Among the numerous amazing pieces of fan art in our gallery, many are in full color, either through digital or traditional means, while many others are drawn in black and white - and of course, all the shades in between. Some are tinted for dramatic effect; still others share a mix - nearly all black and white, with one standout splash of color.

Which is your favorite type to look at or draw? Here are some examples from our very own TLC Fan Art Gallery, as well as the artists' websites, to help you with your decision.


Perhaps you enjoy creating or looking at art in full, vibrant color, where subtle plays of light and texture can add to the colors' effect in the piece.


This gorgeous picture of Harry and Dumbledore, by mudblood428, can be found here in the Fan Art Gallery.



Or maybe you enjoy black and white best, together in striking contrast or in muted shades of grey. The color palette may be simple, but the effect is anything but - it's amazing what emotions can be conveyed in just two colors.


Soul-stirring portrayal of "The Forest Again" by Cambryn, from the Fan Art Gallery, found here.



Do you enjoy tinted art pieces most of all? These subtle, stunning pictures use a unique method of coloring to add a new dimension and an additional spark to each image.


This beautiful picture of Harry and the Snitch by Gold-Seven can be found here at her artist page.



One can hardly deny the power of black and white shot through with an intense burst of color! Does that make it your favorite type of fan art?


Spectacular depiction of Tom Riddle by Rotae, found here in the Fan Art Gallery.



So, which type is your favorite? Feel free to let everyone know your choice, share links to your favorite pieces of fan art of any style, and discuss why you enjoy that type so much. Remember that many more incredible pieces of fan art can be found in the TLC Fan Art Gallery!

(Congratulations on your first post, Chickadee!)

Personally, I really love tinted art best. I have always been a softie for "antique" pictures that are somewhere in between black and white and color. They always seem to have so much more depth, though I'm not completely sure why. I think maybe because they don't have the disctraction of a bunch of color, but they do have a little bit of color to show the surroundings, unlike black and white. Oh, that pictue you used as an example is a perfect illustration of my reasons! I can't imagine that picture meaning so much to me if it was in color or black and white.

I really love this one by LoonyLucy:


And this one by Mudblood428: (yes, I know the tint is blue. That's why I love it)

I'm a colour girl. I love all the art, no question, but I have always been drawn to vibrant colour, so the brighter the better if you're gonna get my attention. But the other thing I also love is the black and white with just one burst of colour (hmm, yes, there's that colour again). So really surprisingly, I voted for colour glorious colour!

jaime, I can't BELIEVE I forgot that one of Ron with the Deluminator. It's one of my absolute favorite DH fan arts (in fact, one of my favorites ever). Excellent example! The Maruaders one is nice, too.

STS, I agree...color is wonderful. What would a Ron or Ginny picture be without their gorgeous red hair? Now, that's not to say I haven't seen some awesome art with either of them in black and white - this one of Ginny by mudblood428, for instance, is stunning - but I do love to see that flaming red hair in fan art.

I completely agree.

Color, when done right, just gets you more drawn to the art. It makes it some alive, specially in this fandom, where everything is left to your imagination, its nice to SEE it in full colors.

But I also love black and white. Those stand out to me, again when done right, because of the contrasts in the two colors. Some art like http://leelastarsky.deviantart.com/art/Dea...POILER-67125609 ... yeah.

I picked "color" but I have to say, it depends on the scene being depicted. I think the Forest Again images are more powerful in black and white or tinted than they would be in color because it's such a stark moment in the series and the harshness of the one color scheme captures it perfectly. Much of the adult Snape art I prefer in black and white (or mixed, depending on the scene) because I think it's a good reflection of his dual-sided character.

Overall, though, I like the vibrancy and detail that you get with color in all illustrations. mudblood24's Harry and DD image is beautiful! Thanks for including it, Chickadee! Clearly, I need to be spending more time in the Galleries.

I like Harry Potter art any way it comes, but I just find that there are better pictures, imo, dones in black and white. I find that the artist pays more attention to the drawing rather than to adding color to it. Plus, I'm finding that I really like sketches.

Like Jaime, I also love the tinted pictures. This picture is a very great one, too! But I also agree with blue4t! I love HP in any way it comes!

Idk
I like both color and black and white
it depends on the picture

I agree with what you said about the true preference depending on the scene. Some scenes just wouldn't be right with color, just as some would be terrible without. Overall, I prefer color, but I love just about anything.

So far I'm in the minority in preferring black & white. Chickadee, I think you're right -- it's something about the accessibility of emotions, when the presentation is simple, although Kwikspell's "duality" (or is it dichotomy?) theory also works well. Of course, those are "head" responses, and the truth is, the black & white just appeal more quickly to my "gut."

Mixed is my runner-up, fo' sho'.

Great poll, Chickadee .

Right Kwikspell! The scene matters but my long favouite is black and white, provided, I repeat provided you have done a master piece job!! Then all the other forms are equally great!

It's tough to decide....But I voted for mixed....I don't like tinted arts...There is a sense of reality in black and white art and dark scenes can be portrayed well in such kind...As for me coloured art is helpful to convey emotions........

Gee, picking my favorite is like when people ask me my favorite color. I never know what to answer because I love color in all its manifestations! I'm always torn between browns, greens, blues and purples, and I can usually make a case for others depending on the circumstances. Indecision may or may not be my problem!

That said, I think the images that strike me the most are the ones that are done in a sepia tone. But usually I think that's because the ones that lend themselves best to a sepia tone are the most poignant or nostalgic scenes. Does that make sense? Bold colors have a place with a different type of scene, and ditto for black and white or a shot of color here or there. I really applaud artists who know which color effect to use in which situation. It's discretionary, but when done in the appropriate way can have so much impact!

(I added the bold lettering) I agree with you, becky920. That makes perfect sense. Sepia adds a real richness to a picture if it's the right subject matter. A humorous scene in sepia just wouldn't work, but one like Harry and the Snitch is made somehow more powerful through the use of tint.

I thought I was going to vote for color, because color is so vibrant, and that picture of Harry and Dumbledore was so rich and vivid. But then I saw that sepia toned picture of Harry and the Snitch and changed my mind. That picture made more of an impact on me emotionally than any of the others. Actually, all the pictures were great, but that one in particular.

Great thread, Chickadee, you did yourself proud. I'll have to come over to the Fan Art Gallery more often.

My vote went for mixed, but I mean that in the sense that it really depends on the mood the artist is trying to portray.
Let me give you 3 examples of each style, remember I'm no art student so my understanding is very limited but here goes.
Colour images are great to show us a vibrant happy scene. Quidditch scenes are a good example of this like this example by Sockie .


Black and White is very good in setting a dark mood, the sense of foreboding. A good example is this Tom Scribble's picture of Voldemort taking the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb.


Finally the tinted style is very effective in showing an aged photo, give you the impression that this picture is old and from time long ago like this portrait of Godric Gryffindor made by the Fanartist of the month. Leelastarsky.


I'm sure you'd all agree that if any of the pictures above was in any other style their effectiveness would be diminished so therefore I woluld say ALL of them have their merits.
(And on that long drawn out note I submit my 1000th post to Leaky Lounge)

i have to say tinted is my favourite closely followed by black and white

I love the color in my life, me discovering the small details in each picture, the subtle differences that make it unique, and what better whay to enjoy this rather than with the vast variety of colours, the colours through which the artist sees his work...

And to be honest, Ron wouldn't have been Ron without the ginger hair, Harry isn't Harry without the Green eyes, and

Could this picture have been that wonderful if it wasn't for the colours? (fanart by ~alicia-chan)

This was rather tough, since I'm not really into fan art. I mean, I don't do, like, browsing in Leaky Galleries or anywhere else, but I like to take a look if someone (like Chickadee here ) gives a link in the thread, or something. So, my vote went for colour simply because of all the fan art I've seen the ones I found the most beautiful were colourful.

Well, I am one of the fence-sitters on this question. It really depends on the scene at hand, and how the artist has chosen to depict it. For example, I cannot imagine this image of Hagrid, by Sanna L in anything but full, vibrant colour --

The starkness of black and white belies it's ability to convey infinite emotion. Tom Scribble shows us Dumbledore finding the horcrux/ring, and in my opinion, this scene would not be nearly so powerful in anything other than black and white --

As far as tinted FanArt is concerned, it can combine the best of both worlds, such as this fantastic image of Harry and the locket by October's Featured FanArtist Sherant --

So which type of FanArt do I prefer? All of them!

I voted mixed because I'm not too familiar with techniques and stuff, usually I prefer fanart that looks like a quick, cartoonish sketch with or without some color slapped on to it. If you know what I mean. That I find very nice most of the time.

Out of the images on the first post, I liked the tinted one very much. That's the one where Harry holds the snitch, right?

Another image that would not do well in anything but full, vibrant colour is this one by this month's Featured FanArtist, dhesia --

Here in the FanArt Gallery

The intensity of the chroma forces you to actually feel the heat of the fiendfyre. Hot stuff!

I voted mixture.
Though I haven't had a chance to look through the galleries on the site here from my searches on devART I really don't mind what form the work comes in.
I simply enjoy seeing how other people see these characters be it in Black & White or Colour. it really doesn't matter.
Though truthfully I do envy those who do color work, as I've never been that fantastic with it and most of my fanart is for the most part black and white and unfullfilling [for me]
But I can cite Iberghol and Makani as being two artists that I adore on devART whom each do both B&W and colour works, and I adore both.
As for tints those are very good for I suppose poignant scenes wether they be ones of mourning or of some manner of joy.

I just found a great example of some fantastic Black and White Art. A while back Marta at artdungeon.net created "Big Darn Anvil" a great composition of Ron and Hermione's most memorable moments throughout all 7 books. She has now completed "Big Darn Emotional Journey" with moments from Harry and Ginny's interactions throughout the books.

One of my favorites is this one of Harry and Ginny in the chamber:


I was so excited to see so much great new artwork of my favorite pairing.

I voted mixed. I don't think the color of the picture has much to do with it. What counts is the quality of the piece.

Thank you for saying that so well! I selected "Mixture" because I think of favorite pieces that vary widely in color. I tend to like fan drawings in black, white, and shades of grey--drawings more than paintings, in terms of non-electronic hand media. That wouldn't be because I draw better than I paint, would it? It might have to do with the fact that I like the poignant, touching passages in the books, too.

There is no doubt in my mind that black and white images generally seem to convey an intensity that can get diluted by the addition of colour. This amazing image of Snape in an Art nouveau setting COULD be done in colour, but has much more impact in black and white --

This by recent TLC FanArtist Hever. The piercing quality of the eyes, along with the symbolic use of the snake/Dark Mark are just wonderful. And, again, so much better in B&W.

I voted for mixed too. It's not that I can't decide but more that for me every scene needs it's own way to be expressed and every artist will find their way, which can exist next to another interpretation (I see – or rather hear – this all the time with musical interpreation when teaching or during ensembel work and funnily enough we speak of colours of sound too). In each style you can give contrast, even when only working with black and white, yet that contrast works on a completely different level (sense of light, more than contrasting colours).

Also, give the same scene to an artist each using another of these styles, if they know the're stuff and how to translate the feel into their use of colour along with all the other parameters each will be a masterpiece in its own right. The interaction with the other parameters (choice of how the subjects are positioned, focus etc.) is just as important as the interaction of the colours. In the end it has to click within each parameter as well as across the board.

There is a recent addition to the FanArt Gallery by DancingGoat which is a great expression of the wonder of colour --

Here in the FA Gallery

It is a marvelous depiction of Horace Slughorn and a perfect example of the use of vibrant colour in fan art. I especially love the HUGE walrus mustache and the colouring on his trousers! Well-done!