how did you learn how to draw? (if that's your art)

[creamshy666 0]

I'm just curious about how you draw ponies

[SFyr 1,982]

Hello @creamshy666, I'ma go ahead and move this to the Resources subsection, since you're asking for general advice or perspective on learning to draw.

 

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To answer your question on a more non-business note, I had a background of picking random subjects and just studying references and creating a slew of drawings of my own. A good bit of gesture drawing in particular helped with my eventual transition into ponies. I looked a lot at how other people drew ponies, and how the show portrayed all kinds of poses, angles, and expressions. I used these for practice, and worked them into numerous study sessions where I picked a particular topic to focus on, and just studied it through sketching and referencing.

 

Basically, the more I drew and analyzed references, the better I got at drawing ponies. I guess you could say, I learned to draw ponies by drawing them. Until my terrible ponies become cute and respectable.

[Bazz 57]

I don't draw, but I'd love to learn how to also. I would also say to look at other's work and kinda see how they do it, then try your own styles and such. Don't directly copy it though - be original and don't steal from other artists.

[Kiri 7,277]

There are many ways you can learn to draw, and one isn't necessarily better than the other. ^^

 

I started out doodling animals and people when I was little. Around elementary school, I became really passionate about horses and studied them in books. It wasn't long before I was obsessed with drawing them, and I practiced by putting tracing paper over images of horses and tracing their shapes and outlines. That was helpful when I went to actually draw horses. I have had very basic art classes, in which we studied objects and drew them (while experimenting with mediums). That also helped with perspective and how to capture light source.

 

With ponies, I started out by trying to copy the show's style. The first drawings were very wonky! XD But, repetition and dedication will eventually pay off! It's ok to feel a little frustrated. Every artist, no matter how long they've been drawing, hits a rut from time to time. When you have those feelings, take a little break so that you won't burn out.

 

I eventually developed my own style by combining cartoon with realism. It helps to study techniques that other artists use when developing your own. One thing I learned is not to focus so much on how to develop a style, as it will come naturally the more you play around and experiment with your ponies' anatomy. Even then, an artist'a style often changes slightly over time, and it's fun to look back and see that progression.

 

Most importantly, have fun and remember what makes you passionate about making artwork!

Edited October 8, 2016 by Kiri

[NotoriousSMALL 1,984]

i always used to draw as a kid but i kept on doing it but my drawings didn't start to look any good until high school when I became self-aware and wanted to make drawings that looked good. At first I started taking different elements from my favorite artists, but I still didn't get the results I wanted so I actually just looked up tutorials and crap on youtube and combined that with what I had before. 

[SaburoDaimando 1,196]

I first started out drawing them similar to the original poses and designs that Lauren Faust created.  But as time went on, I began to shape them more to my style, almost similar to Jay Fosgitt(They're more pudgy in the body, but their face is slightly similar to how Jay draws Ponies)

[Spring Veil 254]

I started about 5 years ago, I just took a sketchbook, found what I wanted to draw online and then tried to replicate it in the sketchbook. Ya'know, pony fan art and all that.

Lauren Faust always gave the advice to just draw as many pictures as you can, whether they're good or bad, and I think that's the best advice.

[FullmoonDagger 200]

It's been 3 years since I started ponies. I started by copying some screenshots I found interesting, then I watched some videos about drawing ponies to have a better understanding of their anatomy, and I made my way through my own style. I worked with the skeletons only at first, but breaking donw everything into basic shapes really helped me ! If you want some advices or help, MP me !

[Vendi 407]

I've been drawing all my life. But I started drawing ponies about 5 years ago and I just looked at pictures of the mane six and tried to copy them (without tracing) and then I just kept drawing ponies until they didn't suck and now I try to branch out and draw other things. If you wanna draw ponies I recommend you study screenshots from the show and try to draw those and study anatomy. It helps to do that before branching into you're own style if thats what you want to do (but you don't have to). 

[chili-pepper-thinker 37]

To do well drawn ponies you have to have experience in drawing at all. If you love drawing it won't be really hard to learn to draw. It's just practice, my dear friend.