What are /r/MLPdrawingschool's favorite Products & Services?

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[](/1i)Krita if you have Linux or Windows is absolutely fantastic for digital painting. It's completely free. Much better than Gimp in my opinion. Been using it for 2 years after switching from Photoshop.

Hey dude, first off, i'm happy to see that you're inspired to start a comic! Let's see if i can help you!

I've been drawing comic since about one and a half year now, and my tool of choice is and has always been "PaintToolSAI"

Download link is here: https://www.systemax.jp/en/sai/

Of course there are other options like "Clip Studio Paint" that are very popular amongst other artists, but the good thing with SAI is, that it's SUPER easy to learn and handle!

Seriously, a lot of people use it and in contrast to Clip Studio there is not much to play around with, which prevents a lot of confusion.

The program is with about 35€ also one of the cheapest choices.

You can only use the program if you want to draw on a drawing tablet tho, because that's where it shines the most.

If you rather draw on paper and then scan your drawings to your pc and trace them, you can use a free software called "Gimp" that is just about decent enough to do the job :)

Download Link here: https://www.gimp.org/

These are the two go-to programs for beginners i would recommend They provide everything you need!

If you want to learn more about the progress of making comics, feel free to ask :) I would be very happy to help you!

Happy Comic drawing \o/ ~ Marmorexx

Ok this seems to be a common issue. Who is with me in making a google doc of just Ideas?

And done. Anyone should be able to edit.

I started with Autodesk Sketchbook and the free version worked well enough. Not sure how it works on a Mac. My first tablet was an Intuos Pen and Touch Small and the only real complaint I have is how small it is, like small is in the name or something like that, but you can grab one for $65-70 if you look for deals.

[](/mybrand) Just a FYI for all of you people participating: since tumblr is a bit... special, we will from here on out be using the tag #mlpds inktober, that is, with a space instead of a hyphen. I hope to see you fine folks there. Remember to watch the tag and/or follow your fellow artist if you want to see more community ink :D

[](/sgpopcorn) This Huion H1060P. I've heard good things about them before, and it's fairly inexpensive and very spacious. I'm not much of a judge but it seems to be working pretty smoothly so far.

You got the right idea by breaking down down the body into basic shape. However, the torso seems really long and the head seems small. Ideally, from the crotch to the top of the head, it is 4 heads long. Right now, it seems like it is five heads long.

There is a really nice proportion guide in Figure Drawing for All It's Worth on page 26 and 27. I copied it 2 or 3 time to make the proportion intuitive.

I hope this help.

Eeyup. I might invest in a grippy tripod to attach the camera to my desk (along with other assorted things n' stuff), but for now, this is what i've got xP

Awesome! Well as mentioned in chat, I've got a small [assign] for you. Basically it's to review some compositional material and then use it in your next set of thumbnail sketches. Once you have your thumbnail sketches, post them for a couple rounds of critique before moving on.
[](/ppcute "You can't escape it!")[](/sp)

For the compositional material, I suggest bits from Creative Illustration by Andrew Loomis (available in the public domain here, [NSFW for mature material]), mainly pp. 40-79, 85, 89-97, and more generally 178-207. I'm using the physical book, so the digitized version may differ on page numbers. Also, as I recall, the digitized version doesn't have the best quality so if you want a better version of any of the illustrations, just let me know.
[](/ppbouncep)[](/sp)

Edit: Since I just remembered that you usually only post line sketches, I wanted to mention that I indended the thumbnails that you post for critique to be full value sketches like you'll see in that Loomis book.

I used both a reference and an undersketch.

EDIT: I used this reference and changed the pose a bit.

EDIT2: Here it is with the undersketch

EDIT3: I just realized that I forgot the wings.

>And how did you split up the work?

He did the sketch and I did... well everything else. He also gave me some input and showed me when I was making mistakes.

>Rainbow's tail, mane, and feather texturing are really intriguing. I don't think I have seen anything like that before. How did you get that idea?

It's very loosely inspired by mysticalpha on deviantart.

>I like the contrast in texture styles between Rainbow and Twilight, too. Rainbow with a very sharp, rugged look, and twilight being more soft, and subdued.

That's actually thanks to viw. I did RD first and then Twiilght. My shading style changed between the two and I panicked at first, but when I showed it to viw he said basically the same thing as you just now.

>The curve of the interface also says a lot. RD's high energy sort of pressing out of her confined space, and twilight's receding in.

I didn't exactly think of it that way, but that does put into words the idea behind it I guess.

>I particularly like the font for "Twilight Sparkle." Is that a custom font? I don't recognize it.

I don't remember what font it is, I'll look in a minute. EDIT The font is EASY TROUBLE. Look on dafont.com.

>It doesn't seem like you are looking for critique. It's more of a celebration. Congrats!

I'll take critique, but the biggest errors I'm aware of and I'm not going to be changing this piece at all.

The color wheel is your friend here, seriously. Here's one that I use anytime I need to come up with a new design or OC for someone or a story I may be working on or something: http://paletton.com/

It has a lot of different options. Even though that it's meant more for web site design, the same idea of color theory still applies. Make sure to try turning on the complement option too.

Also, if I have a set of colors and want to see how they'd look on a pony quickly, I'll use this: http://ponylumen.net/

It's a little different considering it does ponies as full 3d models, but color theory still applies there too.

I use that creator more than I'd like to admit. I typically don't have the time that I'd like to put into actually getting good at drawing.

Hi there! I'm sorry no one has responded yet :(

You've done a really nice job here. You clearly understand a lot of good things and I don't see a whole lot of problems.

I guess I can start with anatomy. On the face, one eye is slightly larger than the other and the mouth is off-center. The hind leg is missing the bulge for the fibula, which connects the hock and the thigh. I'm not sure right now since I'm not looking at a reference, but the ear may also be a bit too high.

Looking at the colors, I don't think they go that well together. Were you going off a pre-established reference or were the colors left up to you? If you need a resource for picking colors, I have this one and this one.

Looking at your lines, they look very choppy and it makes me think that you used to work on paper. Let your pen do longer, swooping strokes and it will make you lines look better.

That's really all I have to say. You did a very nice job and it looks great! If you have any questions or would like me to elaborate on something, feel free to ask me.

What program do you use? I just got a tablet and after doing a good bit of research and some personal experience, it seems that the way programs are built have a massive effect on the way things are actually drawn. The consensus that I've seen is that paint tool sai (linked official site. Google pulls up some other sites that seem sketchy) is a very good drawing program.

You could try Krita or MyPaint. They both free to use and open source.

As for tablets, even used Wacom Graphire (or another Wacom) will do, especially for limited budget.

I think I understand what you mean; I'm working on the drawing right now, lots of eraser being used. I've pretty much finished the ''2.0'' now; I'll probably scan that in soon and put it up here in comparison.

What I'm not completely sure about myself; however, is the size of the ear in my drawing. For some reason it just seems off, but I don't know why. It's as if it's not wide enough but when I widen it it seems too large.

Edit: The revised drawing after implementing the things you pointed out: http://tinypic.com/r/x9ena/5

If you have a modern Mac there's little preventing you to run Windows on a Mac, using Bootcamp, or use something like VirtualBox, which is what I use on my Mac running 10.7 Lion. You only need an OEM version of Windows XP, or Windows 7 Home Edition.

proof

This is very literal freehand copy of this Fluttershy vector by TheGoldCrowOnDVD.

I've been trying to get back into drawing recently (haven't drawn in probably 15 years). I've been working my way through Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, but I suppose it was just a matter of time before I wound up drawing ponies.

I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out, but here's my own critique:

• I missed the angle of the mouth a bit (should be more nearly horizontal)
• Her right hind leg bulges slightly too much
• The upper lid of her nearest eye is a bit too open. The eyebrow extends just a bit too far. The inner edge of this eye is also not quite rounded enough. It was correct in the initial light sketch, but somehow drifted during shading.
• Nostril is a bit too large and slightly too concave.
• The interior contour lines of the hair trailing below her ear are a bit too shallow.
• The shading isn't very uniform, I suppose, but I didn't have any decent blending tools at the time. Using my finger (with or without tissue) tends to produced a "smudgy" look.

Anything else? I welcome criticism.

The reason it had the wings but nothing else other than the head is because it’s just a headshot/bust of the character which for me means just the front legs or wings to “cut off” the other parts. And I agree that the hair is odd. I think I was going for a sort of over the neck then it goes to be sort of behind the wing or something since the character ref is this: https://www.deviantart.com/pondpedia/art/1045-736872680

Hmm... how would I go about doing it? Just draw whatever comes to mind, like scenic views, peoples, and whatever other thing I decide on - but in greater detail than this drawing - like pokemon or Mega Man? Or is there a recommended way that I'm just not seeing? Because I've been given two ways, one by a guy whom I thought was a troll (told me that ponies weren't good enough to draw) and another by a proper-artist friend of mine. The ways were this book and basically "just keep drawing whatever you want and you'll develop your own style eventually," respectively. I guess I'm following the latter one de facto.

Here is the .psd.
This is my first time using shading and backgrounds.
My process was sketch>line art>color>cell shading>highlights>background
All critiques are appreciated.
Also I'm not sure if it is just me, but on the actual DA page I have the glasses with the highlight layer visible, but RES seems to be messing it up with an earlier version where I forgot to make it visible.

Here is the .psd.
This is my first time using shading and backgrounds.
My process was sketch>line art>color>cell shading>highlights>background
All critiques are appreciated.

[](/lyrahoof "(sorry for late reply, I went snoozing)") I have relatives down in Florida, Cape Coral to be exact, I sometimes visit and go to their beach. Sea beach is definitely... different... than Lake Michigan beach, by a factor of "a lot".

Also, I just found out about a month ago there was a rather large and important communist meeting in 1922 on my beach that was broken up by police. Then I went "Oh god, I was there, that's one of my favorite places on the beach!"

Cute! I did notice a missing outline, on her hair next to her ear. And only missing in some frames.

I might also change a bit of how the hair is animated. There should be a tiny delay in when the hair moves, following the body. Otherwise, it looks like the hair's either moving on its own or she has a LOT of hairspray in. The tail is fine, looking at which way it moves when she steps down, as are her bangs, actually. But the back part of her mane moves at the same time as her head, when it should be delayed by just a bit.

(This does look pretty good, sorry if I seem overly critical on the hair mechanics)

Here's a helpful little thing to get a better look, as well. (I slowed it down there already, but there are more controls if you mouse over the red arrow)

I do not know what that crazy thing you made in inkscape is, but if you are really interested in vectors then I would suggest inkscape instead of gimp since it specializes in them and will therefore be simpler and more capable.

The brown line thing in gimp is the default selected pattern. If you used stroke it would use the color, stroke with pattern uses the pattern. https://docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-concepts-patterns.html

A mask is just when you use two layers as if they are one layer where the first one determines colors and stuff like ususal and the second one only determines transparency. I thought it might be useful for patterns so you can mess with the pattern or move it around relative to the shape you wanted without needing to redo the whole thing. https://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Layer_Masks/

Typically when I search for how to do something like this, I will put "gimp [topic]" or "inkscape [topic]", like this time I searched for "gimp mask". That tends to reveal pages about how to use a technique in the specific program.

Your OC's overall colour choice is very bright. The analogous color is blinding after looking for some time. Is definitely noticeable if she was in the background. Try looking for different complementary colours or consider different shades of red, maybe darker?

I am not good with colours, so here's my source. Have fun creating your OC!

take a look at how they draw hair in the show. link most times its a nice big curve.

for shading, start off with understanding how to shade basic shapes. then, you break the pony down into individual shapes. run this lighting sim, it'll help you understand how light can be represented on ponies.

when you have all your legs looking exactly the same, things look a little dull. by moving them, however slightly, interest is created, and you have a better looking picture. hooves are a little sharply, but its not too bad.

Oh my god, such a dark piece. This is starting to make me think of Pony Psychology (WARNING: SUPER SAD). Really, this is so emotional.

One thing, though. At first I was confused as to why Pinkamena was staring at Pinkie Pie's severed, eyeless head. Then I realized it was a mask. If you put a bit of that light purplish-brownish background color in the eyes and mouth area, I feel it would look much more mask-like and much less [/r/mylittleWTF](/r/mylittleWTF)-like.

Anyway, congrats on the piece, you did a wonderful job with the colors.

Or if you want to be super speedy, I suggest puush which is like imgur, but like a little app that can instantly capture a region of your computer and immediately upload it. this is an example. I have no idea what I was on when I drew that with my friends.

A mid-dark grey like that is a good choice to separate or highlight other colours. You probably already knew this, but it works well with other saturated colours, and allows for an easier way to introduce analogous or complimentary colours to the scheme.

I think it's a reliable and easy colour scheme to work with, but hopefully somebody with a better understanding of colour theory could have some input.

As mentioned in the other replies, color choice is key here. A pony can surive a bad manecut, a painful color scheme kills it immediatly. I'd recommend sampling color schemes from a natural source and applying it, maybe even themed to the pony.

Example: Sailor pony. Find a picture of a colorful shell, a chance to sample some vibrant colors from the natural world, and aquatic themed to boot. Adobe Kuler is also a great tool to find complimentaries, triads etc. https://color.adobe.com

I'd also recommend trying to quickly create x10 really quick sketches with different ideas, grab your favorites and mix it into a "My Pony OC Prime" Creating 10 uniques will force you to be creative.

The color schemes seem pretty okay. If I were you, I'd look at some of the anatomy guides in the sidebar, though.

If you want help with choosing colors what work well together, there's this site and this site.

I alternate between GIMP (which I know for sure uses codes) and Paint Tool SAI. If I need a specific colour I just take a screenshot of a swatch from GIMP, paste it into SAI, take a colour picker of it and then delete the image. Bit of faff, but if you have Lightshot or similar screen capture installed, it saves having to learn a whole new program!

Here's a drawn summary of my criticism.

In case you can't read it:

[clockwise] Ear: not too big, not too pointy; extends past curve but not all the way; curved; short tail for most male ponies; parallel lines + horizontal transversal; wavy fetlocks above hoof; curved; sharpened "square" jaw of male pony.

The art software I always use is Krita, a free program comparable to Photoshop made for digital painting. I have a Genius i608 tablet, which is old and isn't exactly the best, but doesn't cost too much.

I kind of like where it is, except for the hair and tail. The tail is connected too far down the flank, basically draw an azimuth from the top of your cutieheart and have it attach there, should look better. The hair and tail are very flat, like a bad hair cut. Give more volume to the top of the hair and the tail.

For the color, the links in the 15th biweekly are very good. Use this if you want to keep the eyes red and see what colors would complement it

and use this if you just want to browse some palettes for ideas.

I picked this color palette and was actually a little surprised to see how much I could do with just blending those colors and adjusting the values. I spent way too much time trying to figure out how to draw trees, so if anyone has any tips on painting foliage in SAI I'd love to hear them. I also struggled a bit with drawing the pony from this angle, specifically with the legs.

That make sense. People body are more complexed that two circles. It gonna take a lot of practice to make natural body shape. I find Loomis's Figure Drawing for All It's Worth to be helpful place to start. There nice simple wireframe on pg 38 that I use as my base.

I have been drawing Anime off and on for a few years now, I should be better at it, but I am a tad lazy, and I am still stuck at the stage were I need to look at an image before I can draw it.

I use Gimp, Inkscape, Paint.net, and sometime Photoshop, all with a mouse.

I started out with Microsoft Paint, and started with DVD screen captures, and artbook scans, I would then modify them, ether color them in the case of line drawings, or edit them by removing parts of the picture, or even adding small parts, I then started vectoring/redrawing, more often redrawing buy using the original as a guide.

Vectoring and redrawing an original image is a good way to learn a style of drawing, but its not going to help learning to draw without an original image, for that I would start with some Learning to draw books like "You Can Draw in 30 Days" and "Drawing for the Absolute Beginner".

A few things that might help you:

(1) Learning to draw takes time and practice, so you need to set some time everyday or every few days to practice, it might help to take drawing supplies with you were ever you go.

(2) You can draw something on paper, scan it / take a picture, and then ether vector it, or retrace it.

(3) Drawing takes a long time to master, and when you start off drawing often every drawing takes a long time to finish, take your time, go slow, its not a race.

(4) Save to different file names after every major change, and save often.

(5) Backup your work because you may want to use it again.

(6) When you think you are done, give your self a day or two to look over your work, you may find things you missed, or you may think/see your art in a different light.

(7) Ask for help, but don't let others pressure you into doing something you don't like, and don't let them nit pick you to death, its your art.

Good luck.

To answer your first question: Almost none. The class takes the approach of "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain", a book I highly recommend for some reasons but not all. (And we've been drawing mostly inanimate objects with no real 'anatomy' to speak of, so... yeah.)

I've been hesitant to use real horse references for MLP ponies because, to be honest, I'm not very fond of horses, so I'd rather not accidentally incorporate any 'real horse-ness' into my drawings. If that makes any sense. (I suppose that's a silly reason in the first place.) That being said, I know there are a number of MLP skeletons based off of real horse anatomy floating around; would those be acceptable substitutes?

I think you'd enjoy the book "Predictably Irrational". It goes over why we think things we do are rational, even though our decision making very rarely makes any actual sense.

I made it about 10 pages into the first Eragon book. It's derivative fluff, and there are much better books out there.

The tablet comes with the pen ;)

.

What's in the box:

A. Graphic tablet(with usb cable)

B. Battery Pen

C. Pen Stand (4 Pen tip inside)

D. Driver CD (User Manual inside)

E.User Manual

.

Also you don't have to buy the tablet directly from Huion. They also sell it on Amazon and Ebay