Descant's Vector Chronicles

[Descant 1,897]

I've always enjoyed tinkering around with my artsy computer programs, but I'd never really been great at Photoshop. Never really kept me from playing with it and similar programs, though. 

 

But then I discovered ponies. 

 

I downloaded a free program called Inkscape, and after a few tutorials, I've found that I'm not half bad at it. This thread stands testament to my art thus far. I'm far more proud of my recent work, but I'll link my early stuff as well.

 

 

Here's my early stuff....

 

 

This was my first vector, of my first OC, Descant, now also known as Encore. It was drawn for me by my IRL friend Shirley.

 

 

Here's my first trace of Evergreen, drawing courtesy of @@Dragon_LadyXD.

 

 

Here's another of Evergreen. Based on a drawing of her by @@Marathon. I rather want to go back and retrace this, if only to get the colours right. That yellow is too fluorescent.

 

 

 

 

And now my recent works, which shall remain pridefully in sight:

This first one was a trace of a drawing my OC Descant, AKA Encore, by @@CrystalRose.

 

 

 

This one is my OC Evergreen. I thought I'd draw what she looked like when she wasn't covered in lots of dirt. And it's easily my best trace thus far, based on show-accuracy. The base image was one of Twi in the dress she wore at A Canterlot Wedding.

 

It literally took me days, although admittedly, I had next to no free time during the time span I drew this.

 

 

I plan on doing Descant again, this time from scratch like I just did with Eve, and hopefully giving him a complete redesign.

Edited May 3, 2013 by Glaceon

[Leafeon 2,701]

While I dont consider tracing good for improvements, it is obvious you are getting quite better, that said, good job!

 

Just saying though, I try not using bases, and my improvement is much more drastic then yours it appears... Regardless, that last one is awesome!

[Harmonic Revelations 8,833]

You're doing very well, I can see major improvement over time from what you have showcased here! I indeed like them a lot! Nice job.

[Descant 1,897]

While I dont consider tracing good for improvements, it is obvious you are getting quite better, that said, good job!

 

Just saying though, I try not using bases, and my improvement is much more drastic then yours it appears... Regardless, that last one is awesome!

Well, I did the mane by myself on the last one.

 

I've never been good at drawing myself, and it's not much easier, personally, to do in vectors than on paper with pencil. Therefore, I use bases, and trace over them. Not particularly confident enough to try it just yet. I figure, if I do a few more traces of bases, I'll get a feel for proportioning ponies. 

 

Thanks, though! I'll keep practicing, and post my results on this thread, eh?

You're doing very well, I can see major improvement over time from what you have showcased here! I indeed like them a lot! Nice job.

Thanks! Edited January 30, 2013 by Descant

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

 

Well, I did the mane by myself on the last one.   I've never been good at drawing myself, and it's not much easier, personally, to do in vectors than on paper with pencil. Therefore, I use bases, and trace over them. Not particularly confident enough to try it just yet. I figure, if I do a few more traces of bases, I'll get a feel for proportioning ponies.    Thanks, though! I'll keep practicing, and post my results on this thread, eh?

 

At the very least you can take solace in the fact that you're probably exponentially better at drawing than I am. Of course, a drunken raccoon is exponentially better at drawing than I am.

 

Anyway, these are really good. Well, at least as far as I can tell they are, but I really have no idea what I'm talking about.

[Senor Citizen 516]

You should absolutely throw away another few weeks of your life making my OCs look that awesome. Seriously.

Pwetty pwease?

[Descant 1,897]

At the very least you can take solace in the fact that you're probably exponentially better at drawing than I am. Of course, a drunken raccoon is exponentially better at drawing than I am.

 

Anyway, these are really good. Well, at least as far as I can tell they are, but I really have no idea what I'm talking about.

Well I don't know if a raccoon can hold a pencil or operate a computer even when sober. 

Thanks, by the way. 

 

You should absolutely throw away another few weeks of your life making my OCs look that awesome. Seriously.

Pwetty pwease?

I'd be happy to 'throw away weeks of my life making your OCs look that awesome'. In all seriousness, I appreciate the chance to practice. I'm hoping to be able to take commissions eventually. 

 

I'll start on one of yours once I'm finished with my current project.

Edited February 5, 2013 by Descant

[Descant 1,897]

Alright guys, here's my latest project. It's really just a Descant/Encore redesign. I might go back and tweak the mane a little bit again, but I think I did a good job of escaping the GeneralZoi PonyCreator mold. Anyway... What do you guys think?

I did the eyes differently this time. This time they were only one layer, not seven. Much convenience.

 

 

Alternatively, I think I'm gonna start doing commissions. (I need to make a paypal.) There was quite a bit of interest expressed in such at Saturday's NC Brony Meet. How much does pony vector art go for, anyway?

Edited February 19, 2013 by Descant

[Agent505 661]

 

but I think I did a good job of escaping the GeneralZoi PonyCreator mold.

 

 

That seems to be the biggest problem for me too. 

That, and whenever I try and draw digitally (I use GIMP and a mouse, don't have a tablet), I find the proportions seem to like to run away and hide somewhere. 

It's much easier to draw by hand for me, I think i'll have to start drawing by hand, scanning them in and copying over them. 

 

Still though like you say, it's that general Zoi pony creator mold that all my drawings seem to come back to. I think my brain has expelled all other poses from existence :L

[Descant 1,897]

 

Redid Encore's mane. I think it looks much better this way than my first attempt on this vector, but I'm just going to return to the other version of his manestyle, a la Crystalrose. He's just more established that way.

 

Either way, I have a commission and a few art exchanges I need to attend to before I get started revamping this guy again, if I do.

Edited May 3, 2013 by Glaceon

[TheImaginaryAlicorn 147]

Wow, Descant - these are awesome! I wish I could do that, or at least more than the eyes - when I try to draw ponies, I do the eyes pretty well and fail at the rest. Is it hard to learn how to do? If it is, could you help me make one for an OC or two? (That may take a while, because I'm kinda' drowning a little in all this homework...)

 

Oh, and just out of curiosity, how did you put the little music note things at the end of your signature?

[Descant 1,897]

Wow, Descant - these are awesome! I wish I could do that, or at least more than the eyes - when I try to draw ponies, I do the eyes pretty well and fail at the rest. Is it hard to learn how to do? If it is, could you help me make one for an OC or two? (That may take a while, because I'm kinda' drowning a little in all this homework...)

 

Oh, and just out of curiosity, how did you put the little music note things at the end of your signature?

Well, I use a program called Inkscape; I'm fairly poor at drawing by hand. It's not that using Inkscape is hard, it's just got a bit of a learning curve. If anything, I'd say that it would be best for you to start off with a few tutorials if you're interested in learning to Inkscape, and I'll provide some once I'm back at my computer. And feel free to Skype me about it if you want to talk or ask me something.

 

I've actually fallen behind, myself. I've got a fair list built up of ponies I still need to vector.

 

That's actually a character built into the computer, like the letter Q.

Here's a list.

http://www.theworldofstuff.com/characters/

 

Wow, Descant - these are awesome! I wish I could do that, or at least more than the eyes - when I try to draw ponies, I do the eyes pretty well and fail at the rest. Is it hard to learn how to do? If it is, could you help me make one for an OC or two? (That may take a while, because I'm kinda' drowning a little in all this homework...)

 

Oh, and just out of curiosity, how did you put the little music note things at the end of your signature?

 

Alright. I referenced Quasdar quite a lot when I was starting off making pony vectors, although it wouldn't hurt to look around on Youtube or something to find walkthroughs, or else more generic instructions on how to use Inkscape.

 

 

My tips:

Use layers. Open the layer menu by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+L or Layer>Layers. If you put different objects on different layers, it's far easier to edit a specific object.

 

Use the Fill and Stroke Menu. Open the Fill and Stroke Menu by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+F or find it under Object. With it, not only can you edit stroke width, but you can customize color far easier than with the color bar provided upon startup.

 

Never use the pencil tool. Use the Bezier Line tool instead. What I do is I just click the points I want straight lines between, then use the 'Edit Path by Nodes' tool to move them. 

 

Use the 'Edit Path by Nodes' tool to change the shape of nodes. Switch them from sharp to smooth, or vice versa.

 

Save often. Inkscape occasionally crashes, irritatingly enough.

 

There are some commands I commonly use that you should probably learn. 

 

CTRL+D = Duplicate object. 

 

CTRL+G = Group Objects. If you have several objects that you want to act as one, group them, then they all behave as essentially one object, making it far easier to move, edit or scale those objects easily. I usually  group the eyes, or the different parts of the outline.

 

CTRL+U = Ungroup, should you ever need to.

 

SHIFT+CTRL+C = Convert Object to Path. This one's kinda hard to explain. I use it on my strokes, and it changes the nodes to lie on the sides of the stroke, so I can manually adjust the width. I use this a lot to taper off ends and attempt to blend. Like I said, it takes practice.

 

CTRL+L= Simplify path. Reduces the number of nodes you have placed to the absolute minimum required. Use this often.

 

 

And I'll compile the guides I used a lot when I started here, eh?

 

MicroUgly: A Quick Beginners' Guide to Inkscape

 

Quasdar Vector Guide #1 - High Quality Pony Vectors

Quasdar Vector Guide #2 - Nodes and Outlines

Quasdar Vector Guide #3 - Landscapes and Special Effects

 

MisterAibo: Pony Eyes Guide

MisterAibo: Cutting, Masks, Patterns, and Swatches

[TheImaginaryAlicorn 147]

~snippity-snip~

 

Wow, thanks! But uh, one question - how do I get Inkscape? Is there a website I can download it from, or is it something I need to go out and buy then install?

[Descant 1,897]

Inkscape's an open-source, free vectoring program. Here you are. http://inkscape.org/download/?lang=en

 

Also, watch out for the blibbering humdingers. They feed this time of year.

[TheImaginaryAlicorn 147]

Inkscape's an open-source, free vectoring program. Here you are. http://inkscape.org/download/?lang=en

 

Also, watch out for the blibbering humdingers. They feed this time of year.

 

Great! Thanks a ton! And now to draw...in like a week - It's gonna' take me a WHILE to finish this weeks' homework. I have two projects and still have additional homework in each class!   ?!

 

Blibbering-??? Filler text?

[Descant 1,897]

It's been a long while since I've posted in here, but my latest project is complete. Odds are I'll need to end up revamping it once or twice, since it was done on commission, but here you guys go.

This is an OC of my friend JackInTheWoods, who is not a user here, but in NC Bronies.

 

 

Feel free to tell me what you think, or what suggestions you might have for edits. I'm personally not sure about the mane, but that might just be me. Anyway, feel free to gabble nonsense at me. I approve of all nonsense. Nonsense is fun.

 

Happy Feld0 Day, anyway, everypony. Sorry I don't actually have Feld0-related art prepared. But at least I have art!

So I think I'll toy around in another program for a while. I'm downloading Paint tool SAI at the moment. It should be... interesting, to say the very least.

Edited May 3, 2013 by Glaceon

[Leafeon 2,701]

Looks good! However, I must agree that the mane is off. I'm not sure if it's just the colors, or something else. The shape looks fine, but that green bit may be the problem. Not quite sure, though.

 

Also; SAI is ma baby. She's very nice, but don't skip watching a tutorial.

[Milk Wave 454]

I see your vectors, and all of them are quite neat~! I saw how it used to look from the top down and I see maaaanny many improvements in lots of things.

You keep this up for sure, and I guarantee you you can make money off these

[Shadow Chaser 633]

 

 

I'm personally not sure about the mane

The mane feels off because of how much it sticks out behind his head.  Manes in general are very thin and stick to the head.  Even the poofy Sonic-esque hair I gave Shadow is somewhat close to his head.  Personal rules I've found for manes, it shouldn't stick out too much beyond the ear.  And if you're doing a unicorn, if the hair sticks out too much farther than the horn (Depending on the character's stance) it's probably too poofy.  Another trick is to bring a stray curl down his forehead.  Makes it look like his hair is actually a part of him rather than just sitting on top of his head.

 

Just some food for thought as you move forward with these.  They look good overall.

[Descant 1,897]

I've got a new piece up! I did it on request for a close personal friend IRL, @@Rotunda10, who wanted it, I think, as a birthday present for someone.
 
All he wanted from this pony he wanted me to draw was that it resemble this cape, a WCCape, I think, which is some Runescape thing. I know next to nothing about Runescape, so the best I can do is show you what the cape looks like. 
 

 
And here's my final result, which Rotunda seemed exceptionally pleased with.

 

 

Update: Went back to make simple tweaks to the front right hoof and ear.

Edited July 5, 2013 by Descant

[Descant 1,897]

Okey Dokey Lokey Guise! I has another piece of art! And this is one I used for an art trade over my Cascade Facebook page (visible in my sig below)

And I'm rather proud of this one.

 

The OC depicted below is named Starburst. She's an astronomer, lost in the stars.

Edited July 17, 2013 by Descant

[Descant 1,897]

Okay, so here's one I was requested to do by for a friend of his on Facebook. This friend has like 5,000 likes, and yes, my Cascade FB page did get a share when I gave it to her. Anywho, here's the drawing. 

[Descant 1,897]

More new art, everypony! 

 

I decided it was about time for my OCs Sunburst and Moonstruck to get some love. So I drawed them. What do you think?