This is wonderful! I love the extra markings and the background is perfect, too.

thank you so much!!

On top of the acrylic paint, you can use chalk pastels, watercolor pencils and/or gouache paint for more subtle details such as irises, eyelashes, thin symbols, highlights blush, gradients etc.. I found that chalk pastels add the very faint color variation that can bring a custom pony to life.

Oooh, I have lots of gouache colors so that's good to know!! Would it be a good idea to use gouache on the whole pony or should I stick to acrylic for the majority of the project?

The trick is to water down the paint to the consistency of whole milk, where it will just cling to the brush but still drip off. Use lots of layers. Use teeny tiny brushes for symbols and especially eyes. Eyes are very hard for newbies and experts alike. You can brace your elbow on a surface, put your free fingers on the pony and hold your breath as you paint the lines for the eyes. It takes practice. Some people have good luck with full body repaints using make-up sponges. Others invest in an airbrush. But you can create nice smooth full bodies with a brush too.

As far as paint, some people use more expensive ones like Golden or Vallejo but lots of people, myself included, use cheaper ones like Apple Barrel or Folk Art. I find Folk Art has the best white.

I have heard of using paint thinner as oppose to water when thinning paint down, but I don't know about it personally.

As for sealers never ever use Mod Podge. Some older tutorials and how-to's on customizing will recommend it, but in the long run, it's awful. Liquitex has a good brush on sealer and Testor's Dullcote is a spray can and is excellent. I've heard good thing about Mr. Super Clear too, but never used it. There is also the option of not sealing, which I prefer these days.

Best advice? Get a fakie to practice on before you use a real MLP.

I hope this helps Welcome to the world of pony customs 

This is so much valuable information, thank you so much!! I will absolutely be coming back to this when I take my first few baby steps into customs!

Hey there! I've been really interested in customizing G1s for a while, but I don't actually have any experience doing it yet. I was wondering what techniques people use to get their symbols and eyes looking as clean, flat, and accurate to the originals as possible? I'm an artist and I've worked with acrylic paints many times before, but I've never used it on a toy. Acrylic has a tendency to be rather clumpy and dries with an unpleasant texture, and I don't want my customs to feel like that! Do you use Liquitex, pouring medium, paint thinners, sealers? Give me your secrets!!

Ahhh this is so so cute <3

Heyyyy I know you!! lol thank you so much!!! 🥺🥺🥺

Post Merge: February 20, 2022, 08:20:29 PM

Such cute drawings people xxx

thank you so so so much!

I created my own set of paint ponies

Do you have a link? I'd love to see them!

Long time no see! I have a habit of forgetting about my account here, I'll try to be more active in the future! Today I finished up this drawing of Applejack, I hope you all enjoy it! Please visit my page at horseytown.deviantart.com to see more! Have a lovely day! 🌼

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