How do you create your fan art or OC?

[Envy 5,992]

It takes practice, I haven't drawn ponies in a very long time so it got a little rusty. But I just need to tune them up a little.

 

Practice can't overcome the level of natural ineptitude that is me.

 

My pony from Pony creator looks perfect in my eyes, either way. =) So it doesn't really matter... I was attempting to draw a pony and promised to show it to a friend, though... I need to complete that even if it's terrible... Just can't get doing the eye down and don't want to just copy and paste one - that would be cheating. >.<

[Snow Frostflame 3,567]

I don't make fan art if I want something I ask my friends to make it for me (I don't take advantage of them I rarely ask them to draw me anything) the one who drew my profile picture drew it on her tablet the one who made my YouTube picture used Paint.Net or some other free software I'd have to ask him and my other friend she does it the old fashion way paper and pencil and for my RP picture I used the Pony creator like anyone else who doesn't know how to draw would use

[BMF 57]

Painttool SAI also paper and pencil.

 

[Everleaf 541]

Deviantart Muro...sometimes I feel it's underated...I've got much better at art since I started using it oh yes and it's free no download on Devantart.

[Thrashy 2,798]

Wouldn't say Pony Creator is "cheating" per se, but it's definitely very limited in what can be produced with it. Especially as far as mane styles go, I've noticed. Furthermore, it quite often lends itself to producing awful-looking Mary Sue characters, which...while it is your right to make such characters, do not expect them to be taken seriously whatsoever. Hell, even relatively well-designed Pony Creator OCs are rarely taken seriously.

 

Bottom line, I could understand using it if you have absolutely no other choice (say, if you can't draw a pony to save your life), but if you can possibly be bothered to put some time into studying pony proportions and practice drawing them, I'd recommend that. Especially because it allows you to work outside whatever constraints that PC pushes upon you. I promise you, people will respect a shakily-drawn OC far more than a generic PC creation.

 

That said, the way I'd been doing it for a long time was sketching my pones out on paper, scanning them (or taking a snapshot of them with my cell, doesn't really matter in the end), and then inking them with GIMP. GIMP is pretty alright for a free Photoshop knockoff, but there are pretty basic things that it should be able to do, but doesn't (e.g. line tapering). Because I'm somewhat of a resourceful fellow, I'd managed to find workarounds to whatever limitations I encountered, but I'm just gonna warn you now, it's tedious as all hell. But it's generally worth the toil.

 

Example of something created in GIMP:

 

 

 

 

Nowadays I use Paint Tool SAI. Seeing as how it's supposedly one of the most tablet-friendly programs out there, and I've had a drawing tablet that's been collecting dust for some time now, I decided to give it a try. I'm really liking it so far, although it does have a few limitations of its own. My tablet hand isn't quite experienced enough to do all my sketches in SAI, so more often than not I still sketch things out on paper and scan them.

 

 

Example of something created in SAI:

 

 

 

 

Whatever you decide to do, I wish you luck in your OC making endeavor.

[skbl17 199]

I use a vectoring program, namely Inkscape. There's also paper, pencil, and pen; those aren't for fan art, but for concepts instead.

[Shift 4,269]

I hand draw then go over the drawing in Inkscape.

 

I come up with the actual oc by messing around with names, backstories, personalities, species, colors and mane styles for a bit.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Shift

[Wind Chaser 4,766]

I draw by hand, then I either outline in Inkscape and color in GIMP or I do both the outline and the color in GIMP. Whichever is faster and looks better.

[Derpaholic 1,155]

I use Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Corel Painter, to create my art.
Also, if were you, I'd forget about Gimp and go straight to something better - Krita.

https://krita.org/
 

Krita is an open-source program that was specifically designed for digital painting, with artists in mind.
It's used by many professionals in the field, including myself, sometimes.

It's one of the best open-sourcers you'll get. Take it from someone who does this for a living.

As for my process, I usually make a traditional pencil sketch, scan that, open it up in Photoshop, and then proceed to either colouring it or painting over it.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Derpaholic

[thenugget777 16]

I exculsively use paper and pencil. on a computer/tablet/ect. i just can't seem to get it right, it's just really awkward for me. i looked at sevral tutorials, and then kind of found how i draw mine.

[twiia 1,842]

I use online art applications because I am nearly broke. I also use paper and pencil

[Melted Dog 161]

Well, I use Paint Tool SAI. I draw with a mouse so my art isn't that good.