I Need Some Constructive Criticism

[AngryUnicorn 163]

Well, I've been using Gimp for a little while, but never to do anything like this before. I'm trying to create a computer-made pony for the first time ever, but I have no idea what I'm doing. Here are pictures of my original sketch (uncolored and sorta crude) and my Gimp work-in-progress, and I'd like to know what else I can do/what I need to fix. PS: I'm aware that I haven't added the horn yet... I'll get to that later.

 

Sketch:

 

Gimp attempt...:

 

I'm not sure if this is turning out well for a first-time computer art thing, but I'm trying and that's all that counts 

[repsol rave 2,963]

i would definately use outlines in your GIMP picture. it is pretty difficult to see where pony stops and background starts XD overall very nice for your first attempt. i'm sure the finished version is going to look awesome!

[Guest]

Wow, looks very smooth when you colored it in Gimp. Nice job! I'm not sure how you did it, but I usually just change the levels of the lines and erase extra unnecessary pixels before I color 

 

My example:

 

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/091/e/0/scientist_snails__sketch__by_darrin_s-d602mvp.jpg

 

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/164/3/0/scientist_snails__final__by_darrin_s-d68w6n9.jpg

[Thrashy 2,800]

Looks nice and clean, though I'd personally have some stylistic differences. Which tool did you use to outline the eyes / mouth / inner ear?

[AngryUnicorn 163]

i would definately use outlines in your GIMP picture. it is pretty difficult to see where pony stops and background starts XD overall very nice for your first attempt. i'm sure the finished version is going to look awesome!

 

Yeah, I was planning on outlining EVERYTHING and then turning the pony white instead of grey... Not sure if that's how you do things, but I'll just go with it XP

 

 

Wow, looks very smooth when you colored it in Gimp. Nice job! I'm not sure how you did it, but I usually just change the levels of the lines and erase extra unnecessary pixels before I color 

 

My example:

 

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/091/e/0/scientist_snails__sketch__by_darrin_s-d602mvp.jpg

 

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/164/3/0/scientist_snails__final__by_darrin_s-d68w6n9.jpg

 

How I did the Gimp version was pretty much use the paths tool for everything, and then did the "Selection from path" tool to fill an area with color. Pretty simple, actually. I'm sure there's a much better way of doing things though

 

 

Looks nice and clean, though I'd personally have some stylistic differences. Which tool did you use to outline the eyes / mouth / inner ear?

 

I used paths for everything in the picture. For lines like the inner ear, I use a stroke path option, and for things like the eyes (whites, iris, and pupil), I selected an option called "Selection from path" and then used a fill tool 

[Thrashy 2,800]

I used paths for everything in the picture. For lines like the inner ear, I use a stroke path option, and for things like the eyes (whites, iris, and pupil), I selected an option called "Selection from path" and then used a fill tool 

 

Ah, okay...that's normally what I do as well. I prefer to stroke the paths with a thicker line to give it more of an appearance of having come from the show, as well as outlining the borders of the drawing.

 

Of course, if you're shying away from completely mimicking the show's style for the sake of developing your own style, that's totally commendable.

[AngryUnicorn 163]

Ah, okay...that's normally what I do as well. I prefer to stroke the paths with a thicker line to give it more of an appearance of having come from the show, as well as outlining the borders of the drawing.

 

Of course, if you're shying away from completely mimicking the show's style for the sake of developing your own style, that's totally commendable.

 

I'm trying to give my computer art my traditional style... But I'm finding it really difficult to mimic my own... style XD

I don't understand the logic, but hopefully I'll be able to transfer my traditional art style over to the computer