Olympic mascot fanart refers to the artistic portrayal of the official mascots of the Olympic Games by fans. The Olympic Games have a rich history of mascot characters that represent the values and culture of the host country. These mascots are often anthropomorphic animals or mythical creatures that are designed to capture the spirit of the games and create a sense of excitement and unity among participants and spectators. Fanart is a form of artwork created by fans of a particular subject or fandom. In the case of Olympic mascots, fans channel their creativity and passion for the games into creating their own artwork featuring these beloved characters. This can include drawings, paintings, digital art, sculptures, and even cosplay.

2022 冬奥 Beijing Olympic Mascot Design

The new mascots for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics were unveiled today. This piece concerns the process, outcome and belated promotion for the mascots that never were — The NuFuWa 新福娃!

冰墩墩 Bing Dwen Dwen and 雪融融 Shuey Rhon Rhon

I have been interested in Olympic Design for some time, occasionally even writing about it, such as here and here. In these pieces I acknowledge that designing for the Olympics is not only an extremely tough gig but that the Mascots are the toughest component of that whole roster.

In a surprising demonstration of insight and forethought, the Chinese Olympic Committee elected to run the mascot design as a public competition. This opportunity encouraged a reported 5,800 submissions from 35 countries — one of which was mine. Actually a joint effort: Daisy Zhang did the character design, Hei Leung provided coordination and project management while I did the art direction. How did we get on? Well, I am here to report that, sadly, we didn’t win.

And so we have our new mascots.

冰墩墩 BingDuanDuan (Bing Dwen Dwen) and 雪融融 XueRongRong (Shuey Rhon Rhon) have been unveiled and anointed in a typically surreal and lavish ceremony. Professional courtesy prevents me from offering a critique of our new friends, but naturally we all wish them well. And now that they are out of the bag, I am at least able to present our entry here.

By way of disclosure I should point out that my position with the CAFA Visual Art Innovation Institute 中央美术学院视觉艺术高精尖创新中心 involves work on the Olympic project. My main responsibilities are linked to the design of licensing, merchandising and some equipment design rather than anything linked to the core elements. Because I wasn’t involved with the mascot project in any way, our team was allowed to submit an anonymous entry.

The idea came about through an approach of the brief in a completely logical manner: as the city prepares to be the first to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics, surely it already has its Mascots? — the much celebrated 福娃 FuWa. These were created by artist 韓美林 Han MeiLin for the 2008 Olympic Games and while they may not have aged particularly well (seemingly the curse of all Olympic mascots), they are recognisable to billions of people.

The Original FuWa Mascots

Actually the design of the original FuWa is a sort of smorgasbord of Chinese culture intertwined with spirit-of-internationalism type banalities. Not only does each one represent a different animal, but also different continents, the Olympic rings, different elements from Chinese traditional cultural heritage, different universal elements, different fengshui elements, different types of sport and different personalities. Only one of them appears to be an actual panda, but the other four also have panda faces. I think. Don’t they? In design terms this is really a dog’s dinner, but despite everything these five brave ambassadors were embraced wholeheartedly by the international Olympic community — indistinct heritage, overcomplicated back-stories and all.

But back in 2008 the FuWa were babies. Some sort of babies. Hence our by-now obvious concept — FuWa 2.0 — The same FuWa babies that you know and love, but this time they’re teenagers — all grown up, sassy, confident, and into Winter Sports.

FuWa 2.0 or NuFuWa

In this updated design each FuWa retains its own character but in addition now represents one of five disciplines of the Winter Olympics: (L to R) BeiBei = Figure Skating (Sea/Water); JingJing = Skiiing (Forest, Wood); HuanHuan = Ice Hockey (Fire); YingYing = Speed Skating and Curling (Earth); NiNi = Toboggan/Luge (Sky/Metal)

It should be pointed out that in addition to the original FuWa, there was an entirely separate mascot for the Paralympics in 2008. NiuLeLe (Happy Cow) was not celebrated in the same way as the FuWa and in 2019 seems almost unbelievably crass not only in the choice of animal but also the name, depiction and overall metaphor. Still, the brief we had given ourselves was to update the 2008 mascots so on we go! In our version NiuNiu has grown up to be an athletic snowboarder with attitude.

Sadly it was not to be. Our rebooted FuWas were beaten in the end by an ice-encrusted Panda and a lantern-headed hominid. Together they serve to demonstrate more than ever that the mascot really is a tough design brief. The big shame is that Beijing had a get-out-of-jail-free card in the form of the original FuWa. They are perfect for a design reappraisal and in many ways beyond ridicule because they are already so embedded in the culture. Oh well.

Even while preparing the entry, we knew that an updated FuWa was never really going to be acceptable. The desire for novelty overrides everything in the current climate, but was a fun project to work on. Thanks Daisy and Hei!

Character Detail: HuanHuan Character Detail: NiuLeLe

With colleagues 王敏 Wang Min (Design Director of Beijing 2008 Olympics) and 林存真 Lin Cunzhen (Design Director of Beijing 2022 Olympics) at ZhuHai Design Week.

Oh Snap! The Friggin Amazing J.Ho Sketchblog.

You might recall that last year I became obsessed with the Fuwa, official mascots of the 2008 Olympics. I had a few laughs about it, and Mark Hale had a few more. In spite of my trademark disdain for sports/exercise, I watched a little bit of the Olympics over the weekend, and I was disappointed to find that the Fuwa have been conspicuously absent. So, I sat down and busted out a drawing:

If you're just here for discussion of awesome mascots, skip down a bit. The next paragraph is gonna be me yammering on about my process.

Several of my cronies have been requesting that I draw more involved pieces, with multiple characters, backgrounds, and, I dunno, cohesive lighting or something. The simplicity of the Fuwa made them ideal for a more complex piece--I got to concentrate on composition and color, rather than obsess over costume details. The composition here is the right idea, but the execution is lacking. All in all, I can live with it, because the entire production of this piece was spontaneous, and for me, pretty fast--the whole thing took me about five and a half hours.

As if it wasn't enough that the Fuwa are the best official Olympic mascots of all time (you can see their competition here), Ren alerted me to the fact that BBC's Olympic coverage had a mascot of their own--none other than Monkey:

• Check out the main page with an amazing animated trailer here, featuring Monkey and his pals using Olympic skillz to vanquish demons.
• See more pics of Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy here.
• For a little background, read this article.
• And download masks of Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy here!

ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE, I have also stumbled upon the disarmingly charming mascots for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver--Quatchi (a sasquatch), Miga (AN ORCA/BEAR HYBRID. ), and Sumi (a magical animal spirit somewhat resembling an anthropomorphized totem pole).

• Check out the main page for the 2010 Winter Game mascots here.
• Be sure to watch their slick animated video intro here.

. and LeBron and Yao compare notes on their respective cultures, also in CGI (keep your eye out for the Monkey King!):

We live in a golden age of Mascots.

JASONBOT.COM

This can include drawings, paintings, digital art, sculptures, and even cosplay. Olympic mascot fanart allows fans to express their love for the games and showcase their artistic skills. It can range from simple doodles to intricate and detailed illustrations.

Updated… sometimes. T_T Formerly known as BootlegSketch.blogspot.com (Established 2007)

Mascot Mania. Winter 2010 Edition.

It is no secret that I am in favor of well-designed Olympic mascots, even though I have no interest in sports. Mascot design = character design, and that’s definitely something I’m interested in.

The 2010 Winter Olympics (which close shop this weekend) feature a great quartet of mascots designed by the very talented artists of Meomi. Naturally, I wanted to try my hand at drawing these mascots:

From bottom left to top right, we have Mukmuk the marmot, Quatchi the sasquatch, Sumi the animal spirit (orca headdress, thunderbird wings, bear legs), and Miga the sea bear (part orca, part kermode bear). Yeah, I’m pretty sure Sumi and Miga are FUZORS in disguise.

Note to self: start drawing picture of Sumi and Miga as Fuzors.

Where was I? Oh yeah, mascots are rad. In the midst of researching the 2010 mascots, I also stumbled across these characters:

Their names are Lyo and Merly, and they’re the mascots for the first ever 2010 Summer Youth Olympics (taking place in Singapore). Lyo is a lion cub, and Merly is a merlion cub–ANOTHER FUZOR. Don’t be surprised if I end up drawing these two when the Youth Games roll around.

For More on Olympic Mascots:

• A comprehensive list of Olympic Mascots
• More info on some of the Mascots, including pictures
• Official page of the Vancouver 2010 mascots
• Official page of the Singapore 2010 mascots
• BONUS: Official Page for Team Australia’s mascot, BK the boxing kangaroo !

Some fans may even create their own unique interpretations of the mascots, adding their personal touch and creativity to the designs. The internet and social media platforms have played a significant role in the popularity and accessibility of Olympic mascot fanart. Fans can easily share their artwork online, connecting with other fans and creating a sense of community. This online presence has also led to fanart contests and challenges, where fans can showcase their work and compete for recognition and prizes. Additionally, Olympic mascot fanart serves as a form of tribute to the games and the host country. It celebrates the iconic symbols of the Olympics and showcases the talents and imagination of fans worldwide. Through their artwork, fans contribute to the visual culture surrounding the games and help create a lasting legacy for each mascot. In conclusion, Olympic mascot fanart is a creative and expressive way for fans to demonstrate their love for the games and the mascots that represent them. It allows fans to showcase their artistic skills, connect with other fans, and contribute to the visual culture of the Olympics. These pieces of fanart not only serve as tributes to the games but also create a sense of excitement and unity among fans worldwide..

Reviews for "Olympic Mascot Fan Art: Transforming Characters into Icons"

1. Laura - 1 star - The Olympic mascot fanart is absolutely terrible. The characters are poorly drawn and the colors are all wrong. They don't even look like the real Olympic mascots! It's obvious that no effort was put into creating these drawings. I would not recommend wasting your time looking at this fanart.

2. Mark - 2 stars - I was really disappointed with the Olympic mascot fanart. The artwork was mediocre at best and lacked any creativity. It felt like the artist just copied the official mascots without bringing anything new or unique to the table. The quality of the drawings was also quite poor, with messy lines and careless coloring. Overall, I was really underwhelmed by the fanart.

3. Sarah - 2 stars - I don't understand the hype around the Olympic mascot fanart. I found most of the pieces to be unappealing and amateurish. It felt like anyone with basic drawing skills could have done a better job. The proportions were off, and the facial expressions of the characters looked weird and unnatural. I expected much more from a fanart dedicated to such a prestigious event.

4. Kevin - 1 star - The Olympic mascot fanart was a complete letdown. The drawings lacked any sort of creativity or originality. It was clear that the artist just copied the official mascots without adding any personal touch. The fanart also lacked attention to detail, with messy and inconsistent linework. Overall, I found it to be a lazy and uninspiring collection of artwork.

5. Emily - 2 stars - The Olympic mascot fanart was quite underwhelming. The art style was not to my liking, and it didn't capture the spirit of the mascots or the Olympics. The overall quality of the drawings was mediocre, with unimaginative poses and bland coloring. I was hoping to see more unique interpretations of the mascots, but sadly, that was not the case. Disappointing fanart overall.

Olympic Mascot Fan Art: Pushing Boundaries and Challenging Conventions