’s your favorite online artistic subculture? Did we miss something major (we hope so- we love discovering new stuff!). Tell us about your top picks on Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook.

Post image: One Giant Leap, by Faceless Jr