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WELL THEN FUCK THE PONY CREATOR.

I'll just try to draw with regular paper… sniffle sniffle sniff sniff cough explosion He was meant to be somewhat of an explorer, so I don't know. :( I never found my purpose in life, so I shared that backstory with my OC just to play it simple…

Got a new one for ya, trying my hand at one of those stained glass windows Celestia loves so much. I'm not ready to upload it to my blog just yet, so don't go spreading it around.

Gimme your honest thoughts and suggestions.

@RandomMan

The Cutie Mark is way too dominant, and kinda screams “He wields a sword, ohmygawd so badsass”. Pegagi + sword is also not a great combination imo. Flying + weapon wielding, that’s a bit Mary Sue (avoid magic + weapon wielding at all costs, that’s just super Mary Sue). I might want to suggest changing him to an earth pony, but I leave that choice to you.

Considering that in my fan comics… everypony wields a Sword… Except when they wield a gun… Especially the Mane 6…

… Also considering the limited number of resources for non-weapon users, limited to essentially Monks and Spell-casters…

…Yeah… Only Unicorns are getting away without touching a sword.

This is the price I pay for making my main comic be about Ponies in a D&D-Esque World. With Paladins and Knights, and all that other stuff. (Among other things from other franchises, but that's not important yet.)

Still, I've got ways to make every character equally crazy in abilities and traits… No exceptions. Believe me, I tried to make a sane character with the system I'm using to balance them. And I Failed… Miserably.

Honestly, I found that pretty great, considering I can't draw (great, but I can draw at a good level, since I've taken art classes before) and that looks almost just like if it were in the show.

I did look at Discord's head twice, since it looked like the head was backwards and stuff.
But I am not sure with the perspective of the picture itself…
Is Discord enshrouding Screw Ball with his powers overhead, or is he doing that while Screw Ball is in front of him?

Discord is facing the viewer, you can tell by the positions of his asymmetrical horns and by how you can see his beard. But he doesn't have any eyes, which is one of the things I need you guy's opinions on. Scroobs is floating above him with an "aura of chaotic energy", this window is supposed to represent when Discord created her.

He didn't really look right with eyes on my first attempt, so I figured I'd try it without them. I think it looks pretty good as is, but then that's the result of artist's blindness so I'm going to need some honest second opinions.

Oh, okay.
All I needed was it to be cleared up on the head part.
Thank you.

Actually, it looks right as it is, I don't really think it needs to be changed at all. Second opinions are nice and all, but this is what I am giving in pure honesty.
It's awesome, I find no need in changing it.
Discord without eyes looks a bit more menacing, as he is staring at those who glimpse at the picture even though it may not look like it.

I am not very good at stating my points (mostly I am unable to clearly state out things I try to say, like I am stuttering in a way that is annoying), but it's your picture, you can do whatever you want with it. If you want people to state what they want in it, then fine, but it looks great already.

FTFY. That is all.

@OCs

ZeroBlue4 wrote:

At which point, it’s kinda hard to say it’s eye catching.

But that's the thing, y'know. In a sea of special butterflies it's the bland one that stands out.

Take my little swordstallion, for example. Aside from the slightly unconventional hairstyle, he's just your regular old earth pony. Of course, I've got the fancy plate armour to counterbalance that, but one can hardly be a proper knight without proper attire, no? Note how I counterbalance my counterbalance with the unassuming cloak (although that's more of a convenient excuse to not have to draw the details all the time). Ah, the art of having your cake and eating it too.

It also helps if you take your influences form less well-known places. As Einstein once said, The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. The harness' design is based on Gothic plate and I was largely inspired by this painting for the colouring and other small details. It will also help greatly if you have intimate knowledge of the inner workings of whatever you're making art of. Since I'm a bit of a fanatic for all things medieval, I know a thing or two about how armour works.

See how I have an intermediary stage between naked and armoured? Armour works in layers, you see. Almost without exception, beneath any metal harness, be it maille, lamellar or plate, lies a suit of padded cloth. This not only improves comfort, it also cushions impact, making a potentially bone-shattering attack give you but a bruise instead. Note the maille patches sewn into the padded suit. They offer protection in areas where flexibility is also needed, and thus cannot be covered by plate. Shockingly few people are aware of these things, and my stubborn insistence on keeping things semi-realistic goes a long way in making it appear more interesting.

@Gigatoast's stained glass

I think Discord needs to put his eyes back on. Looks rather wonky without 'em. Of course, Discord has a license to look wonky, but still.

Also, I think the emptier parts of the background (such as the swirl around Screwball) could use some more of those fancy black lines criss-crossing through them. Here's some examples of what I mean. The division into segments breaks the monotony and makes things look more interesting. Fits the whole chaos motif nicely as well.

That said, it is plenty good enough as is.

@Brownmane:
Good catch, I should add more detail to the top half. I suppose I could try out some different eye styles too, gunna gather some more opinions first though.

@RandomMan:

@OC discussion

I made a pretty bad llama OC for laughs alittle more than a year ago.

Anyway Most tips I hear for making them involve using colors that aren't overbearing, keeping a well defined theme throughout the design and using accessories sparingly. I've seen some that it almost hurt to look at but it doesn't have to be serious business. The point of making your own character is being able to design it however you like, after all.

and suddenly shit got weird

@Gigatoast:

It's mostly good but I think Discord's head and screwloose kinda clashes with the background behind him.

I'm guessing it's because their lines are way to thick compared to the background.

Even when discord was animated, he didn't have lines that thick:

@Giga
Count me in agreement with Brownmane.
Adding in extra lines will really help sell the idea of a stained-glass window and make it look even better.
You wouldn't have to go this far, but I like this example:

And yes, Discord definitely needs eyes of some kind.
I can't say what would look best off-hand, but no eyes at all just looks really weird.

I'm not sure what you call them, but I really like those random star and circle accents in the bottom half and I think the top should get a similar treatment.
Different shapes probably so that it remains distinct, but I guess the top half looks a little too… clean for the birth of what is essentially chaos incarnate.

Good luck!
Looking forward to seeing it finished!

I do wat I want

Ok, take two, LET'S DO THIS! Now with more detail lines and eyeballs!

I admit, that does look a bit better than the last one…
but that's just my opinion.
Don't hate me don't hate me don't hate me don't hate me don't hate me don't hate me

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooouce.
Anything new in the community or something?
I really want to talk about something else right now, but it has to be a sub-topic that can go along with this one without breaking the sanity between the discussions.

@OC:

My OC, if you were unaware, was a total parody of bad OCs. Which is why he got all the bitches, was a total bad-ass, had very eye-raping colors, was an alicorn, had an accessory of some sort, etc.

Again, OCs can't really be bad, as it's a subjective deal, but not a lot of people will enjoy it if you try to make it stand out.

As for Zero's art itself, I think the main problem I have with it is how long his body is. May have mentioned something about it and I just forgot while I was busy being badass, but that's my main gripe.

I really want to talk about something else right now, but it has to be a sub-topic that can go along with this one without breaking the sanity between the discussions.

Pick three episodes you like best.

However, they must be successive episodes in order of airing.

So for example, the three episodes could be:

• Season 2, Episode 25
• Season 2, Episode 26
• Season 3, Episode 1

or perhaps

• Season 1, Episode 15
• Season 1, Episode 16
• Season 1, Episode 17

But you can't just pick three episodes in any order. No other new episodes could have aired in the midst of those episodes.

I asked something similar with 5 episodes a while back, but with Season 3 seeming to be liked by a lot of people, I wanted to make it three to tempt you to pick three from Season 3.
 
Now I'm (probably) going to sleep.

>asks for critique on picture
>changes topic
>mfw

Hmm, that's a hard one, usually the best episodes are scattered throughout the season.

I guess I'd have to go with…
202
203
204

Sorry 201, but you had a serious lack of Screwball.

So basically what you think is the best "hot streak" the show has been on?

Very difficult. But if I had to pick…

Season 2 Episode 3: Lesson Zero
Season 2 Episode 4: Luna Eclipsed
Season 2 Episode 5: Sisterhooves Social

These three episodes contain the things I like the best: Humorous Antics, Luna and Family.

I was tempted to pick 304, 305 and 306 or 305, 306,307 but Babs Seed and Wonderbolt Academy aren't the best in the show. I don't DISLIKE these episodes but they have to be truly excellent to be with Magic Duel and Sleepless in Ponyville.

If Too Many Pinkie Pies was shifted around to be next to them, I would have picked that streak. (I was gone due to lack of internet when that episode aired but it seems not many liked it? I thought it was fun.)

@Giga's painting:

Discord with eyes looks much better but SQUARES REPRESENT ORDER NOT CHAOS! BANISH THAT SHAPE OF BORINGNESS!

I'm slightly late to the good OC design discussion, but I thought I'd say that in my defense, I wasn't trying to go way over the top on mine, I was just very inexperienced, especially in terms of non-garish color schemes. He was the first pony I ever vectored after all, I had much to learn…

As a point of reference, this is a vector drawing I recently did on commission:

Not too bad, right? I think I've improved quite a bit.

Yeah… I tend to prefer more "Heroic" Proportions for some reason. I haven't exactly got the details of how to do that right, but I'm working on it. And that seems to be the main thing that goes wrong when I try that.

Getting the "Waist" right is always a problem with me. The other main difficulty being legs, and in the case of Anthros, arms and hands.

And now I've finally finished my response to Giga being uppity about an Earth Pony with Mechanical Wings.

…I'm not sure what I was trying to say here, and whether any of it still applies. But the Australian in me says it's still good, as it seems to be in our culture to bring down authority figures to our perceived level by making light of them.

Edit: Fixed Minor Glitches.

@ZeroBlue4
Your OC looks very canine to me, perhaps you should try making the body shorter and hm more corpulent. I am not sure if you tend towards show accuracy, or if you are looking for your own style, but I think it's easier in the beginning to draw after a model in order to get the proportions right. Guidelines and silhouettes also help a lot, but I think you know that already. (I have seen a couple in your shipping pic).

@OC topic:
I can't contain myself anymore and have to show you an OC:

It's the first time this drawing has been uploaded and I totally don't know who draw this. My lil sister is going to kill me in two days, when I come home for christmas
She draws a lot and has a deviantart page as well, but she doesn't really upload much. She has lost interest in it due to low page views and zero comments. I think it's a shame, because she really has enormous talent. I see a lot of her stuff and be amazed, but I am the only one who can enjoy it.
I feel bad now, because I uploaded this sketch without her consent, but I think that it's just too good for the bin (where I literally picked it up).

You know that OC is one of many, it doesn't have a name, no background story – nothing. It's just a quick sketch and not even coloured, but this OC has some personality, just look at the proud trot and the flying cloak. Most OCs are static and don't convey any expression at all.
Perhaps you don't watch this part of the show really careful anymore, but the group shot in the intro is quite clever. If you are not familiar with the show it tells you at one glance something about the personalities of the mane 6 by the body position, their eyes and appearance.

@Episodes
I take:
304 One Bad Apple
305 Magic Duel
306 Sleepless in Ponyville

@Gigatoast's thing:

I like the second version a lot, and I agree with Phonics-_-Monkey Burning_Phoneix that the squares were a bit out of place, in my opinion. Having them zagging lines or disorderly patterns would be more fitting, I think. Otherwise it's very good.

@Zero:

I always had trouble when I first drew ponies with getting the proportions down. They were more like giraffes with long-ass necks and stuff like that. Just need to experiment with rough sketches until you can get the perfect proportions for your style.

@Favorite hot streak:

Well, this is hard for me. A lot of the episodes that are in most peoples' hot streaks aren't really my favorite. There are some that are really close but one episode is a bit short.

I might have to say Putting Your Hoof Down, It's About Time, and Dragon Quest. None are my favorites, but I like all of them. Then again, there's The Best Night Ever and the two Discord episodes. And Sweet and Elite, Secret of My Excess, and Hearth's Warming Eve. I could go on, but it's clear I can't decide…

@Whitish:

That is like the hypest shit, man. Not bad at all. You're right about it portraying personality just by the way it's moving, something that's actually fairly hard to do. You could try to get your sister to submit her drawings to EqD as she uploads them, and they might get more recognition there.

@Squares being out of place:

Really? checkerboard patterns represent order and not chaos? Well that certainly explains why discord loves them so much.

/snarky rebuttal

@Zero:
To be fair, I know this didn't exactly come across in my previous post, but my OC's mechanical wings are a prototype she designed herself and have yet to actually work. She's jumped off a lot of buildings in her time.

Still I must commend you, being literally the first person besides me to draw that character. It gives me a happy inside.

@OCs

I just remembered that I did make an OC a little over a year ago. I'm really embarrassed to show this, but here it is:

Oh God, what was I thinking?

@Episode streak

MMMystery on the Friendship Express
A Canterlot Wedding Part 1
A Canterlot Wedding Part 2

I know that feel.

That damn PC, no one should use it.

Oh well, gotta get drawing now.

@Gigatoast

@Zero:
To be fair, I know this didn’t exactly come across in my previous post, but my OC’s mechanical wings are a prototype she designed herself and have yet to actually work. She’s jumped off a lot of buildings in her time.

Still I must commend you, being literally the first person besides me to draw that character. It gives me a happy inside.

I have no problems drawing other people's characters. I'm already drawing a conversation up involving a Tumblr Pony. It's another on the topic of OCs, addressing the question of "Children of Celestia" from a different angle.

…Speaking of Tumblr, I should probably make an ask Blog Comic or something till my Art block on my main comic fixes itself.

And now to address the first point… Sorry I jumped conclusions there, but it's kinda hard to know these things. We aren't psychic you know.

@Whitish Collar:

That is indeed quite good! Like Explosive Lasers said: Maybe your sister can colour it and submit it to EqD. That's how I get to see most new artists.

Try to convince her, it could work out.

@ Gigatoast:

Can you do weird, wavy squares? Those are chaotic!

@Disturbed Brony:

What about this you unpleaseable bastards? D:<

DIAMONDS ARE STRONGER THAN SQUARES AND REPRESENT MORE ORDER! SHIT WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

(At this point, any comments are basically nitpicking. You're good to go Giga.)

D:
What did I do???

YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID!

Hey…anyone here? Give me an episode to watch. I need to kill some time…just a random vid…

>mfw 0:53

But seriously people, I gotta know which version of that picture you think is the best. I don't want to have any parts I regret.

This day is going to be so fun!

…or soul-crushingly stupid.
Really depends on how the media and the public at large end up handling it.

Well, considering I slept through most of my own December 21st, I think nothing is happening.

It's kinda odd how nobody gives a flip about these things anymore. They used to be delirious parties that said "we're screwed, let's make the most of it".

But here, All I got was peaceful sleep all past mid-day.

I suppose that's what you get when you're nocturnal though. The night is now my morning!

You've said that a few times though. Not to make a habit of talking about individual users outside of the topic of ponies, but…

You said you were 19, right? But you're up at night (I thought you were in Australia though, so I thought that this might be the day for you.) I've had stomach issues that keep me up at odd hours, and I'm on break after graduate school, personally…

But this is your natural course of things, huh? Do you have a night shift at a job or something? Do you take online classes?

Oh, I guess while I'm up, I can answer the question that Lone K. asked me to pose but never answered leaving me to incur the wrath of Gigatoast (that'll teach me to help users when they ask for requests…'preciate that, Lone K.)

I'd say the beginning of Season 2:

• Season 2, Episode 1 (Return of Harmony, Part 1)
• Season 2, Episode 2 (Return of Harmony, Part 2)
• Season 2, Episode 3 (Lesson Zero)

I could have very easily chosen Luna Eclipsed and Sisterhooves Social, since I loved those episodes as well, but I remember the wait between Lesson Zero and the Season 2 premiere was filled with my time being spent rewatching those the Discord episodes and the clips from those episodes. And then Lesson Zero did absolutely nothing to disappoint. The end of Season 1 and the beginning of Season 2 was a very high point for me.

@Verbose

You’ve said that a few times though. Not to make a habit of talking about individual users outside of the topic of ponies, but…

You said you were 19, right? But you’re up at night (I thought you were in Australia though, so I thought that this might be the day for you.) I’ve had stomach issues that keep me up at odd hours, and I’m on break after graduate school, personally…

But this is your natural course of things, huh? Do you have a night shift at a job or something? Do you take online classes?

It's mostly just this thing I do. I don't have a job, and I don't have anything to go to until February. Besides of course, Christmas diner.

I have a number of reasons I prefer it this way, chief among them being light sensitivity and general disdain for daylight.

For the record, it's 10:38PM on a Friday here as of posting, and I kinda just woke up. So yeah.

…And yep, still in Australia.

Edits
→

And back to Ponies and OCs!

@Brownmane

But that’s the thing, y’know. In a sea of special butterflies it’s the bland one that stands out.

I'm not sure if this is what you meant, but after playing with the color-scheme of my own OC a little, I found the darker shades more appealing. And began to notice the Cutie Mark's brightness kinda felt out of place. So I'm gonna try changing that.

So I guess you're right?

I'm also going to try using different colors for the Hooded Jacket.

Yay! Another day wasted Faffing about!

Gargantuan Size

Unfortunately Images is being uncooperative, so this may take a while.

In the Meanwhile, see whatever I'm talking about Here

I feel this is appropriate.

Well, we are still alive… Hooray!

OHMIGOSH SO CUTE!

@Zero

I hope you aren't insulted man, but your comics need work. It's hard to follow the logic of your stories, and you use too many word bubbles. Comics are telling a story with your pictures, and your comics are too visually static. You should try, when making your comics, to use as little dialogue as possible. Tell the story with the actions in the frames.

For example, instead of having your characters have a long-winded discussion about the children of Celestia, why don't you have your characters walking along when they actually see a 'child of Celestia' OC DEMONSTRATING why they don't typically work, then you have one of your characters laconically ask "What the fuck is with all these daughters of Celestia?" and the other one shrugs. That's just more appealing in a comic.

@Fifths

Yeah… I notice I have problems… So I'm not insulted.

Maybe I should do a take 2.

Lookie, it's a grown-up Scootabot!
I wonder how she earned her-

Geez…
Way to be a bitch about it, Babs…

Apple family Reunion tomorrow

I'm still afraid someone else will steal the show from Applejack.

@Phoneix
STEAL? STEAL? Derpy never stole AJ's thunder