Zygen's back! And ready to make those eyes BURN!

[Zygen 6,066]

Hey y'all! I know I actually haven't been gone until just now, but I haven't draw any art since just now, from when I took a vacation day after Christmas. So i decided to draw my OC and see what I could do as well as get some practice.

 

So basically this is the result of what I did after a bit over a week of not drawing anything over vacation. I'm a bit rusty on things, so it may not look the best but whatever .

 

I also did a bit of experimenting in this, such as I did a background with a hill type thing and tried for a shadow(I used blur tool to get a really easy blur to the shadow making it look better I think) And I made a nice nightish sky using some blue background and a lighting filter .

 

Along with those, i also used some new techniques with drawing my picture by making some differences in the lines sizes throughout the art, also I decided to try drawing my mane the way it is in my OC's pic from pony creator, as well as drawing in the black part of the hoofs and I also decided to jazz up the cutie mark a little bit.

 

And I guess thats about all the insight I need to give, now for the picture!

And of course I always use this reference basically, but here it is just for convince of viewing.

 

And like the rest of my art I did this with my mouse and keyboard on GIMP. (No i did not get any tablet over Christmas sorry )

 

So tell me what you think! Oh and one more thing, I finally found the line tool in GIMP (If anyones wondering you shift click and it lets you fill in a line from the point you clicked last to the point you want.) I didn't use the tool much yet, except on the cutie mark, but maybe It'll find some use later on.

 

Ok thats really it! As always feel free to leave all feedback, critique, tips, tricks, whatever that you want to!

Have a good weekend! Later!

 

Ps. Sorry if anybody was expecting me to finish AJ before Christmas or for this to be AJ, I'll work on her next proably and she'll proably end up being my next art creation I post, so look out for that I guess .(You know if you actually look forward to my art because you enjoy the pain of your eyes bleeding . )

 

 

Edit: I added the horn in because I accidentally forgot that, and then it was pointed out to me so i fixed it. One day I'll post a picture where I don't forget something .(Thank you Rainbowswag4)

Edited January 5, 2013 by Zygen

[Agent505 661]

You use GIMP too...without a tablet? 

Praise Luna! 

I've seen a bunch of tutorials on YouTube where people have used GIMP to produce amazing work - almost always with tablets though.

This is a pretty darn good drawing, i've experimented with GIMP myself but gave up rather quickly. I go back to it every now and again just to make sure I dont forget anything major, but i've never been able to draw anything that I would class as "good."

 

I just felt the need to comment on this, seeing as looking at the drawing made me think almost exactly - "Wow, that's pretty good, it's refreshing to see plain art looking this good instead of super-detailed ponies that make you want to cry, because you know you'll NEVER be that good" and then my brain rambled on for a while...

[Fluffy Pinkie 417]

oh well it's not that bad. The only thing i'd say to work on is to make the legs longer, the mane needs to look a little more fluid, and the snout needs to be higher on the face besides those few things it's a good pic. I'm eager to see you make more and improve.

 

Did you forget the horn on purpose or not?

[Just some guy 1,070]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvAES6Y9Kfw

 

Nah,just messin' with ya.

 

The art looks really good.While your OC him/herself is a bit chubby looking,the shadow looks good and the lighting looks pretty decent a well.For experimentation,I'd say the shadow and the lighting are a success.The hill looks a bit more like a mass of land than a hill to me,but that could just be me being tired and looking at it weirdly.

 

For the actual pony,it looks pretty good.The flank has a bump that's a bit too big(unless you wanted to draw attention to dat flank ),but otherwise,it looks good.A bit chubby,sure,but that's honestly something you can't avoid with free-hand without extensive experience methinks.

 

tl;dr You did good,son.You did good.

[Zygen 6,066]

You use GIMP too...without a tablet? 

Praise Luna! 

I've seen a bunch of tutorials on YouTube where people have used GIMP to produce amazing work - almost always with tablets though.

This is a pretty darn good drawing, i've experimented with GIMP myself but gave up rather quickly. I go back to it every now and again just to make sure I dont forget anything major, but i've never been able to draw anything that I would class as "good."

 

I just felt the need to comment on this, seeing as looking at the drawing made me think almost exactly - "Wow, that's pretty good, it's refreshing to see plain art looking this good instead of super-detailed ponies that make you want to cry, because you know you'll NEVER be that good" and then my brain rambled on for a while...

Thank you! I'm not one to say my art is really any good . but the compliment makes me happy .

 

Also most of the people I've seen use GIMP to produce amazing work normally use the path tool anyways(Its that one with all the lines and stuff that insta colors everything inside it). I personally just freedraw it , it may not look super show accurate I guess, but eh I don't want to 100% copy the show most of the time anyways. Just be kinda close .

 

To be honestly I can get really frustrated with GIMP sometimes. But I've started listening to music and that normally helps me stay dedicated and not get frustrated over anything.

 

Also i'm really not much of an artist, I don't even think I was really born with any talent for it, so basically that means I'd assume that anybody could make this type of thing with some effort .

 

It does sometimes make you feel quiet inferior to see how wonderful some artists are with the super details they have, but It can also be beautiful to look at and just admire the raw skill and talent. Depends on how you look at it I guess.

 

I highly doubt I'll ever become that good though hehe. I've got more of a talent for music if anything, but its a fun passtime to do when I'm bored .

 

Thank you for your compliments and stopping by! Glad to hear you enjoyed my Eyesore art!

 

oh well it's not that bad. The only thing i'd say to work on is to make the legs longer, the mane needs to look a little more fluid, and the snout needs to be higher on the face besides those few things it's a good pic. I'm eager to see you make more and improve.

 

Did you forget the horn on purpose or not?

Yeah, I've been thinking his heads been looking a bit big almost, but I think the fact the nose is so low may be the case, gonna try to find a way to fix that next time. And thanks! .

 

As for the horn... Ugh. That is called being a non observant idiot like me Xd. I'm gonna actually go fix that, and edit the OP to make the photo have the horn . Thank you for pointing it out!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvAES6Y9Kfw

 

Nah,just messin' with ya.

 

The art looks really good.While your OC him/herself is a bit chubby looking,the shadow looks good and the lighting looks pretty decent a well.For experimentation,I'd say the shadow and the lighting are a success.The hill looks a bit more like a mass of land than a hill to me,but that could just be me being tired and looking at it weirdly.

 

For the actual pony,it looks pretty good.The flank has a bump that's a bit too big(unless you wanted to draw attention to dat flank ),but otherwise,it looks good.A bit chubby,sure,but that's honestly something you can't avoid with free-hand without extensive experience methinks.

 

tl;dr You did good,son.You did good.

Yeah making things look chubby is really hard to avoid for sure . Most of the time I'm afraid I'll draw it to small, so it ends up slightly chubby to really chubby . But I think compared to most of the bodies I did the closest so far. Also I'm just trying to show of his flank yo! Hehe, joking, thats a bit of a mistake there. Thanks for pointing it out.

 

Also all the lighting I'd like to point out was basically all GIMP, I personally didn't do it seeing as I haven't done any lighting myself like this.(Hardly any lighting in the first place really.) The shadow was pretty much just a darker shade I took and made a oval and did some blurs with tools.

 

Thank you daddy! Joking joking hehe. But really thanks for the compliments!

[Drahgoon 152]

Welcome back! I see you're still into drawing. That's great! For a critique, make the legs longer, fatter at the bottom of the hoof and less forehead. You put the muzzle a little low. Keep working on it! Glad to have you back.

[Zygen 6,066]

Welcome back! I see you're still into drawing. That's great! For a critique, make the legs longer, fatter at the bottom of the hoof and less forehead. You put the muzzle a little low. Keep working on it! Glad to have you back.

Yup, even if I'm not ultra dedicated due to having other stuff to do alot of the time, i still spend my freetime every now and then drawing .

I'll work on making the legs longer, however I may have to use a larger sized resolution or move the picture up or something if it gets to much longer , not much room left in the pic really, I agree the hoofs do need some size variation fixes.

 

Also by less forehead I assume you mean the curve going up on the forehead goes to far up? If not then I might not be sure exactly what you mean.(Sorry)

 

I need to work on that nose, I think thats starting to become one of the more noticeable errors I have, It makes the headlook big to be honest also, but I think the head is somewhat close actually .

 

Thanks for the welcome! I'm glad to be back! .

[Leafeon 2,702]

Looks very good! And welcome back, of course. Seems like everytime you draw something you improve immensely  On a side note, horn could be a bit bigger, but that's coming from me who thinks all unicorn horns should be bigger.

You use GIMP too...without a tablet? 

Praise Luna! 

Tablets are overrated.

[Zygen 6,066]

Looks very good! And welcome back, of course. Seems like everytime you draw something you improve immensely  On a side note, horn could be a bit bigger, but that's coming from me who thinks all unicorn horns should be bigger.

Tablets are overrated.

Thank you Firebolt Glad to hear you think I'm improving! I agree the horn was actually a last minute edit that I really didn't spend nearly enough time on, I do agree it is quiet small though(especially considering the fact the rest of the body and head are a bit big .)

 

Thanks for the compliments! It means alot really . I'll try to contain my ego from blowing up the world or anything ok ?

[akita-ken 581]

I highly doubt I'll ever become that good though hehe. I've got more of a talent for music if anything, but its a fun passtime to do when I'm bored .

Oh on the contrary! Every artwork I have seen you post has been improving! I'm serious about this, if you continue practicing in your free time you'll definitely get even better  

 

Also, its good to hear that you're finding out how to use more of the tools in GIMP! From personal experience, sometimes finding the right tool in the program you're using makes *all* the difference when it comes to things like drawing clean lines, making nice fills, undoing mistakes. (In general, making life a whole lot easier.) I don't use GIMP so I can't comment much, but in the hours I've spent in Illustrator, i've found that learning how to effectively use the tools I've stumbled across (like tweaking the pencil tool) have made life a whole lot easier for me 

 

 

Tablets are overrated.

I agree, I started off with a mouse as well and TBH it actually took me quite some time to get used to drawing with a tablet when I first got it. Until today i still maintain that a tablet that is something that is 'nice to have', but not a necessity for drawing on a computer.

[Zygen 6,066]

Oh on the contrary! Every artwork I have seen you post has been improving! I'm serious about this, if you continue practicing in your free time you'll definitely get even better  

 

Also, its good to hear that you're finding out how to use more of the tools in GIMP! From personal experience, sometimes finding the right tool in the program you're using makes *all* the difference when it comes to things like drawing clean lines, making nice fills, undoing mistakes. (In general, making life a whole lot easier.) I don't use GIMP so I can't comment much, but in the hours I've spent in Illustrator, i've found that learning how to effectively use the tools I've stumbled across (like tweaking the pencil tool) have made life a whole lot easier for me 

 

 

I agree, I started off with a mouse as well and TBH it actually took me quite some time to get used to drawing with a tablet when I first got it. Until today i still maintain that a tablet that is something that is 'nice to have', but not a necessity for drawing on a computer.

Y'all are making me blush stop it .

 

Thank you for the compliments though, if it wasn't for the encouragement from people like you I'd probably have quit already .

 

There is some pretty nifty things I can do with the tools, although alot of it really only helps with some polishing and as for the actual drawing I'm not really sure how much it helps, seeing as I don't use alot of straight lines for drawing.(If any actual totally straight lines) But I guess I might be able to find a use sometime . I'm sure if I mess around with some different tools I may be able to find something somewhat useful maybe .

 

To be fair drawing with a mouse doesn't seem to be as different as drawing regularly. I mean I've dried drawing little sketches of ponies before. but the harder thing about drawing with a mouse is just having a harder time drawing more fluid curves and strokes. Also theres always running out of room on the mousepad sometimes.

 

A tablet still is pretty handy, but depending on alot of stuff I dunno if I absolutely have to have it. Besides with the current situation I find my mouse works out better for me .(I may be better with it then regularly drawing anyways).

 

Thank you for the compliments y'all! It really does help keep me wanting to draw and not lose interest or just get to frustrated with it.

 

So thanks y'all .

[Fluttermena 1,223]

 

You've already come a long way since your first drawing, but you need to pay attention to the proportions.

The horn, the ear and the legs. They. Are. Too. Small.

Make a habit of paying attention to these areas every time you draw a pony, and ask yourself "are they the right size?" You'll get used to it eventually and you will be able to recognise the right size that you need to use.

Other than that, I've noticed that the body looks...boxy, the chest and the butt don't curve enough, and the snout is too low.

Also, a tiny thing: the gloss marks on the eye, you have it stop and follow the curve of the pupil. Try adding the white ovals without paying attention to the rest of the eye. It's not very visible on your reference image, but look at the picture I use as my avatar:

 

Notice how the white ovals in the eye are just placed wherever they look best, they go over the other parts of the eye without following any kind of borders.

 

Enough nitpicking, I love your drawings.

 

 

[Zygen 6,066]

 

You've already come a long way since your first drawing, but you need to pay attention to the proportions.

The horn, the ear and the legs. They. Are. Too. Small.

Make a habit of paying attention to these areas every time you draw a pony, and ask yourself "are they the right size?" You'll get used to it eventually and you will be able to recognise the right size that you need to use.

Other than that, I've noticed that the body looks...boxy, the chest and the butt don't curve enough, and the snout is too low.

Also, a tiny thing: the gloss marks on the eye, you have it stop and follow the curve of the pupil. Try adding the white ovals without paying attention to the rest of the eye. It's not very visible on your reference image, but look at the picture I use as my avatar:

my_little_pony_friendship_is_magic_fluttershy.jpeg

 

Notice how the white ovals in the eye are just placed wherever they look best, they go over the other parts of the eye without following any kind of borders.

 

Enough nitpicking, I love your drawings.

Yay for more dramatic reation videos . Tyvm flutters .

 

As for the proportions. To be totally honest I always had this feel my ears always came out to big, something always feels odd about the ears, especially the ones on my OC, I guess I'll try making them bigger and see what happens though. The horn was actually a last minute fix that I spent like a minute making lol. So its pretty terrible honestly. I guess I'm just gonna have to start making the legs bigger then i perceive them as. Because I think my perception of how big hoofs should be is just, to small.

 

I'll work a bit more on correct those proportions.

 

I agree there is alot of body problems, I did mess up the butt a bit. I think overall I just make to light curves maybe. Something to work on there.

 

As for the eye gloss, it always confused me, but I think i kinda get it now. I guess I wasn't very aware of having the gloss come out of the pupils. I actually normally just set the layers so it can't, I'll try layering it on top and letting it fall over a bit some. Thanks .

 

And don't worry about the nitpicking, I don't mind it, its actually helpful. It helps me to find all the errors that I don't notice, and helps me notice errors for next time I have problems with them.