Lessons for Drawing?

[GeekBrony 85]

Are there any artists out there that can teach me how to draw? I mean I can draw, but I want to learn from someone. I can draw just basic stuff.

[Leafeon 2,702]

What do you want to learn to draw?

 

You can find drawing skeletons by a simple google search. Most other items are just memory.

[GeekBrony 85]

Ah I see... So I am supposed to find out how to draw skeletons?

Then I just change the skeleton to look like the pony I want?

So how do I add details like shinyness/fur?

[noplsno 124]

hey man, I can help you out if you want, I'm pretty new at this but I got some talent. Come check out my stuff and see if I could teach you anything - http://horseandraisins.deviantart.com/

 

I'd gladly answer any questions you have and give you tips on how to draw

 

skype - lolhero23

[GeekBrony 85]

hey man, I can help you out if you want, I'm pretty new at this but I got some talent. Come check out my stuff and see if I could teach you anything - http://horseandraisins.deviantart.com/

 

I'd gladly answer any questions you have and give you tips on how to draw

 

skype - lolhero23

That's actually good for a beginner! I don't draw that well, but for my 2nd official drawing, it's a good start.

Here is mine! :/ I don't think it's all that great. Took 2 hours.

Edited March 7, 2013 by x86cam

[Drahgoon 152]

Hey, that's great! Way better than my second pony drawing. Anyways, if you're going for show accurate style you won't need fur, since they're just simple outlines. In my opinion, you don't need any help with drawing, unless you want to develop your own style. Experiment a bit, and keep drawing! It took me about 10 drawings before I was satisfied with how I draw, and I still figure out new styles that I try and techniques to experiment with. If you're having fun doing it, then you can improve at a much faster rate. Hope this gives a little bit of insight into drawing! Post some of your art in the "Fan Art" section and people will gladly give critiques to help you improve.

[Sunset Spark 60]

I don't really feel like showing off my works or proving myself, but, if help is what you want, I wouldn't mind offering.

I'm still a beginner myself, so try not to take what I say too deeply, it's just advice from a fellow beginner. I hope this helps.

 

 

First off, you don't need to bother with the skeletal structure if you don't want to, and it probably won't help much since most skeletal forms aren't shown in MLP as all bodily functions are actually rather liquid-like.

(if you do want, google for 'equine skeleton' and 'mlp skeleton' accordingly)

 

 

 

Still, if you want to learn to draw with some accuracy, you need to work on your natural observation and understanding abilities.

I'll provide a method I was taught to use. Once you're really good, you don't need to work with it anymore. (I'm not even close to it, yet)

 

(original image)

 

First, the Equestrian pony's head is generally an egg(yes, all ponies are eggheads), just a bit more rounded. (see the black lines)

All other additional stuff like wings, ears, eyes, etc(shown in red here) are sort of like add-ons. They're just glued to the head(very literal)

TAKE THIS INTO ACCOUNT, when I say GLUED I mean it literally. If the head is rounded, you should also take into account that the glued parts will curve to fit it!

Colts/stallions have the exact same base head, I believe, with different add-ons.

The eyes are slightly different. Because of the nature of this cartoon... pony eyes are actually flat. (or almost flat)

They're very much STICKERS. Of course, you still need to understand where to place them.

Edit : Forgot to mention. Take note of the expressions as the addons may change. (ears flop down, mouth shape changes, etc)

 

Be careful to note that if you turn the base of the head, the rest will turn with it!

(this might take some time to grasp properly, so just keep trying)

 

Note, that the height, position, distance and size of the add-ons will drastically affect the appearance of your pony.

 

The MANE is very much like our hair. If you've never drawn hair before, take note, it ALWAYS comes from SOMEWHERE. Hair cannot just be plastered on, it has to have a source+direction. (look in the mirror...)

 

For ponies, their manes are sourced STRAIGHT down the back of their neck, starting somewhere near the top of the egghead base.

 

Their necks are basically just ovals with a the top being a circular curve that wraps around their head.

 

Try and use this method to decipher the rest of their body structure. (note that the age, gender and "species" have differences)

 

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Here are three basic points of drawing that any artist should possess and work on if they don't have it yet.

Lines

- The most basic form of drawing.

- A line is a progressive dot from one point to another. (A>B>etc)

- There are three major things I had to learn about drawing with lines.

-------Confidence

----------Control

-------------Reaction

 

- First, confidence. Your lines might be a bit shaky at first. This is a lack of confidence.

Try not to draw by repeatedly adding strokes.(like I did for the pony head up there) 

It's still an acceptable style, though one should save it for when one actually has skill to back that style up.

 

- Second, Control.

A dot from one point to the next.

Do not misdirect your lines by not paying attention/etc. You should always know where you want the lines to go and move it as such!

 

- Reaction

Basically just how your hand responds naturally.

Try to avoid tails. (highlighted reference in red in the image)

Shading

- Adding shadow using pencil/pen lines. (works with most kinds of lines)

- Regardless of how you shade, pressure and the tool used should be taken into account and controlled to your own taste/style.

- Shadows are what differentiate the shiny from the dull, the rough from the smooth. All textures and light are a result of light+shadow forming in different ways to show different things.

(if you don't get it, try to draw the outline+shadow outline of a shiny object and a dull object)

- There are three general styles of shading that I know of.

 

i) Usual Shading/Colouring - Basically just filling the space with lead/ink/etc.

ii) Hatching - Done by using closely packed crosses in ONE direction. You may overlap them to make it darker.

iii) Crosshatching - It's basically hatching, but in different directions.  

(careful not to make the direction angles too far apart, it will look very rough)

 

- ALL THESE STYLES ARE FINE, regardless and you may use any method you like!

Practice

- Yes, this is an IMPORTANT element.

- Always work on improving your lines and shading. Work on that confidence.

- Aside from always drawing, you could also consider warmup practices.

 

i) Make your lines more confident! Less shaking, steadier lines. Straight lines, curves. Draw them in S or C and U curves to practice more curve confidence. Draw circles repeatedly until you can make the lines overlap perfectly over the previous circle. Draw straight lines STEADILY(don't rush it for speed, it won't serve much purpose if you can't control it) across a large A3 paper. (use cheap paper for this, don't go with artblock/etc)

 

ii) Always know where to end your lines! Don't just let it end randomly where your hand thought to stop.

The mind must always be master of the hand if you wish to push yourself.

 

iii) Hatching and crosshatching is about already-steady lines.

This is hard for most new artists and takes time.

Try putting two lines together in any direction, then shading in between them, trying to get the tips of the hatches to land on the lines as close as you can.

It won't be so good for awhile, but, work at it.

Also, remember. If there's the option between stopping short of the line or going over it, choose to go over it.

White spaces will turn out really odd.

Edited March 8, 2013 by Sunset Spark