I tried to read Background Pony, but the chapters are just so long. And not even long out of necessity, either, with a lot of time spent waxing poetic. That's just not my cup of tea. The story concept is cool, though.

edited 28th Sep '12 10:42:29 AM by PerpetualLurker

Waxing poetic is not my strong suit. That poetic just won't keep still.

Argh, why does drawing pony heads mock me so, All it is is 3/4 of a circle with some bullshit for a nose. (This excludes mane and ears)

edited 28th Sep '12 10:48:30 AM by stevebat

I think I'm just completely immune to WORDS WORDS WORDS.

I archive binged on Homestuck in just two days, and I've enjoyed everything I've read by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Unfortunately, shortskirtsandexplosions isn't quite Dostoevsky, so I can see why Background Pony rubs other folks the wrong way, even though I don't mind. I really liked that he made fun of his own writing style in the Pinkie Pie-centric chapter.

edited 28th Sep '12 10:52:16 AM by MetaFour

Steve: The positioning is very particular. MLP heads are huge, so any kind of mistake throws it off a lot. Oh and their heads are more like a cross between terran ponies and cats, so there's that weirdness going on too.

..... What. You what?

God, I must be getting old in my young age, I don't have the energy to do that to webcomics anymore, especially not something as.... "Unconventional" as Homestuck. Either that or I've acquired too many hobbies.

have I ever mentioned how much I love pony memes? Especially the Tv/gamer ponies meme!

http://derpibooru.org/104521
http://derpibooru.org/106334
http://derpibooru.org/39488
http://derpibooru.org/53304
http://derpibooru.org/106783
http://derpibooru.org/104364

Just wanted to say, I love the new avatar Meta.

#thumbs up

edited 28th Sep '12 11:02:35 AM by Bluespade

@Kuroi I am trying to sketch a side view of a basic pony (Screw FAOIC), what looks deceptively simple is a nightmare to me.

Well, it's pretty dang headcannon-y, but I had a few ideas for Lyra. Had an idea for a fic where she would play a major role. The idea there was that she was more of a traveling musician before settling down, with a bit of historian in there.

But to be honest, I've actually always really, really hated the whole human obsession thing she's got going on. IT just really doesn't sit well with me. First of all ?I don't like characters revolving around a quirk, and second of all I don't like people in my ponies, I think.

I imagine ponies don't like people in ponies either

Yeah, I could never binge Homestuck that quickly, if only because I just don't have that much time. Waxing poetic doesn't bug me on principle, but when it's applied to ponies it always comes across as weird to me for the same reason grimdark stuff does. I'll be going along and then it mentions one of the characters or something and my mind just snaps back to the show, and the cartooniness of it usually makes the poeticness seem melodramatic. The prose might be beautiful, but I just find it hard to take seriously when it's talking about a pony who was introduced doing this.

@Kegisak: I think it depends on how far it takes it. If she's completely obsessed with what's explicitly human I think it starts to break the setting, but I've seen it more in the "humans are Equestria's equivalent of bigfoot", and it's just one of her interests, I think it can work. But yeah, that's about as far as the setting can stretch.

edited 28th Sep '12 11:08:42 AM by JapaneseTeeth

Steve: Believe me, I know. I know from experience that all the lines are very particular, otherwise everything will feel off. References are pretty much a must.

Not without their permission at least.

Bow chicka bow-wow~

/*obligatory Lyra plushie reference*

@Kuroi: Tell me about it; I think I've only ever drawn one pony picture that looked half decent without using some kind of reference image. This picture, specifically.

@Steve: Yeah, it takes a while to get it right. Just wait until you try to draw an action show that involves a pony's back legs. /*shudders*

edited 28th Sep '12 11:11:04 AM by JapaneseTeeth

@Bluespade: I believe I found this pic from one of your links. I'd seen a few other ponified Aradias before, but this was the first that I thought looked good as an avatar.

Oh yeah... I did post that. Well then, you're welcome?

Ah references...

You mean having a picture of a pony handy to trace off of?

-Completely new to this whole "sketching" thing-

edited 28th Sep '12 11:13:26 AM by stevebat

@Steve: I'm just an amateur myself, but what I did was look through MLP VectorClub, find a vector of a pony in a pose comparable to what I wanted, and then tried to reproduce it. I'm trying to get away from requiring references so I'll have to learn the component shapes, but references make early sketches a lot easier. I wouldn't trace it, but having something to check your work against to make sure you don't accidentally give them a tiny head or something is really helpful.

edited 28th Sep '12 11:22:31 AM by JapaneseTeeth

Steve: Well, preferably not trace, trace. I mean doing that a couple times can help one get a handle on the anatomy, but do it too often and it becomes a crutch. Use it as a comparison, to pick out any mistakes you may have made in the proportions, etc. or to figure out to draw a part you have no idea how it would look (for instance, a hind leg during a galloping shot).

To be fair, she's never been shown doing anything musical related in the show.

What do you count it as if you try to copy a reference image by looking at it instead of tracing? I tried one today but I somehow managed to mess up the wings even with a reference.

Random rambling.

I sometimes imagine Discord as Equestrian equivalent of Osama Bin Laden.

That would make the Mane Cast the Equestrian equivalent of Navy SEAL Team Six.

Story: As long as you're paying attention to form and why things are placed as they are, rather than just mechanically copying it line for line, I think it should help you learn. Not as quickly as say, learning to work with a sketch skeleton, but it should still be helpful.

http://derpibooru.org/108623

That's surreal.