How I Learned to Draw My Little Pony Art
When helping other bronies learn to draw in this artstyle, I ended up saying the same thing over and over. So, to save everyone time, here's the path I took and how it worked for me:
When I first looked to learn the style, I found some guides that were helpful, but a little too much like the Spongebob method:
Even the basic shapes and styles they showed were beyond me. I needed a more structured approach. So I decided to create my own guide instead and to start, I studied the official art.
This first test was based on the idea that cartoon characters are usually drawn from the head first using a guiding circle (or so it seemed to me). In this case, I started to notice patterns: hair attaches at exactly a 2/3rds point in the upper fourth, the three lines of the ear work similarly, and the horn (for unicorns) is exactly at the half-way mark. Doing it this way also helped me position the nose, the eye and any other parts as well.
Next I needed to see how the rest of the body was drawn. I created another similar graphic for that.
Keep in mind I realize this is probably way more complex than you might think is necessary, but this is just a starting point. I had to do it the hard way to get the proportions right and place all the parts correctly.
In my opinion, it worked pretty well for me:
My plan was to gain more practice by doing straight shots next. First the guide:
And the result:
After completing both profiles and front-shots, I wanted practice with the super expressive faces. I collected a ton of screenshots from the show and did faces for each (without any guides, just freehanding now that I had the basics down):
At that point, I was finally able to start working on comics and plan to do more original art, but the key after getting the basic is to practice! Have a project (for me, it's the comics), but I still use lots of reference images from the show to make sure I'm staying as close to authentic as possible:
That's it! Don't be afraid to use a reference or even trace something exactly and make necessary changes. The more you draw and practice, the better you'll get!
And for those that were wondering, no, I DON'T use these guides and draw all those circles and lines anymore. I did it ONCE ever because that's all it took to learn the style. You use training wheels until you get your balance right?
My Art on Deviantart…
…can be found by clicking hereMy sketch-overs for other artists
The first one... others are linked at the bottomShare This
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This is my first time attempting to draw something, even though I haven’t started it yet, I can 100% bet that this mini guide can help me achieve my goal.
I’m happy if it’s a help 🙂
This method definitely helped me get started.
I absolutely love your mlp articles! I’ve recently encountered brony hate, and I just don’t understand it. I’ve also been mlp drawings as of late.
I would appreciate it if you looked at them. 🙂
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.629115473771719.1073741825.100000198176262&type=3
Thanks a lot. /)—<3
If I can do something to promote education and fight ignorance (especially hateful ignorance), then it’s my pleasure to do so.
As for the art, I’d say they look very good! If you don’t have a Deviantart account, getting one can be very motivating since people will be able to see and comment on the work.
What powerful art! You’ve shown me what I need to draw from a variety of angles now. Of course, because of slightly different preferred proportions and my “style”, some of my subtle mistakes send my self consciousness through the roof!
Some “subtle mistakes” are your personal style so don’t worry too much about it. Have fun and keep drawing 🙂
Thank you! I’ll show you one day, after some practice (if you don’t mind).
so cool
This is amazing! You are an amazing artist!
(sighs) too complicated 🙁 idk if there is another easier way to do it…. so plz tell me if there is..
Sure. Try this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da0OMZtlJvs
i love this drawing very much.but it is hard for me.anyway i will try my best to draw these pictures during my holidays
If I was anybody else, I would prefer to also study Lauren`s art and create basic lines
to help you, not saying you don’t have to use anyone else’s, but creating your own lines that would help you such as circles and lines. Like what this person said, you could use a simple coin and even a ruler,too.
Awesome! I’m here because I’m working on a program that will be a tool for those wanting to make OC ponies and animation with little to no skills with real functions, and I was working on the body building parameters, I’m no artist, but I find the insight I get from your perspective very helpful and enlightening, Thank You for the effort you went to learning and sharing what you learned!
u did awesome with the mlp drawings!
do u think u can draw something from the amazing world of gumball? r maybe something mine craft like…I’ll give u a thumbs up and a shoutout! XD!
oh my is my head that big! O,O
yea it is LOL TROLLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL TROLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!
Not really a brony but, MLP kinda got me hooked with it’s humor and reminds me about PPG haha Anyways, I’m kind of interested in their art style. Saw some guides from here and there but this kinda covers everything I need to draw them haha Short, detailed and complete I think that’s how I thought about your guide. Nice work pal d(>.>
The way I learned how to draw ponies was… by first learning how to draw manga by watching Mark Crilley on YouTube. Then, applying the same principles to ponies wasn’t too hard.