Journal: My Journey on Learning How to Draw

[caramba2654 602]

Okay. I want to get a better grasp on drawing stuff out of my mind. apparently that's a very useful skill and I want to develop it. So I though ponies would be a nice way to develop that, because they give me something to draw.

 

But I suck. I'm not even gonna post my previous pony drawing attempts here. They really really suck. I never got the body proportions right, so my pony's legs would always come out too short, too long or be looking kinda weird.

 

But then I thought: I'm gonna major on engineering. What would an engineer do in times like these?

 

REVERSE ENGINEERING!

 

So I went on MLP Vector Club and chose a vector of a simple stallion.

 

 

Doctor Whooves was a good choice. Standard pose, no big surprises. A good start, I think.

 

Then I proceeded to put a piece of paper on my screen and trace it out. And with the traced picture in hands, I then added guidelines. This is where the reverse engineering comes in. You usually draw the guidelines and then you draw the pony. I'm doing the reverse here. Anyways, it looks like this:

 

 

Guidelines all set, time to try drawing it normally. I first draw the guidelines in a similar size to the reverse engineered one. Then, with it as a reference, I proceed to draw the actual pony. I then add a generic mane and tail and this is what comes out:

 

 

I then realize I messed up a bit on the muzzle. It's supposed to be a tad bigger, so I'll fix it soon.

 

When I get everything sorted out, I'll probably do a lineart and color it, which will then be posted here. So stay tuned!

 

EDIT:

 

Scratch that. I made a new one:

 

 

The front legs are kinda thin and I realized there's a slight downcurve on the chin line. I also accidentally made the butt circle too huge, so now he has a giant flank.

 

But it's cool. As I'm drawing these I'm creating some steps on how to achieve a good perspective on some parts. Like, ear on the horizontal head guideline, thigh starting at halfway between the quarter circle, etc... Soon I'll have all the reference points I need.

 

Oh, and note to self: The bottom left circle needs to be 75% of the head circle with the right side of the head circle as a reference. Otherwise his chest won't look as puffy.

 

 

EDIT 2:

 

Made a third one. I payed extra attention on the things i pointed out previously. Apparently it worked, because I'm very satisfied with the result:

 

 

That's the one I'm gonna lineart and color.

Edited February 6, 2015 by caramba2654

[caramba2654 602]

Update time!

 

 

I found a good Android App that I can use my tablet with. Well, I found two good ones, but one sucks at coloring and the other sucks at lineart. I did the pony above in the one that sucks at lineart.

 

I think I can comfortably draw pony bodies in the default position now. It's become natural and all I need to do is follow guidelines I created.

 

Now I just need to practice some other poses. Then, when I get good at it, I'll look into improving the lineart and coloring, maybe even adding some shading. I'll probably do lineart on my computer.

 

If only I could use my tablet as a graphics tablet :/

[caramba2654 602]

Update time!

 

 

Quite an adventure to make this one!

 

Firstly, I sketched and did the lineart in my Android app. Then I had to save each individual lineart layer separately, otherwise I wouldn't be able to have them as layers in the next program.

 

Anyways, I opened each image as a layer in GIMP2. Then I vectored the lineart (one lineart layer each for the body, mane and wings FOR BOTH PONIES). Then I realized I made the lineart too thin, but I didn't want to re-do everything. Besides, I couldn't transpose my selection from one layer to the other one.

 

So I put all the lineart in one layer. That allowed me to select a region between the lineart and color it on another layer. Then I did flat colors, hid the lineart layer and the picture above is the result of it. =D

 

But I still want to get the lineart right one day. T_T

 

Anyways, first time drawing two ponies, one of them flying and one of them riding another pony. So I guess I got the sideways pose down. Now I need to practice different points of view, like a front-end point of view.

Edited February 10, 2015 by caramba2654

[caramba2654 602]

SUDDENLY

 

 

lol. I just said "Let me try a new perspective". Then I went on Photoshop and figured out that at the rate my perspective was going, I'd become the new Picasso. Then I erased most of it and did it again and again until I got the pose above. Then I thought "Ooh, maybe a proper background this time?" And then I went crazy with the smudge tool XD Then somehow I managed to shade everything and have it not look horrible. So I'm satisfied with this drawing ^^

 

What do you guys think of it?