visual art 00

[Taviscratch 453]

You could always just say "hey guys! Look how awesome I am at drawing!" instead of faking insecurities in order to get your work seen and admired. It's too good for me to believe that your insecurities are genuine besides a desire to be modest. If it's admiration you're looking for then you've got it. Thumbs up!

[RaptorJaysus 178]

Dude, those are some of the best drawings I've ever seen! That is epic work! You are now the best artist I've seen that isn't "professional," so to speak.

[Espurr 449]

I can't tell if this was a joke. I feel so bad. My drawings terrible. Yeesh, this makes me want to cry. In shame that mine's so bad. But this your drawing is so good. You need to be not being able to sleep more often.

 

 

 

But don't pity me. It can feel you doing it. My great stories make up for it. Because I love WRITING!

Edited April 25, 2014 by Star Ruby

[SasQ 1,379]

Yeesh, this makes me want to cry. In shame that mine's so bad.

 

Then stop whining and shake your pencil instead

For me, seeing how talented other people are is not much a downer, but the opposite: it shows that a human being is capable of doing that, and since I'm a human being too, this means I can do that too if I practice in that direction. Because nobody comes to this world with a talent already in hand. It's all to be learned, through practice. Just learn from the masters and one time you'll become a master too.

 

And saying i draw like Da Vinci and have a professional style is waaay too generous, lol

 

Are you sure? Take a look at some da Vinci's sketches up here:

 

 

Now compare them with yours. Looks familiar?

I guess you was watching them while drawing yours, since I cannot imagine how one could draw something as much similar to someone else's works without knowing But I can as well see that you didn't just copied them: I see your own original modifications and style in them. And I always say that it sometimes requires a great talent to even make a copy (but what a copy!), if one tries to reproduce someone else's work in so much detail with his bare hands, without help of any sort of copying machines. And that if one can reproduce someone else's work so well, then he deserves for the same kudos as the original author.

 

 

 

Is this what you mean by blending the two styles together?

 

Nope. I meant to start with the original cartoon design of MLP:FiM (as your first pony drawings you posted) and then adding all these details and shadings and what not, to make them look more realistic (but not too much, I mean, they don't need to look as actual real horses/ponies, just a pimped-up sketchy DaVinci-style versions of MLP:FiM ponies ). I really wonder how would it look like :>

Edited April 26, 2014 by SasQ

[Espurr 449]

Then stop whining and shake your pencil instead

For me, seeing how talented other people are is not much a downer, but the opposite: it shows that a human being is capable of doing that, and since I'm a human being too, this means I can do that too if I practice in that direction. Because nobody comes to this world with a talent already in hand. It's all to be learned, through practice. Just learn from the masters and one time you'll become a master too.

 

 

Are you sure? Take a look at some da Vinci's sketches up here:

 

 

Now compare them with yours. Looks familiar?

I guess you was watching them while drawing yours, since I cannot imagine how one could draw something as much similar to someone else's works without knowing But I can as well see that you didn't just copied them: I see your own original modifications and style in them. And I always say that it sometimes requires a great talent to even make a copy (but what a copy!), if one tries to reproduce someone else's work in so much detail with his bare hands, without help of any sort of copying machines. And that if one can reproduce someone else's work so well, then he deserves for the same kudos as the original author.

 

 

 

 

Nope. I meant to start with the original cartoon design of MLP:FiM (as your first pony drawings you posted) and then adding all these details and shadings and what not, to make them look more realistic (but not too much, I mean, they don't need to look as actual real horses/ponies, just a pimped-up sketchy DaVinci-style versions of MLP:FiM ponies ). I really wonder how would it look like :>

I was only joking... But hey, you're entitled to your own opinion.

[Hfhdj6wp8 110]

You could always just say "hey guys! Look how awesome I am at drawing!" instead of faking insecurities in order to get your work seen and admired. It's too good for me to believe that your insecurities are genuine besides a desire to be modest. If it's admiration you're looking for then you've got it. Thumbs up!

Well I see how this can kinda be seen as fake (The "Please Help" in the title does look a little desperate now that look back it, I made this thread when I should have been asleep...) but it's just not like that. It's just that I see so many problems with what i draw that I sometimes TRULY wonder if I'm even good at it.

 

It's like if someone thought they were really good at something for years (like singing or acting or something) but they couldn't see that they were actually not as good as they thought. Maybe they're just average or even kinda bad, they just didn't realize it or accept it. They could have spent those years they spent on being average/mediocre in something that they weren't meant for on something they were actually  good at and meant to do. Idk it's hard to explain. It could go the other way around too where someone is really good at something but they think they're actually terrible at it, but they can't see it. How is one to know?

 

I guess I may be modest as well, but please understand that I'm not here thinking "I'm gonna post a bunch of mini Mona Lisas and pretend to be sad/call them garbage for attention and compliments". The stuff i posted is nowhere near the quality where someone can claim for sure that the artist knows their work is amazing, if that makes sense. Everyone has been really helpful here and a few have mentioned how I do in fact have a room for improvement and I've gotten critique in other threads and as it turned out, I made alot of obvious mistakes that were invisible to me, but obvious to others. Again, I understand how it can be easy to see this as some attempt to get attention, but it doesn't feel that great when you try to make me like I'm faking it or something. I hope this helps.

 

Dude, those are some of the best drawings I've ever seen! That is epic work! You are now the best artist I've seen that isn't "professional," so to speak.

That means alot thanks!

 

 

 

I can't tell if this was a joke. I feel so bad. My drawings terrible. Yeesh, this makes me want to cry. In shame that mine's so bad. But this your drawing is so good. You need to be not being able to sleep more often.

 

 

 

But don't pity me. It can feel you doing it. My great stories make up for it. Because I love WRITING!

 

No joke, but please don't feel bad! If I ever tried to write a story it would be terrible, lol. If writing is your thing, stick with it!

Then stop whining and shake your pencil instead

For me, seeing how talented other people are is not much a downer, but the opposite: it shows that a human being is capable of doing that, and since I'm a human being too, this means I can do that too if I practice in that direction. Because nobody comes to this world with a talent already in hand. It's all to be learned, through practice. Just learn from the masters and one time you'll become a master too.

 

 

Are you sure? Take a look at some da Vinci's sketches up here:

 

 

Now compare them with yours. Looks familiar?

I guess you was watching them while drawing yours, since I cannot imagine how one could draw something as much similar to someone else's works without knowing But I can as well see that you didn't just copied them: I see your own original modifications and style in them. And I always say that it sometimes requires a great talent to even make a copy (but what a copy!), if one tries to reproduce someone else's work in so much detail with his bare hands, without help of any sort of copying machines. And that if one can reproduce someone else's work so well, then he deserves for the same kudos as the original author.

 

 

 

 

Nope. I meant to start with the original cartoon design of MLP:FiM (as your first pony drawings you posted) and then adding all these details and shadings and what not, to make them look more realistic (but not too much, I mean, they don't need to look as actual real horses/ponies, just a pimped-up sketchy DaVinci-style versions of MLP:FiM ponies ). I really wonder how would it look like :>

Yup, those are the references, lol! I had them on my phone and just drew what i saw the best I could. When I say I don't draw like Da Vinci I mean I don't have his style (or skill, obviously). I could copy one of his drawings but that doesn't mean I have his style, I simply made a copy, if that makes sense. The one with the horses though is actually by Peter Paul Rubens. While the original is by Da Vinci, it was lost. Ruben's either made a faithful copy of Da Vinci's work or used it for inspiration, which is why it looks like a Da Vinci drawing (I think. I'm no art historian so correct me if i'm wrong). So basically, I made a copy of a copy, lol. The great thing about trying to reproduce work by these guys is that you learn so much from just one drawing, plus I've only seen a few "Battle of Anghiaris" redone in pencil and it's just an amazing scene.

Edited April 26, 2014 by Qwerty192846

[SasQ 1,379]

It's like if someone thought they were really good at something for years (like singing or acting or something) but they couldn't see that they were actually not as good as they thought.

 

Then there's only one way to find out: stop thinking what bad things could happen and start acting. If it turns out one is actually bad at something, well, then it's not the end of the world. And at least now he will know it instead of imagining the worst. Having all the feedback, he could improve.

 

Maybe they're just average or even kinda bad, they just didn't realize it or accept it. They could have spent those years they spent on being average/mediocre in something that they weren't meant for on something they were actually good at and meant to do.

 

Man, you've made a serious mental prison for yourself then Time to break the chains and set your mind free. It's worth of it.

I have the same problem myself, of being too much a perfectionist. But I already noticed that this isn't good for me (and the rest of the world perhaps), since a lot of my work has been "imprisoned" in my drawer, never seeing the daylight. It's only after several people happened to see my works and telling me they're worth of spreading, I started to spread them more. Now I know that things don't have to be in their final state to be published: they can be improved afterwards.

 

How is one to know?

 

By showing them off to the public.

 

I guess I may be modest as well

 

Being modest is a good thing, but as with every good thing, it's only good when not overdosed

 

I've gotten critique in other threads and as it turned out, I made alot of obvious mistakes that were invisible to me, but obvious to others.

 

As I've said, drawing MLP:FiM ponies is somewhat different task than drawing photo-realistic anatomy-perfect and fully-shaded sketches. The method could be different, but there are always some principles which are common to all artwork. And I guess you already know a lot about proportions, anatomy, dynamics etc. so you can start with these. There are lots of tutorials at DeviantArt.com about proportions and anatomy. Some examples:

 

 

I guess you can reuse a lot of what you already know for drawing ponies.

 

The one with the horses though is actually by Peter Paul Rubens. While the original is by Da Vinci, it was lost. Ruben's either made a faithful copy of Da Vinci's work or used it for inspiration, which is why it looks like a Da Vinci drawing

 

I didn't know that. It appeared in search results for Da Vinci's sketches, so I guessed it's one of them. Thanks for clarification.

 

So basically, I made a copy of a copy, lol.

 

Heheh, now imagine that after a couple centuries, in a future, the drawing by Rubens is gone and no one remembers it anymore, and then someone finds your "copy of a copy". You will become as famous, as Rubens, who copied Leonardo. (And who knows, maybe Leonardo copied some ancient Greek, too? He seemed to know much about ancient secrets.)

 

The great thing about trying to reproduce work by these guys is that you learn so much from just one drawing

 

Exactly! That's because in that one drawing there's the master's many years of experience already contained. That's what learning from the masters is such a great idea.

When I wanted to learn physics, I decided not to waste time with mediocre teachers who don't even understand what they teach. I've got a book by Richard Feynman ("Lectures on Physics") and I learned from that.

When I wanted to learn mathematics, I decided to read some books written by the greatest mathematicians, starting from Euclid's "Elements" and Diophantos' "Arithmetica", then a book about algebra by al-Qarismi, then the "Divina Proportione" by Luca Pacioli (BTW, Leonardo Da Vinci illustrated it with these nice pictures:

 

 

). I understood logarithms easily from the book of their very inventor, John Napier. It's usually better to read as nearest to the source as possible, because nowadays lots of olden knowledge is distorted and messed up beyond all recognition.

 

"What one monkey can do, the other monkey can too." -- a proverb from a book "Calculus made easy" by Thompson.

Edited April 26, 2014 by SasQ

[Hfhdj6wp8 110]

Then there's only one way to find out: stop thinking what bad things could happen and start acting. If it turns out one is actually bad at something, well, then it's not the end of the world. And at least now he will know it instead of imagining the worst. Having all the feedback, he could improve.

 

 

Man, you've made a serious mental prison for yourself then Time to break the chains and set your mind free. It's worth of it.

I have the same problem myself, of being too much a perfectionist. But I already noticed that this isn't good for me (and the rest of the world perhaps), since a lot of my work has been "imprisoned" in my drawer, never seeing the daylight. It's only after several people happened to see my works and telling me they're worth of spreading, I started to spread them more. Now I know that things don't have to be in their final state to be published: they can be improved afterwards.

 

 

By showing them off to the public.

 

 

Being modest is a good thing, but as with every good thing, it's only good when not overdosed

 

 

As I've said, drawing MLP:FiM ponies is somewhat different task than drawing photo-realistic anatomy-perfect and fully-shaded sketches. The method could be different, but there are always some principles which are common to all artwork. And I guess you already know a lot about proportions, anatomy, dynamics etc. so you can start with these. There are lots of tutorials at DeviantArt.com about proportions and anatomy. Some examples:

 

 

I guess you can reuse a lot of what you already know for drawing ponies.

 

 

I didn't know that. It appeared in search results for Da Vinci's sketches, so I guessed it's one of them. Thanks for clarification.

 

 

Heheh, now imagine that after a couple centuries, in a future, the drawing by Rubens is gone and no one remembers it anymore, and then someone finds your "copy of a copy". You will become as famous, as Rubens, who copied Leonardo. (And who knows, maybe Leonardo copied some ancient Greek, too? He seemed to know much about ancient secrets.)

 

 

Exactly! That's because in that one drawing there's the master's many years of experience already contained. That's what learning from the masters is such a great idea.

When I wanted to learn physics, I decided not to waste time with mediocre teachers who don't even understand what they teach. I've got a book by Richard Feynman ("Lectures on Physics") and I learned from that.

When I wanted to learn mathematics, I decided to read some books written by the greatest mathematicians, starting from Euclid's "Elements" and Diophantos' "Arithmetica", then a book about algebra by al-Qarismi, then the "Divina Proportione" by Luca Pacioli (BTW, Leonardo Da Vinci illustrated it with these nice pictures:

 

 

). I understood logarithms easily from the book of their very inventor, John Napier. It's usually better to read as nearest to the source as possible, because nowadays lots of olden knowledge is distorted and messed up beyond all recognition.

 

"What one monkey can do, the other monkey can too." -- a proverb from a book "Calculus made easy" by Thompson.

 

 

Thanks for all this. I guess my problem was that I never showed anybody my stuff until recently, so I didn't know what to expect, I should have done it a long time ago! Those pony references are great, that's exactly the kinda stuff I've been working on (I really like that one with the head angles, I'm gonna practice with that). You and everyone in this thread helped me sort everything out, all I need to do is practice, show people my stuff, and stop worrying about making stuff perfect! I'm just being unreasonably critical of my stuff, and I'm gonna ease up a bit. I wish I could have figured all this out myself!

 

 

Thanks to everyone who took time to reply, I have my answers!