Sean Mirrsen Improves His Art Through Ponies (and other things) [Archive]

Sean Mirrsen

2012-01-25, 05:13 AM

Hello and welcome, fellow forumgoers and art-inclined people!

As promised, I now start my own thread where I display the various things I have in one way or another caused to appear in a perfectly white space.

As of several minutes ago, my latest work is this:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/MLP_MMPR_TheSpiritsAreHere_HopefullyFinal.jpg

Current considerations:
- The lightning attack. Good or would be better off without?
- Too bright for a moonlit night?
- Some character appear static, though I've probably been looking at this thing for too long.
- Perspective isn't great, but not sure if I can actually fix it at this point.

It's not necessarily finished, for I don't ever consider things I do really finished, so if you have any meaningful input on it, positive or negative, then I'd very much like to hear it.

This applies to all the stuff I've previously drawn as well, which you can find on my DeviantArt page (http://seanmirrsen.deviantart.com/).

I look forward to further improving my skills with your help.

Trazoi

2012-01-25, 07:12 AM

Programmer and artist is a really useful combo. :smallsmile:

The Pony Rangers picture is, to my amateur eyes, pretty nice! I like the shading to give the ponies a 3D feel. If I had to pick something to be critical about, it would be the lightning; maybe it's because it doesn't seem to be a major light source but it doesn't feel like it has enough presence in the image.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-01-26, 10:54 AM

I still don't know if the lightning was a good thing or not, but irregardless the image got to be the header for a (admittedly short) Drawfriend, so it's all good. The most curious thing is that I didn't get a confirmation email from EqD. The next most curious thing is how much Broken Base the image seems to generate. What's up with all the controversy around Power Rangers?

Also, I got a winning comment on my DA page:

Pony Rangers? That butchered "adaptation"? Please, I'll stick to the original Equine Sentai Ponranger. (Can you believe they made Pon Pinkie an earth pony? You can clearly see she's a pegasus in the stock footage.)
Makes me want to rename the whole crossover to "Equine Sentai Ponranger". :P

Anyway, got a tiny bit of free time at work, so scribbled together a sketch for the ATG. I've no idea how people draw good-looking forests, but I think as an experiment in terrain composition, this one worked pretty well.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/RescueMission.jpg

I've also taken to scribbling stuff in a large "practice sheet" document, which I'll be posting pages from as it fills up.

the_druid_droid

2012-01-26, 01:24 PM

Ooh! Shiny new thread!

With luck I'll be popping in occasionally, at the very least to offer encouragement, if not advice. I do hope we'll still see you around the Ponythread er, thread now and again...

Sean Mirrsen

2012-01-28, 06:00 AM

I'm stuck between having too little time to focus and too little time to sleep, so I've barely drawn anything. Just now decided to break the slowly forming ice and threw together a revised sketch of the Benevolence defending a downed Mercy, which I don't think will actually happen in the circumstances it's depicted in, but oh well.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/BenevolenceMercy.jpg
It's actually half the resolution of the actual pic. I'm saving you having to see the horrible sketchiness in full res. :P
Unlike the previous sketch, in this case I want to show the drill being formed. The red and green are the head and mane parts of the "hair" which forms the different parts of the surface of the drill.
Also, why do I hate the Benevolence's legs so much? Drew them too short again...
I think I should stop trying to draw full backgrounds. I fail utterly at them, too many objects and too many details for me to process.

Bakuel

2012-01-29, 05:06 AM

You made a thread! Yay!
I hope you won't completely abandon the ponythread though. I hope it hasn't completely lost one of it's best drawers...

On the Rarity and Fluttershy mech sketch,
I agree that the Benevolence's legs are too short. But you shouldn't feel bad about your backgrounds, the only way to get better at them is to keep drawing them. And (in my personal opinon) your backgrounds still add to your picture rather then take away from them so they are always a plus.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-01-29, 03:02 PM

Thanqol has instigated an art war by crafting a chibified me. Worse yet, a chibified me disco-dancing.

I shall retaliate (almost) in kind.

Since all or most of my works are either experiments or excuses to have some practice, I have turned this one into both. Photoshop is surprisingly good for making anims.

Behold, (entranced) Jayden on vacation:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Hula_Jayden_comp_f.gif

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Hula_Jayden_comp.gif
I could have done better, but it'd take me an inordinate amount of time. Also, I've no idea what hula actually looks like, so pardon any inaccuracies. This was, after all, only an experiment.

the_druid_droid

2012-01-29, 03:08 PM

Thanqol

2012-01-29, 06:59 PM

Sean Mirrsen

2012-01-29, 09:17 PM

Oh, oh how it pains me that this forum doesn't allow animated avatars. Oh, the pain.

That's fantastic. Could you pick out one frame that's avatar-suitable please? :smallbiggrin:Well, you can still use it somewhere that does allow animated avatars.

And for single-frames, I found that these four are the most avatar-suitable. Take your pick, as it were:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Hula_Jayden_comp1.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Hula_Jayden_comp2.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Hula_Jayden_comp3.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Hula_Jayden_comp4.jpg

Thanqol

2012-01-29, 09:27 PM

Well, you can still use it somewhere that does allow animated avatars.

I intend to. Now to find a forum that allows animated avatars!

And for single-frames, I found that these four are the most avatar-suitable. Take your pick, as it were:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Hula_Jayden_comp1.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Hula_Jayden_comp2.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Hula_Jayden_comp3.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Hula_Jayden_comp4.jpg

Thanks! :smallbiggrin:

Sean Mirrsen

2012-01-30, 01:04 PM

If you are following the My Little Pony Heal/Hurt game over in the forum games section, you may know that after an epic struggle against terrible odds, Applejack has been permanently killed, along with Trixie, with no way to get either back (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12621874#post12621874). It happened due to Twilight's reverse power activating, blanketing five characters with some heavy damage.

So, why am I posting this here? Well, I've no idea why, but the struggle, that I have been an active participant of in regards to saving AJ and returning Trixie from whence she came (she's already died permanently before, and was brought back by another character), had caused me to drift into, for lack of a better term, a "strange mood". And over the course of just under an hour, using a mechanical pencil and an A4 sheet, I made this comic. (text added later with Photoshop)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Liar.jpg
There was fairly little quality control as it was more of a "stream of consciousness", but I think the end result is pretty good for someone who's supposed to be inept at comics. I guess using a pencil instead of a tablet helped here.

A good second look uncovers some odd things here and there... but I'm not sure I even want to fix or in fact improve anything here. It's good as a sketch. Trying to ink and (god forbid) color it will just ruin the effect.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-01, 11:09 AM

Random idea sketch:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random2.jpg
I guess if I had Sweetie Belle on the ground instead of Applebloom, I could make a joke about "the average airspeed of an encyclopedia-laden equestrian chicken", but oh well.

Speaking of random ideas, I've kinda run low on them. Maybe you people can supply some? Forums are awfully slow everywhere lately, especially art-focused ones, and there aren't any fanfics I find particularly appealing (it's all either grimdark or shipping, or grimdark shipping :smalleek:), so I've run out of inspiration sources. If you can throw some interesting scene or character ideas at me so I can sketch them up, I'd be very grateful. Doesn't even have to be pony related, and the stranger the setting you take the character or scene from, the better. I need to start branching off from pony art at some point anyway.

Tectonic Robot

2012-02-01, 07:06 PM

Hrm... would you care to draw a council of goats talking to each other about some grave deeds of massive import? Perhaps in the general style of this picture?

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/048/f/9/who_is_that_guy_by_deludedcon-d39s2f4.jpg

If I totally spam you with requests, you won't mind, right? Need ideas anyway?

Thanqol

2012-02-01, 07:11 PM

Speaking of random ideas, I've kinda run low on them. Maybe you people can supply some? Forums are awfully slow everywhere lately, especially art-focused ones, and there aren't any fanfics I find particularly appealing (it's all either grimdark or shipping, or grimdark shipping :smalleek:), so I've run out of inspiration sources. If you can throw some interesting scene or character ideas at me so I can sketch them up, I'd be very grateful. Doesn't even have to be pony related, and the stranger the setting you take the character or scene from, the better. I need to start branching off from pony art at some point anyway.

Yes! I'm on this!

You want complex character designs and scenes, hmm? Here's what I got off the top of my head. I've got work, so even though I can write these literally forever, I'll have to cut it short. I'll be happy to throw some more out here once I get back.

General scenes:

The Magic School Bus Dragon and the Worst Field Trip Ever

Game specific:

Mages: (Spoilers for Perfect Arrow players)

The Evil Future Searchlight Society:

Blue: Incredibly athletic blind man, 40-50, grey hair, wiry and muscled frame.
Worhol: Slightly overweight hispanic man who's trying really hard to be a vigilante; bulletproof vest, mask, gun and cape.
Diogenes: Elderly psychologist, suit, necktie, and cane. Very scruffy, slightly bearded.

All of these are twisted, elderly versions of themselves; versions who have made the wrong kind of deals and sacrificed too many dreams. They're powerful, but they look like they're at the brink, with deep hollows in their eyes. They've seen too much.

*

The Heirach Tzuki is the most powerful Mage in Nara. She's also nuts. She's got a distinct air of a trolley lady around her; tall, prematurely aged, hunched posture, shabby patchwork clothes.

She shows up on the PCs' doorstep one day holding a cat by the scruff of the neck in one hand. The cat is screaming, slashing her arm with it's claws and biting into her fingers. It's evidently been doing this for a while, because her arm is a bloody wreck, blood pouring out everywhere. It doesn't seem to bother her. She starts having a conversation like she's completely forgotten that the screaming cat was there. When her attention is drawn to it, after a moment's pause she asks "Can I have a plastic bag or something for this?"

Changelings (Spoilers for Waiting for Rain players)

All these characters used to be human before they were 'improved' by fairy magic.

"Gammy Snaps" AKA Sarah Rosaline, is a dementia-ridden old madwoman who also so happens to be the princess of autumn. She's polite and affable, like an elderly English noblewoman. Every year, she sits down at the dinner table and tells the butler "The same as last year".

The butler, Felix Kramer, who is almost cartoonishly the image of a snooty French butler, knows what she means by this. Many years ago, Gammy snaps held a dinner party, attended by many wealthy friends. The next year she held an exact replica of the party, and again every year after that. It started as a joke that everyone would make the same toasts as the year before, but as Gammy's mind went she started enforcing an exact replica of the year before with magic. As the years went on and friends started passing away, she instructed her butler to 'fill in' for the missing guests.

Today, all the guests are long dead, so it's just Kramer and Snaps. Kramer goes around the table, giving every toast and drinking every drink, getting progressively more drunk, while Snaps goes through the ritual of every reaction according to the script.

the_druid_droid

2012-02-01, 10:03 PM

Oh god, I'm totally pawing at that Changeling spoiler box...but I will stand firm!

Lemme just roll Resolve+Composure...

@V: Oh yes, the rational part of me knows this. The "Ooh! Shiny!" part on the other hoof...

Thanqol

2012-02-01, 11:00 PM

Oh god, I'm totally pawing at that Changeling spoiler box...but I will stand firm!

Lemme just roll Resolve+Composure...

It's not incredibly secret information, but it is a rather dry rendition of a scene that'd be a lot more powerful as a post. Like watching a rehearsal, with no special effects or buildup anysuch. You'd only spoil it for yourself.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-02, 05:19 AM

Thankee kindly for the ideas, these should get my gears grinding.

General scenes:

The Magic School Bus Dragon and the Worst Field Trip Ever
Magic School Bus Dragon, huh? I've got three ideas for this, one of which is NSFW. >_> I think I'll go with one of the two others...

Game specific:

Mages: (Spoilers for Perfect Arrow players)

The Evil Future Searchlight Society:

Blue: Incredibly athletic blind man, 40-50, grey hair, wiry and muscled frame.
Worhol: Slightly overweight hispanic man who's trying really hard to be a vigilante; bulletproof vest, mask, gun and cape.
Diogenes: Elderly psychologist, suit, necktie, and cane. Very scruffy, slightly bearded.

All of these are twisted, elderly versions of themselves; versions who have made the wrong kind of deals and sacrificed too many dreams. They're powerful, but they look like they're at the brink, with deep hollows in their eyes. They've seen too much.

*

The Heirach Tzuki is the most powerful Mage in Nara. She's also nuts. She's got a distinct air of a trolley lady around her; tall, prematurely aged, hunched posture, shabby patchwork clothes.

She shows up on the PCs' doorstep one day holding a cat by the scruff of the neck in one hand. The cat is screaming, slashing her arm with it's claws and biting into her fingers. It's evidently been doing this for a while, because her arm is a bloody wreck, blood pouring out everywhere. It doesn't seem to bother her. She starts having a conversation like she's completely forgotten that the screaming cat was there. When her attention is drawn to it, after a moment's pause she asks "Can I have a plastic bag or something for this?"

Fun. Any apparel for the first guy though?

Changelings (Spoilers for Waiting for Rain players)

All these characters used to be human before they were 'improved' by fairy magic.

"Gammy Snaps" AKA Sarah Rosaline, is a dementia-ridden old madwoman who also so happens to be the princess of autumn. She's polite and affable, like an elderly English noblewoman. Every year, she sits down at the dinner table and tells the butler "The same as last year".

The butler, Felix Kramer, who is almost cartoonishly the image of a snooty French butler, knows what she means by this. Many years ago, Gammy snaps held a dinner party, attended by many wealthy friends. The next year she held an exact replica of the party, and again every year after that. It started as a joke that everyone would make the same toasts as the year before, but as Gammy's mind went she started enforcing an exact replica of the year before with magic. As the years went on and friends started passing away, she instructed her butler to 'fill in' for the missing guests.

Today, all the guests are long dead, so it's just Kramer and Snaps. Kramer goes around the table, giving every toast and drinking every drink, getting progressively more drunk, while Snaps goes through the ritual of every reaction according to the script.
Changelings as in shapeshifters?

(I'll also note that I'm: 1)Russian 2)Not a native english speaker 3)Having some problems with my vocabulary and nomenclature, and as a result of these, 4)Periodically confused by simple descriptions. So I'll try my best, but I'm prone to misinterpret or misunderstand something. ;) )

Thanqol

2012-02-02, 05:44 AM

Thankee kindly for the ideas, these should get my gears grinding.

Welcome! If there's one thing I don't think I'll ever lack, it's things to draw.

Magic School Bus Dragon, huh? I've got three ideas for this, one of which is NSFW. >_> I think I'll go with one of the two others...

I came up with my own NSFW take on that way too fast after you said that.

Fun. Any apparel for the first guy though?

White shirt, blue jeans; bland except for a scattering of tribal fetishes, mostly tucked into his belt, and an uncomfortably sentient iPhone.

Changelings as in shapeshifters?

Changelings as in "People taken away by the Fey and returned inhuman". They're like people who have spent too much time living inside fairy tales and are slightly out of sync with reality. A guy who's made to be a butler in Arcadia, for example, will come to look like the most stereotypical butler ever, with the twirled moustache and parted hair and everything. Someone who's kept as a prisoner by a troll might come to look huge, ugly and misshapen.

(I'll also note that I'm: 1)Russian 2)Not a native english speaker 3)Having some problems with my vocabulary and nomenclature, and as a result of these, 4)Periodically confused by simple descriptions. So I'll try my best, but I'm prone to misinterpret or misunderstand something. ;) )

Is cool; I've spent a fair bit of my life talking to a Swede, so I'm familiar with language problems. Stop me if I get confusingly rambly.

Here's a few more!

Mage: (Perfect Arrow Spoilers)

Industrial assembly line where pachinko machines are being assembled (Japanese slot machines). The air is thick with monsters; a cross between a silver metal ball and a flying insect, like a bee, flying ant or wasp. Every one of theses things has jagged teeth that split the thing mid-way, snapping and biting as they careen blindly through the air.

Hanging from the ceiling is a huge spider/queen ant/machine hybrid. It's tangled into the roof of the assembly line, hanging upside down, snapping enormous mandibles together.

Three very small, very outnumbered humans stand in the middle of this swarm, looking up at the queen of the monsters. A fight hasn't started yet, and the humans are very much hoping that it won't.

Rogue Trader

This is in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, so that basic aesthetic applies through to everything here.

A high stakes poker game between the most ridiculously wealthy individuals in the galaxy, individuals who also lack restraint in their fashion sense. They're playing for enough money to buy a decent planet.

A texan in a white suit with an enormous hat and cigar.
A thin-faced elderly woman, hands dripping with gaudy rings at odds with her chill demenour
An Imperial Navy officer in a crisp black uniform, tastefully understated but for all the gold chain links.
An outsized cyborg, glowing red eyes and massive hands that can barely hold the cards, waiting patiently for it's distant operator to transmit it instructions
A red-haired pirate king with so much junk braided into his hair Johnny Depp would be ashamed.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-02, 06:33 AM

Thanqol

2012-02-02, 06:48 AM

Worhol from Mages (first phase sketch):
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random3.jpg
Conclusion: I am seriously out of practice with drawing humanoid figures and poses. Well, at least it's not as horrible as that one attempt a few weeks ago.

(edit: I've also no idea of what the Mages universe is like, so I went with whatever felt familiar for apparel. Also, Hispanic?)

Hispanic: Spanish American/Mexican/Latino. Also the Mage universe is pretty much the real world (but with magic!). Imagine a real life guy who wants to be batman really badly but also doesn't have the guts to not use guns. (He's also a bit stockier and a lot more out of shape)

I do like the gun twirl, though, that definitely fits this guy. The costume also isn't so ridiculous that he wouldn't wear it :smallbiggrin:

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-02, 10:20 AM

Random unrelated doodles:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random4.jpg
Can anyone recognize what I was trying to sketch a crossover of?

Pokonic

2012-02-05, 09:28 PM

Idea!
Humaniod versions of the mane casts...pets. Would be interesting, because if I am correct no one has made that before.

Also, to guess...

Hellpony: The Gilden Army? The huge size and the leather wings give it away.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-06, 09:33 AM

Idea!
Humaniod versions of the mane casts...pets. Would be interesting, because if I am correct no one has made that before.

Well, nobody did humanized Winona or Opalescence (or Owlouicious, if you consider him a pet), but I'm fairly sure Gummy and Tank have already showed up, even if mostly as jokes.

Also, to guess...

Hellpony: The Gilden Army? The huge size and the leather wings give it away.If you mean that latest sketch, no. I'm actually fairly confused as to why you'd even think that...

Aand anyway. Drawing and me seem to have had a slight falling-out lately, for whatever reason, so no progress on those ideas yet. Trying to get myself back into drawing by starting with something familiar.

I've been trying to continue that Benevolence defends Mercy scene, but kept getting caught on design issues with both of them. So I started making proper reference pictures for the designs, starting with the Benevolence.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Benevolence.jpg
Pony probably to scale. Feel free to ignore my feeble attempts to figure out what goes on with Rarity/Benevolence's curly tail.

Merged Post:
Mercy:
For display purposes, left rotorwing was removed.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Mercy.jpg

Thanqol

2012-02-06, 09:41 AM

Is that a tail made out of fire spilling from the plot-thruster on the Mercy?

Doesn't Fluttershy live in/near/want to be a tree?

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-06, 03:48 PM

Is that a tail made out of fire spilling from the plot-thruster on the Mercy?

Doesn't Fluttershy live in/near/want to be a tree?Magical, pink fire, yes. Short of resorting to nanotech or retractable tentacles, I found no other way to let Tenacity and Mercy have tails. It's a lot more magic than fire, anyway. Only the short central "core" of the plume is hot enough to do damage.

And yes, the plot-thruster. :D Believe me, I considered many options. But vectored thrust turbines can only let the machines move so fast, and with the way I put the jumpjets on the Megazord's legs, I guess this one made the most sense. Plus, again, they provided a way to have a tail that doesn't get in the way of transforming or flying, and actually looks cool.

(Also, I suppose you haven't seen the colored Mercy scene then, if the flame-tail surprises you?)

(This forum throws up the weirdest errors. Sometimes you make a post, it can be seen in the forum view, but not thread view. Sometimes, like it was now, vice versa. At least deleting and reposting seems to fix that second one)

Merged Post:
Tenacity:
Left rotorwing again removed for display purposes.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Tenacity.jpg
You can notice how it basically has mostly the same parts and general shape as Mercy, but is built lighter and more compact.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-07, 10:43 AM

Geno9999

2012-02-07, 04:39 PM

/snip

This is as much for trying to get a handle on the NMM Titan's design as for finding a good angle for this kind of scene. Perspective is my biggest enemy here. I want NMM to appear large. I mean, really large. The normal Titans' size comparison to a pony you can see in the post above. NMM here should be roughly three to four(maybe five) times the height of those, putting it in the same league as the combined Megazord. I've no idea how to effectively convey size like that through just lines. I need an effective angle and good use of perspective to achieve that effect, it seems, but that's been my biggest problem in scenes so far (tied with backgrounds where they are appropriate).

Input would be appreciated.

Well, My suggestion is either; a) make the Pony Rangers smaller, b) remove some of NMM Titan's details, maybe also fade the lines a little to show that it's in the distance, or c) do all the above.

the_druid_droid

2012-02-07, 07:50 PM

Trying to start something new and large. Just a sort of a rapid prototyping phase at the moment. This is a scene immediately following the previous, where Nightmare Moon was summarily beaten aside, caked in the snout, yelled at, and thrown out of the tower by the explosion of the confusingly combustible cake. I still want to make a comic detailing those events, btw.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/RangersNMM_Titan.jpg

This is as much for trying to get a handle on the NMM Titan's design as for finding a good angle for this kind of scene. Perspective is my biggest enemy here. I want NMM to appear large. I mean, really large. The normal Titans' size comparison to a pony you can see in the post above. NMM here should be roughly three to four(maybe five) times the height of those, putting it in the same league as the combined Megazord. I've no idea how to effectively convey size like that through just lines. I need an effective angle and good use of perspective to achieve that effect, it seems, but that's been my biggest problem in scenes so far (tied with backgrounds where they are appropriate).

Input would be appreciated.

Hmm, I have some thoughts...

First, you could try to put in something of relatively known size in the background (the first thing I'm thinking of is trees, but it could be something else, maybe even part of the castle itself) to help establish scale. Another option would be to change the angle of the picture and convey size not so much by through forced perspective looking up, as by a sort of indirect size comparison between the ponies and the Titan. Finally, putting perspective aside, I'd consider recomposing the picture slightly anyway; something about having all the Rangers together up front makes things feel a bit compressed, and the line of heads seems kind of monotonous. If you still want to go with the current angle, I'd suggest showing only one or two of the rangers to establish the perspective, or maybe switching to a different angle so you could show them spread out in a loose battle formation that might have a stronger visual impact.

I'm actually pretty interested to see this make it into comic form; it's a neat take on the Season 1 pilot.

Kyouhen

2012-02-08, 03:33 PM

You said NMM got thrown from the castle right? Why not have her thrown from a tower, and have the rangers still inside? Frame the bottom and corners of the picture with the rest of the wall so it looks like the rangers are looking through a hole. By obscuring our ability to see the point where the titan touches the ground and elevating the rangers you can make the titan look considerably larger than it did before.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-08, 06:18 PM

Well, My suggestion is either; a) make the Pony Rangers smaller, b) remove some of NMM Titan's details, maybe also fade the lines a little to show that it's in the distance, or c) do all the above.

Hmm, I have some thoughts...

First, you could try to put in something of relatively known size in the background (the first thing I'm thinking of is trees, but it could be something else, maybe even part of the castle itself) to help establish scale. Another option would be to change the angle of the picture and convey size not so much by through forced perspective looking up, as by a sort of indirect size comparison between the ponies and the Titan. Finally, putting perspective aside, I'd consider recomposing the picture slightly anyway; something about having all the Rangers together up front makes things feel a bit compressed, and the line of heads seems kind of monotonous. If you still want to go with the current angle, I'd suggest showing only one or two of the rangers to establish the perspective, or maybe switching to a different angle so you could show them spread out in a loose battle formation that might have a stronger visual impact.

I'm actually pretty interested to see this make it into comic form; it's a neat take on the Season 1 pilot.

You said NMM got thrown from the castle right? Why not have her thrown from a tower, and have the rangers still inside? Frame the bottom and corners of the picture with the rest of the wall so it looks like the rangers are looking through a hole. By obscuring our ability to see the point where the titan touches the ground and elevating the rangers you can make the titan look considerably larger than it did before.A large bundle of pretty good advice here, that's good to see. I'll be changing the scene angle and general setup. It's really hard to convey the size of NMM's Titan from this perspective, I guess I'll need to experiment with the setup some more so as to show both the machine and the Rangers.

While I'm doing all that (and making posable pony-oid models in Lightwave for extra assistance), have one more design. I decided that I need some reference point from which to make NMM's Titan, so I drew this.
The Harmonic Balance Titan, the first machine constructed with the power of the Elements. As it's about a thousand years old, its design is slightly... behind the times, incorporating a lot more mechanical parts than necessary, but it compensates its technical inferiority with a much more pronounced attunement to its user's magic. For instance, unlike the Mercy and Tenacity it actually flies using the same magic pegasi use to fly, rather than any technological marvels. The machine's power comes mostly from the Elements of Harmony wielded by Celestia and Luna, although the magic provided by the sisters themselves is also great. Built to resemble both Princesses at once, the Balance is colored dark blue on one side and rose white on the other, representing the balance between day and night. Despite this symbolic appearance, only princess Luna pilots the Titan, when it is piloted at all. Princess Celestia either contends herself with supplying the raw magic to power the machine, or appears before her enemies as she is, needing no machine to bolster her might.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Balance.jpg
Story spoiler, in case there'll actually be a story:
Equinox, the ancient force of balance, corrupted the machine and its pilot, Black Ranger Luna, during the first battle against Discord. The corruption had eventually led to Luna becoming Nightmare Moon, and the Balance had been twisted into a dark mockery of itself, reflecting that it no longer had a connection to Celestia's magic. Having no way to undo the corruption by herself, Celestia had used her own magic in conjunction with the four Elements she was in tune with to seal the corrupted Princess Luna and the Balance permanently in the Moon, until such a time would come when all six Elements could be used at once to remove the presence of Equinox from Equestria once and for all.

When the Rangers defeat Nightmare Moon, the Balance is almost destroyed, nearly half of its components gone with the corruption or damaged beyond repair. It takes more than a year to finally restore it, just in time to aid the Rangers when Discord is released again. Lacking the power of the Elements, it is no match for Discord, but it gives the Rangers time to focus and regain their confidence in each other. It finally participates in the ultimate Megazord combination, adding the power of the Princesses' magic to that of the Rangers and the Elements, overpowering and finally defeating Discord for good.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-09, 04:40 PM

Day too busy to take out the tablet. Thankfully, modeling can be done with just a mouse.

Damn, relearning skills unused for more than a year is hard. Especially considering how drastic the changes in LW10.1 are compared to LW9.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PonyRnd_1.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PonyRnd_2.jpg
Wanted: Cockatrice. Preferably alive, so I can kill him. Signed, Princess Celestia.
Still, I believe that's similar enough to a pony for my purposes. Rigging it for animation might be a tad trickier than just shaping it out though. Well, I can do some basic posing even without rigging.
Also, ears are hard to do correctly with subpatches.

Merged Post:I am spending way too much time on this. I better do some actual drawing at some point.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PonyRnd_3.jpg

Still, it's nice to do work in more than two dimensions for a change. Well, spatial dimensions at least. Outside of normal space, I'm usually working with roughly seven.

Thanqol

2012-02-09, 06:15 PM

3D modelling is well and truly out of my sphere of influence so there's not much I can comment on ^^;

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-09, 06:37 PM

Treat it like a really fancily made drawing. :smallbiggrin:

Stuff like proportions and posing still applies, after all, and composition too. Although of course in the case of what I posted, the latter two haven't been taken into account at all. Just the default pose and some sort of column.. thing. Now, when I rig it all for posing - then I'll finally be able to reap some benefits from this.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-11, 09:06 AM

And this is why I should not be allowed to find tangents in creativity. I should've known it would happen. Yes, I haven't even touched the tablet for the last two days. And to think I thought of buying modeling clay... I'd forget the laptop existed then. (heh, my mother would approve) Well, I did draw a pretty nice Twilight on a paper card at the drug store, being bored out of my mind and all, but that's the full extent of my drawing practice in all this time. Random cutie marks and Pinkie Pies drawn in the snow on hoods and windshields of parked cars notwithstanding.

Anyway, rigging on the reference model is in progress, in the meantime I touched up on it a little, made it more generic (I won't be using Ranger Twilight for everything, after all), and got a few face morphs done. Morphs are pretty cool things. Save you a lot of trouble on rigging features that don't move too far. Not that I needed to do that, but I just remembered that I could, and, well...
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PonyRnd_Face1.jpg
Gah, realized that turning geometry without rigging messes up the morph. Reset to default pose.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PonyRnd_Face2.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PonyRnd_Face3.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PonyRnd_Face4.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PonyRnd_Face5.jpg
It's not five distinct face morphs, it's two morphs for the mouth and three for the eyebrows, allowing a whole range of different expressions.

Yeah, the pony's a sort of an odd mix of Twilight, RD, and Applejack. And lacking either unicorn or pegasus features too. I should fix that sometime. Wings are going to be so fun to rig... *collapses in preemptive exasperation*

I know there's fairly little to comment on here, but I'd like an opinion on whether or not I should alter proportions any further. My usual approach leans towards the realistic, but I'm trying to change course towards more show-like design.

Thanqol

2012-02-11, 09:25 AM

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-11, 11:25 AM

Hm, I think that the forelegs are a little off; they're a touch far back and a touch too slender. Moreover, with the distinct flanks they look noodly. I think you want to give them a bit of shoulder muscle to make them look a little more natural. I also suspect that ponies are a bit pudgier, but it's also late and I'm pretty much giving my gut reaction. Take as you will!No idea on the pudgy aspect either, so I made it a morph. So now I can make starved ponies too, if I ever need it.

Sad pony:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PonyRnd_5.jpg

Happy pony:
[img]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PonyRnd_6.jpg

Domochevsky

2012-02-11, 01:04 PM

...yeah, those flanks need more volume, to get closer to the show's proportions. same as the front legs, really. (More diameter.)

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-11, 01:35 PM

Imma going to need to overlay some screencaps over the model so I can get it to be more accurate. In the meantime, alicorn version:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PonyRnd_7.jpg
Wings are odd, but I'll be drawing them out myself anyway.

Also, I just realized (through highly confusing logic) that there is no pony mod for Mount&Blade. Why is there no pony mod for Mount&Blade?

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-13, 02:18 PM

I should not be let anywhere near modelling software when I should be focusing on drawing. Well, 3D modelling is a form of art too, but I was supposed to have stopped with faceless mannequins for scene setup. Instead, I'm doing... well, this.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PonyRnd_8.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PonyRnd_9.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PonyRnd_10.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PonyRnd_11.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PonyRnd_12.jpg
Switched to Catmull-Clark subdivisions, tweaked the unholy hell out of wings, body, and face, added way too many details and upped the morph count to eight. Oh, and completed the basic skeleton. 48 bones sans wings. Why the hell am I even doing this??? I even added teeth and nostrils. It's one of those things that seem like a really good idea when you think of them, but evolve so much you forget what you intended them for in the first place. Ugh. At least it's fun.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-17, 10:51 AM

Well, modelling hit an unexpected snag at one point, and, as you might've guessed by lack of activity here, I was somewhat "drawn away" from most art-like things.

In light of this, even knowing that this is entirely futile, I shall announce that I will draw at least something every day from now on, and post it here. My usual limiters are my lack of interest in drawing things I can't shape into something interesting/awesome, and general dislike of doodling at random, without a coherent idea of what I want to draw. Well, I'm taking these limiters down now, as well as I can. Time for me to get a little more disciplined about this whole thing.

For today, a return to a universe left behind, with a character I've no idea about.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/MiiAri_Random1.jpg
This is a Mii'Ari. There's a whole mess of backstory for them, so treat them as generic catpeople for the time being. The proportions aren't wrong - their legs are supposed to be slightly shorter, and the torso longer than a human's.

Notes:
- I really should spend some time and draw proper human and mii'ari faces, all those ponies have creeped into my face construction routines.
- I might want to start looking into improving my line quality sometime. I can't draw long smooth strokes at all.

- On the plus side, working with ponies made me more comfortable with using color outlines, so there's that. :)I remembered why I like to draw ponies more as soon as I started sketching this guy. No hands.

the_druid_droid

2012-02-17, 09:34 PM

For today, a return to a universe left behind, with a character I've no idea about.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/MiiAri_Random1.jpg
This is a Mii'Ari. There's a whole mess of backstory for them, so treat them as generic catpeople for the time being. The proportions aren't wrong - their legs are supposed to be slightly shorter, and the torso longer than a human's.

Notes:
- I really should spend some time and draw proper human and mii'ari faces, all those ponies have creeped into my face construction routines.
- I might want to start looking into improving my line quality sometime. I can't draw long smooth strokes at all.

- On the plus side, working with ponies made me more comfortable with using color outlines, so there's that. :)I remembered why I like to draw ponies more as soon as I started sketching this guy. No hands.

I like the cat-guy! The pose is nice, but I can see what you mean about the pony muzzles creeping into things. I don't think I've seen many humans that you've done, so it would be interesting to see for comparison, I think.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-18, 04:45 AM

The reason you wouldn't see a lot of humans I've drawn is because I don't really draw humans all that often. Non-humanoid faces are just easier to make without falling into the uncanny valley. I believe there is a trope for that.

In any case, I did decide to spend an hour to try and draw a Mii'Ari and a human face as correctly as my current routines can manage.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Faeces.jpg
The Mii'Ari is a second-phase sketch, the human is a slightly cleaned up first-phase.
The file name was a typo, but sorta fits. :P
Conclusion: well, could have been worse. I'll need to go over a few references and re-remember the anchor points for some elements, but mostly I think I just need to keep improving my grasp of shape and perspective.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-19, 05:11 AM

Intruding ever so slightly on Thanqol's Dragon Month with a sort-of-oriental dragon:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random5.jpg
20 minutes for first phase, no music.

Thanqol

2012-02-19, 05:17 AM

Intruding ever so slightly on Thanqol's Dragon Month with a sort-of-oriental dragon:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random5.jpg
20 minutes for first phase, no music.

The foreshortening isn't right here; the dragon should get more narrow in the background as it curves away. As it is it feels like that the dragon is kind of short in proportion to it's head. Moreover, since the neck is about as thick as the midbody it seems like they're both at the same distance, which makes it look curiously flat.

I tend to prefer my lung dragons long and twisty, though. And I love those jetpack wings.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-19, 05:55 AM

Thanqol

2012-02-19, 06:12 AM

No idea how to fix it at the moment. Perspective is my current #1 nemesis.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random5_1.jpg
20 more minutes to outline the dragon. Still no music.

I'll play around with transformation tools, maybe it'll look better. It's only a sort-of-oriental dragon, thought up completely at random, with no research or reference. I'm taking all me limiters off.

My advice is just have it loop once. Have that part where it's stomach-scales disappear loop outwards to the left and then back around to join with the rest of it. Makes the body longer and proportions work better.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-19, 06:28 AM

20 more minutes to line the rest of the scene, 20 more minutes to figure out how to loop-de-loop the dragon:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random5_2.jpg

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random5_3.jpg
Messy feathers on the back there... have trouble visualizing...

Thanqol

2012-02-19, 06:32 AM

See? That's ace. That loop sets the picture off perfectly :smallbiggrin: Now there's perspective.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-19, 09:47 AM

Aand that's all for this thing. Tomorrow, something else!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random5_F.jpg

I've no time to sit down and think of a backstory, so... he's all yours, Thanqol! If you want to, of course. ;)

Total time sketching: Hour and a half.
Total time coloring: One hour, plus/minus twenty minutes because I forgot to note when I started.
Overall time: Could have been faster.
And still no music.

Thanqol

2012-02-19, 10:05 AM

Aand that's all for this thing. Tomorrow, something else!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random5_F.jpg

I've no time to sit down and think of a backstory, so... he's all yours, Thanqol! If you want to, of course. ;)

"The oriental dragons defy the classification that comes so easily to the colour-coded western breeds. Primarily this is due to their strong connection to the divine and the spirit world; in many respects, these beings are gods that wear the shapes of dragons than vice versa. A useful rule to remember, but a misleading one to live by.

"The Tan Lung, or 'Luck Dragon', has scales the vibrant red traditionally associated with good fortune in the region, leading to many local costumes and festivals in the dragon's honour. What outsiders often don't pick up on is what happens to these costumes at the end of the festival - they are all thrown into a bonfire and burned. One must be careful to keep no association with the Tan Lung other than what it permits of you.

"The Tan Lung, seeing misfortune below it, will act on a whim and descend like a crimson rainbow, setting wrongs to rights and leaving without another word. But try to summon it, or bind it, or coerce it's favour in any way and it will turn on you in the most vicious rage and blight your life, your crops, and your children with terrible misfortune.

"A beautiful sight, to be sure, but only a fool would seek one out. Far better to welcome luck as passes by than try to catch hold of it's tail."

the_druid_droid

2012-02-19, 02:12 PM

See? That's ace. That loop sets the picture off perfectly :smallbiggrin: Now there's perspective.

Agreed. Something about loopy oriental dragons just seems right. I suspect it's because they tend to appear that way in so much of the art they're depicted in; also because I'm a sucker for flowing lines and curves...

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-20, 02:13 PM

Busy day (weekdays are always busy), so not a whole lot of time to sit down and draw. Plus, there's Cortex Command suddenly starting to drain little bits of my time as well. In retaliation, here's a Cortex Command pony-dummy.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Dumpony.jpg
And that's my picture for the day. Well, it's something at least. :P

Hastily cleaned up first-phase sketch, hasty coloring, even hastier shading and lighting... 40 minutes all in all. No music, but a series of Whose Line episodes as background noise.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-21, 10:50 AM

I am utterly unable to hold to any theme at all, as is normal for random thought processes. So, here. Have yet another alternate universe of mine, this time improved by very careful application of pony. She's nigh unnoticeable there, which is as it should be. The whole sun thing is not directly pony-related, but the universe follows similar themes.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/SunBeam.png

The TCF Sunbeam is the fastest fleet command ship of the surviving humans living in the floating city of New Dawn, the largest remaining human outpost on the shattered planet of Earth. Ever since the darkness descended onto the... ergh. For superstrings' sake, I can't even write a decent intro to the universe! I keep thinking in images, and words fail me.

Let's try again. This is a universe where a mysterious darkness descended onto the Earth, far in the future, and, overnight, mostly destroyed - or rather "subverted" everything on the side of Earth not lit by the Sun. As the world turned, more and more territory fell to the Darkness, even as it receded from the advancing dawn. With contact lost with everything on the dark side and the human population rapidly diminishing, the few existing sky-cities, mostly built by the Japanese and Chinese as resorts, became targets of a mass exodus, and as many people as could fit were transported to them before the Darkness traveled all the way around the Earth. In the end, just under three hundred million survived the Darkness, constantly circling the ravaged world, always keeping in the light of the Sun, expanding the cities to accommodate the growing population and building fleets to make ever dangerous forays into the night, searching for clues, reasons, and perhaps a cure for the dark corruption. But this life cannot last forever, and soon it is found that the Darkness had used the accumulated resources to turn the Moon into a giant shield against the Sun, and the super-eclipse coming within the next month will be the end of the human race... unless something can be done about it.

The Tactical Command Frigate Sunbeam is a somewhat small, but incredibly capable craft. It houses a complement of power-armor shock troops, a wing of multi-mission BattleField Fighters - the Spectral Squadron, a mixed armor unit, a battlefield support and artillery unit, and finally its own dropship group and special ops unit. I've got some of the story written out here... but none of it coherent enough yet.

(I'm not too good at putting these things into words, but I hope this is at least sorta interesting)

Time spent sketching: 30 minutes, give or take.
Time spent typing up the above paragraphs: 40 minutes. Seriously. *headdesk*
Music: random horrible things on the radio.

Now, I had some considerations here. Obviously, perspective is still my #1 nemesis, but I have to work on background details too, and a floating city seems perfect practice. Not when it's so small though. Therefore, I thought of scaling this thing up into desktop-size and try to carry it through to completion, rather than color it as it is. Good idea or not, how do you think?

edit: 30 more minutes to outline and color the ship:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/SunBeam2.png

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-22, 09:26 AM

As expected, the numerous miniature details are proving to be a pain in the wrist to set up. Maybe that's why I don't like them so much?

30 minutes to turn the previous iteration into this:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/SunBeam3.jpg

If anyone can offer composition advice or point out perspective issues before it's too late to change anything, I'd greatly appreciate it. :smallwink:

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-22, 10:58 AM

My wrist can't take much more of that detail punishment today, so let's have a look at something else. One of the protagonist characters (did I mention this was written as a videogame plot? Because it was), Raileen "Crossbow" Deagan. Not quite ace, but very good pilot of the Spectral Squadron. Nicknamed "Crossbow" for her "slow, but sure" approach to attacking targets, which results in a near-perfect shot-to-kill ratio in aerial engagements. Serious problems with discipline cause her to never advance past "Spectral Blue", second-to-last position in the Squadron, despite her skill, which she seems fine with. Flies a custom blue-painted Icarus-class BFF.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/RaileenDeagan.jpg
Only a sketch still, will get to lines and colors when I get home.
Advice on how to make a female face distinctly female-looking would be nice. :smalleek:

Domochevsky

2012-02-22, 07:34 PM

...
Only a sketch still, will get to lines and colors when I get home.
Advice on how to make a female face distinctly female-looking would be nice. :smalleek:

Personal opinion, ho! o/

http://wildwestscifi.net/Misc/RaileenDeagan_Edited.png

That's all i can contribute so far. Kinda hassling with that myself, trying to make BH look distinctively female, given the art style. >_>

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-26, 05:12 AM

I've been hit with some sort of mild disease on top of the usual sleep-deprivation, so I hadn't made any actually new drawings. Didn't take me long to fail the one-drawing-a-day thing, eh? Spectacularly fail, at that. :)
But while I have no new stuff to show, what I did was spend some time doing research and some practice on these abominable things you people call faces. I still can't do them reliably good, or consistent for that matter, but I do hope I'm slowly improving.

So far, the practical upshot of the practice is this face for Raileen:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Raileen2.jpg
Also changed the hairdo somewhat. For some reason I'm not happy with it either.
Anthropologist, biologist, engineer, clothesmaker, and now hairstylist. How many skills/knowledge bases do you have to have to be an artist?
Already not quite as abominable as it was, I think (another attempt I did before this had the rather unanimous and amusing reaction of "kill it with fire" in everyone who saw it), but any and all help you can throw my way will be appreciated.

Thanqol

2012-02-26, 05:22 AM

I've been hit with some sort of mild disease on top of the usual sleep-deprivation, so I hadn't made any actually new drawings. Didn't take me long to fail the one-drawing-a-day thing, eh? Spectacularly fail, at that. :)

Not that easy, is it? I remain the disco king.

Anthropologist, biologist, engineer, clothesmaker, and now hairstylist. How many skills/knowledge bases do you have to have to be an artist?

Author helps in character design. Insanity helps when drawing creepy pictures.

Ear's too high, top of the ear's about level with the eye. Hair's operating on anime physics, that's all right if that's what you're going for.

If you can figure out girl faces then let me know 'cause I got nothing. I'm watching this thread in the hopes somebody drops some handy advice.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-26, 05:43 AM

Not that easy, is it? I remain the disco king.Heh, yeah. Not that it isn't easy, technically, but creativity on-demand is something I always failed at. Consistently. Even if the demand is my own.

Author helps in character design. Insanity helps when drawing creepy pictures.Well, I substitute Game Master for Author... and I originally got here from the Bay 12 Games boards, so sanity isn't something I can attest to having in any appreciable amount. :)

Ear's too high, top of the ear's about level with the eye. Hair's operating on anime physics, that's all right if that's what you're going for.'K, will fix. And yeah, hair's ever so slightly anime-ish. I might tone it down too.

If you can figure out girl faces then let me know 'cause I got nothing. I'm watching this thread in the hopes somebody drops some handy advice.You know, for all the bad things I heard being said about these "how to draw manga" handbook-things, how they're "instant talent" and such, but they do provide a surprising amount of useful information if you don't just copy what's presented there. I've got one because it has a handy guide to basic anatomy, simplified face structure, elements like eyes and hair, and even some insights on shading and color theory. I just like having it around, saves me having to carry an assortment of more in-depth professional literature (not to mention having to buy said literature).

Anyway, I'm still having trouble grasping these concepts, so once I figure it out and have a few new face designs to show, I'll post it here. And maybe in the general drawthread too.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-26, 06:32 AM

Damn ye Thanqol and ye random ideas. You just had to draw Dragonjack. Now I want to draw Dragonshy.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Dragonshy2.jpg
I gotta work on my poses more, or learn to expand the canvas when the figure doesn't fit.. I've no idea what's going on there.

Thanqol

2012-02-26, 07:24 AM

Heh, yeah. Not that it isn't easy, technically, but creativity on-demand is something I always failed at. Consistently. Even if the demand is my own.

Creativity on demand is something I'm exceedingly good at. I have far, far more ideas for drawings than I can reasonably draw. Here's (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12611551&postcount=25) a list I did for the Prince; if you're ever getting artist's block I can come up with half a dozen of those from a cold start.

Well, I substitute Game Master for Author... and I originally got here from the Bay 12 Games boards, so sanity isn't something I can attest to having in any appreciable amount. :)

Game Master tends to use more storyteller/psychologist/manipulator spheres than author spheres.

And a lack of sanity is different from bona-fide insanity.

You know, for all the bad things I heard being said about these "how to draw manga" handbook-things, how they're "instant talent" and such, but they do provide a surprising amount of useful information if you don't just copy what's presented there. I've got one because it has a handy guide to basic anatomy, simplified face structure, elements like eyes and hair, and even some insights on shading and color theory. I just like having it around, saves me having to carry an assortment of more in-depth professional literature (not to mention having to buy said literature).

All super true.

Damn ye Thanqol and ye random ideas. You just had to draw Dragonjack. Now I want to draw Dragonshy.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Dragonshy2.jpg
I gotta work on my poses more, or learn to expand the canvas when the figure doesn't fit.. I've no idea what's going on there.

Need to practise your dragon heads a whole bunch. Here are some tutorials (alecan.deviantart.com/gallery/110356). I think the overbite is too significant and the faceplate is too severe. Also I can't see wings bending in under thighs like that being anything other than super uncomfortable. That said, I do like the paw feet; it's a good look.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-26, 07:49 AM

Creativity on demand is something I'm exceedingly good at. I have far, far more ideas for drawings than I can reasonably draw. Here's (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12611551&postcount=25) a list I did for the Prince; if you're ever getting artist's block I can come up with half a dozen of those from a cold start.I'll keep that in mind, thanks. :)

Game Master tends to use more storyteller/psychologist/manipulator spheres than author spheres.

And a lack of sanity is different from bona-fide insanity.A game master is also a world builder (unless he uses a premade world, I guess), so it's about the same. I might put it as a separate skill though, but I've no idea what my actual worldbuilding skill is.

Also, what would you define as insanity, then, in this specific context? I'm rather curious.

Need to practise your dragon heads a whole bunch. Here are some tutorials (alecan.deviantart.com/gallery/110356). I think the overbite is too significant and the faceplate is too severe. Also I can't see wings bending in under thighs like that being anything other than super uncomfortable. That said, I do like the paw feet; it's a good look.Yeah, I've already seen that, you posted it in your thread. Very detailed and mighty useful, except it was a while since I've seen it, and I only work from memory. I find outright copying a design to be detrimental to the learning process, because you get fixed on the specific details used rather than getting a handle on the underlying principles. It just gets skewed over time though if you only page through the reference once.
Oh, and wings aren't supposed to be like that. It's a first phase sketch, I just erased a part of them when I was cleaning up the lines of the leg. I'm going to erase them completely and pose them differently, they are slightly too small (though befitting Fluttershy) and should probably go along the back rather than like this. I had no idea what the final pose was going to be when I started drawing. >_<

edit:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Dragonshy3.jpg

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-26, 10:43 AM

Not sure if I want to color it... or will have time to. Anyway, complete Dragonshy:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Dragonshy4.jpg
(a pony has been turned into an adult dragon, of course Twilight Sparkle is involved)

edit:http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Dragonshy5.jpg

edit2:Aand finally:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Dragonshy.png

Thanqol

2012-02-26, 06:39 PM

I'll keep that in mind, thanks. :)

A game master is also a world builder (unless he uses a premade world, I guess), so it's about the same. I might put it as a separate skill though, but I've no idea what my actual worldbuilding skill is.

Worldbuilding is political awareness, anthropology and history.

Also, what would you define as insanity, then, in this specific context? I'm rather curious.

The ability to think along lines unexpected and unnatural. The ability to make thoughts run parallel to normal thinking; alien and abstract chains of logic, internally consistent but divorced from the norm.

Yeah, I've already seen that, you posted it in your thread. Very detailed and mighty useful, except it was a while since I've seen it, and I only work from memory. I find outright copying a design to be detrimental to the learning process, because you get fixed on the specific details used rather than getting a handle on the underlying principles. It just gets skewed over time though if you only page through the reference once.

Hmm. I'll think on this.

Not sure if I want to color it... or will have time to. Anyway, complete Dragonshy:

edit2:Aand finally:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Dragonshy.png

It's got Fluttershy's colour scheme, but none of her personality. You do have musculature down in general, though, I need to spend more time studying that.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-27, 10:03 AM

Worldbuilding is political awareness, anthropology and history.Heh, and here I was thinking it was sheer imagination and common sense.

The ability to think along lines unexpected and unnatural. The ability to make thoughts run parallel to normal thinking; alien and abstract chains of logic, internally consistent but divorced from the norm.Hmm. Interesting take, I suppose. How is lack of sanity different from insanity then?

It's got Fluttershy's colour scheme, but none of her personality. You do have musculature down in general, though, I need to spend more time studying that.I was aiming for a similar design rather than any sort of personality. I don't think I could even if I tried though, I've no idea how to convey personality with an image. Or, at least I never tried to see if I can. Maybe I should, but not anytime soon. Got a lot more pressing issues with my art to worry about right now.

Trying to do something useful with Raileen Deagan and her flying contraption.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/RaileenDeagan4.jpg
Not quite sure if that design is appropriate for boots... *adds general fashion sense to list of required secondary skills*
edit:
Still no idea about boots, a little too fancy for the kind of conditions the pilot of a BFF usually finds him/herself in. I'll decide later, for now deciding on a color scheme for Raileen.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/RaileenDeagan5.jpg
Key color is blue, since it's tied to the position in the Squadron, brown sections are supposed to be a kind of copper-like metal.. maybe. White hair is kinda sort of important in-story (hazy at this point), eyes not so much so perhaps I'll make 'em more blue or brown, or just a more subdued shade. Any horrible things about the design I am missing?

And no, I'm not entirely sure what she's doing with that pose either.

Thanqol

2012-02-27, 05:17 PM

Heh, and here I was thinking it was sheer imagination and common sense.

Those two can substitute for any number of other skills, with variable results.

Hmm. Interesting take, I suppose. How is lack of sanity different from insanity then?

Lack of sanity, to me, just means you're the boring kind of crazy.

I was aiming for a similar design rather than any sort of personality. I don't think I could even if I tried though, I've no idea how to convey personality with an image. Or, at least I never tried to see if I can. Maybe I should, but not anytime soon. Got a lot more pressing issues with my art to worry about right now.

BAM (http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/)! Best character design instruction site ever.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-28, 04:05 PM

Flippy forum software strikes again, didn't notice your post until now. I guess I'll just have to periodically check up on things I want to keep track of around here.

I can't quantify my own insanity yet, I think, but if being readily able to think outside of established conventions is a good measure of it, I might start some research to see if I can come up with something.

Anyways, today is not completely without something.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PhoebePeltner.jpg
I'd like to think I'm getting better with these faces. Unfortunately, had to flip the image over to draw it, upside-down faces are going to have to be a later exercise. Suggestions on the pose, and especially some better things to do with the hands/arms are welcome.

I want to make these kind of images for all the central characters of that story at this point, which means a total of... hm. Seven females, two males? I think the ponies are influencing me in worse ways than I thought. Well, a mostly female cast isn't necessarily bad, right?

Oh, and thanks for the link to that blog.. tumblr.. thing, but I've no idea how to read it in a way that'll help me. I'll dig around though.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-29, 10:21 AM

I really ought to return to drawing some big scene, maybe even actually pony-related. All these updates on individual tiny pictures I make where I'm one step closer to completion with each post probably make for a very boring read.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PhoebePeltner2.jpg
Had a run-in with perspective and hands again, but mostly bested them both. I think. The whole thing being upside-down doesn't help for some reason. And I still can't think of a good background scene for the rest of the white space on the pic. Maybe an array of the tools of the trade?

Now that the only other person that regularly posts here seems to have even less constructive time than me nowadays, this is becoming a good contender for the most boring active thread on the forum. Oh well.

Domochevsky

2012-02-29, 11:36 AM

I may not be actively posting, but i'm watching. Always watching. *_*

(Also, why not cut the whitespace if you can't find anything to put into it? Compact the scene to it's essentials.)

Sean Mirrsen

2012-02-29, 01:20 PM

Because I want all images to be the same size, and all characters to be roughly to scale. The best idea so far is to show the character, and something symbolic of what he/she does in the top/left side. Or maybe somewhere else, so I am not quite as limited. Anna Zharova will have her (brother's) hovertank, and probably her brother and mechanic, Boris "Bol'shoy Molot" Zharov (trans. "Great Maul") as well. Caroline "Repose" Botticelli will be shown with her artillery/support group in the background, Francene Sylvain will have her dropship and Taira Solahan will probably have her power armor squad in the back. Ship captain Preston Carlyle will obviously have the profile of the Sunbeam as the background, and the rest are mostly support crew, so probably won't get separate pictures. Since Phoebe's craft is infiltration and being a jack-of-all-trades (as is standard for special ops), I think I'll have to go with some of the gadgetry she uses as the background, used as weights along with some energy bars to press down a large mission plan of some sort. That's the current "maximum achievement" plan, I guess.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-03-01, 10:15 AM

Attempt at filling in the white space...
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/PhoebePeltner3.jpg
More creative names for energy bars welcome.
I think my lack of experience in planning squad-level infiltration missions into hostile military installations is showing. Maybe I should research that as well?

I'll try a version with the shadow squad itself later.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-03-02, 10:32 AM

Trying to get back into the regular drawing thing, so had to make myself draw at least something today. Here's the something.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/CarolBotticelli.jpg
Time: ~90 minutes

I think proportions are starting to drift. Also, opinions on the character's look in general needed. Going for "generally attractive" here, but I can't trust my own judgement on attractiveness.

Domochevsky

2012-03-03, 12:59 PM

Sean Mirrsen

2012-03-03, 01:22 PM

Generally attractive, hm? Needs work. :smallsmile:

http://wildwestscifi.net/Misc/CarolBotticelli_edited.png

I can't help but notice that you make the faces a lot longer than they should be, elongating the backline of the chin to reach up to a ear that is too high as well. You might wanna keep an eye on that.

(Also, dat hair is is a curl worth of Rarity! :O )The hips have already been pointed out elsewhere, so I'm working on that. And yeah, the faces are still weird. No idea why I keep warping the proportions. Well, that's why I post these things here! :smallbiggrin: Thanks for the help.

Had no time to draw today "yet", but I've still technically got 98 minutes left till tomorrow, so let's see if I can sketch up a new character...

Sean Mirrsen

2012-03-19, 09:21 AM

Long time no post, primarily because there was nothing to post. Brain ran out of creative juice, and the usual substitute (coffee!) didn't really help. Been doodling a few things here and there, but nothing worthy of showing. Now trying a new scene again, returning to the Pony Rangers 'verse and skipping ahead a little.

Huge And Very Sketchy Image:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random6.jpg
Just can't get that Discord mech right. Will pull up a reference later. Opinions on scene setup very, very welcome, if you can make sense of the sketch. I'll try to get myself to add some harder detail to it today.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-03-19, 10:40 AM

Update (still same humongous image, still just as sketchy, but more detailed):
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random6_2.jpg
I'm beginning to think it'll be better if I revise Discord's pose so that he spans the width of the picture.

Bakuel

2012-03-19, 10:57 PM

Your making art again!
And it's wonderful!
It's like my birthday and I'm happy! Expect it's not my birthday, but I'm just as happy!

I think your right in that you should use the Discord mech's serpent body to it's greatest effect and have it cover the width of the picture. It's interesting and aesthetically pleasing. Also the pose would help emphasis that the Discord mech is *Huge* and intimidating, as it would seem to engulf the pony mech.

Also, as it is now, the left part of the picture is not as interesting as the center and right. The whole reason why that space seems to exist is for the pony mech's hair to flow out. Which actually looks very awesome (Dose curves!), but more can be done in the bottom part of that space.

Thanqol

2012-03-19, 11:00 PM

There's even something to be said for having part of Discord's tail wrap around the ponymech's leg. Discord is very casually physical with the ponies, picking them up, patting them on the heads, treating them like the adorable squeaky toys they are. He'd totally do the same even to their giant robot forms.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-03-20, 02:43 AM

I think your right in that you should use the Discord mech's serpent body to it's greatest effect and have it cover the width of the picture. It's interesting and aesthetically pleasing. Also the pose would help emphasis that the Discord mech is *Huge* and intimidating, as it would seem to engulf the pony mech.

Also, as it is now, the left part of the picture is not as interesting as the center and right. The whole reason why that space seems to exist is for the pony mech's hair to flow out. Which actually looks very awesome (Dose curves!), but more can be done in the bottom part of that space.

There's even something to be said for having part of Discord's tail wrap around the ponymech's leg. Discord is very casually physical with the ponies, picking them up, patting them on the heads, treating them like the adorable squeaky toys they are. He'd totally do the same even to their giant robot forms.Quite agreed on all points. Of course, in this universe Discord is a little more than the playful spirit he is in the show (a few thousand tons more, for one), but trying to wrap his tail around the Megazord's leg (the Fluttershy leg, incidentally) would be perfectly in-character and would add a good detail to the image. I'll get right to that, for now just update to the Megazord itself:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random6_3.jpg
edit: accidentally overwrote the previous image. I'm not sure how to do Discord's tail properly, but I'll keep experimenting. Also, now the right side of the image will be a little empty. :)

If you're noticing design differences from the original Megazord I made, they are largely intentional (in terms of shoulder and hip joint design, specifically) because at this point, this is still the six-part robot, lacking Harmonic Balance.

I'm jumping all over the timeline in telling this story, aren't I?

Sean Mirrsen

2012-03-20, 08:39 AM

Some detail in background + experiment in foreground smoke of some kind.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random6_4.jpg

Sean Mirrsen

2012-03-21, 06:27 AM

Smoke was horrible, new direction. Starting another experiment.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random6_5.jpg
Trying to make like Kyouhen here, treating the whole thing as a painting rather than a drawing. Keeping the current sketchwork for now, because it looks silly without it. No idea how it'll end up, but worst case I'll already have a set of color layers for the drawing. :smalltongue:

Bakuel

2012-03-21, 11:20 PM

Looking good!

And good call on the smoke! It didn't look that good...
But I think some small dust clouds could work, trailing the ground about tree and house size or a bit smaller. It would help emphasis the size of the characters without being over bearing and also make like there has been a lot of movement before this stand-off. It's something to consider at the very least. The scene can also work fine without it.
Can't wait for the finished result!

Sean Mirrsen

2012-03-22, 09:39 AM

I may have been better off picking a direction and going with it, but I guess that's just not the way my brain chooses to work. Decided that the "traditional painting" approach won't work this time (it "worked" a grand total of one time (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Rooster1_002.PNG) to this date, for a given value of "worked"), so I'm reverting to my usual routine. This is difficult, mechanically, but I'd rather have my hand hurt than my brain. At least I know I can sort-of-reliably do it this way.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random6_6.jpg
If you're wondering what the cutoff point for any of these snapshots is, it's a point in the day when I feel like I'm not about to make any further significant progress, which tends to come spontaneously. I might actually finish the left foot and the left arm today, but right now I don't feel like it.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-03-25, 07:00 AM

Depressingly little progress since last time. I've managed to forget my tablet's stylus at home when I went to work on Friday, and spending a day without progress really threw me off again. Spent time watching Justice League Unlimited for action scene inspiration, so time not completely lost.

Anyway, what little progress there is:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random6_7.jpg
What does that expression on Discord's face look like to you? I'm no longer sure what I was going for, and can't read it well enough to tell. Is it alright for this kind of scene?

Also, them long smooth curves are the death of me. I've spent more time fiddling with Rarity's whip-tail than with Discord's mug. My wrists lack the smoothness to pull them off, and I can't get the needed precision with wider motions. Unless I do like 8x zoom, which defeats the purpose of wider strokes (though lessens the impact of imprecision) and makes following larger curves very frustrating.

Thanqol

2012-03-25, 07:05 AM

Depressingly little progress since last time. I've managed to forget my tablet's stylus at home when I went to work on Friday, and spending a day without progress really threw me off again. Spent time watching Justice League Unlimited for action scene inspiration, so time not completely lost.

"Those little plastic things on the ends of shoe laces are called aglets! Their true purpose... is sinister!"

What does that expression on Discord's face look like to you? I'm no longer sure what I was going for, and can't read it well enough to tell. Is it alright for this kind of scene?

In previous sketches, he looked smug, curious. In this one, he's got a kind of restrained anger.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-03-25, 07:16 AM

"Those little plastic things on the ends of shoe laces are called aglets! Their true purpose... is sinister!"One of my favorite quotes from the show, in fact. :smallbiggrin:

In previous sketches, he looked smug, curious. In this one, he's got a kind of restrained anger.Which would suit the scene better? Smug and curious works more for Discord as we know him, and at least in this instance he's sure of victory, so "restrained anger" wouldn't be entirely appropriate, as he finds these ponies in their "giant toy monkeysuit" amusing at most. Imma going to try and refine it (saving the current one, of course; "Restrained anger" works for a similar scene later on, and I can use the reference).

edit: The primary change I made was the shape of the eyes (I remembered he had slightly mismatched, but otherwise normal, round irises... I think), so reverting that seemed to make him look somewhat less angry.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random6_8.jpg

Sean Mirrsen

2012-03-25, 01:07 PM

I should never try to draw clockwork. I get consumed in trying to make it look right, then get frustrated halfway and rush the rest.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random6_9.jpg
I figured that since Discord has every limb of his from a different animal, making his Titan form mirror that with a different style of robot/mecha/automaton for each limb would be a nice touch. For the griffon paw I went with clockwork, brass plating looks good on the gears and riveted plates for some reason. Three legs, two wings, and a tail are left, so six more robot styles. I've already got "generic mecha" on the head and neck, and "gaslamp fantasy clockwork automaton" on the right foreleg. I need ideas for the rest.

So far I got:
"futuristic/alien nanotech" with glowing patterns and no clear joints
"old-style magitek" with power crystals and focus rods
"classic sci-fi robot", blocky and metallic (this one will be for the hooved left hind leg)

Three more. Maybe biotech? That'd probably be the tail. Anything else?

Thanqol

2012-03-25, 04:34 PM

So far I got:
"futuristic/alien nanotech" with glowing patterns and no clear joints
"old-style magitek" with power crystals and focus rods
"classic sci-fi robot", blocky and metallic (this one will be for the hooved left hind leg)

Three more. Maybe biotech? That'd probably be the tail. Anything else?

Imperial Cathedraltech
Scavenged Junk
Blades and spikes

Which would suit the scene better? Smug and curious works more for Discord as we know him, and at least in this instance he's sure of victory, so "restrained anger" wouldn't be entirely appropriate, as he finds these ponies in their "giant toy monkeysuit" amusing at most. Imma going to try and refine it (saving the current one, of course; "Restrained anger" works for a similar scene later on, and I can use the reference).

I think the former works better too.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-03-30, 11:01 AM

*sigh* I seem to be losing fidelity when working on a large image if this type. Not to mention speed!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random6_10.jpg
For purposes of quality control, I'll label this a "second pass preliminary" and see if coloring and shading improves it later.

And that was just the foreground...

Sean Mirrsen

2012-04-03, 10:26 AM

Why is it that continuing work on a big project is so much harder than going in a completely different direction? 30-something minutes spent sketching this:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random%207.jpg
Rarity got the short end of the perspective stick again. Will fix later, if there will be a "later".

I've just seen a handful of "FIRING FRIENDSHIP CANNON" pictures over in the ponythread at one point, and remembered that the Harmony Megazord is going to do that as well.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-04-05, 10:24 AM

An insight into why I can't focus: This is what happens when I sit down with a drawing implement and no clear idea of what I want to do.

(note: not "drawing" or "art" in any shape or form)
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Chaos1.jpg

Any psychoanalytics around here? Or perhaps xenolinguists? I guess on some level it's normal, but it gets in the way. I've no idea what to make of it, but this kind of thing is what I get when I don't have a clear picture in mind. Might try to get some more of these scribbles out of my head, maybe an idea of some sort will come.

Sean Mirrsen

2012-04-05, 11:07 AM

I said a certain something in Thanqol's thread:
...I could draw an anthropomorphic stapler devouring an aircraft carrier whilst sitting in the shade of the Tree of Life, if I ever felt inspired to do it (note: I just might, now) but unless I get that "feel", it just doesn't work.

Well...

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random9.jpg

Thanqol

2012-04-05, 08:25 PM

Sean Mirrsen

2012-04-06, 11:45 AM

I've got an entire 64 page notebook filled with that kinda stuff from when I was in high school. Formed the basis for Jayden's Pattern.

Nooooo idea what it means.I call them "Ancient Cantonese Speedwriting". :P I can't understand them, couldn't read even if I could, and couldn't decipher them from the way they are written in any case.

No scribbles today, but some more sketches.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random10.jpg
Link form (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4152380/Random10.jpg)

I want to make a good large version of the "sadness detected" one, but I can't visualize a good angle for it (as exemplified by the attempt next to it). The rest is just idle doodling.
The ponythread gave me the idea for the Linear Hug Cannon. The creature it fires is a "Hugs Bosun", "bosun" being another word for... some sort of naval occupation, IIRC, hence the cap. No idea how to make it recognizable in the final image though.