Drawing ponies is to hard

[SasQ 1,379]

Have you tried my proposition from this post?

 

There's also a nice video-tutorial suggested by @ here.

 

As to your drawing, it's not so bad. I just see that you draw too long muzzles to your ponies. Try to squish them a bit horizontally in your next drawings, to make their head more round. Pony heads in MLP G4 are nearly circular oval, a bit flattened on top and back, and their muzzles are just a a little curve attached to that oval.

 

What about a step-by-step tutorial?

Start with a sketch of the overall pose of your pony, made of simple figures (ovals, curves etc.), similar to a stick figure, and post it here. Then we will tell you if it's OK and correct you if there's something wrong. When the sketch will be OK, you can try adding contours next, and posting the next stage here for corrections.

 

Starting with a sketch is good, because it helps you to grasp the overall pose of your pony before you waste your time drawing something which was flawed from the very beginning. It helps to tweak the proportions before drawing it in detail.

 

Here's how my drawing came to life, from a mere sketch to a fully colored and shaded pony:

 

Edited December 11, 2013 by SasQ

[Sir Wulfington 276]

Seriously, its hard

But

I am using the show style until I get used to it, then using my other style when I do

Since someone said use a reference, and stick to the show style until I get better

1.Reference didn't help, only helped me with the muzzle

2.Still no improvement

I know you don't improve in 5 seconds like that, but, I cant improve.

DANG IT HAND

IMPROVE

AHHH

Anyways

first attempt at Daring Do...

it

sucks

 

 

 

 

 

 

First, I have to ask, do you have a passion to be a great artist because you want to be popular, or because you genuinely want to make art for the sake of it? If it's to be popular, then stop reading now and don't continue trying to be an artist, because you're in it for the WRONG reasons.

 

If it's because you really want to be a great artist for the sake of it, if that's how you honestly feel, than keep reading. First of all, don't listen to the people telling you the picture you linked that you did is good, they're lying because they don't have the courage to tell you that it's bad. It's good that you're able to admit that it's bad, the first step to improvement is admitting that you need to improve to begin with.

 

There are a few things you need to learn in order to make great art. I'm just going to give advice for drawing great cartoon art.

 

1. The quality.

This one's obvious, you need to get the proportions accurate and the lines (if there are any, in a cartoon drawing there obviously are) are clean. Also, you must learn proper lightning and shading, you can probably look it up online, or go to a local art store and find a book that teaches it. Basically you must understand how light effects objects, and how it affects different types of objects (metal, skin, wood, hair, etc.). Your art needs depth, sure it's a cartoon, but it still needs depth so it doesn't look like the subject is flat. 

 

2. The idea itself

 

You also must have good ideas to put on paper, the pose, the viewing angle, the scenery, the setting, the colors, the lightning, the expressions, how much of the subject is visible in the picture, all of that must come together nicely. You're picture you posted here, for example, is just not a good idea. A pony standing, viewed from a side view, with most of it's legs and rear end out of the picture's view, with it's head tilted down slightly while having it's eyes closed and a small smile on it's face, with a white background.

 

It barely has any depth due to the lack of shading anywhere except the right side legs, and I don't really understand the expression or pose. Why is there a pony just standing with a content expression, in the middle of a white nothingness? Perhaps if it was laying down in a beautiful meadow or by a warm fireplace in a house with another pony, possible it's lover or child, but just the way you have it, standing there in the middle of nothing just doesn't make sense.

You need to be able to come up with great ideas along with being able to execute them properly with high quality, it isn't just about being able to draw well, as I learned the hard way myself. When I say great ideas, I mean the scene,the colors, the expressions, everything I said earlier, it all has to go together nicely, or else it just won't look good.

 

3. Proper referencing.

 

Now, I've learned that some cartoonists can draw great cartoons from their minds eye alone, but that's because they've practiced drawing the same characters over and over that they've just memorized how they look, so they no longer need references. Now I don't believe that you need to be able to draw without a reference to be a great artist, so long as you can at least come up with your own unique, and great, ideas using your imagination or by getting inspiration (as in you see something that gives you a great idea, NOT that you see someone else's work and decide to just blatantly copy it), and being able to draw it yourself completely.

 

My advice would be to use show images for references on how to draw the characters, and to be certain you're getting their poses proper, use real life horse and or pony anatomy images, showing how horses move their limbs and necks, etc. Because the ponies in the show seem to actually animate like real horses do. Then figure out how to make draw the ponies from the show's style pose like real like horses (like if you want to draw a picture of running ponies use real life horse anatomy pictures to show you how horses look when they run).

 

Other than that, all I have to tell you is find an art store that sells Strathmore  Acid Free Sketch Paper, a kneaded eraser, blending stump, and a general's 9xxB graphite pencil, or at least a 8 or 9b, if you can't find those you'll have to settle for lighter shades, but you won't get true black colors in graphite unfortunately without 9xxB. Also 9xxb is non-reflective while still having all the benefits of graphite (other than that it's harder to erase than lighter shades). You can look up HB through 1-9b pencils online to see what the difference in shades are. A kneaded eraser can be molded to fit basically any shape, so you can erase little tiny spots easily without erasing big spots on the drawing. And a blending stub can be used to smooth your pencil markings into nice shading. It's hard for me to explain, you can look up guides that show you how to use it to add shading effects to your subjects in your art.

 

Hopefully this advice helps you become a great artist. I'm not promising you will, tho. And as others have said here, it can take lots and lots of practice to learn how to draw properly, it could take weeks, months, maybe years (I seriously doubt it'll take years, tho).

 

Try drawing ONE drawing a day, every single day. And keep each drawing, even if it's bad, so you can look back at them, if you think you aren't improving, to see that you actually may have improved, to encourage you to keep trying.

Edited December 11, 2013 by Sir Wulfington

[Slice0Pie 815]

On a scale of 1 - 10, 10 being that you'd like to make professional grade art someday even if it's just a hobby and 1 being lol w/e man, how much do you want to improve?

10/10 I really want to improve

Sorry it didn't make me quote you last time

First, I have to ask, do you have a passion to be a great artist because you want to be popular, or because you genuinely want to make art for the sake of it? If it's to be popular, then stop reading now and don't continue trying to be an artist, because you're in it for the WRONG reasons.

 

If it's because you really want to be a great artist for the sake of it, if that's how you honestly feel, than keep reading. First of all, don't listen to the people telling you the picture you linked that you did is good, they're lying because they don't have the courage to tell you that it's bad. It's good that you're able to admit that it's bad, the first step to improvement is admitting that you need to improve to begin with.

 

There are a few things you need to learn in order to make great art. I'm just going to give advice for drawing great cartoon art.

 

1. The quality.

This one's obvious, you need to get the proportions accurate and the lines (if there are any, in a cartoon drawing there obviously are) are clean. Also, you must learn proper lightning and shading, you can probably look it up online, or go to a local art store and find a book that teaches it. Basically you must understand how light effects objects, and how it affects different types of objects (metal, skin, wood, hair, etc.). Your art needs depth, sure it's a cartoon, but it still needs depth so it doesn't look like the subject is flat. 

 

2. The idea itself

 

You also must have good ideas to put on paper, the pose, the viewing angle, the scenery, the setting, the colors, the lightning, the expressions, how much of the subject is visible in the picture, all of that must come together nicely. You're picture you posted here, for example, is just not a good idea. A pony standing, viewed from a side view, with most of it's legs and rear end out of the picture's view, with it's head tilted down slightly while having it's eyes closed and a small smile on it's face, with a white background.

 

It barely has any depth due to the lack of shading anywhere except the right side legs, and I don't really understand the expression or pose. Why is there a pony just standing with a content expression, in the middle of a white nothingness? Perhaps if it was laying down in a beautiful meadow or by a warm fireplace in a house with another pony, possible it's lover or child, but just the way you have it, standing there in the middle of nothing just doesn't make sense.

You need to be able to come up with great ideas along with being able to execute them properly with high quality, it isn't just about being able to draw well, as I learned the hard way myself. When I say great ideas, I mean the scene,the colors, the expressions, everything I said earlier, it all has to go together nicely, or else it just won't look good.

 

3. Proper referencing.

 

Now, I've learned that some cartoonists can draw great cartoons from their minds eye alone, but that's because they've practiced drawing the same characters over and over that they've just memorized how they look, so they no longer need references. Now I don't believe that you need to be able to draw without a reference to be a great artist, so long as you can at least come up with your own unique, and great, ideas using your imagination or by getting inspiration (as in you see something that gives you a great idea, NOT that you see someone else's work and decide to just blatantly copy it), and being able to draw it yourself completely.

 

My advice would be to use show images for references on how to draw the characters, and to be certain you're getting their poses proper, use real life horse and or pony anatomy images, showing how horses move their limbs and necks, etc. Because the ponies in the show seem to actually animate like real horses do. Then figure out how to make draw the ponies from the show's style pose like real like horses (like if you want to draw a picture of running ponies use real life horse anatomy pictures to show you how horses look when they run).

 

Other than that, all I have to tell you is find an art store that sells Strathmore  Acid Free Sketch Paper, a kneaded eraser, blending stump, and a general's 9xxB graphite pencil, or at least a 8 or 9b, if you can't find those you'll have to settle for lighter shades, but you won't get true black colors in graphite unfortunately without 9xxB. Also 9xxb is non-reflective while still having all the benefits of graphite (other than that it's harder to erase than lighter shades). You can look up HB through 1-9b pencils online to see what the difference in shades are. A kneaded eraser can be molded to fit basically any shape, so you can erase little tiny spots easily without erasing big spots on the drawing. And a blending stub can be used to smooth your pencil markings into nice shading. It's hard for me to explain, you can look up guides that show you how to use it to add shading effects to your subjects in your art.

 

Hopefully this advice helps you become a great artist. I'm not promising you will, tho. And as others have said here, it can take lots and lots of practice to learn how to draw properly, it could take weeks, months, maybe years (I seriously doubt it'll take years, tho).

 

Try drawing ONE drawing a day, every single day. And keep each drawing, even if it's bad, so you can look back at them, if you think you aren't improving, to see that you actually may have improved, to encourage you to keep trying.

For the sake of it. I dont care if I am popular or not, I just want to be a good artist for the fun and sake of it.

And by you saying that people lie about me being a good artist, almost everyone on here, even on my other topics, lied to me..?

 

1. I do have a book on how to shade and all that stuff on a drawing, but its hard for me to do, and understand, so I am not the best.

 

2. I see what your saying, but I am not focusing on the backgrounds right now, I am focusing on the pony itself, trying to learn how to draw ponies. I am terrible when it comes to backgrounds. I dont know how to shade, how to make grass look like grass, everytime I draw a picture, I have no, freaking ideas, on how to draw backgrounds, what to make it look like, or where the subject is. So, I am not focused on the backgrounds right now. Maybe if I practice a little more on ponies, I will start practicing backgrounds, but its not my main focus right now.

 

3. I did do a reference. I did a reference of Daring Do, side veiwed, standing up. I just made the eyes closed and smiled.

 

Thanks for the advice, oh, and, I made this topic when I was depressed, and if I said I was a bad artist, then I was wrong. You know why? I am a good artist, because, there is no such thing as a bad artist.

[Onylex 2,837]

First, I have to ask, do you have a passion to be a great artist because you want to be popular, or because you genuinely want to make art for the sake of it? If it's to be popular, then stop reading now and don't continue trying to be an artist, because you're in it for the WRONG reasons.

 

If it's because you really want to be a great artist for the sake of it, if that's how you honestly feel, than keep reading. First of all, don't listen to the people telling you the picture you linked that you did is good, they're lying because they don't have the courage to tell you that it's bad. It's good that you're able to admit that it's bad, the first step to improvement is admitting that you need to improve to begin with.

 

There are a few things you need to learn in order to make great art. I'm just going to give advice for drawing great cartoon art.

 

1. The quality.

This one's obvious, you need to get the proportions accurate and the lines (if there are any, in a cartoon drawing there obviously are) are clean. Also, you must learn proper lightning and shading, you can probably look it up online, or go to a local art store and find a book that teaches it. Basically you must understand how light effects objects, and how it affects different types of objects (metal, skin, wood, hair, etc.). Your art needs depth, sure it's a cartoon, but it still needs depth so it doesn't look like the subject is flat. 

 

2. The idea itself

 

You also must have good ideas to put on paper, the pose, the viewing angle, the scenery, the setting, the colors, the lightning, the expressions, how much of the subject is visible in the picture, all of that must come together nicely. You're picture you posted here, for example, is just not a good idea. A pony standing, viewed from a side view, with most of it's legs and rear end out of the picture's view, with it's head tilted down slightly while having it's eyes closed and a small smile on it's face, with a white background.

 

It barely has any depth due to the lack of shading anywhere except the right side legs, and I don't really understand the expression or pose. Why is there a pony just standing with a content expression, in the middle of a white nothingness? Perhaps if it was laying down in a beautiful meadow or by a warm fireplace in a house with another pony, possible it's lover or child, but just the way you have it, standing there in the middle of nothing just doesn't make sense.

You need to be able to come up with great ideas along with being able to execute them properly with high quality, it isn't just about being able to draw well, as I learned the hard way myself. When I say great ideas, I mean the scene,the colors, the expressions, everything I said earlier, it all has to go together nicely, or else it just won't look good.

 

3. Proper referencing.

 

Now, I've learned that some cartoonists can draw great cartoons from their minds eye alone, but that's because they've practiced drawing the same characters over and over that they've just memorized how they look, so they no longer need references. Now I don't believe that you need to be able to draw without a reference to be a great artist, so long as you can at least come up with your own unique, and great, ideas using your imagination or by getting inspiration (as in you see something that gives you a great idea, NOT that you see someone else's work and decide to just blatantly copy it), and being able to draw it yourself completely.

 

My advice would be to use show images for references on how to draw the characters, and to be certain you're getting their poses proper, use real life horse and or pony anatomy images, showing how horses move their limbs and necks, etc. Because the ponies in the show seem to actually animate like real horses do. Then figure out how to make draw the ponies from the show's style pose like real like horses (like if you want to draw a picture of running ponies use real life horse anatomy pictures to show you how horses look when they run).

 

Other than that, all I have to tell you is find an art store that sells Strathmore  Acid Free Sketch Paper, a kneaded eraser, blending stump, and a general's 9xxB graphite pencil, or at least a 8 or 9b, if you can't find those you'll have to settle for lighter shades, but you won't get true black colors in graphite unfortunately without 9xxB. Also 9xxb is non-reflective while still having all the benefits of graphite (other than that it's harder to erase than lighter shades). You can look up HB through 1-9b pencils online to see what the difference in shades are. A kneaded eraser can be molded to fit basically any shape, so you can erase little tiny spots easily without erasing big spots on the drawing. And a blending stub can be used to smooth your pencil markings into nice shading. It's hard for me to explain, you can look up guides that show you how to use it to add shading effects to your subjects in your art.

 

Hopefully this advice helps you become a great artist. I'm not promising you will, tho. And as others have said here, it can take lots and lots of practice to learn how to draw properly, it could take weeks, months, maybe years (I seriously doubt it'll take years, tho).

 

Try drawing ONE drawing a day, every single day. And keep each drawing, even if it's bad, so you can look back at them, if you think you aren't improving, to see that you actually may have improved, to encourage you to keep trying.

 

Thank you, someone finally said what I was trying to get across!  

[Sir Wulfington 276]

10/10 I really want to improve

Sorry it didn't make me quote you last time

For the sake of it. I dont care if I am popular or not, I just want to be a good artist for the fun and sake of it.

And by you saying that people lie about me being a good artist, almost everyone on here, even on my other topics, lied to me..?

 

1. I do have a book on how to shade and all that stuff on a drawing, but its hard for me to do, and understand, so I am not the best.

 

2. I see what your saying, but I am not focusing on the backgrounds right now, I am focusing on the pony itself, trying to learn how to draw ponies. I am terrible when it comes to backgrounds. I dont know how to shade, how to make grass look like grass, everytime I draw a picture, I have no, freaking ideas, on how to draw backgrounds, what to make it look like, or where the subject is. So, I am not focused on the backgrounds right now. Maybe if I practice a little more on ponies, I will start practicing backgrounds, but its not my main focus right now.

 

3. I did do a reference. I did a reference of Daring Do, side veiwed, standing up. I just made the eyes closed and smiled.

 

Thanks for the advice, oh, and, I made this topic when I was depressed, and if I said I was a bad artist, then I was wrong. You know why? I am a good artist, because, there is no such thing as a bad artist.

 

 

Yes, they are lying, people do it all the time. They're either afraid they'll hurt your feelings or they're afraid you'll lash out at them if they criticize, even if they're polite. It's happened to me before, and it results in me wanting to avoid giving critiques, not that I'm afraid of them getting mad at me, but because if they just get mad and refuse my help then I'm just wasting my time. You saw how big my post was. I don't like typing large posts to give someone advice on their art skills for them to just tell me "FUCK OFF I'M GREAT".

 

1. For your lighting and shading issues, it might just be that you're book is bad at explaining things. There's another way to learn it tho. For example, you can get a flashlight, shine it on an object in a dark room, and you can see how light effects it. Use the flashlight at different angles and distances to see how it affects the shadow of the object differently depending on the angle and distance of the light source. Or in a room illuminated by sunlight or an artificial ceiling light, place an object in the room where light can hit it and see how it's affected. Try it with plastic, metal, look in the mirror in your washroom and see how your face is affected by light.

 

2. That makes sense,  also I don't want you to think that backgrounds are ALWAYS necessary, sometimes you can just have a white background, but it depends.

 

3.Could you link that reference? If it was from the show you definetly need more practice on it. When you reference, how long do you go without looking at the reference to draw? You should check the reference as frequently as possible to make sure you're getting it right. Also, don't alter the size of the reference (like zoom in) for the entirety of the drawing, I've found that by zooming in for parts (to see details better) it messes with my sense of scale so I start drawing those parts too big.

 

I could see your referencing issues being caused, at least partially, by not checking the reference frequently enough. You gotta keep the memory fresh in your mind, like you want to go no longer than a second or two (LITERALLY, a second or two) without checking the reference.

 

And if you're already good, why are you asking for help? Do you want to be better than good? I don't think you really believe you're good, this thread and past threads you've made about your art tell me that. If you thought you were good you wouldn't keep saying that you're not, you wouldn't keep getting upset over your art skills. If you're going to start denying that your art isn't good, than you'll never improve, plain and simple. If you're okay with that, okay, but I don't think you are. I think you're letting the people giving you false positive feedback get to you. Trust me, you don't want to listen to them, they could hold you back from improving if you take them seriously.

 

And I'm sorry but there is a quality standard in art. Not all art is objectively good or bad (some people don't like certain art because they don't like the color red and said certain art has too much red, or they don't like sci fi, etc.)

Edited December 12, 2013 by Sir Wulfington

[Slice0Pie 815]

Yes, they are lying, people do it all the time. They're either afraid they'll hurt your feelings or they're afraid you'll lash out at them if they criticize, even if they're polite. It's happened to me before, and it results in me wanting to avoid giving critiques, not that I'm afraid of them getting mad at me, but because if they just get mad and refuse my help then I'm just wasting my time. You saw how big my post was. I don't like typing large posts to give someone advice on their art skills for them to just tell me "FUCK OFF I'M GREAT".

 

1. For your lighting and shading issues, it might just be that you're book is bad at explaining things. There's another way to learn it tho. For example, you can get a flashlight, shine it on an object in a dark room, and you can see how light effects it. Use the flashlight at different angles and distances to see how it affects the shadow of the object differently depending on the angle and distance of the light source. Or in a room illuminated by sunlight or an artificial ceiling light, place an object in the room where light can hit it and see how it's affected. Try it with plastic, metal, look in the mirror in your washroom and see how your face is affected by light.

 

2. That makes sense,  also I don't want you to think that backgrounds are ALWAYS necessary, sometimes you can just have a white background, but it depends.

 

3.Could you link that reference? If it was from the show you definetly need more practice on it. When you reference, how long do you go without looking at the reference to draw? You should check the reference as frequently as possible to make sure you're getting it right. Also, don't alter the size of the reference (like zoom in) for the entirety of the drawing, I've found that by zooming in for parts (to see details better) it messes with my sense of scale so I start drawing those parts too big.

 

I could see your referencing issues being caused, at least partially, by not checking the reference frequently enough. You gotta keep the memory fresh in your mind, like you want to go no longer than a second or two (LITERALLY, a second or two) without checking the reference.

 

And if you're already good, why are you asking for help? Do you want to be better than good? I don't think you really believe you're good, this thread and past threads you've made about your art tell me that. If you thought you were good you wouldn't keep saying that you're not, you wouldn't keep getting upset over your art skills. If you're going to start denying that your art isn't good, than you'll never improve, plain and simple. If you're okay with that, okay, but I don't think you are. I think you're letting the people giving you false positive feedback get to you. Trust me, you don't want to listen to them, they could hold you back from improving if you take them seriously.

 

And I'm sorry but there is a quality standard in art. Not all art is objectively good or bad (some people don't like certain art because they don't like the color red and said certain art has too much red, or they don't like sci fi, etc.)

Well, it really wasnt a scene, it was a picture of a puppet from flash, hard to explain, but it was show like,

I did a reference from the Profile.

And.. maybe I am good? or not? I dont know, im confusing myself, I dont know what I am saying anymore.. I am just depressed again, I dont know.

[Sir Wulfington 276]

Well, it really wasnt a scene, it was a picture of a puppet from flash, hard to explain, but it was show like,

daring_do_puppet_rigs_v1_0_by_jordo76-d5sujui.png

I did a reference from the Profile.

And.. maybe I am good? or not? I dont know, im confusing myself, I dont know what I am saying anymore.. I am just depressed again, I dont know.

 

It is pretty off from the reference, but I have a feeling it'd be a lot easier if you used a pencil on paper. Also if you're drawing from a reference, be as accurate as possible, don't change up parts of it unless you know exactly what you're doing. I think it would be best to play it safe for now.

 

And don't be depressed. Look, I think the reason why a lot of people can't draw well is because they don't care enough about it to try to get better. They have no passion for it. But you do, and that passion is the one thing (outside of being alive, having sight, and functioning hands, of course) that will give you hope for being a great artist. Passion is what drives a bad artist to try try and try again until they're a great artist. As long as you have that passion, that drive to be a great artist, you'll have hope of achieving that goal.

 

Just keep trying, do what I suggested, try just doing one drawing a day, every day. Do it for at least 1 week and see if you've improved. Try drawing from the same reference. And use pencils and paper, I just think it'll be much easier. Remember to KEEP each drawing, no matter how well they turned out, so you can compare the first to the latest, to see if you've gotten better or not, and by how much.

 

And don't give up, if you give up, you'll never be a great artist, but if you keep trying, you'll at least have hope.

Edited December 12, 2013 by Sir Wulfington

[Gone Airbourne 21,977]

Yeah tell me about it I just tried drawing my first drawing of a character from the show Derpy and it is really hard its going to take me a while before I can even draw a whole pony at that.... 

 

I have respect for those who can draw 0_0

[Surface 115]

Yeah tell me about it I just tried drawing my first drawing of a character from the show Derpy and it is really hard its going to take me a while before I can even draw a whole pony at that.... 

 

I have respect for those who can draw 0_0

If you didn't see the video I posted, see it.

It helps a LOT. (For me.)

[Gone Airbourne 21,977]

 

 

f you didn't see the video I posted, see it. It helps a LOT. (For me.)

 

 

Trust me I will be checking it out indeed if it helped you out then awesome. I have been trying to find a starting line for drawing

[Silverwisp the Bard 2,354]

There's a lot of god advise here. I too would suggest that you start by honing your skills on paper.

Walking before running.

 

 

 

It's dangerous to go alone, take this.

Ishould have gotten that combo trademarrked...

[Sir Wulfington 276]

There's a lot of god advise here. I too would suggest that you start by honing your skills on paper.

Walking before running.

 

 

 

Ishould have gotten that combo trademarrked...

 

Ya, also I'm pretty sure you're supposed to have a pencil drawing (basically just the lines that the picture needs to have, not super detailed with shading) that you upload than color it in, detail it and stuff on a digital art program, not do the entire piece digitally from scratch. At least, I think that's how most digital artists do it.

Edited December 13, 2013 by Sir Wulfington

[Star-Gazer 202]

 

Ishould have gotten that combo trademarrked...

Yes, yes you should have. Though, it was a line in a Zelda game, so you have no right to trademark it.