Fan Art

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Fan Art refers to artwork created by fans (either professional or amateur) which usually features copyrighted characters (such as, for example, Lara Croft, Kurtis Trent, Winston, et cetera).

Tomb Raider fan art was probably the first type of fan work produced after the release of the 1996 game.

The Deviant Art Website

Although there are collections of Tomb Raider fan artwork at most Tomb Raider websites, probably the biggest (and least edited) collection is found at Deviant Art [2]. As of October 2008 a search using the phrase "Tomb Raider" gave the number of pictures using that keyphrase as over 9000.

Types of artwork include;

• original artwork using materials such as pencil, paint and crayon
  
• copies of comic artwork by artists like Michael Turner
  
• nude, fetish and furry TR artwork
  
• photos of cosplayers dressed as Lara Croft
  
• adaptations of TR game pack covers
  
• cartoons and cartoon comic strips featuring Lara
  
• computer-generated 3D Laras, often with a fetish theme
  
• computer screen backgrounds with a TR theme assembled from advertising material released by Eidos
  
• holiday photos from sites of archaeological or historical sites

The most popular Tomb Raider artwork (i.e. placed on the most member "favorite" lists) are covers from the Tomb Raider comics.

Influential Tomb Raider artists

Concept artists for the Tomb Raider games

• Toby Gard
• Adam Brockbank
• Paul Catling
• Paul Sullivan
• Ben Shafer
• Joel Boucquemont

• 

  Toby Gard's "Laura Cruz"

• 

  Original artwork for Lara Croft, usually attributed to Toby Gard

• 

  Concept artwork for Legend showing "that dress"

• 

  Paul Sullivan concept art for an unused boss fight in Anniversary. Note Natla, riding the giant beast. The original can be found at [1].

Artists from the Tomb Raider comics

These include;

• Michael Turner
• Andy Park
• Adam Hughes[3]

• 

  Michael Turner cover for Tomb Raider comic

• 

  Andy Park cover for Tomb Raider comic

• 

  Adam Hughes concept artwork

• 

  Adam Hughes cover for Tomb Raider comic issue 45

The effect of Lara's image on fan artwork

Fan opinion: This section contains personal opinions from a Tomb Raider fan.
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From Ostercy

The overt sexuality of Lara Croft - as demonstrated both by her deliberately designed in-game "sexy" image and by the advertising materials used on the release of the early games - gave rise to a phenomenon known as "Nude Raider", and thus pictures showing the naked Lara were almost certainly the first fan work to be distributed on the Web. Even the initial concept art for Lara, sometimes attributed to Toby Gard, shows her as a conventionally attractive "action babe" dressed in tight or revealing clothing, and this image has naturally increased her appeal as the subject of fan art. The "sexuality" quotient was probably increased even more by Lara's portrayal in the Top Cow comics as a woman with the face and body of a supermodel, and by the casting and performance of "sex goddess" Angelina Jolie in the first movie. Recent moves by the game developers to freeze Lara's age in the early twenties (originally she was born in 1968 and would be 40 by now), as well as the casting of nubile "actresses" dressed in (sometimes embarrassingly) skimpy clothing to portray Lara at trade conferences has cemented the image of Lara as a "sex kitten" almost irrevocably. Lara Croft's tight clothing, tightly-wound ponytail (until recently), large boots, thigh holster straps, threatening guns, et cetera, as well as her almost "dominatrix" characterisation has almost led to her becoming a "fetish" character, and the existence of a great deal of Tomb Raider fetish artwork probably arises from these design decisions. The original cosplayers (fans who dress as Lara) were probably as interested in Lara's potential to arouse as they were in her ability to raid tombs. Attempts to portray Lara as "caring" and "athletic" in her more recent incarnations has not diminished her role as an object of sexual fantasy for both genders, nor diminished the exposure of younger Tomb Raider fans to sexualisation by media. Unlike some other franchises where the focus of erotic attention is usually on subsidiary characters (Star Trek's Seven of Nine, Batman's Catwoman, for example), in Tomb Raider the focus is almost wholly on Lara.

Selected references

• Analyses of Lara's perceived sexuality by female authors - Does Lara wear fake polygons? by Anne-Marie Schleiner, 1998 [4], Lara Croft: feminist icon or cyberbimbo? by Helen W. Kennedy, 2001 [5] Women representing women by Clare Lovey, 2004 [6]
• Review of Lara Croft: Tomb-Raider #38 comic by Ray Tate, March 6, 2004 [7]
• Lara Croft cosplay slideshow at Youtube [8]
• Lara Croft boots at fetish boot site [9]
• Tomb Raider: Underworld - Swimming Costume Fetish Gear? [10]
• Meet the sexy new Lara Croft, Sun newspaper, 2008 including side show of Alison Carroll [11]
• Laracroftnude.com - not work safe, do not enter site if underage
• 'Nude Raiders' face legal action, BBC News, 2005 [12]

(Opinions voiced at these sites do not necessary reflect the opinion of Wiki Raider.)

Fan Art Sites

Visions Of Lara Croft (1999-2003, no longer active)
Fan Art at Planet Lara
Fan Art at Lara's Sanctuary
Fan Art Archive at tombraiderboard
Lara Croft at Deviant Art

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