So, I'm still pretty much a no one when it comes to furry art. Or simply art in general.
I've been practicing recently and got my old DeviantArt back, trying to start uploading.
Nevermind. In any case, what just happened is that I messaged one artist asking for a permission to use their character for a piece that I can vividly see in my mind already. And they refused. Told them I would credit them and share their page as well, but still, all I got is "No, thanks."
I'm curious, why do people refuse such requests? I know that character is basically like your child, something you created, but I've seen a lot of people recreate original characters made by some huge artists, in their own way. And If you respect and credit the artist and the original artwork, I see no harm done.

mr.furrylover said:
I'm curious, why do people refuse such requests? I know that character is basically like your child, something you created, but I've seen a lot of people recreate original characters made by some huge artists, in their own way. And If you respect and credit the artist and the original artwork, I see no harm done.

Respecting the artist includes listening to their wishes. Different people care differently about fan art of their characters, so it can be reasonable for one person to allow it for their character, and another person to not allow it for their character.

watsit said:
Respecting the artist includes listening to their wishes. Different people care differently about fan art of their characters, so it can be reasonable for one person to allow it for their character, and another person to not allow it for their character.

Oh yeah, that I do definitelly understand, and I agree. I will of course respect their will, as it's their character and their original hard work.
I'm sorry, might be an unnecessary post, I just felt angry and confused in the moment and I had to share it somewhere. Thank you for your reply though!

The problem you're likely bumping up against here is that the artist has a particular vision for their character that they feel fan works risk damaging. Some may not want their character in any mature or adult works, others might accept mature or adult works of their character, but only in certain situations. Some may have had bad experiences with others misrepresenting their characters and some may have plans for their characters they don't want derailed by outside influences. Reasons vary. Even if others think they're dumb reasons, it doesn't matter as those are their characters to do with as they will.

Ultimately, it's good that you had the courtesy of contacting the artist. However, even though they gave you the thumbs down for using their characters, your mental image is likely still good and to be honest, getting it out on paper would get it out of your head so you can clutter it with new ones. :p You just need to take a page from the fanfiction writers' handbook and change the characters to your own. Doing this can be freeing as it means you can take the characters and the scenario in any direction you want to without worrying about how it fits into whatever serves as canon for them.

You could wait for the artist to pass on in a few decades and negotiate with their estate.

lance_armstrong said:
You could wait for the artist to pass on in a few decades and negotiate with their estate.

Stepping around this being obviously jocular
I doubt many furry character-owners would legally contest someone using their character

It'd be more an issue of everyone thinking you're an asshole for appropriating a character.
And I shouldn't have to point out we just had a thread about a youtuber being pissed that someone posted diaper-fetish art of their public fursona

Probably they are afraid of their character being used on stuff that makes them uncomfortable, like creepy stuff.

Yeah no, I would not be happy with my characters being used in unauthorised publications as well, because they may run the risk of being stolen/claimed by the person creating them, being misrepresented (e.g., becoming a mascot for racism) or misused (e.g., illegally used for commercial purposes), or having themes that I am not comfortable with (e.g., violence, bloodshed, filth, etc.).

Some character owners do not mind seeing fanart of their characters being made since they can actually benefit from the popularity (like Helluva_Boss characters), but some do not like having fanart made of their characters for the aforementioned reasons.

Ultimately, fanart or not, the character owner still reserves the right to takedown any artworks of their characters that they are not uncomfortable with.

I wouldn't say it's necessarily about the character being used in ways the artist doesn't want.

Some artists are pretty laissez faire with characters. Especially NSFW artists. But for others, art and characters can be a personal thing. Not necessarily intimate, but still. It's sort of like a personal possession - would you let some random borrow one of your favorite shirts? No. It's yours and no one else's. There's no reason for you to give them it. Especially when they could buy their own.