#especially beginner artists

[bixels]

I'm so in love with everything about your art!! I wanted to ask something about your MLP human designs in particular. all of them have really lovely and interesting face shapes/details. even though all the pony designs have the same head molds (save for eye shape), all the unique characteristics you gave them just... look RIGHT. is there a particular method or design principle you used? thanks for your time!! I can't wait to see more of your work!

It's all about shape language and how they inform a person's read on the character.

I talked about this before, but each of the Main 6 were paired together so I could design them in contrast with each other. For RD, I wanted her short hair to have a wind-swept look, as if she's constantly running. So bare forehead and hair spiking out at the bottom. She contains lots and lots of sharp lines and shapes to give her the look of a speeding arrow.

Felice, on the other hand, droops down a lot to reflect her solemn, shy disposition. I didn't want her hair to be perfectly straight though, as that'd suggest she spends a lot of time fretting over it and isn't outdoorsy, so I made it a bit of a tangled mess too.

In short, RD's features are sharp and point upwards, Felice's features are round and droop downwards. (Think Joshua tree vs. weeping willow.)

For these two, I specifically wanted to include non-Western facial features, as I found I haven't really included them in my character designs up until now.

Pinkie's bold and loud, so I gave her bold eyes, bold eyebrows, a bold nose, etc. I worked on Thea's nose for quite a bit and ended up abstracting the shape a bit to look more cartoony, borrowing from Pixar's Soul's character design notes. In cases like these, I recommend finding ways to simplify features and break them down into easily-recognizable shapes and forms (Cartoon Saloon are masters at this). The less visual noise, the easier their expressions are to read! And it's generally more fun to draw.

In short, diversify, exaggerate, and simplify. Figure out what works for you and get a little wacky with it. Character design is all about finding a balance between maintaining your voice and vision and creating something unique and lively.

[aurosoulart]

The Treachery of Holograms

there was a recent update to hand tracking, so I made a video of me just... playing.... with a bunch of stuff. that doesn't exist? but that I also hand-sculpted into existence out of thin air?? and that my brain kind of thinks is real?????

I don't talk a lot about this, but working with realistic virtual objects nearly every day for a year has fundamentally changed my mind. all this stuff actually FEELS as real as it looks in this video - including (and this is the part I don't talk about) occasional phantom sensation filling in a sense that SHOULD be there (touch!!) - but isn't.

like..... none of this is real....!!!! this is a video of me waving my hands over an empty desk!!!! HOWEVER.... my brain apparently doesn't care about the typical definition of 'real' anymore. 😅

[yo-yo-yoshiko]

Yet another ink drawing to add to my collection waaahah! Fought for my life on this one... Everything just kept going wrong!! His helmet is still so hard to draw but each time I get closer and closer!

Juuru looking much more simple in comparison...

Not bad though!!

[dawnkiller08]

Hey

Give me some Star Trek headcanons to draw 🙏

Or just other things to draw. My creativity is lacking rn but I need to draw

[minthe-drawings]

As per gbpatch posts

if I see any of you whitewashing my babies (Theo and Oscar) I am gonna gently remind you that there are better ways to color poc-- aside from color picking that actual sprites/cg.. Or eyeballing it yourselves. I swear it is not that hard to use darker shades for characters! It can be so fun too!! Don't be afraid to even go darker!! Just please do not make them look pale af

And if that doesn't work and you don't listen. I'm blocking your ass. That is all.

[suguruuuuu-chan]

Art!

[xannerz]

i’ll be completely honest i’ve seen how some people receive gift art (whether as a surprise or thru a community event), and the clipped “aw cute, thanks!”-tier responses are always a little jarring to me lmao. maybe at least compliment something you like about it. i am aware that there are at least some people out there who will try to ingratiate others with gift art, and it’s pretty off-putting/obvious, but not always. Give some grace/show appreciation when you can, it goes a long way.

[the-wandering-blob]

BEHOLD!!! MY REGRETEVATOR OC!!!

Her name is Penelope Plaything, but everyone just calls her Plaything. She is a little ragdoll who really likes tea (🇬🇧) and loves to play. She’s very sweet and happy, but also cares deeply about her looks:3

She spawns from a floor called “The Playroom”. There’s a little toybox that she climbs out of and goes over to the elevator. The way you complete the floor is that you have to pick up the toys that are randomly strewn about the floor and put them in the toybox! Nothing bad happens if you don’t get them all, you just get send back to the elevator.

[iqmmir]

hhh.....

[roakkaliha]

is ppl getting upset abt being ‘upstaged’ by more experienced or skilled artists attacking them on artfight a real thing.... ive been going through artfight drama/confession blogs n i feel like im learning so much abt how differently ppl can view n interpret things on there

[1tallnerd1]

Decided to draw this little guy made by Lil_Lime88 on YouTube!!!

[kourota]

one thing i wish people understood more is the fact that drawing, or any process of creating art for the matter, isn't a test. there are no standards. there is no right or wrong, good or bad. art is just a form of expression. a visual language, if you must. to say that you should only draw/sculpt/etc if you're skilled at it would be the same as telling people they should only talk if they're skilled at it.

sure, there are 'good' speakers. people who have a way of saying things that draws you in, that attracts you, that makes you feel things. but that doesn't mean that they're the only ones who are allowed to speak, right? everybody talks. everybody expresses themselves, one way or another, no matter how fluent they are or how well they do it.

art is the same thing. people create in order to communicate—either with the world or themselves. so to say that only the art that is 'good' (read: appealing to a significant chunk of society) deserves to be called art, and that everything else is worthless, is, in my honest opinion, real fucking dumb. stop being so harsh with beginner artists, or literally anyone less skilled than others.

[rauchendesgnu]

Just saw another of those "this artist is incredibly talented" videos, and. I just have to say it: talent isn't everything. Learning how to use your medium (or media) of choice to achieve your goal with your art piece is integral to being an artist. Every artist is good at art because they do it a lot. Because they practice a lot. Because they don't let you see the projects they abandoned and the sketches they're ashamed of.

Related to that: let's stop categorising artists' work as "better" or "worse". It's art. Not everyone is going to like every artist's style. I personally find some styles too loud and busy and they make my eyes hurt. They're still good artists and their art is still amazing. I am just not the target audience. Sometimes, there is no target audience. Sometimes, a piece of art is not a flawless demonstration of technique. And that's okay. They're still an artist. If we don't encourage beginners, if we don't share their excitement over learning a new skill, it is going to be much harder for them to be proud of themselves. For them to continue the exciting journey of art.

This is not about reaching a large following. This is about sharing the joy you find in art. About the pride of holding and sharing something you created. This is about looking back and seeing how far you've already come.

This is something AI art will never have. Let's cherish it in art made by humans.

[transgirl-from196]

Fortress in the Stars ⭐️

[girlboyburger]

Is it ok if I reference your art? I want to make a reference sheet for my character and you're so good at drawing my body type. I would NOT directly trace yours, but it might come out as the same pose as whatever I end up referencing. If that's not okay, I understand and it's completely fine! If it makes you uncomfortable, I will not use your art as a reference. (Sorry I'm bad at wording things)

sure! referencing poses or w/e is super okay with me ^^ also tbh, i don't mind if people trace* my art,

****AS LONG AS*****

they're not posting it, and especially not posting it claiming it's their own. anyone can *privately * use my work to learn shapes or lines or whatever else, tracing is a good tool to feel out the shapes in art.

👍

note: by tracing, i specifically mean breaking down the art to bare bones shapes. finding the circles and squares and bean shapes that compose the anatomy in a piece, NOT just tracing along the lines. direct tracing does not work as a tool, and is something i'm very not okay with happening to my work. ... annnd is something i very heavily encourage you to avoid for the sake of learning on your own.

[saint-oratorio]

my half of the drawpile art with @solradguy and @plasmatonic