Sketch Dump!

[ZennaBug]

What?  Zenna still draws?!    I do!  It's been a long time since I did pony art just for fun.  I draw lots of ponies and unicorns at one of my jobs (my second, part-time job is in the kids babysitting area of a gym) as coloring pages for the kids, but they're just sharpie doodles.  Some are pretty cute, but I haven't bothered bringing home copies to scan.  I will, eventually.

But late last night and this morning, I had a sudden urge to draw ponies!  So I did.    I've been trying to work on giving my ponies more movement and life, so I have spent a lot of time looking at pictures of horses and trying out new poses.  So far, I've been happy with them.  And they're all quite a bit better than the last pony drawings I've shared. 

They're still sketchy because I am just rubbish at cleaning up line work on the computer and I would like to use the ones of my characters as new ref sheets and get the blank ponies cleaned up to add to our coloring book.  I spent all day fixing up the one of Vessa and the idea of doing it to all of them is painful.  If anyone really loves tracing and digitizing line work, I would love you forever and trade you for a traditional drawing if you'd be willing to help me! 

But on to the pics!    Vessa first, since I've been working on her all. freaking. day.  Pics in spoilers because there are a lot.

Spoiler

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WIP 1.  Colors done, but no line work.

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WIP 2.  This is where I've stopped because I'm going cross-eyed.  Colors are done, i've got some shading in there, and a quick background.  But that line work.  *pulls hair out*

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And my other sketches!  They all need to be cleaned up too and I am dreading it, lol.

Spoiler

Dursi!  I've been debating updating him.  Mr. Zenna's favorite color is now lavender and Dursi is only shades of blue for the most part.  And the donuts were a funny jab at him trying to become a cop, but that plan has fizzled a bit and he's super into fitness now.  So the pony isn't him at all.  But Dursi is cute and I have enough art of him and Vessa that I don't really want to change him up.  I'm undecided.  This will be his new ref sheet when I finish it.  I have had a hard time drawing boy ponies, but I really like this one!

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My secondary ponysona, Lotus.  She's the more shy version of me and I don't use her often, but I like her a lot. 

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Little Flitter.  Because she's the best. 

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After posting some pics to facebook, my brother in law asked for a pony lol.  So this is the start of his.  No clue what his symbol or colors will be (something police-related, as he's a cop), but I have him a hairy chin and chest lol.  The guy is like a grizzly bear. 

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And another facebook request, for a friend who is a personal trainer.  This one will be colored in blues, purples, and white.  I'll probably add some sparkles. 

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A pegasus.  Practicing wings!  She'll go into the Arena coloring book once I've cleaned her up.

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And a silly little earth pony.  Also destined for the coloring book once she's done.

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NPA.  I guess.  They're sort of pony-ish. 

Spoiler

And then some little kirin-ish critters.  The first one is Kyle.    I drew him working with the kdis at the gym one day to try to show them how you can make up your own animals.  He's gone through lots of different ears and patterns, but I really like him lol.  He's like a unicorn/goat/kirin/fluffy thing.  And I named him Kyle because it made the kids laugh to have such a normal name for such a weird critter.  I should bring home my oridinal sketch, as he's changed a bit (mostly in size) since I created him a few months ago. 

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And a lady friend.  Maybe named Iris?  I made her last night/early this morning (2am) because I couldn't sleep.

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[Juliepants]

They're really good!!

Jules x

[hathorcat]

Oh these are lovely, Zenna! I am adoring that little earth pony right at the end especially. Your style is so distinct and just adorable.

[Griffin]

Yay, Zenna draws again! They are all great, you have such an adorable style and I think the horse references have helped you improve a lot! I love the movement in the pics, even the ones with basic standing poses have a sense of life to them. My favourites are Vessa, the colouring book earth pony, and the one you designed for your brother-in-law. The little kirins are super cute, too!

As for the lineart issue, what is your method for colouring digital art? Your inked lines look so clean that I'm wondering... would it work if you simply erased the pencil sketches and adjusted the scans in PS to clean up the lines, instead of redrawing them digitally? That's what I usually do since I don't have a working tablet and drawing with a mouse is a pain. The path tool (or whatever it's called) is tedious as well. I'm happy to help if you want to try it and need more information! Of course the resulting linework is not as clean as one drawn digitally but if your original scan is large enough, most imperfections won't be visible in the final, resized pic.

[babyblueducky]

They are all very awesome. I've missed seeing your work.

[Marlin]

Oooh!!! I think this is the first time I have chanced upon your art! Finally!!   

I love the wee earth pony - she's utterly adorable. The expression on her face is just lovely! And the wings on the pegasus are neat too 

[Koudoawaia]

I just love these sketches. They're so fun to look at^^

[Nence]

I really love all of these sketches, you are good to bring life in all the drawings You are very talented. Do you ever take commissions or do art-trades?  someday that would have been lovely.

[ZennaBug]

I took a picture of Kyle's original design at work tonight!  He briefly had really long ears and antler nubs.  It took me several versions before I figured out how to draw his furry neck ruff/mane thing.  And he started with lightning leg markings, which changed to all-over speckles (no photos of that version, which I recycled), which went through several more abstract patterns that I knew I wouldn't be able to replicate ever again, and then to his current version.  He also shrunk down each time I drew him from horse-sized to about the size of a baby deer.  Because tiny things are adorable, lol.

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They're really good!!

Jules x

Oh these are lovely, Zenna! I am adoring that little earth pony right at the end especially. Your style is so distinct and just adorable.

Thank you both!     

Yay, Zenna draws again! They are all great, you have such an adorable style and I think the horse references have helped you improve a lot! I love the movement in the pics, even the ones with basic standing poses have a sense of life to them. My favourites are Vessa, the colouring book earth pony, and the one you designed for your brother-in-law. The little kirins are super cute, too!

As for the lineart issue, what is your method for colouring digital art? Your inked lines look so clean that I'm wondering... would it work if you simply erased the pencil sketches and adjusted the scans in PS to clean up the lines, instead of redrawing them digitally? That's what I usually do since I don't have a working tablet and drawing with a mouse is a pain. The path tool (or whatever it's called) is tedious as well. I'm happy to help if you want to try it and need more information! Of course the resulting linework is not as clean as one drawn digitally but if your original scan is large enough, most imperfections won't be visible in the final, resized pic.

Thanks!  I used to draw horses all the time, but I feel like going way back to the basics helped immensely.  I'm happier with these drawings than I have been with any others in a long time. 

For line art, I sometimes just scan and then adjust the colors and brightness to clean it up a bit.  But when I color digitally, I usually like to have my line art on the top layer and then the colors beneath it.  So I use the eraser and the polygon tool to delete and erase all of the white.  It works for me just fine, but it's incredibly tedious.  I've tried tracing over and redoing my lines too, but I have a very shaky hand when it comes to digital art.  Even with my tablet, which I've had for a few years (it was a present from Mr. Zenna).  I'm sure I'd be better if I practiced more, but I just enjoy traditional art so much more.  At least when it comes to creating it.  I like to look at digital art and it makes for a much better ref sheet.  And I don't mind coloring digitally.  I just detest the line work! 

They are all very awesome. I've missed seeing your work.

Oooh!!! I think this is the first time I have chanced upon your art! Finally!!   

I love the wee earth pony - she's utterly adorable. The expression on her face is just lovely! And the wings on the pegasus are neat too 

I just love these sketches. They're so fun to look at^^

Thanks!  I do still draw a lot, but it's usually at work and then kids color their pictures in and take them home.  It's actually pretty fun, as I get some seriously odd requests sometimes.  But the kids love it and so do I. 

I really love all of these sketches, you are good to bring life in all the drawings You are very talented. Do you ever take commissions or do art-trades?  someday that would have been lovely.

Thank you, Nence!    I haven't ever taken commissions, as I tend to either work in a massive flurry of drawing (like this round), or sit around in a bog ol' artist's block.  But once I have finished up a couple projects that I'm working on (the quilting project here, the plushie swap, and a Frozen Hello Kitty picture for a friend), I would be happy to do a trade. 

And because it just reminded me and I think they're cute, these are the coloring book pages I made for the kids at my work that prompted my friend to ask for a version of them for her daughter's wall. 

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[Griffin]

Goodness, that Frozen / Hello Kitty crossover is too cute for words! I adore Anna especially! You did a great job on her dress and hair.

For line art, I sometimes just scan and then adjust the colors and brightness to clean it up a bit.  But when I color digitally, I usually like to have my line art on the top layer and then the colors beneath it.  So I use the eraser and the polygon tool to delete and erase all of the white.  It works for me just fine, but it's incredibly tedious.

Oh, I think I can help you there! At least I hope Photoshop has the same handy trick as Gimp, "Colour to Alpha". If your scan is clean enough so that the white areas are completely white, you can turn the BG transparent with just one click. It's magic!  

[ZennaBug]

Goodness, that Frozen / Hello Kitty crossover is too cute for words! I adore Anna especially! You did a great job on her dress and hair.

For line art, I sometimes just scan and then adjust the colors and brightness to clean it up a bit.  But when I color digitally, I usually like to have my line art on the top layer and then the colors beneath it.  So I use the eraser and the polygon tool to delete and erase all of the white.  It works for me just fine, but it's incredibly tedious.

Oh, I think I can help you there! At least I hope Photoshop has the same handy trick as Gimp, "Colour to Alpha". If your scan is clean enough so that the white areas are completely white, you can turn the BG transparent with just one click. It's magic!  

Thanks!  I did Elsa first on a Monday, when I had a kid who couldn't choose between a Frozen and Hello Kitty coloring page.  I made 15 copies of her, colored that one for myself (I always color and hang up my coloring pages when I make a new one, as a way of announcing to the kids that there's something new), and I stuck her in the coloring book page files.  I came back for my next shift that Thursday and the walls were almost completely covered!  So I sat my butt down and did an Anna too.  She's my favorite of the two anyway.    They are probably my very favorite non-pony or ponyish drawings ever.  I was pretty pleased with myself lol.  Especially considering that all I have to work with in there is a ballpoint pen, a sharpie, and crayons.

As for the line art, that's what I would usually do, but even after cleaning up my original sketches, it wasn't giving me clean selections this time on ANY of them.  *cries*  Stupid scanner.  I had to go back in and clean it up with the polygonal lasso and eraser tools anyway.  It would have been SOOO much easier to just select and delete the white, but I don't know of another way to do it.

[Nence]

Sounds lovely! Please let me know
And I really love the kitty-drawing of Anna and Elsa

[babyblueducky]

The new design is great. The Frozen kitties are fantastic.

[Moonbreeze]

It's nice to some of your drawings Zenna Your ponies are always so sweet