-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
the_druid_droid
Well, finally finished my collection of the mane 6. This time up, it's Fluttershy!
Based on:
Thoughts: I think there are some successes and failures here. On the one hand, I think I finally did better about drawing the hooves curvy enough and they're starting to get large enough to balance with the size of the rest of the composition. On the downside, I think I drew her a little too long, which threw off some other proportions, and there are spots in her mane I really don't like. Also, the eyebrows need to arch more.
Fluttershy's mane is surprisingly hard; it's just a bunch of smooth lines and curves and it's hard to find reference points to tie them all together. I honestly found it harder to manage than Rarity's...
Well, the eyes look slightly off, and she's a tad longer than in the reference, but all in all, that's a very well-drawn Fluttershy. Not sure which spots in her mane you don't like, all I notice at the moment is a slightly broken line near the end of the tail.
In the meantime I pencil-shaded that first sketch, and tried to fix Urist's (the OC's) hind leg:
Can't find anything else wrong here, so I'll probably move to cleanup.
I've also edited a few details in the second one:
The weapon's still heavy on the details, but I'll fix it in cleanup. For now, the background needs improving.
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
here... a fast sketch of idea for HalfDragonCube pony request.. but look weird...
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
A day or two off drawing, but now I'm back. I obtained a nice new set of pencils too.
As for today's drawing, we have our first background pony, Octavia.
Reference:
I'm quite happy with how this one turned out. And I even managed to include the cello. Biggest point I'd have against this; I think her expression looks a bit odd.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sean Mirrsen
In the meantime I pencil-shaded that first sketch, and tried to fix Urist's (the OC's) hind leg:
Can't find anything else wrong here, so I'll probably move to cleanup.
I've also edited a few details in the second one:
The weapon's still heavy on the details, but I'll fix it in cleanup. For now, the background needs improving.
Love these drawings. Dwarf Fortress and Ponies is a nice cross-over. Have I mentioned how great your wings look before? Because they look great.
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Backgrounds and character cleanup on the Starkey and AJ one:
Yeah, it's a pretty fun crossover. We're basically plotting some sort of epic adventure arc in four chapters, but all in all it's too far down the line to say for certain whether or not it'll all be complete.
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sean Mirrsen
Well, the eyes look slightly off, and she's a tad longer than in the reference, but all in all, that's a very well-drawn Fluttershy. Not sure which spots in her mane you don't like, all I notice at the moment is a slightly broken line near the end of the tail.
In the meantime I pencil-shaded that first sketch, and tried to fix Urist's (the OC's) hind leg:
Can't find anything else wrong here, so I'll probably move to cleanup.
I've also edited a few details in the second one:
The weapon's still heavy on the details, but I'll fix it in cleanup. For now, the background needs improving.
I am extremely envious of your wing-drawing ability. XP That said, Urist's hind leg still looks a bit off in the first picture. I can't quite place it, but I think part of the problem is that it's too far back.
Anyway, I hope to post a pic or two later today. x.x meep...
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Level8Mudcrab
As for today's drawing, we have our first background pony, Octavia.
I'm quite happy with how this one turned out. And I even managed to include the cello. Biggest point I'd have against this; I think her expression looks a bit odd.
Wow, that cello is quite nice. I'd have doubts about drawing that. As for her expression, I agree that it needs a slight bit of tweaking. I think her right eye (on our left) needs to be in closer to the nose. The reference picture shows that eye skooched over a bit. I'm not sure if it needs to be bigger or not, or just moved. Otherwise, very very good! =D The only other thing I can recommend is applying some shading to Octavia. The cello has some shading on the edge near her body, and that looks lovely. It gives it a lot of depth. I think the same style should be applied to our pony here.
Hope this helps!
Here's my sketch for the day, just a quick thing.
This isn't the original. Some of you saw the original when byakurai posted it on the ponythread. He still has the englarged, colored-in original. This was a quick sketch just to remind me of it. Should I post the original at some point?
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Level8Mudcrab
A day or two off drawing, but now I'm back. I obtained a nice new set of pencils too.
As for today's drawing, we have our first background pony, Octavia.
Reference:
I'm quite happy with how this one turned out. And I even managed to include the cello. Biggest point I'd have against this; I think her expression looks a bit odd.
Wow. Excellent! I can really see some improvement in your drawings. I don't have anything to say for critique, though. I just wanted to note that I'm seeing definite improvement!
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Level8Mudcrab
A day or two off drawing, but now I'm back. I obtained a nice new set of pencils too.
As for today's drawing, we have our first background pony, Octavia.
Reference:
I'm quite happy with how this one turned out. And I even managed to include the cello. Biggest point I'd have against this; I think her expression looks a bit odd.
Definitely very good! I think her expression looks odd only because her eyes are a little far apart; otherwise, Amazing!
Octavia is awesome. (Vinyl Scratch is my preferred music pony, buuuut I can overlook that, since Octavia comes in an almost first place second =P).
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Postin' another sketch!
Applejack in a fightin' pose. There are several ponies all drawn on the same page, so you can see a bit of Fluttershy's hair on the right-hand side.
This was a quick sketch using a reference picture (but no tracing-improvement!) so I know it's pretty rough. Here are the issues I'm having:I know the nose is a bit too pointed, I've fixed that since posting. However, I can't quite tell what's wrong with the bangs. They just don't sit right. The eye probably needs to be cleaned up a bit, and I wasn't sure about how to end her tail.
Thoughts and suggestions?
Thanks!
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Level8Mudcrab
A day or two off drawing, but now I'm back. I obtained a nice new set of pencils too.
As for today's drawing, we have our first background pony, Octavia.
Reference:
I'm quite happy with how this one turned out. And I even managed to include the cello. Biggest point I'd have against this; I think her expression looks a bit odd.
Definitely seeing improvement in your work! There are still a few places in the arms and torso where the lines need to be tucked in a little, and the eye is a bit far over, but overall it looks very good.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sean Mirrsen
Backgrounds and character cleanup on the Starkey and AJ one:
Yeah, it's a pretty fun crossover. We're basically plotting some sort of epic adventure arc in four chapters, but all in all it's too far down the line to say for certain whether or not it'll all be complete.
Looking good! Even if the fic never gets off the ground, these pictures are pretty neat!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ealdhain
Postin' another sketch!
Applejack in a fightin' pose. There are several ponies all drawn on the same page, so you can see a bit of Fluttershy's hair on the right-hand side.
This was a quick sketch using a reference picture (but no tracing-improvement!) so I know it's pretty rough. Here are the issues I'm having:I know the nose is a bit too pointed, I've fixed that since posting. However, I can't quite tell what's wrong with the bangs. They just don't sit right. The eye probably needs to be cleaned up a bit, and I wasn't sure about how to end her tail.
Thoughts and suggestions?
Thanks!
I think the issue with the bangs is that instead of ending under her hat, they should arc back to tuck behind her ear; additionally the eye placement isn't too bad, but its shape needs to be rounder.
A couple of other things I'd suggest are that her tail is a bit too long proportionately, and her legs need to have a more accentuated curve; if you look at stills from the show, you'll notice that pony legs are almost frighteningly curved in on themselves - especially toward the front.
Good job though! It's always a little nerve-wracking the first time you draw fully freehand from a reference, but you've got a good start going!
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
I got bored during Drama class today, and so I decided to do a quick sketch.
We were watching a movie, so I had nothing better to do. I'm just glad I carry around my sketch pad. Guess which movie?
I re-drew the stage left eye so many times that you can see I made a little tear in the paper from all the erasing. As well, you can see that I originally made the body much longer, but it feels like it's a bit short now. I also want to improve the composition of the hat on his head, it looks a bit like it should be larger and lower on his brow.
I did improve on my freehand (without reference picture) drawing of pony heads, as his nose doesn't seem too big. I probably should have used a ruler when drawing the gun barrel. It looks like someone took a hammer to it. :smalltongue:
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
the_druid_droid
I think the issue with the bangs is that instead of ending under her hat, they should arc back to tuck behind her ear; additionally the eye placement isn't too bad, but its shape needs to be rounder.
A couple of other things I'd suggest are that her tail is a bit too long proportionately, and her legs need to have a more accentuated curve; if you look at stills from the show, you'll notice that pony legs are almost frighteningly curved in on themselves - especially toward the front.
Good job though! It's always a little nerve-wracking the first time you draw fully freehand from a reference, but you've got a good start going!
Thanks! I'll tweak the pic a bit with your suggestions, and see how it goes. I saw the extreme curves in the legs while watching the show, but every time I draw the legs that way I think, "There's no way they can be that curved." But they are. Practice, practice, practice! I'll be posting another pic later today.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Vorpalbob
I re-drew the stage left eye so many times that you can see I made a little tear in the paper from all the erasing. As well, you can see that I originally made the body much longer, but it feels like it's a bit short now. I also want to improve the composition of the hat on his head, it looks a bit like it should be larger and lower on his brow.
I did improve on my freehand (without reference picture) drawing of pony heads, as his nose doesn't seem too big. I probably should have used a ruler when drawing the gun barrel. It looks like someone took a hammer to it. :smalltongue:
I love this one! You did a really good job of ponifying him! I think the nose and body length are just fine. They look like the ponies of the show. My only comments are on the hair and stage right hoof. Both look a little awkward. Should the hair follow the line of the head? And I think the hoof should be a bit rounder at the bends. Otherwise, very nice! This made me laugh, as I could immediately identify him.
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
I've decided to keep all the illustrations in sketch form until I'm done with all pages. Then I can try and color them in one fell swoop, to keep the styles consistent.
Update on the Starkey/AJ sketch:
I'm not sure I like the shading very much... it also feels like the landscape needs some subtle shading to denote distance, but I've no idea how to properly do that.
And a new one in earlier stages, with Debesh and Fluttershy:
I'm not too sure on the perspective and poses here. Anything seem wrong to you? Well, besides Fluttershy seemingly having an array of strong drinks in her house. That's part of the fic, not my design. Also, I believe I forgot straws.
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Today I've decided to try something different, a reference free pony.
A little rough, though I don't think I did too badly. Her face looks a little off, perhaps I drew the head a bit too big/sticking out?
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Hey everyone! I have an OC here (aka, I wasn't near a computer for a reference pic but I wanted to draw a pony anyway).
She looks vaguely like Fluttershy, so I've decided she's a distant relative and named her Daisyshy. The only thing I'm confident I can do on my own so far is the head, so that's what this is. Any suggestions? I'm pretty happy with her overall. =)
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Well, I promised to post stuff, so here goes... *deep breath*
First, a sketch from a couple of years ago. Idk why I'm posting this, I just feel compelled to. It's also my first real attempt at shading, something which I have historically been gawdawful at. Not that you can actually see the shading with the image quality. :smallsigh:
Next, some ponies, all drawn without reference points because I never seem to get the urge to draw near a computer... >.>
Oh, and a random dragon wing, one of the few things I feel like I can actually draw fairly decently:
Once again, I apologize for the awful awful picture quality. Hopefully for future pics I'll be able to steal ealdhain's scanner/phone camera or maybe my parents' camera... We'll see.
... *scuttles off under a bush somewhere*
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Akrim.elf
here... a fast sketch of idea for HalfDragonCube pony request.. but look weird...
Fabulous! I need to use something like this in an RP. Love the cubic torso and firebreath.
Also, good to see you here! I'm surprised, your avatar work was so good, you don't seem like you need any improvement :smallsmile:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ealdhain
Postin' another sketch!
Applejack in a fightin' pose!
Nice! Hm. Riumination.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Thanqol
Honestly, SiuiS, I've said this before but colouring and editing your pieces is a joy. You've got crazy good composition and structure, and you put together pieces that just work. And I think the only thing stopping you from being an 'artist' is possession of a drawing tablet and willingness to spend time learning how to colour.
I'll understand if learning to colour is daunting, though, because I'm 174 days in and still have no bloody idea how to do it effectively. I'm still experimenting, all the time, and I still haven't tried all the tools these programs have. But it's the fun kind of not knowing, where I can try new combinations of stuff every day and see how it turns out.
You are entirely right, of course. What I mean when I say I'm a doodler, no an artist, is that my skill lies specifically in drawing; whereas you started fresh with everything. You can draw, tablet, mouse, digital paint; I'm not trying to sell myself short, and I do intend to learn. I'm just saying that right now, I can't do these things cost effectively.
I can color, but it isn't satisfactory for the amount of time put in, you know? And that's something you ponies all need to learn; there is a difference in technique if you intend to color or you intend to stay as a sketch.
Post production.
As a sketch, you refine certain details with lines. The cheekbones, or details in the eyes, or specific strands of Hair, or folds on clothes. If you intend to paint it instead, you don't make those lines- you leave them blank, and then use color to allude to them. They are different processes. In fact, you may find at first that where a sketch looks rounded and with depth, coloring it 'flattens' it out. Don't look at it like a mistake, or failure; it's a chance to try your hand at carving depth with a broader pallette!
Right now, limited as I am to either colored pencils or MSPaint, my response when decided how much effort to put in is usually "bugger this; I'm gonna sketch something!". It's an admission of laziness, really. But I'm not trying for false humility or anything; I just can't be arsed to exert just now.
I am learning, however, that composition is a Strong point of mine. Imago. If somepony with better wordskill, Thanqol, could explain that, I'd be much obliged.
Quote:
If there's any sketches you want coloured at any time, just ask. I stand a fairly decent chance of colouring anything you throw up anyway. :smallsmile:
I'll try and see if anything more from the thread jumps out at me. It is my inspiration, after all. Ponies broke me of a multiple-year dry spell :smallsmile:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ealdhain
Umm..here's my first sketch. I had to use a reference picture and trace a bit. I've never drawn body proportions like these, and I'm not a great artist. All comments welcomed and encouraged!
How much pre-production stuff are you doing? That is, are you doing skeletons at all, or just diving right into the outline of the pony?
I ask, because that's one habit that saved me about a year's worth of effort; drawing naked people. It sounds weird, but hear me out! I'm less of a pervert than I make myself sound.
All things stem from the center. Most artists I know - every artist I know, actually - draws similarly in the beginning stages of a project. First, lines. Only one or two, to show the general flow. For a pony bucking, for example, it was like an upside down Y. One line, the left-most front leg, going up and bending back to represent the flow of energy from stable foreleg to back hoof. The second line was the other foreleg, and merged with the other, longer line about where the shoulders would be.
Second, we add form. Circles, in this case. Position the head and body in a way that looks right, and add the + to the head circle to figure out the face.
Then we draw the naked pony (or person, if you're so inclined). Trace the outlines of the flesh on there, and ignore hair, eyes, tail, etc. At this stage, almost every pony looks identical. This is a ggod thing; it keeps you from missing the forest for the trees. The difference between Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash is her eye shape, her mane and- that's it. Devils and details, Y'know? Simple is almost never a bad thing. Simple is elegant.
After you have this, the line, the circle, the body, then you individualize the pony. Mane style, tail style, expression. Boy language was already handled by the lines and circles, so you're good! And we windup with a picture I Janet rushed at the end;
Dynamic, and all because of implied movement. Like in the twirl your AJ has going, in the first quote.
Also, note that I'm not trying to like, school you specifically, Ealdhain. You just gave me a segue into something I feel is a fundamental part of drawing.
It's like martial art forms. The moves don't matter. The basics do. Setup, breathing, balance, poise. No matter how "bad" you are at art, the basics will carry you. Look at my work, it's seriously just adding circles and lines, and letting your brain imply all the rest for me!
That's my rant for the day. Trying to be educational while not sounding superior or smug is hard. So I'm gonna go to bed. Any questions on my ranting, just ask! I love excuses to illustrate my own work. I'm a total narcissist and could talk about myself forever, my work and styles included.
EDIT: DERP! I forgot he point of one of my lead-ins. You'll occasionally come across an artist who doesn't seem to use lines and circles and nakedness. This is a lie, and part of the craft; every artist uses bases symbols to define the higher magnitudes of form. The better you are, the more of it can be done in your head to avoid erasing, but it does happen. Just like reference pictures aren't bad; memorizing a reference is still using it! Look at that picture of the handholding the metal sphere; what was that magnificent piece of art if not a reference drawing? If that guy could do it, why do you feel bad for doing it?
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Haven't really been drawing anything since my last post... I know, it's shameful
So here at last is Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in the same humanized style as AJ:
I've also been terrible at keeping up with this thread. I'm not really sure what to offer anypony else right now, so for now just have the above picture.
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Deadly
Haven't really been drawing anything since my last post... I know, it's shameful
So here at last is Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in the same humanized style as AJ:
I've also been terrible at keeping up with this thread. I'm not really sure what to offer anypony else right now, so for now just have the above picture.
No worries about keeping up; just post when you have time :smallbiggrin:
I like the humanized cartoon style, though the only tweak I would suggest is to see if you could make Fluttershy's hair have a more heart-shaped profile around her face. The curl at the end is good, but that face-framing heart seems to be particularly distinctive for her.
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
the_druid_droid
The curl at the end is good, but that face-framing heart seems to be particularly distinctive for her.
Huh, you know, I've never noticed that before :smalleek:
Thanks, I'll play around I think :)
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Hey all, been a while since I drew anything, but I'm back. I'm afraid I don't have any critiques to offer, since anything I would've said has already been said. So here's this...
The Great and Powerful... Trucy!
Sorry for the quality, I can't use the scanner right now.
References used:
Things I have learned from this:
- Hind legs are HAAAAAARD!
- Pony eyes are HUGE. They take up about half the face! O_O
- I think I drew the neck a little too long. As such her right "arm" seems a bit off too.
- Pony proportions seem really weird when I first start drawing. The head always looks too big and the legs too long.
- I originally made her body too long, making her look stretched out. Unfortunately, that's not an easy fix, so I had to erase and start over. I think it looks okay now. I had to actually raise the crotch a little so that it wouldn't stick out from under the skirt, but I don't think the pic suffers for it.
- I intend to colour this. I am not looking forward to doing the folds in the fabric X_X
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ealdhain
Hey everyone! I have an OC here (aka, I wasn't near a computer for a reference pic but I wanted to draw a pony anyway).
*snip*
She looks vaguely like Fluttershy, so I've decided she's a distant relative and named her Daisyshy. The only thing I'm confident I can do on my own so far is the head, so that's what this is. Any suggestions? I'm pretty happy with her overall. =)
This is pretty nice non-reference pony! I really like how you drew the "sparkle" in the eye. But I must echo X's advice when he commented on your other picture, pre-production is important! Especially as you try to move away from references.
To add to what he said, it may seem odd, but if a simple pony made of circles and lines doesn't look right in a pose, a finished pony with all the details won't look right in that pose either. It saves a lot of time in the end to do the pre-production.
Originally I didn't do any preproduction work because I thought it would take too long, however once I started my drawings begin to not only look better but, oddly enough, I begin to draw faster. This is because since most of my erasing is in the pre-production phase (and erasing simple circles and lines are easy), after I have a skeleton I'm satisfied with I can focus on drawing, rather then erasing finely drawn details just because a ear is off place or a arm should be longer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
byaku rai
Well, I promised to post stuff, so here goes... *deep breath*
First, a sketch from a couple of years ago. Idk why I'm posting this, I just feel compelled to. It's also my first real attempt at shading, something which I have historically been gawdawful at. Not that you can actually see the shading with the image quality. :smallsigh:
*snip*
Once again, I apologize for the awful awful picture quality. Hopefully for future pics I'll be able to steal ealdhain's scanner/phone camera or maybe my parents' camera... We'll see.
... *scuttles off under a bush somewhere*
My favorite one is the bored pony's expression, the most important thing which seems off is the nose shape, it looks a bit too long.
Even though as a history major and someone who works in education I am forced to ask,
Why weren't you paying attention in history class?!http://i.imgur.com/Sy0s7.png
Spoiler
Show
:smalltongue:
It doesn't look like your doing any pre-production work though. If your having trouble with Pegasus wings/bird wings but can draw dragon wings ok, you should look at some pictures of bird wings. The wing shapes are different, but the basic bone structure has *some* similarities.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Deadly
Haven't really been drawing anything since my last post... I know, it's shameful
So here at last is Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in the same humanized style as AJ:
*snip*
I've also been terrible at keeping up with this thread. I'm not really sure what to offer anypony else right now, so for now just have the above picture.
They look pretty dang cute!
My only comment is Rainbow Dash's hair bangs are parted in the middle, while in the cartoon her mane-hair-bang type things are combed to the left when she is looking at the camera. I don't know if this makes sense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Diego Havoc
Hey all, been a while since I drew anything, but I'm back. I'm afraid I don't have any critiques to offer, since anything I would've said has already been said. So here's this...
The Great and Powerful... Trucy!
*snip*
Things I have learned from this:
- Hind legs are HAAAAAARD!
- Pony eyes are HUGE. They take up about half the face! O_O
- I think I drew the neck a little too long. As such her right "arm" seems a bit off too.
- Pony proportions seem really weird when I first start drawing. The head always looks too big and the legs too long.
- I originally made her body too long, making her look stretched out. Unfortunately, that's not an easy fix, so I had to erase and start over. I think it looks okay now. I had to actually raise the crotch a little so that it wouldn't stick out from under the skirt, but I don't think the pic suffers for it.
- I intend to colour this. I am not looking forward to doing the folds in the fabric X_X
It looks very nice!
I really like the small pupils it gives her expression a dangerous, murderous, slant. I never played the Ace Attorney series, but I can't wait to see the finished product.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SiuiS
*snip*
All I have to say is that you drew Trixie fighting zombies.
I awoke today and I thought it would be just another boring Saturday. Some studying, some drawing, then bed again. But then I saw this picture and everything seems so much more awesome.
Well, I finally got around to drawing some more. I finally signed up for a deviantart account so my drawings won't get all resized by imageshack.
Spoiler
Show
First, here is a non-pony picture, a Confucius scholar reading a book. I don't really care for the figure, but I really like the paperback book with the broken spine. It turned out much better then I thought it would. I should have cleaned it more.
http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/f/20...el-d4fyk09.jpg
Now here is Rarity!
A sketch and a crude coloring of it. I decided to Pony arms in any other pose but normal horse ones look odd and I'm having trouble getting them right. How do they twist them around like that anyway? I don't know much about normal horse autonomy, but can they do that? Her hand holding the necklace is too long.
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/20...el-d4fymc4.jpg
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/20...el-d4fymsa.jpg
Oh well, practice makes perfect I guess. I'll try again later.
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bakuel
Well, I finally got around to drawing some more. I finally signed up for a deviantart account so my drawings won't get all resized by imageshack.
Spoiler
Show
First, here is a non-pony picture, a Confucius scholar reading a book. I don't really care for the figure, but I really like the paperback book with the broken spine. It turned out much better then I thought it would. I should have cleaned it more.
http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/f/20...el-d4fyk09.jpg
Now here is Rarity!
A sketch and a crude coloring of it. I decided to Pony arms in any other pose but normal horse ones look odd and I'm having trouble getting them right. How do they twist them around like that anyway? I don't know much about normal horse autonomy, but can they do that? Her hand holding the necklace is too long.
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/20...el-d4fymc4.jpg
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/20...el-d4fymsa.jpg
Oh well, practice makes perfect I guess. I'll try again later.
Regarding pony joints, they seem to be pretty surprisingly flexible in the show, although the legs do tend to be drawn consistently in a stylized horse shape. In particular, the knees seem to bend more or less like real horses' legs do, with some wiggle room for the possibilities inherent in it being a cartoon.
Also, in terms of style, your Rarity looks broadly correct; the proportions seem to be pretty good using the head as a baseline, Rarity's mane looks right, and the legs have the same sort of exaggerated curvature as they do in the show. All I'd suggest is that you might want to try a variety of poses to get a feel for how to position ponies in action shots.
I look forward to seeing what you come up with next!
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
So I went and updated an old vector drawing of mine, my very first one uploaded to dA, in fact. It was made almost a year ago for my homegrown fantasy world (which I really need to get back to working on), and I've always been pretty happy with it. And now I'm even happier with it.
Random lycanthrope (alas, not a pony):
Not a total redrawing, but still a rather major tweaking.
For comparison, the old one:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bakuel
They look pretty dang cute!
My only comment is Rainbow Dash's hair bangs are parted in the middle, while in the cartoon her mane-hair-bang type things are combed to the left when she is looking at the camera. I don't know if this makes sense.
Thanks. I always have trouble with hair, I always struggle to not make it look the same for all characters. Something to keep working on, I suppose :smallsmile:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Diego Havoc
Hey all, been a while since I drew anything, but I'm back. I'm afraid I don't have any critiques to offer, since anything I would've said has already been said. So here's this...
The Great and Powerful... Trucy!
Sorry for the quality, I can't use the scanner right now.
Looks very nice, low quality aside. I'm not familiar with the reference, but she looks cute and sophisticated. I think after a little cleaning up it would look smashin' http://i.imgur.com/6ZURl.png
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Not a whole lot of activity here lately, hm?
Well, can't have that.
I'm trying to improve my coloring, shading and highlighting (I keep the latter two separate for some reason), and I've decided that a random pony could do very well for the purpose.
Meet Delta Pi:
She ain't much to look at, but she'll do. (Delta Pi, while misconstruable in numerous ways, simply stands for Drawing Practice. I could just name her that of course, but where's the fun in that?)
First, choosing a coat and hair color. I like green, so it'll be a light green and lime-ish combo.
Why is she standing on what looks like mud? No idea.
Next step, lose the sketch lines. Since I'm going full color, the outlines will have to be color too. And decide on an eye color while I'm at it - in this instance, red, in contrast to green.
The expression changed a little, from slight surprise to slight sadness (I think). It's not a problem now, but I might want to be more accurate for future pictures.
Finally, using that little lamp in the corner as an aid, applying gratuitous amounts of light and darkness:
Hm, doesn't seem too bad. I'll try it a few more times with DP, then move to some bigger image.
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Deadly
Thanks. I always have trouble with hair, I always struggle to not make it look the same for all characters. Something to keep working on, I suppose :smallsmile:
My suggestion for this is to make heavy use of the show as a reference. The artists put a lot of effort into differentiating the cast via mane style, so if you really try to incorporate the key features, it'll probably help. I know that in my own sketching, the ponies don't really seem very differentiated until the mane is added.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sean Mirrsen
Not a whole lot of activity here lately, hm?
Well, can't have that.
I'm trying to improve my coloring, shading and highlighting (I keep the latter two separate for some reason), and I've decided that a random pony could do very well for the purpose.
Yeah, I've been going in odd directions with drawing lately, trying to learn about some non-cartoony things like value and shading but it's going slowly. Still I plan on posting something later today, either a WIP or a compilation of my old images with a sort of retrospective/analysis for those that might be interested.
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Yeah, I'm mostly going in these directions to keep breaking the ice, so to speak. Gotta be able to draw things both cartoony and non-cartoony sometimes.
More Delta Pi, without in-progress shots this time though:
I keep having trouble with properly lighting scenes, so I want to gradually add objects to the environment and see how I can handle 'em. Also, trying a more dynamic pose, I seem to have trouble with them as well lately.
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Alright, my first entry into this thread:
Meet Frantz Kruger
Spoiler
Show
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/20...ht-d4g2xrq.png
(Description of him from Rusty Hearts:)A gloomy man from the start, Frantz Kruger's life took a turn for the worse when he was bitten by a vampire.
Unable to resist the temptation, he bit just one person. Instead of letting the blood complete his transformation, Frantz used the blood and the force of his own will to halt the process. He now exists as a creature trapped in limbo between human and monstrosity. As a side-effect of his condition, he suffers from chronic anemia and insomnia, giving him an ashen appearance and a sullen, sarcastic disposition.
For one, it's a bit of a rough sketch.
Two, I did it without any references, so his mane and tail are more messy than they should be, and details on his coat is missing as well.
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bakuel
It looks very nice!
I really like the small pupils it gives her expression a dangerous, murderous, slant. I never played the Ace Attorney series, but I can't wait to see the finished product.
Thanks! Though, I was going for more smug than murderous. It IS still Trixie in the outfit, after all. Maybe I'll expand the pupils a little.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Deadly
So I went and updated an old vector drawing of mine, my very first one uploaded to dA, in fact. It was made almost a year ago for my homegrown fantasy world (which I really need to get back to working on), and I've always been pretty happy with it. And now I'm even happier with it.
Random lycanthrope (alas, not a pony):
It's pretty good, I like the design, but I think the eyes look a little derped. I think it's because her left eye seems to be looking right at the viewer, while the right seems to be looking forward.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Deadly
Looks very nice, low quality aside. I'm not familiar with the reference, but she looks cute and sophisticated. I think after a little cleaning up it would look smashin'
http://i.imgur.com/6ZURl.png
Haha, thanks. Trucy is a stage magician from the game Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice. It just made sense to have Trixie cosplay as her. :smalltongue:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Geno9999
Alright, my first entry into this thread:
Meet Frantz Kruger
Spoiler
Show
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/20...ht-d4g2xrq.png
(Description of him from Rusty Hearts:)A gloomy man from the start, Frantz Kruger's life took a turn for the worse when he was bitten by a vampire.
Unable to resist the temptation, he bit just one person. Instead of letting the blood complete his transformation, Frantz used the blood and the force of his own will to halt the process. He now exists as a creature trapped in limbo between human and monstrosity. As a side-effect of his condition, he suffers from chronic anemia and insomnia, giving him an ashen appearance and a sullen, sarcastic disposition.
For one, it's a bit of a rough sketch.
Two, I did it without any references, so his mane and tail are more messy than they should be, and details on his coat is missing as well.
Haha! Someone else who plays that game! The pic looks good. It certainly looks like Frantz. You've got his expression down well.
-
Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Deadly
Haven't really been drawing anything since my last post... I know, it's shameful
I know that feel. But nothing I've even tried to think about drawing recently is appropriate for the thread here... And I've been lazy and snoozing my life away.
Quote:
So here at last is Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in the same humanized style as AJ:
I've also been terrible at keeping up with this thread. I'm not really sure what to offer anypony else right now, so for now just have the above picture.
Nice.
I would suggest the same thing I always do; start with an imaginary bone structure, or at least a skull and some lines. The eyes particularly; you will always get your best results if you sketch in the orbital cavity (eye socket) and then draw lids over that. It guarantees internal consistency even when using an art style that calls for wonky proportions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bakuel
This is pretty nice non-reference pony! I really like how you drew the "sparkle" in the eye. But I must echo X's advice when he commented on your other picture, pre-production is important! Especially as you try to move away from references.
To add to what he said, it may seem odd, but if a simple pony made of circles and lines doesn't look right in a pose, a finished pony with all the details won't look right in that pose either. It saves a lot of time in the end to do the pre-production.
Originally I didn't do any preproduction work because I thought it would take too long, however once I started my drawings begin to not only look better but, oddly enough, I begin to draw faster. This is because since most of my erasing is in the pre-production phase (and erasing simple circles and lines are easy), after I have a skeleton I'm satisfied with I can focus on drawing, rather then erasing finely drawn details just because a ear is off place or a arm should be longer.
This. By the Light of Celestia's Sun, this.
I spent years, literally, years, drawing twice as long as needed because I kept erasing and fiddling with things. I even switched to the most simple, basic art style I could so there would be less to hassle with.
A quote I found somewhere that became an amazing maxim in my life; "the truly lazy a job right the first time so they don't have to redo it." it's hard to real that inertia (says the man who still uses a scribe grip for drawing) but once you do, leaps and bounds, my friend.
Preproduction is your hop, just before the skip and jump to success. :smallsmile:
Quote:
All I have to say is that you drew Trixie fighting zombies.
I awoke today and I thought it would be just another boring Saturday. Some studying, some drawing, then bed again. But then I saw this picture and everything seems so much more awesome.
Aye. Was fun, but it was early in my pony indoctrination and I had to stop because I couldn't get her rump looking right. 40 minutes of tracing pony butt and I just closed the sletchbook for the day. XD
Quote:
Spoiler
Show
First, here is a non-pony picture, a Confucius scholar reading a book. I don't really care for the figure, but I really like the paperback book with the broken spine. It turned out much better then I thought it would. I should have cleaned it more.
http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/f/20...el-d4fyk09.jpg
Now here is Rarity!
A sketch and a crude coloring of it. I decided to Pony arms in any other pose but normal horse ones look odd and I'm having trouble getting them right. How do they twist them around like that anyway? I don't know much about normal horse autonomy, but can they do that? Her hand holding the necklace is too long.
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/20...el-d4fymc4.jpg
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/20...el-d4fymsa.jpg
Oh well, practice makes perfect I guess. I'll try again later.
Wow.
Do you take requests? I have a couple human characters I can't seem to do any justice.
Confuscian guy is excellent.
Rarity seems grand. Her butt is missing some oomph (as a tutorial I saw once put it "Pert only butt (THIS IS IMPORTANT!), and yes they do look weird if the rump isn't just so.)
Pony joints are odd things. Canonically, the shoulders probably lack clavicles. They can pop out of the torso (see the infamous screen cap of Rarity rubbing Twilight's "boobs"), and each joint is, somehow, a ball-socket joint. EVERY joint in their forelimbs can rotate as well as pivot. It's weird.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Deadly
So I went and updated an old vector drawing of mine, my very first one uploaded to dA, in fact. It was made almost a year ago for my homegrown fantasy world (which I really need to get back to working on), and I've always been pretty happy with it. And now I'm even happier with it.
Random lycanthrope (alas, not a pony):
Not a total redrawing, but still a rather major tweaking.
For comparison, the old one:
My phone tweaked a second when I opened the spoiler. I got to scroll up her legs. It was an interestingly self-conscious act. Haha.
Only thing that pops out at me is the head position. The lower part of the mandible that anchors the masseter; that is, the "corner" of the jawbone that is so pronounced in chiseled jaws on rugged men, generally cannot go farther than halfway around the neck. If you imagine a top-down view, with facing forward being 90 degrees, that particular part of the bone cannot go much farther (if at all) than 0 degrees and 180 degrees. Here, the bone is sitting at about 4, 5 degrees past that line (maybe more, going from memory). You'd have to take her jaw, and...
Well, words fail me here. I'll ruminate and see if I can come up with anything constructive.
Nice, though! Very well done.