HOME | DD

Description
I decided that I was super sick of seeing all the ponies out there drawn in that same creepy generic open mouth smile thing going on. So, I decided to shed some of my knowledge on expressing, especially on the pony form.

Now my style isn't exactly show accurate, but it is pretty close imo. Just bear that in mind.

Anyway, going through this hell hole of crazy emotioins... Notes!!

- ALWAYS start with a circle. Trust me, it'll help you with positioning everything else.

- NECKS. You always hear everyone goign on about how eyebrows are so expressive, but if you notice, ponies usually dont have eye brows. I've found that the pony's neck works to make up for this a little. They can show motion and expression wonderfully (especially if exaggerated correctly)

- EXAGGERATION!!! For the love of Celestia, please don't be afraid to step outside your sketched circle. With a toony style like this, you can get away with a lot. Take advantage of that!! Make that tongue way too big, stretch that neck, make that smile take up half the face, do whatever you gotta to make it happen.

- EARS!! Y'know how I said necks make up for the lack of eyebrows 'a little'? Well the rest of it is in the ears and eyes. They can do wonders to show positive and negative emotions. For example, ears perking straight up should be used for excitement or surprise. Ears goign straight down should be used for deep sadness and fear. There's lots of variants for this like complete horizontal for grumpiness or one-up-one-down for curiosity. Go nuts.

- EYES!! There are similar in the fact that there are hundreds of variations. You want creepy or scared? Go with big eyes but small irises. You want cute? Go with big irises in general. You want to really show that grumpiness? Remember your muscles. The eyebrows sit on top of them. You can use these muscles on your pony to imply eyebrow movement. The possibilities are endless!!

- EXPERIMENT!!! Y'know that feel when you just cant get the expression you're looking for? Well, draw it again. Not that time? Draw it again!! Didn't get it after 59 times? Well motherfucker MAKE IT 60 TIMES. Keep going until you get it. Look up references, make the faces yourself, whatever helps you get that expression. Don't take the easy way out and just change the expression all together. Sometimes an expression can make an entire piece rise from good to great.

Well I hope that helped! If this gets enough attention, I might make another tutorial kinda thing.

Description
I decided that I was super sick of seeing all the ponies out there drawn in that same creepy generic open mouth smile thing going on. So, I decided to shed some of my knowledge on expressing, especially on the pony form.

Now my style isn't exactly show accurate, but it is pretty close imo. Just bear that in mind.

Anyway, going through this hell hole of crazy emotioins... Notes!!

- ALWAYS start with a circle. Trust me, it'll help you with positioning everything else.

- NECKS. You always hear everyone goign on about how eyebrows are so expressive, but if you notice, ponies usually dont have eye brows. I've found that the pony's neck works to make up for this a little. They can show motion and expression wonderfully (especially if exaggerated correctly)

- EXAGGERATION!!! For the love of Celestia, please don't be afraid to step outside your sketched circle. With a toony style like this, you can get away with a lot. Take advantage of that!! Make that tongue way too big, stretch that neck, make that smile take up half the face, do whatever you gotta to make it happen.

- EARS!! Y'know how I said necks make up for the lack of eyebrows 'a little'? Well the rest of it is in the ears and eyes. They can do wonders to show positive and negative emotions. For example, ears perking straight up should be used for excitement or surprise. Ears goign straight down should be used for deep sadness and fear. There's lots of variants for this like complete horizontal for grumpiness or one-up-one-down for curiosity. Go nuts.

- EYES!! There are similar in the fact that there are hundreds of variations. You want creepy or scared? Go with big eyes but small irises. You want cute? Go with big irises in general. You want to really show that grumpiness? Remember your muscles. The eyebrows sit on top of them. You can use these muscles on your pony to imply eyebrow movement. The possibilities are endless!!

- EXPERIMENT!!! Y'know that feel when you just cant get the expression you're looking for? Well, draw it again. Not that time? Draw it again!! Didn't get it after 59 times? Well motherfucker MAKE IT 60 TIMES. Keep going until you get it. Look up references, make the faces yourself, whatever helps you get that expression. Don't take the easy way out and just change the expression all together. Sometimes an expression can make an entire piece rise from good to great.

Well I hope that helped! If this gets enough attention, I might make another tutorial kinda thing.