Kindness

No clue what to call the title.

Alright guys. So I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the way I've been drawing faces has been slightly inconsistent. I have trouble with expressions sometimes because I just hate coming up with expressions with anatomy that just doesn't make sense. I'm trying to change the way I draw faces to make them physiologically possible. You'll understand what I mean when I list what I've changed below.



Here's the list:

     1) ROUND EYES. I can't explain how much the ovular irises and pupils has bothered me. They wouldn't be able to move like they do in the show if they're ovular. I've seen many artists give them round eyes, but I wanted to experiment with it in a piece that focused one on the face before I messed with it. Two things made me realize round eyes work, the first being 's work, because it's very stylistically similar to mine and they work with her style, and the second, finally realizing the source filmmaker model actually have round eyes, which means it would look nice when rendered to look 3 dimensional.

     2) Slightly smaller eyes. There's not enough space around the eyes with the style I was doing. Also, they were too large to fit in the skull, assuming they actually were round and not ovular like the pupils and irises they had.

     3) Eyelids and eye-sockets. They're subtle, but they're there. I need them for the eyelashes. It's impossible to draw upper and lower eyelashes logically and consistently otherwise, and it's really been bothering me ever since I started drawing 3-dimensional forms. And again, they do help with the expression.

     4) Eyebrows. Many artists struggle with giving ponies eyebrows, because they often draw them too bold, and stand out too much. I've wanted to add them in forever now, but I always forget! They really do help add tons of expression, though, and I don't like how in the show they're only used at certain times for certain expressions. Lots of sows do this, but it's like what? Do they just disappear?

     5) The cheeks, chin, and jawline. Cheeks always look cute on ponies, but many artists will have one huge cheek jutting out from the foreshortened side of the face, and have no indication of a cheek on the side facing the viewer. draws the best damn cheeks, and I think he's what mainly influenced me to add them, because they just look so much better with them, to me at least. The chins I just need for logical reasons. I hate drawing ponies with bottom teeth and lips, or at least an area for lips, but no chin. It's just weird thinking about it. The jawlines have to be done subtly as well, or else I risk making them look too manly, or too much like Celestia and Luna. Thinking about it though, the two royal sisters don't look manly, so it can be done. I'm not a huge fan of how draws the chins, but I really love the jawlines they give the ponies.

     6) Snout height. I really love the way draws the snouts and chins as well. The tiny snouts are so damn cute, and allow for more space on the forehead, which I needed if I wanted the eyebrows to work. I moved the snout lower, and I really like how it looks. This also means I can draw bigger smiles without the smile going all the way up to where the eyes should be.

     7) Ear fluff. Nuff said. I'll mess with it a bit in the future, but I want at least a little.

     8) Ever so slightly smaller nostrils. It just helps the faces to look more feminine, which is good.



This isn't only part of the way I draw faces, but check out the reflected light on the chin, cheek, forehead, arm, shoulder, etc. It looks 1,000 times better with it! I've also taken the time to work on wings some more. I'd say my main influences for them are :iconyakovled-lad: and :iconcalliger-carl:. I want to work on the bodies, but I'll save that for a later date.



Like it? Hate it? A bit of both? Tell me what you guys think!