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  1. - Top - End - #541
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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Quote Originally Posted by Bakuel View Post
    Rainbow Dash is half-machine, Twilight has nightmare limbs, and you said it was a attempt to outdo Cupcakes. Sounds like something worth reading to me.

    Call me crazy, but I like stories were everything goes horribly wrong then crashes and burns.
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    Don't judge my tastes!

    Can't help with the writing, as I am rather bad at it but I hope it's done one day.
    Well, Thanqol and someone else (sorry, have a bad habit of forgetting names) offered up their skills for a Pony Rangers story, so perhaps they can be hooked into helping with this one as well. I need to write up a more in-depth summary at some point. With all the, uh, gory details...

    Thanks for the comment and advice! Alone in the crowd. I like it! I tried to follow it.
    Pony art!
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    I tried it, but I kinda ran out of good places to place ponies. So I add three more ponies. Still at least it seems more crowded now. The only other place that is open is the foreground, but I can't seem to be able to place one there correctly without it being distracting. So I'll just leave that open for now. So this is pretty much the final line-art, now I just need to clean it up and color it. Yay. I guess. Either this picture is taking too long or I should spend more time drawing. I'm thinking the latter.

    The scene looks great! I'd say keep it, but as an experiment, try to make a version where Carrot Top (or whoever is the mare looking at the CMC) looks somewhere else, maybe at someone next to her, further along the street, perhaps partially off-panel. Her looking at the CMC sort of draws attention to her as well, implicitly adding her to the group, which by the scene's intent should probably look insulated. The focus should be on the CMC and Twist. This is just my impression though, which is why I suggest you keep the current one so you can go back to it if the altered version won't look better.

    Starting shading on the scene, keeping the basic background for now. The color scheme likely won't change, so I can use it.
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    Not sure why, but lighting/shading on RD looks wrong. Too much light maybe, or not enough "depth" again? Nightmare Moon, however, is appropriately terrifying, I think.
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  2. - Top - End - #542
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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Quote Originally Posted by Sean Mirrsen View Post
    Well, Thanqol and someone else (sorry, have a bad habit of forgetting names) offered up their skills for a Pony Rangers story, so perhaps they can be hooked into helping with this one as well. I need to write up a more in-depth summary at some point. With all the, uh, gory details...
    I'm always up for challenging myself, with through writing or anything else, so I'd certainly be up for this. What would you need me for - authoring, co-authoring, editing, or ideas board?

    Starting shading on the scene, keeping the basic background for now. The color scheme likely won't change, so I can use it.
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    Not sure why, but lighting/shading on RD looks wrong. Too much light maybe, or not enough "depth" again? Nightmare Moon, however, is appropriately terrifying, I think.
    What was the method you used for NMM's hair? I'm figuring it involves a few photoshop-only functions, but the theory could still help me a fair bit. I do love the little fragment of it caught on Rainbow's hooves.

    I've got a better handle on shading by this point, after hearing Dispo's advice on the subject, but I'm curious as to how you're going to go about it. Do you use separate layers for the flats and the shading? How do you transition between dark and light areas? Blur brushes, very careful shaping? Anything you could tell me on the topic would be interesting

    Sorry if I've asked any of this before!

    Seeing you do this step by step is actually really interesting and helpful!
    Last edited by Thanqol; 2012-01-23 at 08:49 AM.

  3. - Top - End - #543
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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    I'm always up for challenging myself, with through writing or anything else, so I'd certainly be up for this. What would you need me for - authoring, co-authoring, editing, or ideas board?
    Well, ideas we probably have aplenty, but for now I think it's safe to say that even the first chapter needs a complete and utter rewrite. Depending on how "deep" we want the story to dip before it starts climbing back out, of course. It's probably not the squickiest thing around, but at least one person (who randomly stumbled on our thread) called it the most horrible and cruel thing he's ever read, so that might be an indicator. All in all, I'd much prefer to keep the graphic parts either to a minimum, or sort of dispersed through the story rather than concentrated at its beginning (flashbacks, what have you). More brainstorming required on that one, so if you have some kind of IM system like Skype, we could talk about it.


    What was the method you used for NMM's hair? I'm figuring it involves a few photoshop-only functions, but the theory could still help me a fair bit. I do love the little fragment of it caught on Rainbow's hooves.

    I've got a better handle on shading by this point, after hearing Dispo's advice on the subject, but I'm curious as to how you're going to go about it. Do you use separate layers for the flats and the shading? How do you transition between dark and light areas? Blur brushes, very careful shaping? Anything you could tell me on the topic would be interesting
    For NMM's mane, it's a combination of several cloudy-looking brushes on low flow, spread across three different shading layers (Multiply, Color Burn, and Overlay, I think), but the whole point of it was to create this sort of randomly dark-blue effect that could probably have been achieved with one brush and some clever color jitter settings. Then one more layer for more deliberate shading. The tiny little stars is just a tiny star-shaped brush with maximum scatter and size/angle/opacity jitter, again to create a random-ish starfield effect.

    For shading, it's actually a little complicated. I have separate layers for the outlines, base color, and all non-base colored items. These three layers are then duplicated and hidden, and the duplicates are merged to create a single layer with the entirety of a given character. This is then used as a clipping mask for all the shading, which is as of now in five layers. "Ambient" in a Multiply layer allows quickly manipulating overall brightness, "Shadows" in a Multiply layer for the deep shadows, "Shades" in a Color Burn layer for the light shading where a shadow overlaps reflected light or something, "Highlights" in a Soft Light layer for, well, soft diffuse light, and "Specular" in a Hard Light layer for the high-intensity reflections and glows. So, that's that. For transitions, I usually try to use different-hardness brushes to shape the shadows I "see" the form of, and for the others it's usually a base blob with a hard or slightly soft brush, and the Smudge tool to push it into place. All in all, it takes a lot of time and likely not the best way one could go around doing this. I'm continuously refining my approaches.

    In other news, my only response to this: http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/0...-returned.html

    Is this:

    Spoiler
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    I might clean it up and color it later, simply because I like to see Trixie suffer. Well, perhaps I like to see her ego suffer moreso than herself, because I'm not quite that horrible a person.

    Merged post:

    And now in color, viewable here: http://seanmirrsen.deviantart.com/ar...o-BG-281141854
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  4. - Top - End - #544
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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Quote Originally Posted by Bakuel View Post
    AJ looks good and on model!
    But I must be annoying and point out that she seems to be floating because her front legs are higher then the tree trunk.
    Also your eyes are very nice. And I must echo Derjuin, practice is better then nothing.
    D'oh! Didn't even notice that height thing. Thank's for the compliments though!

    Quote Originally Posted by Bakuel View Post
    Thanks for the comment and advice! Alone in the crowd. I like it! I tried to follow it.
    Pony art!
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    I tried it, but I kinda ran out of good places to place ponies. So I add three more ponies. Still at least it seems more crowded now. The only other place that is open is the foreground, but I can't seem to be able to place one there correctly without it being distracting. So I'll just leave that open for now. So this is pretty much the final line-art, now I just need to clean it up and color it. Yay. I guess. Either this picture is taking too long or I should spend more time drawing. I'm thinking the latter.

    Maybe it's just me, and maybe it will look better when coloured, but i can't help feeling that having those BG ponies directly behind Twist actually removes from that lonely feeling. But that's a minor gripe, it still looks incredible.

    In other news, my only response to this: http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/0...-returned.html

    Is this:

    Spoiler


    I might clean it up and color it later, simply because I like to see Trixie suffer. Well, perhaps I like to see her ego suffer moreso than herself, because I'm not quite that horrible a person.

    Merged post:

    And now in color, viewable here: http://seanmirrsen.deviantart.com/ar...o-BG-281141854
    I love it! But, I'm guessing that you knew I would Anything where Trixie gets her comeuppance ('specially after putting a harness on Twilight ) is good in my books!
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    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post
    Diego Havoc, one of the hoopier froods I've met, up there with DeLancie.



  5. - Top - End - #545
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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Quote Originally Posted by Bakuel View Post
    I love hastily drawn animals!
    The snout seems less defined on the deer, unlike the fox, which has some shading underneath his, the deer seems to be lacking it so it's snout and neck seem merged a bit more.
    I can't help but feel the head on both of them should be a little bit more defined from the neck. I know shading is supposed to help add depth and dimension for realistic stuff like this. You already seems to have some shading going on there, maybe make it more pronounced, darker stuff darker, lighter stuff a bit more lighter?
    Yeah, I agree that there's quite a bit of room for improvement, and at some point I hope to sit down and draw some animals seriously, but this was a quick 20 minute sketch because I was feeling crappy but still needed to get in my drawing for the day... (still haven't missed a day!)

    Thanks for the comment and advice! Alone in the crowd. I like it! I tried to follow it.
    Pony art!
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    I tried it, but I kinda ran out of good places to place ponies. So I add three more ponies. Still at least it seems more crowded now. The only other place that is open is the foreground, but I can't seem to be able to place one there correctly without it being distracting. So I'll just leave that open for now. So this is pretty much the final line-art, now I just need to clean it up and color it. Yay. I guess. Either this picture is taking too long or I should spend more time drawing. I'm thinking the latter.

    I'm really liking this, especially the way the sort of tilt (?) to the perspective draws the eye to Twist. The other ponies give a decent crowd feel I think, and overall it seems to be coming together well! I'm eager to see it colored.

    Quote Originally Posted by Sean Mirrsen View Post
    Starting shading on the scene, keeping the basic background for now. The color scheme likely won't change, so I can use it.
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    Not sure why, but lighting/shading on RD looks wrong. Too much light maybe, or not enough "depth" again? Nightmare Moon, however, is appropriately terrifying, I think.
    Very excited to see the finished product here!

    Also, have a pony I drew for the ATG, but didn't finish on time to submit...
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    This Machine Surrounds Hate And Forces It To Surrender

    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    DD, your unicorn is stronger, prettier, and higher-ranking than mine, and her secret lab has a better name than mine. THERE SHALL BE NO QUARTER.
    Ponythread Learns to Draw!

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    Bleeeeh! Alfalfa Monster!


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  6. - Top - End - #546
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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Quote Originally Posted by Sean Mirrsen View Post
    Starting shading on the scene, keeping the basic background for now. The color scheme likely won't change, so I can use it.
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    Not sure why, but lighting/shading on RD looks wrong. Too much light maybe, or not enough "depth" again? Nightmare Moon, however, is appropriately terrifying, I think.
    It looks great! Nightmare Moon's mane is excellent!
    A little note and nit pick on the background, at the moment the pillars look a little weird as they are all broken around the same length. When you get around to the background, you could try fancying it up a bit by varying the height of them.

    Quote Originally Posted by Diego Havoc View Post
    Maybe it's just me, and maybe it will look better when coloured, but i can't help feeling that having those BG ponies directly behind Twist actually removes from that lonely feeling. But that's a minor gripe, it still looks incredible.
    I'm not completely sold on those two background ponies myself. If it turns out they don't fit then I'll probably get rid of them or move them over a bit, or get rid of the male and move over the female to the left. At the moment their fate is up in the air.

    Quote Originally Posted by the_druid_droid View Post
    Yeah, I agree that there's quite a bit of room for improvement, and at some point I hope to sit down and draw some animals seriously, but this was a quick 20 minute sketch because I was feeling crappy but still needed to get in my drawing for the day... (still haven't missed a day!)
    Twenty minutes?! Well then, my hats off to you. I can't draw anything in under an hour or two.
    I need to get on a draw something a day schedule.

    Quote Originally Posted by the_druid_droid View Post
    I'm really liking this, especially the way the sort of tilt (?) to the perspective draws the eye to Twist. The other ponies give a decent crowd feel I think, and overall it seems to be coming together well! I'm eager to see it colored.
    Thanks! I'm glad you like it!
    I'm actually a little apprehensive about coloring it and have been looking at pictures of thatched cottages for color and detail inspiration. It's a bit more ambitious then a field of grass or a bunch of clouds. Nothing to do but try though.


    Quote Originally Posted by the_druid_droid View Post
    Also, have a pony I drew for the ATG, but didn't finish on time to submit...
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    Very nice! Loving the strips of metal look.
    Maybe it's the collar, but I can't help but get a evil count or aristocrat vibe from it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Sean Mirrsen View Post
    In other news, my only response to this: http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/0...-returned.html

    Is this:

    Spoiler
    Show


    I might clean it up and color it later, simply because I like to see Trixie suffer. Well, perhaps I like to see her ego suffer moreso than herself, because I'm not quite that horrible a person.

    Merged post:

    And now in color, viewable here: http://seanmirrsen.deviantart.com/ar...o-BG-281141854
    Poor Trixie! When will her tragedy end?! She's the real victim in all this, think of her fragile ego.
    Seriously, the picture is awesome!


    Quote Originally Posted by Sean Mirrsen View Post
    The scene looks great! I'd say keep it, but as an experiment, try to make a version where Carrot Top (or whoever is the mare looking at the CMC) looks somewhere else, maybe at someone next to her, further along the street, perhaps partially off-panel. Her looking at the CMC sort of draws attention to her as well, implicitly adding her to the group, which by the scene's intent should probably look insulated. The focus should be on the CMC and Twist. This is just my impression though, which is why I suggest you keep the current one so you can go back to it if the altered version won't look better.
    Thanks for the comment!
    Alright, I tried Carrot Top looking away,

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    And here it is, is it better? I kinda like it a bit more, but it may be just because it is newer. I think I'll go with this one.


  7. - Top - End - #547
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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Quote Originally Posted by Bakuel View Post



    Congratulations on the tablet! Quick draw and post something!
    Working on it... 0-0*


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    I tried it, but I kinda ran out of good places to place ponies. So I add three more ponies. Still at least it seems more crowded now. The only other place that is open is the foreground, but I can't seem to be able to place one there correctly without it being distracting. So I'll just leave that open for now. So this is pretty much the final line-art, now I just need to clean it up and color it. Yay. I guess. Either this picture is taking too long or I should spend more time drawing. I'm thinking the latter.

    ...Dude. That is friggen awesome. X) Amazing perspective! That is something I still need to work on... hence my upcoming picture. But, I digress.
    I have no qualms or problems with this picture. none at all. It is really well done. Congrats!

    Quote Originally Posted by the_druid_droid View Post
    Also, have a pony I drew for the ATG, but didn't finish on time to submit...
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    GAAAH! They keep putting stuff up and I miss i? how do the timetables work for that thing?
    aaand.... armored cloak? I kinda like that idea....


    Quote Originally Posted by Sean Mirrsen View Post


    Starting shading on the scene, keeping the basic background for now. The color scheme likely won't change, so I can use it.
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    Not sure why, but lighting/shading on RD looks wrong. Too much light maybe, or not enough "depth" again? Nightmare Moon, however, is appropriately terrifying, I think.
    I will pay you 50$ for a piece of art. =P
    You are a good artist dude. Shadowing on RD looks wrong? meh, looks fine to me... The whole piece does. I can tell your not finished yet, right? Some of them don't have shading yet! 0-0*


    A picture from me:
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    Trying to draw Vinyl's DJ table.


  8. - Top - End - #548
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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Quote Originally Posted by Bakuel View Post
    A little note and nit pick on the background, at the moment the pillars look a little weird as they are all broken around the same length. When you get around to the background, you could try fancying it up a bit by varying the height of them.
    Heh, those aren't even supposed to be pillars! XD
    I was thinking along the lines of this sort of hall, with pillars and tall ornamental stained glass windows in the far wall, but the roof has collapsed and the far wall is broken, leaving those odd "pillars". Again, horrible background construction skills.

    My problem with backgrounds stem from requiring to "see" the object I'm drawing, and my mind's eye seems to be nearsighted. The smaller the detail, the better I can "see" it - so large things such as backgrounds end up horribly mangled.

    [quote]I'm not completely sold on those two background ponies myself. If it turns out they don't fit then I'll probably get rid of them or move them over a bit, or get rid of the male and move over the female to the left. At the moment their fate is up in the air.[/qupte]Ooh, things have gotten serious. The lives of two ponies now hang by a thread, their fates completely in the hands of a (possibly) cruel and (maybe) irresponsible Creator!

    On a more serious note, this kind of feel is almost impossible to convey through a colorless sketch. The amount and positions of background ponies don't really matter, there could be a whole mass of them. If you use subdued colors for them, and vivid colors for the character you want to draw attention to, or even vice versa, attention will be drawn. A single bright character against a wall of discolored background people who don't pay attention to anything will look alone. I tried to find a good image to show what I mean, but in the end decided it was quicker to just use your sketch as a base:
    Spoiler
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    I don't remember Twist's color scheme offhand...

    I'm far from being "good" or even "decent" at perspective, but it won't detract from the point, I think. It's a little blatant here, in your version it's probably a better idea to be more subtle.

    Thanks for the comment!
    Alright, I tried Carrot Top looking away,

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    And here it is, is it better? I kinda like it a bit more, but it may be just because it is newer. I think I'll go with this one.

    After taking this and the previous one, and looking at them side-by-side (well, as side-by-side as you can get on a single-screen PC), I think the revised version is better. Not looking at the CMC pushes Carrot Top further into the background, where she should be if the pic's not about her.

    Poor Trixie! When will her tragedy end?! She's the real victim in all this, think of her fragile ego.
    Seriously, the picture is awesome!
    Thanks! Apparently, a lot of people think the same way, but, apparently, not EqD staff. Figures.

    edit: Haha, oh wow. I thought they'd put it in the drawfriend or something. Of all the places, they put it as the header for the Nightly Roundup. That's neat.

    ..aand nothing new to report yet. I'll get right on it. 2 PM, this means I got roughly six hours of doing roughly nothing ahead of me. Wheee...
    Last edited by Sean Mirrsen; 2012-01-24 at 05:37 AM.
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  9. - Top - End - #549
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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Quote Originally Posted by Bakuel View Post

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    And here it is, is it better? I kinda like it a bit more, but it may be just because it is newer. I think I'll go with this one.

    Looks great. I'd love to see this coloured.


    Here's my ATG Day 2 drawing.
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    This one took me quite a while to do; I ended up spending a lot of time redoing Lyra in an attempt to make her look better, though still not completely satisfied with it. Perhaps both their legs could do with being a little thicker? Stances could do with some work too. The swords look a little small too. I also need to learn how to draw swords properly.

    All in all though, it turned out better than I thought it would while I was drawing it. Incidentally, this is the first drawing I've done with more than one pony.
    Thanks to Skeppio for my avatar.

  10. - Top - End - #550
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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Quote Originally Posted by Level8Mudcrab View Post
    Looks great. I'd love to see this coloured.


    Here's my ATG Day 2 drawing.
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    This one took me quite a while to do; I ended up spending a lot of time redoing Lyra in an attempt to make her look better, though still not completely satisfied with it. Perhaps both their legs could do with being a little thicker? Stances could do with some work too. The swords look a little small too. I also need to learn how to draw swords properly.

    All in all though, it turned out better than I thought it would while I was drawing it. Incidentally, this is the first drawing I've done with more than one pony.
    Your ponies are a little, well, fat. Necks should be longer, as should legs, and make the bodies a little more compact. Remember the body is 1.5 the head worth of mass and 1 head worth of length

  11. - Top - End - #551
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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Progress!

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    I'm not quite sold on the elemental attack effects (I don't think any Power Rangers even used them, so they're more for extra shiny things on the screen), and I'll never be happy with the reflections on the faceplates, but it's looking good to me. Some tweakage was done on Rainbow to bring her a little bit closer to the viewer, and some very minor tweaks all over the place. Now, it is time for the last part. The dreaded background.
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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Quote Originally Posted by Sean Mirrsen View Post
    Progress!

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    I'm not quite sold on the elemental attack effects (I don't think any Power Rangers even used them, so they're more for extra shiny things on the screen), and I'll never be happy with the reflections on the faceplates, but it's looking good to me. Some tweakage was done on Rainbow to bring her a little bit closer to the viewer, and some very minor tweaks all over the place. Now, it is time for the last part. The dreaded background.
    Oh, by the way, I thought I should tell you that I'm slowly colouring this as well. I've half done very basic blocking flats at the moment, and I'll slowly be working on it as I get free time (:

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  13. - Top - End - #553
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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    And here's my day 3 entry for the ATG - a pony dueling!

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    I think I'm getting faster at this...
    This Machine Surrounds Hate And Forces It To Surrender

    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    DD, your unicorn is stronger, prettier, and higher-ranking than mine, and her secret lab has a better name than mine. THERE SHALL BE NO QUARTER.
    Ponythread Learns to Draw!

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    Bleeeeh! Alfalfa Monster!


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  14. - Top - End - #554
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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Well, I've been doing stuff, I've just been lazy at posting it.

    Day 23, SiuiS' birthday:
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    Day 24, Earthpony Jim. I'm pretty sure someone in ponythread requested this (maybe Bleakbane? I don't remember, it was a while ago).
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    Day 25, Couple of Alice in Wonderland/Pinkie crossovers, for Even Human's birthday.
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    I can't be bothered with the ATG today. I just can't. I'm tired and in a bad mood. And I need my own scanner. :/

    Question: How do you guys colour your pictures? What programs and methods do you use?

    EDIT

    Day 26. Still in a bad mood, decide to illustrate it by drawing myself as a pony:
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    Also, scanned versions of the previous pics:
    Spoiler
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    Still no ATG pic. I'm just not in the mood for it and have absolutely no inspiration.
    Last edited by Beacon of Chaos; 2012-01-26 at 02:00 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sean Mirrsen View Post
    What does it take to get people to comment in here? Where is everyone?
    Sorry for the doublepost, but with the activity level here...
    IIIII LIIIIIVVVVEEE!!!

    But here's the thing. I physically am incapable of participating in this thread. All these images... Even this respond sub page, because of the high art saturation in the 'last 30 posts' thing, the page is still loading. I can tell I'm inputting text because the keyboard is responding but the page is will mislead. Has been for several minutes.

    So unless everyone decides to magically switch to linking their art instead of posting it, I can't join discussion. I can't see any of the stuff I would be discussing! Terrible, really...

    My hat being said, I have an art project for the draw thread coming up. With luck I can make it a sub thread, too!

    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    Ah, Corel I know, and it's a great place to get started. The interface should be pretty easy to handle. You want the Fine Point Pen tool, under pencils tab, to do your linework (2B pencil tool has a bit much grain to it). Brushes and waters are fun to play around with, but there's a whole world to colouring that you just need to explore at your own pace. Bucket tool is a decent place to get started but it's very, very limited.

    Work a lot on your basic lines, straight and curved, because it's kinda difficult to use a ruler along with a tablet. Remember the blessed key combination, ctrl-Z, to undo bad lines. Play around! Explore the interface! Have fun with it!

    Eventually, if you ever feel limited by what Corel has available, I recommend Paint Tool SAI. Good luck!
    Thanqol learns to draw in a nutshell! This is fabulous advice.

    One thing I'm beginning to notice though is that you are doused too much on tryi new things. Sometimes it's nice to just refine what you has. Develop the depth that spending all your time on breadth makes you lose.

    Remember, practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes rote. Perfect practice makes perfect, and you don't get that if you bounce around too much.

    But cautioning that maybe your path isn't the best is what I do, so take it rhetorically. It is to provoke thought more than anything.

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    Since you guys want some posts, here is one, I guess...

    Just the things that I don't think I've posted or stuff I'm working on.

    Sean's NMM vs Rangers pic, just doing flats, sooooooooo far from done. Less than an hour so far.
    Spoiler
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    The humanised AJ I've been doing on and off for a while. Hair is mostly done, shirt is around 70%. skin is just blocking and slight refining of shading so far, so maybe 30%, and the rest hasn't even been started.
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    Aaaaand the best thing I've coloured in ages, yet I managed to only save it as a .png and not a sai file so I can't ever finish it, which really, really annoys me. And it also made me stop doing art for around two weeks...
    Spoiler
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    EDIT: Lots of skin showing because that's the thing I'm working on most right now...Or was...I guess. Hair is up next, then clothing. If I ever get around to it :-/
    Last edited by Dispozition; 2012-01-28 at 03:22 AM.

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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post
    Thanqol learns to draw in a nutshell! This is fabulous advice.

    One thing I'm beginning to notice though is that you are doused too much on tryi new things. Sometimes it's nice to just refine what you has. Develop the depth that spending all your time on breadth makes you lose.

    Remember, practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes rote. Perfect practice makes perfect, and you don't get that if you bounce around too much.

    But cautioning that maybe your path isn't the best is what I do, so take it rhetorically. It is to provoke thought more than anything.
    I actually disagree with this. Every time I experiment, even if it's a godawful failure, I've learned a lot of actual, usable things. And then, months later when I'm rummaging in my bag of tricks for a specific effect, I'll have a bunch of things to call on and an informed choice as to what works best. I did a whole bunch of experimentations with fire effects a while back, found one I liked, and I can just come back to it whenever I need to. It's a permanent upgrade to my visual arsenal.

    And it's not like experimentation takes up my entire draw practise time. I typically do an entire picture 'standard' except for a few colouring and shading techniques that I take huge gambles on, even if it risks ruining the entire picture. I learned from Day 254, for instance, a lot about the limits and variance of the bristle brush, and I learned a three-point shading technique that I absolutely adore. In subsequent pictures I'll practise those lessons while experimenting with other things. In the same picture, I used lessons on solid black+transparency slider from previous experiments to get the shadow right. It all adds up, and flows together. Everything has use, like a big pile of Lego blocks.

    Yes, attempting rote-drawing of standard humaniform heads until I can do it reflexively is an enormously appealing concept which often features prominently on my to-do list. But I don't have enough Lego to start building and refining the style I want yet. I don't have a good way to do hair. I haven't practised enough with skin tones. I can't draw figures in physical contact right. I want to experiment with these things until I've got understanding of each conceptual element, until my Lego box is full of pieces, before I work on refining a style.

    I'm getting closer, but I'm also getting better at seeing which areas I'm completely clueless on.

    Aaaaand the best thing I've coloured in ages, yet I managed to only save it as a .png and not a sai file so I can't ever finish it, which really, really annoys me. And it also made me stop doing art for around two weeks...
    Ouch, sucks mate.
    Last edited by Thanqol; 2012-01-28 at 08:17 AM.

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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    Yes, attempting rote-drawing of standard humaniform heads until I can do it reflexively is an enormously appealing concept which often features prominently on my to-do list. But I don't have enough Lego to start building and refining the style I want yet. I don't have a good way to do hair. I haven't practised enough with skin tones. I can't draw figures in physical contact right. I want to experiment with these things until I've got understanding of each conceptual element, until my Lego box is full of pieces, before I work on refining a style.
    Do you have Bionicle or the new Hero Factory figures? I sometimes use them to help me make poses, and the best part about them is that you can modify proportion, number of limbs, even make Non-humanoid figures, which isn't possible through using one of those wooden dolls from art stores.
    you know that I'm more than just a doll do you?-Geno
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    and current made by me.

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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Quote Originally Posted by Diego Havoc View Post
    Question: How do you guys colour your pictures? What programs and methods do you use?
    Well, bearing in mind that I'm still very new to digital coloring (the ATG being my biggest source of practice so far) I can outline the basic process I've been using, which owes a pretty big debt to watching Dispo's coloring stream.

    For the ATG pics, I basically started with a rough (and usually pretty 'hairy') sketch to figure out the posing, composition, etc. Primarily for this stage I've been using Autodesk Sketchbook (because it came bundled with my tablet) but I'm considering moving even the sketching process over to Adobe. Anyway, once the sketch is done, I set up a a couple of layers for the colored linework (since I've mostly been following the show's approach of darker lines to outline the forms), generally dividing it into fore-, middle and background groups and then I pick colors and start to ink the sketch (with lots of Ctrl-Z and redrawing wobbly lines). Once the lines are done, I create layers underneath them to put in the color, so the lines stay nice and crisp, and you have some margin of error for 'coloring inside the lines'. Once the color is in, I may add in a couple of layers for any special effects I want, and then crop the picture and/or collapse everything down/save as a non-layered format.

    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post


    IIIII LIIIIIVVVVEEE!!!

    But here's the thing. I physically am incapable of participating in this thread. All these images... Even this respond sub page, because of the high art saturation in the 'last 30 posts' thing, the page is still loading. I can tell I'm inputting text because the keyboard is responding but the page is will mislead. Has been for several minutes.

    So unless everyone decides to magically switch to linking their art instead of posting it, I can't join discussion. I can't see any of the stuff I would be discussing! Terrible, really...

    My hat being said, I have an art project for the draw thread coming up. With luck I can make it a sub thread, too!
    Hmm, this is actually an interesting point. Do people have issues with loading this thread? I have a pretty decent hardware/connection combo so it hasn't been an issue for me, but if others are experiencing problems I wouldn't object to switching to links; they're easy enough to include and it's only one click for either spoilers or links.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dispozition View Post
    Since you guys want some posts, here is one, I guess...

    Just the things that I don't think I've posted or stuff I'm working on.

    Sean's NMM vs Rangers pic, just doing flats, sooooooooo far from done. Less than an hour so far.
    Spoiler
    Show


    The humanised AJ I've been doing on and off for a while. Hair is mostly done, shirt is around 70%. skin is just blocking and slight refining of shading so far, so maybe 30%, and the rest hasn't even been started.
    Spoiler
    Show


    Aaaaand the best thing I've coloured in ages, yet I managed to only save it as a .png and not a sai file so I can't ever finish it, which really, really annoys me. And it also made me stop doing art for around two weeks...
    Spoiler
    Show


    EDIT: Lots of skin showing because that's the thing I'm working on most right now...Or was...I guess. Hair is up next, then clothing. If I ever get around to it :-/
    Just quoting this to say that you're awesome Dispo, and learning from watching you color saved me a ton of headaches over the ATG stuff!

    Ok, since I only sorta posted them here, I thought I'd round up the pictures I did for the latest ATG and actually put them up with my thoughts and self-critique. Further comments and suggestions are more than welcome!

    Day 1: Draw a pony in armor
    Spoiler
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    So this was my first picture, and if you read my post at the time, I actually didn't finish it in time for official ATG submission because I got my timezones crossed...

    At any rate, I'm actually still pretty happy with how this one turned out. This was my second attempt at actually coloring something with my tablet, rather than just sketching and in the final analysis, it taught me the importance of using multiple layers to give myself some breathing room when doing things that overlap like hair or clothing (because I didn't use as many in this pic, and coloring it precisely took forever). Also, some of the lines aren't as smooth as I'd like, but it was pretty successful as a proof of concept.


    Day 2: Draw a pony training
    Spoiler
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    This is probably the image from the ATG I'm least happy with, although while I was drawing it, I liked it better than the Lyra one. There are some successes here - I found a line weight I liked better, and I figured out that I should use a smaller brush for the accent details on the face; also the lines are in general smoother overall I think.

    On the downside, the head seems way too small, and the hair is pretty flat-looking (apparently RD needs to invest in conditioner). I also colored her mane and tail in the most labor-intensive way imaginable, which was dumb, but taught me more lessons about the value of layers...so a mixed bag, overall.


    Day 3: Draw a pony dueling
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    This picture was the first where I started to get more ambitious with my posing - Lyra was fairly static and RD was drawn pretty closely according to a reference screenshot from S2E1. I think the cape and sword turned out fairly well, and I experimented with throwing in some shadows and highlights in various places which worked out more or less. Still, something seems off about the picture, or at least it seems a little plain. I also think the highlights on the eyes should me moved around some - they don't strike me as being entirely correct.


    Day 4: Draw a pony on a rescue mission (warning: kinda big)
    Spoiler
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    This is another entry I'm quite happy with for the most part. I'm particularly pleased with the posing, since I did it mostly from scratch but I think it worked out anyway. I made use of the lessons I learned about layers to get rope-covered Phoe right, and it payed off; if I'd drawn it like I would have starting out I would probably still be trying to get it right. I also experimented with a basic background in this picture, and decided that even simple ones add quite a bit to a piece and make them feel less like a disconnected sketch and more like a finished product.


    Day 5: Draw a pony coming home (also big)
    Spoiler
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    Definitely the most ambitious of my ATG entries. Once I started working on this one, I decided to turn up the importance of the background which meant a lot of mountain coloring... I also made use of a semi-transparent layer over the top of everything to give it a nighttime feel, which turned out fairly well, although I had to search around for the right shade of purple to make it work. So much purple in this

    The biggest problem I have with it is that as a result of some combination of perspective and how I chose to shape the hills in the background, it seems like the picture has a bit of a tilt. If I were going to re-draw it, there are a few tweaks I would make, but overall I'm pretty happy with it.
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  20. - Top - End - #560
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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post


    IIIII LIIIIIVVVVEEE!!!

    But here's the thing. I physically am incapable of participating in this thread. All these images... Even this respond sub page, because of the high art saturation in the 'last 30 posts' thing, the page is still loading. I can tell I'm inputting text because the keyboard is responding but the page is will mislead. Has been for several minutes.

    So unless everyone decides to magically switch to linking their art instead of posting it, I can't join discussion. I can't see any of the stuff I would be discussing! Terrible, really...
    Don't you browse on a smart phone though? That might explain it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dispozition View Post
    Aaaaand the best thing I've coloured in ages, yet I managed to only save it as a .png and not a sai file so I can't ever finish it, which really, really annoys me. And it also made me stop doing art for around two weeks...
    Spoiler
    Show


    EDIT: Lots of skin showing because that's the thing I'm working on most right now...Or was...I guess. Hair is up next, then clothing. If I ever get around to it :-/
    Ouch. I feel for you buddy. I've had similar stuff happen to me before. I used to do level editing in games like Doom and Duke Nukem 3D. Lost a few half finished levels by accidently saving over them. So frustrating.

    Still, what you've got looks good! ^^:

    Quote Originally Posted by the_druid_droid View Post
    Well, bearing in mind that I'm still very new to digital coloring (the ATG being my biggest source of practice so far) I can outline the basic process I've been using, which owes a pretty big debt to watching Dispo's coloring stream.

    For the ATG pics, I basically started with a rough (and usually pretty 'hairy') sketch to figure out the posing, composition, etc. Primarily for this stage I've been using Autodesk Sketchbook (because it came bundled with my tablet) but I'm considering moving even the sketching process over to Adobe. Anyway, once the sketch is done, I set up a a couple of layers for the colored linework (since I've mostly been following the show's approach of darker lines to outline the forms), generally dividing it into fore-, middle and background groups and then I pick colors and start to ink the sketch (with lots of Ctrl-Z and redrawing wobbly lines). Once the lines are done, I create layers underneath them to put in the color, so the lines stay nice and crisp, and you have some margin of error for 'coloring inside the lines'. Once the color is in, I may add in a couple of layers for any special effects I want, and then crop the picture and/or collapse everything down/save as a non-layered format.


    Just quoting this to say that you're awesome Dispo, and learning from watching you color saved me a ton of headaches over the ATG stuff!
    Ah, I see. Not too different from stuff I used to do back in photoshop. Two questions then: 1) Do I need to get a tablet if I want to be serious about doing digital colouring, or am I okay just scanning drawings in? 2) Dispozition, got any links to this stream of yours?

    Ok, since I only sorta posted them here, I thought I'd round up the pictures I did for the latest ATG and actually put them up with my thoughts and self-critique. Further comments and suggestions are more than welcome!

    Day 1: Draw a pony in armor
    Spoiler
    Show


    So this was my first picture, and if you read my post at the time, I actually didn't finish it in time for official ATG submission because I got my timezones crossed...

    At any rate, I'm actually still pretty happy with how this one turned out. This was my second attempt at actually coloring something with my tablet, rather than just sketching and in the final analysis, it taught me the importance of using multiple layers to give myself some breathing room when doing things that overlap like hair or clothing (because I didn't use as many in this pic, and coloring it precisely took forever). Also, some of the lines aren't as smooth as I'd like, but it was pretty successful as a proof of concept.


    Day 2: Draw a pony training
    Spoiler
    Show


    This is probably the image from the ATG I'm least happy with, although while I was drawing it, I liked it better than the Lyra one. There are some successes here - I found a line weight I liked better, and I figured out that I should use a smaller brush for the accent details on the face; also the lines are in general smoother overall I think.

    On the downside, the head seems way too small, and the hair is pretty flat-looking (apparently RD needs to invest in conditioner). I also colored her mane and tail in the most labor-intensive way imaginable, which was dumb, but taught me more lessons about the value of layers...so a mixed bag, overall.


    Day 3: Draw a pony dueling
    Spoiler
    Show


    This picture was the first where I started to get more ambitious with my posing - Lyra was fairly static and RD was drawn pretty closely according to a reference screenshot from S2E1. I think the cape and sword turned out fairly well, and I experimented with throwing in some shadows and highlights in various places which worked out more or less. Still, something seems off about the picture, or at least it seems a little plain. I also think the highlights on the eyes should me moved around some - they don't strike me as being entirely correct.


    Day 4: Draw a pony on a rescue mission (warning: kinda big)
    Spoiler
    Show


    This is another entry I'm quite happy with for the most part. I'm particularly pleased with the posing, since I did it mostly from scratch but I think it worked out anyway. I made use of the lessons I learned about layers to get rope-covered Phoe right, and it payed off; if I'd drawn it like I would have starting out I would probably still be trying to get it right. I also experimented with a basic background in this picture, and decided that even simple ones add quite a bit to a piece and make them feel less like a disconnected sketch and more like a finished product.


    Day 5: Draw a pony coming home (also big)
    Spoiler
    Show


    Definitely the most ambitious of my ATG entries. Once I started working on this one, I decided to turn up the importance of the background which meant a lot of mountain coloring... I also made use of a semi-transparent layer over the top of everything to give it a nighttime feel, which turned out fairly well, although I had to search around for the right shade of purple to make it work. So much purple in this

    The biggest problem I have with it is that as a result of some combination of perspective and how I chose to shape the hills in the background, it seems like the picture has a bit of a tilt. If I were going to re-draw it, there are a few tweaks I would make, but overall I'm pretty happy with it.
    Very nice stuff! I don't have anything constructive to say, I'm afraid, but I do like Lyra's armoured gala dress and the third pic with Caramel(?).


    Anyway, Day 28. Q) What do you get when you cross Pony with Squid Girl? A) This, I guess:
    Spoiler
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    Not too happy with the face on this one. It just seems off. I can't quite seem to draw ponies with their mouths open at that angle. Never looks right.
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    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post
    Diego Havoc, one of the hoopier froods I've met, up there with DeLancie.



  21. - Top - End - #561
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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Quote Originally Posted by Diego Havoc View Post
    Ah, I see. Not too different from stuff I used to do back in photoshop. Two questions then: 1) Do I need to get a tablet if I want to be serious about doing digital colouring, or am I okay just scanning drawings in? 2) Dispozition, got any links to this stream of yours?
    1.) There may be a very few folks that tough it out with a mouse and patience, but in my own view, a tablet is probably the way to go if you want to do much of any digital art. You can still sketch things up on paper and scan them in, of course, but even a relatively cheap tablet will make life tons easier when you pick up the digital brush.

    2.) Unfortunately Dispo's super busy, so the streaming kind of depends on when he has time. I was lucky enough to get a heads-up from kpenguin on the IRC when it happened last time. If I hear of anything though, I'll try and pass it on.

    Very nice stuff! I don't have anything constructive to say, I'm afraid, but I do like Lyra's armoured gala dress and the third pic with Caramel(?).
    Thanks! I do like the way the dress turned out, and it is (sorta) Caramel. I was originally going to draw him with the fencing sword, but I couldn't get the jaw to look right, so I rounded it off and made him into female!Caramel. Of course, I think that happened in the show once already, so perhaps he's used to it by now...

    Anyway, Day 28. Q) What do you get when you cross Pony with Squid Girl? A) This, I guess:
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    Not too happy with the face on this one. It just seems off. I can't quite seem to draw ponies with their mouths open at that angle. Never looks right.
    I love the prawn cutie mark!

    Regarding the mouth, I think the issue is that you've shown too much of the far side of it; the line that defines that part needs to curve closer to the front of the mouth, which will also shift the tongue placement. Other than that, it looks pretty neat!

    EDIT: Oh, one other thing - I think her jawline curves too low, which gives the face a pudgy look. If you raised that a bit, I think you'd be in business.
    Last edited by the_druid_droid; 2012-01-28 at 07:28 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    DD, your unicorn is stronger, prettier, and higher-ranking than mine, and her secret lab has a better name than mine. THERE SHALL BE NO QUARTER.
    Ponythread Learns to Draw!

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    Bleeeeh! Alfalfa Monster!


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  22. - Top - End - #562
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sean Mirrsen View Post
    And a pair of tiny practice sketches, one inspired by Thanqol's ideas:
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    I don't really see all of the main six as Manticores, because a Manticore is a specific set of parameters, a very specific race - lion body, wings, scorpion tail. Only RD would qualify to be a real Manticore, I think.

    Just thought of the greatest idea: Monsterponies. Half ect, half pony. Ursaponies. Dragonponies. Cocatraiceponies. Perfect apponents for the Pony Rangers.
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    Pokonic look what you have done! You fool, you`ve doomed us all!
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    Oh Pokonic, never change. And never become my D.M.
    To those that are wondering; it's a unicorn leather knife hilt.
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    Default Re: Ponythread Learns to Draw! Together!

    Quote Originally Posted by Sean Mirrsen View Post
    Heh, those aren't even supposed to be pillars! XD
    I was thinking along the lines of this sort of hall, with pillars and tall ornamental stained glass windows in the far wall, but the roof has collapsed and the far wall is broken, leaving those odd "pillars". Again, horrible background construction skills.
    Sorry for the case of mistaken background identity!

    I just saw the newest version of your picture in your thread, it is looking great!

    Quote Originally Posted by Sean Mirrsen View Post
    The lives of two ponies now hang by a thread, their fates completely in the hands of a (possibly) cruel and (maybe) irresponsible Creator!
    When it comes to my own stuff, I am actually a cruel Creator.
    I haven't completely decided, but I'm leaning toward destroying the male pony.

    Quote Originally Posted by Sean Mirrsen View Post
    On a more serious note, this kind of feel is almost impossible to convey through a colorless sketch. The amount and positions of background ponies don't really matter, there could be a whole mass of them. If you use subdued colors for them, and vivid colors for the character you want to draw attention to, or even vice versa, attention will be drawn. A single bright character against a wall of discolored background people who don't pay attention to anything will look alone. I tried to find a good image to show what I mean, but in the end decided it was quicker to just use your sketch as a base:
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    I don't remember Twist's color scheme offhand...

    I'm far from being "good" or even "decent" at perspective, but it won't detract from the point, I think. It's a little blatant here, in your version it's probably a better idea to be more subtle.
    Thanks for the comment, I read it and have been mentally chewing on it as I color the picture. I may take away one of background ponies and add a few more. It doesn't matter *that much*, since the background ponies are smaller they are comparatively easy to add in and out.


    Quote Originally Posted by Diego Havoc View Post
    Anyway, Day 28. Q) What do you get when you cross Pony with Squid Girl? A) This, I guess:
    Spoiler
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    *snip*

    Not too happy with the face on this one. It just seems off. I can't quite seem to draw ponies with their mouths open at that angle. Never looks right.
    A squid girl pony!! I love that show!
    I must echo Druid Droid's comment on the mouth and jaw. I like how you made her tail tentacles. A very nice touch.


    Quote Originally Posted by Level8Mudcrab View Post
    Looks great. I'd love to see this coloured.


    Here's my ATG Day 2 drawing.
    *snip*

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    This one took me quite a while to do; I ended up spending a lot of time redoing Lyra in an attempt to make her look better, though still not completely satisfied with it. Perhaps both their legs could do with being a little thicker? Stances could do with some work too. The swords look a little small too. I also need to learn how to draw swords properly.

    All in all though, it turned out better than I thought it would while I was drawing it. Incidentally, this is the first drawing I've done with more than one pony.
    I must parrot Thanqol on the pony proportions. There are some great tutorials in this thread you could look it.
    I like how Lyra uses a shield. If there was one pony who could handle a shield, Lyra would be it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dispozition View Post
    Since you guys want some posts, here is one, I guess...

    Just the things that I don't think I've posted or stuff I'm working on.

    Sean's NMM vs Rangers pic, just doing flats, sooooooooo far from done. Less than an hour so far.
    *snip*

    The humanised AJ I've been doing on and off for a while. Hair is mostly done, shirt is around 70%. skin is just blocking and slight refining of shading so far, so maybe 30%, and the rest hasn't even been started.
    *snip*
    Aaaaand the best thing I've coloured in ages, yet I managed to only save it as a .png and not a sai file so I can't ever finish it, which really, really annoys me. And it also made me stop doing art for around two weeks...
    *snip*

    EDIT: Lots of skin showing because that's the thing I'm working on most right now...Or was...I guess. Hair is up next, then clothing. If I ever get around to it :-/
    It all looks wonderful! But you didn't need me to tell you that. Especially the skin, coloring and shading skin is something I struggle with.

    Quote Originally Posted by the_druid_droid View Post
    Well, bearing in mind that I'm still very new to digital coloring (the ATG being my biggest source of practice so far) I can outline the basic process I've been using, which owes a pretty big debt to watching Dispo's coloring stream.

    For the ATG pics, I basically started with a rough (and usually pretty 'hairy') sketch to figure out the posing, composition, etc. Primarily for this stage I've been using Autodesk Sketchbook (because it came bundled with my tablet) but I'm considering moving even the sketching process over to Adobe. Anyway, once the sketch is done, I set up a a couple of layers for the colored linework (since I've mostly been following the show's approach of darker lines to outline the forms), generally dividing it into fore-, middle and background groups and then I pick colors and start to ink the sketch (with lots of Ctrl-Z and redrawing wobbly lines). Once the lines are done, I create layers underneath them to put in the color, so the lines stay nice and crisp, and you have some margin of error for 'coloring inside the lines'. Once the color is in, I may add in a couple of layers for any special effects I want, and then crop the picture and/or collapse everything down/save as a non-layered format.
    That's pretty much the way I color. Besides the inking stage. I make a two or more layers, one for rough sketches and the other for finished line work/inking (granted, I'm generally am bad at the line work and cleaning it up). Then I make layers underneath it and color.

    Quote Originally Posted by the_druid_droid View Post
    Hmm, this is actually an interesting point. Do people have issues with loading this thread? I have a pretty decent hardware/connection combo so it hasn't been an issue for me, but if others are experiencing problems I wouldn't object to switching to links; they're easy enough to include and it's only one click for either spoilers or links.
    I'm in the same boat as you. I have good internet connection and have no problems. But I guess it would help if we stopped quoting pictures though.


    Quote Originally Posted by the_druid_droid View Post
    Ok, since I only sorta posted them here, I thought I'd round up the pictures I did for the latest ATG and actually put them up with my thoughts and self-critique. Further comments and suggestions are more than welcome!

    Day 1: Draw a pony in armor
    Spoiler
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    *snip*

    So this was my first picture, and if you read my post at the time, I actually didn't finish it in time for official ATG submission because I got my timezones crossed...

    At any rate, I'm actually still pretty happy with how this one turned out. This was my second attempt at actually coloring something with my tablet, rather than just sketching and in the final analysis, it taught me the importance of using multiple layers to give myself some breathing room when doing things that overlap like hair or clothing (because I didn't use as many in this pic, and coloring it precisely took forever). Also, some of the lines aren't as smooth as I'd like, but it was pretty successful as a proof of concept.


    Day 2: Draw a pony training
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    *snip*

    This is probably the image from the ATG I'm least happy with, although while I was drawing it, I liked it better than the Lyra one. There are some successes here - I found a line weight I liked better, and I figured out that I should use a smaller brush for the accent details on the face; also the lines are in general smoother overall I think.

    On the downside, the head seems way too small, and the hair is pretty flat-looking (apparently RD needs to invest in conditioner). I also colored her mane and tail in the most labor-intensive way imaginable, which was dumb, but taught me more lessons about the value of layers...so a mixed bag, overall.


    Day 3: Draw a pony dueling
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    *snip*

    This picture was the first where I started to get more ambitious with my posing - Lyra was fairly static and RD was drawn pretty closely according to a reference screenshot from S2E1. I think the cape and sword turned out fairly well, and I experimented with throwing in some shadows and highlights in various places which worked out more or less. Still, something seems off about the picture, or at least it seems a little plain. I also think the highlights on the eyes should me moved around some - they don't strike me as being entirely correct.


    Day 4: Draw a pony on a rescue mission (warning: kinda big)
    Spoiler
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    *snip*

    This is another entry I'm quite happy with for the most part. I'm particularly pleased with the posing, since I did it mostly from scratch but I think it worked out anyway. I made use of the lessons I learned about layers to get rope-covered Phoe right, and it payed off; if I'd drawn it like I would have starting out I would probably still be trying to get it right. I also experimented with a basic background in this picture, and decided that even simple ones add quite a bit to a piece and make them feel less like a disconnected sketch and more like a finished product.


    Day 5: Draw a pony coming home (also big)
    Spoiler
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    *snip*

    Definitely the most ambitious of my ATG entries. Once I started working on this one, I decided to turn up the importance of the background which meant a lot of mountain coloring... I also made use of a semi-transparent layer over the top of everything to give it a nighttime feel, which turned out fairly well, although I had to search around for the right shade of purple to make it work. So much purple in this

    The biggest problem I have with it is that as a result of some combination of perspective and how I chose to shape the hills in the background, it seems like the picture has a bit of a tilt. If I were going to re-draw it, there are a few tweaks I would make, but overall I'm pretty happy with it.
    These are all looking good! My favorite is female!caramel, you unknowingly combined two of my favorite things, dashing swords(wo)men and ponies. Can't give you a in depth critical as I can't see anything which you haven't commented on yourself.

    Quote Originally Posted by Pokonic View Post
    Just thought of the greatest idea: Monsterponies. Half ect, half pony. Ursaponies. Dragonponies. Cocatraiceponies. Perfect apponents for the Pony Rangers.
    You know what's funny? For the past week I couldn't get the idea of a Medusa pony out of my head.

    Pony art,
    Spoiler
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    It's Medusa pony! My first internet worthy OC! Isn't she cute?!

    I'm still working on coloring that Twist image. But I took a break to do another greyscale image. I think it came out better then my Applejack with pie, but I dunno.

    I almost forgot how much I like drawing snakes, you just start with a line and then go wild. I need to draw snakes more often.



    More serious colored pictures will follow, I promise.
    Last edited by Bakuel; 2012-01-29 at 04:55 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Pokonic View Post
    Just thought of the greatest idea: Monsterponies. Half ect, half pony. Ursaponies. Dragonponies. Cocatraiceponies. Perfect apponents for the Pony Rangers.
    More like perfect opponents for Poninger Z. Although I've no idea how to make a Rocket Buck work with a mecha that uses all of its limbs to stand...
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bakuel View Post
    It all looks wonderful! But you didn't need me to tell you that. Especially the skin, coloring and shading skin is something I struggle with.
    It's always appreciated to get feedback (:

    With skin, the biggest help I've found is porn...Or at least artistic nudes. Seeing skin in lots of different lighting conditions really, really helps your art. Photography is an awesome tool for learning art, mostly because it captures certain things just right for you to mimic.

    Also practice...Lots of practice :P

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    Dis...As far as I can tell, you are a cool frood who knows where his towel is.
    Quote Originally Posted by The_Librarian View Post
    Run, little Aussie artist man. Your doom will be swift and silent -
    - like the owl.
    Quote Originally Posted by Charity View Post
    *Hands Dizzy his SwoongunTM*
    Which is a hairdrier full of ether.
    Quote Originally Posted by Vulion View Post
    ...Dispozition...you rock so hard I feel like throwing you my underwear in appreciation just so you can know how much that rocks.
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    Dis, I love you.
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    Your quotes rawk.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bakuel View Post
    You know what's funny? For the past week I couldn't get the idea of a Medusa pony out of my head.

    Pony art,
    Spoiler
    Show

    It's Medusa pony! My first internet worthy OC! Isn't she cute?!

    I'm still working on coloring that Twist image. But I took a break to do another greyscale image. I think it came out better then my Applejack with pie, but I dunno.

    I almost forgot how much I like drawing snakes, you just start with a line and then go wild. I need to draw snakes more often.



    More serious colored pictures will follow, I promise.
    This is excellent, and my only regret is that I didn't think of it first!

    Quote Originally Posted by Dispozition View Post
    It's always appreciated to get feedback (:

    With skin, the biggest help I've found is porn...Or at least artistic nudes. Seeing skin in lots of different lighting conditions really, really helps your art. Photography is an awesome tool for learning art, mostly because it captures certain things just right for you to mimic.

    Also practice...Lots of practice :P
    Huh, you're actually the second person to make that suggestion... *wheels turn*
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    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    DD, your unicorn is stronger, prettier, and higher-ranking than mine, and her secret lab has a better name than mine. THERE SHALL BE NO QUARTER.
    Ponythread Learns to Draw!

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    Bleeeeh! Alfalfa Monster!


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    Quote Originally Posted by the_druid_droid View Post
    This is excellent, and my only regret is that I didn't think of it first!
    Ooh, Thanqol does that to us all the time! Only it's more "bah! My only regret is I'm so lazy I thought of this months ago but no one will ever know!"

    Huh, you're actually the second person to make that suggestion... *wheels turn*
    Yeah, it's a pretty big thing. And after having seen what Dis can do with skin (~!) I'm tempted to dive in to painting myself...

    Quote Originally Posted by Thanqol View Post
    I actually disagree with this. Every time I experiment, even if it's a godawful failure, I've learned a lot of actual, usable things. And then, months later when I'm rummaging in my bag of tricks for a specific effect, I'll have a bunch of things to call on and an informed choice as to what works best. I did a whole bunch of experimentations with fire effects a while back, found one I liked, and I can just come back to it whenever I need to. It's a permanent upgrade to my visual arsenal.

    And it's not like experimentation takes up my entire draw practise time. I typically do an entire picture 'standard' except for a few colouring and shading techniques that I take huge gambles on, even if it risks ruining the entire picture. I learned from Day 254, for instance, a lot about the limits and variance of the bristle brush, and I learned a three-point shading technique that I absolutely adore. In subsequent pictures I'll practise those lessons while experimenting with other things. In the same picture, I used lessons on solid black+transparency slider from previous experiments to get the shadow right. It all adds up, and flows together. Everything has use, like a big pile of Lego blocks.

    Yes, attempting rote-drawing of standard humaniform heads until I can do it reflexively is an enormously appealing concept which often features prominently on my to-do list. But I don't have enough Lego to start building and refining the style I want yet. I don't have a good way to do hair. I haven't practised enough with skin tones. I can't draw figures in physical contact right. I want to experiment with these things until I've got understanding of each conceptual element, until my Lego box is full of pieces, before I work on refining a style.

    I'm getting closer, but I'm also getting better at seeing which areas I'm completely clueless on.
    Well, I thought about this and how to best condense the argument down to about quibbling over language. I found this;

    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post

    Hats are a a pain in the Mark. And quality paper is awesome! But don't be afraid to do roughs with bad materials. You lose masterpieces, but you gain skill always.

    And as a repeat from last time; drawing is 90% perception. I[f] you see something wrong, good! Nothing sucks more than no having a way to improve. If something goes awry, focus on that! Bring it up here, go to a book store and browse. If you see a neat art style, try to duplicate what's so neat about it. So long as you come away able to see something you couldn't before, you come away understanding more.

    That paragraph got away from me, so post and bed.
    Which seems pretty much like he agrees with you, doesn't it? Keep moving, always keep moving, even if you have drag yourself forward by the fingertips, even if you rake yourself over coals.

    But there's another way to look at it. "jog if you have to, run if you must; but at all other times, go at your own pace". What I'm advocating isn't that you're wrong, Thanqol, so much as saying occasionally practicing things you have not yet mastered will yield more than throwing in things you honestly have never tried before as well.

    But... For me, the outcome is vital. SiuiS too. Whether for good or ill, we actually stop, right in the middle of a work, and come back when we have the improved skillset to handle it. Because practice is practice, and that's fine. But something intended to be a finished work...

    Like you've said, Games live or die on char gen. For us, a work lives or dies in the foundation. And if that foundation is good enough, it must become a finished work, because this particular set of factors can need come together again. The lines are infused with the passions and mindset, the connotations and particulars of that moment, and each moment is utterly unique.

    Is this good? Probably not. We have exposed a point where we disregard our own advice and visibly suffer for it. But again, I don't want to sway you all so much as make sure you are rolling the concept around in your mind like a stone, learning it's weight and heft, before deciding that; no, this rock isn't the one you want.

    -

    Diego, yes we are on a phone. But our laptop hardware isn't much better. Admittedly the home wireless (Ponyville, or Canterlot if we had the high end reciever) made things easier, but only marginally. But that was the point, silly! I can't participate. Spoiler boxes are my bane >>;

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    Quote Originally Posted by the_druid_droid View Post
    1.) There may be a very few folks that tough it out with a mouse and patience, but in my own view, a tablet is probably the way to go if you want to do much of any digital art. You can still sketch things up on paper and scan them in, of course, but even a relatively cheap tablet will make life tons easier when you pick up the digital brush.
    Alright, I think about picking one up the next time I see a PC store. Or maybe I can steal the one we have at work that no one ever uses...

    I love the prawn cutie mark!

    Regarding the mouth, I think the issue is that you've shown too much of the far side of it; the line that defines that part needs to curve closer to the front of the mouth, which will also shift the tongue placement. Other than that, it looks pretty neat!

    EDIT: Oh, one other thing - I think her jawline curves too low, which gives the face a pudgy look. If you raised that a bit, I think you'd be in business.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bakuel View Post
    A squid girl pony!! I love that show!
    I must echo Druid Droid's comment on the mouth and jaw. I like how you made her tail tentacles. A very nice touch.
    Thanks guys!

    I decided to do some mouth practice today, to try and get the hang of things. Actually using references this time :P
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    Success? (Ignore that dinosaur looking one near the bottom right ¬_¬)

    You know what's funny? For the past week I couldn't get the idea of a Medusa pony out of my head.

    Pony art,
    Spoiler
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    It's Medusa pony! My first internet worthy OC! Isn't she cute?!

    I'm still working on coloring that Twist image. But I took a break to do another greyscale image. I think it came out better then my Applejack with pie, but I dunno.

    I almost forgot how much I like drawing snakes, you just start with a line and then go wild. I need to draw snakes more often.



    More serious colored pictures will follow, I promise.
    That's seriously awesome.
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    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post
    Diego Havoc, one of the hoopier froods I've met, up there with DeLancie.



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    Quote Originally Posted by Diego Havoc View Post
    Alright, I think about picking one up the next time I see a PC store. Or maybe I can steal the one we have at work that no one ever uses...
    Do they sell them in PC stores? I've migrated to buying a lot of stuff off Amazon, so I can't say for sure about that. One thing is to do some research and know what you're buying; it seems that with tablets (and electronics generally) you get what you pay for. Of course, this is balanced by the fact that the really snazzy ones have pretty painful sticker shock going along with them, and there exist cheaper ones and off-brands that are exceptions to the rule.

    Personally, I'd look at the lower end of some of the big tablet makers - the price is tolerable if you're serious about getting one, and you may have better luck with customer service and driver support/recognition if things go south, while the main sacrifice is workspace size and the upper end of the sensitivity or tilt spectrum (which is probably less important until you're fairly comfortable anyway). Also, you may want to see if you can at least borrow the one from work to get a feel for them (definitely different than pen and paper) and see if you want to go through with a purchase.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Anarion View Post
    DD, your unicorn is stronger, prettier, and higher-ranking than mine, and her secret lab has a better name than mine. THERE SHALL BE NO QUARTER.
    Ponythread Learns to Draw!

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    Bleeeeh! Alfalfa Monster!


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    Thanks for the advice. I'm sure I'll be able to borrow the work tablet, or at least use it during lunch break. It was bought for graphic design work, but since I am the only one doing design work there right now and I don't know how to use it the thing is just gathering dust. I think it's a Bamboo tablet. I don't know if that make is any good, but it's very small. Probably less than A5, which is what I usually draw on.

    There's a few large electronics stores nearby that may have tablets, and there's a PC World which I seem to remember having tablets, however I don't know how good their selection is likely to be.
    Used to be Diego Havoc
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    Quote Originally Posted by SiuiS View Post
    Diego Havoc, one of the hoopier froods I've met, up there with DeLancie.



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