I need some criticism/advice on this picture I just finshed.

[Frosty]

Well I just spent a few hour's messing around with a few different types of tools and I made this picture, which is serving as my Avatar for now and I need some advice/criticism on how it looks, so I can decide if I should continue using this style or move on to another.

The picture is simply of one of my OC characters named Moondusk Brush, which is the first picture of him, I ever completed.

Here are the outline I used, any advice on shapes that could improve them, would be great.

and Here's the final product.

So any advice or/and criticism that can help me approve the quality of my artwork, will be great.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

[Angie Cakes]

I can't see any body, so I can't give advice on that (obviously ), but so far this looks great! :3 you seem to have the head shape down pat.

there's only one tiny thing I would suggest, and it's not a big deal since it looks good as it is. I think the horn needs to be adjusted a touch. it seems to be sort of on the stubby side and it's a bit to far up on the forehead. it should move down just a touch and should point more forward than up

aside from that, everything seems perfect

[Frosty]

I can't see any body, so I can't give advice on that (obviously ), but so far this looks great! :3 you seem to have the head shape down pat.

there's only one tiny thing I would suggest, and it's not a big deal since it looks good as it is. I think the horn needs to be adjusted a touch. it seems to be sort of on the stubby side and it's a bit to far up on the forehead. it should move down just a touch and should point more forward than up

aside from that, everything seems perfect

Thanks and yea, I didn't draw the body as I only wanted a head and shoulder type picture . I had a feeling the horn seemed abit out of place and abit too short side. Anyway, Thank you for the criticism.

[Dawcy]

It's really nice, very true to the MLP style, but I think it's a little pixely. Smooth out the line's and you've got yourself one lovely bit of work!

[Frosty]

It's really nice, very true to the MLP style, but I think it's a little pixely. Smooth out the line's and you've got yourself one lovely bit of work!

Thanks for idea but I honestly don't know how to smooth out the pixels, as I really don't fully understand the program I'm using.

[GhostGirl]

Quick note, he seems a tad on the very short side, and his front legs are too far up on his chest, it seems. Lengthen his neck, move his shoulders back and down a touch... Also, lengthen his body and move his back legs back a ways. He looks to have the body of a foal with the head of a stallion. Short and stubby and not really able to carry the weight of his head.

Also, I wouldn't worry terribly about smoothing the lines until you've got the anatomy of the pony down pat. Do some more sketches, figure it out, decide whether you wanna stay with the show's style or make your own style with the ponies, look at other people's art. Always a good idea to look at others' art. And don't forget, it's never a bad idea to use references. Even tracing is okay when you're just starting out, if you want to go for that exact style. Tracing helps you learn the lines better. Just don't rely on it.

Overall, WONDERFUL for a starting point! Good luck! =D

[SeanMirrsen]

Thanks for idea but I honestly don't know how to smooth out the pixels, as I really don't fully understand the program I'm using.

What program are you using, by the way? The sketches look like they were done in etch-a-sketch, so I'm assuming you're on some sort of mobile device with a non-pressure-sensitive touchscreen. I'm not sure if one exists for mobile devices, but without pressure sensitivity you're better off using some sort of vector drawing program, to make your lines simultaneously less pixelly and more smooth. If you're not on a mobile device after all, you can try something called InkScape, it's a free vector art program. Vectors are nice because with them you can draw smooth lines even with a mouse, and you can save the result of your work in any size without losing quality.

As for the pic itself, I can see no severe flaws, but as the above poster pointed out, both sets of legs are a little too far forward, and the neck looks too thin. All in all, a good attempt.

[Frosty]

Quick note, he seems a tad on the very short side, and his front legs are too far up on his chest, it seems. Lengthen his neck, move his shoulders back and down a touch... Also, lengthen his body and move his back legs back a ways. He looks to have the body of a foal with the head of a stallion. Short and stubby and not really able to carry the weight of his head.

Also, I wouldn't worry terribly about smoothing the lines until you've got the anatomy of the pony down pat. Do some more sketches, figure it out, decide whether you wanna stay with the show's style or make your own style with the ponies, look at other people's art. Always a good idea to look at others' art. And don't forget, it's never a bad idea to use references. Even tracing is okay when you're just starting out, if you want to go for that exact style. Tracing helps you learn the lines better. Just don't rely on it.

Overall, WONDERFUL for a starting point! Good luck! =D

Thanks for the suggestion on how to improve my art, I guess I should get back to the drawing board and study on some artwork. I kinda went with sketch and try to do it from scatch. Well Thank you for the input.

What program are you using, by the way? The sketches look like they were done in etch-a-sketch, so I'm assuming you're on some sort of mobile device with a non-pressure-sensitive touchscreen. I'm not sure if one exists for mobile devices, but without pressure sensitivity you're better off using some sort of vector drawing program, to make your lines simultaneously less pixelly and more smooth. If you're not on a mobile device after all, you can try something called InkScape, it's a free vector art program. Vectors are nice because with them you can draw smooth lines even with a mouse, and you can save the result of your work in any size without losing quality.

As for the pic itself, I can see no severe flaws, but as the above poster pointed out, both sets of legs are a little too far forward, and the neck looks too thin. All in all, a good attempt.

I'm using Gimp 2.6 with my mouse and well I guess it does look like abit of an etch-a-sketch now that I have a good look at it, so I can understand how it does look abit...umm messy?, since I used the pencil tool with a low seeing rate, so I can get abit of a sketchy look and be able to ink it later while abit more easily with paint. I try the art program and see how that works out and thank you for the input

[Rosewind]

I think you need to outline the mane with a lighter color so it's easier to see. The dark blue and black don't really compliment each other very well in contrast, and make details hard to see.

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

One way you can get around aliased outlines is to make the picture about twice as large as you intend it to end up, then when you're finished drawing, you shrink it in half. I know a number of comic artists that do that when they are scanning line art. (although they tend to do really crazy resolutions like 1000% and then scaling it down again.)