Sunset Grove Drawing Tutorial

Drawing MLP's the Sunset Grove way

To begin with, to understand the way I draw MLPs, you must understand that I spent many, many years drawing real horses, unicorns, pegasus, etc.  As a result, my MLPs always conform to a strict skeletal structure loosely based on a real horse's.  To better understand this structure, you have to realize that a horse's leg joints, for the most part, correspond with a human's.  It's just that the proportions are different.  His hind legs are like our legs and his front legs are like our arms.  A horse walks on his "toes/fingers" (hooves) and his "foot/hand" is very long.  His "hip/shoulder blade"  is all the way up at the spine. Take a look at the chart to the left for a visual.  I generally do not actually draw this structure when drawing but I keep it in mind. When beginning, I usually start by blocking out where I want the pony on the piece of paper.  I usually use circles for the head, nose, and rump.  The shoulder is usually in an egg-like shape.  Make sure to leave enough room at the bottom for legs.  Whenever the pony has her head turned or she is being seen from the front or behind, these shapes may overlap.  Try to keep your pencil lines as light as possible because you will be erasing them later. Next, start adding in the basic shapes of the pony.  The back of the neck usually looks best when slightly arched.  The front of the neck usually follows the pattern of the back of the neck.  Lightly block in where you want the legs.  This can be one of the hardest parts because horse and pony legs are very difficult.  The legs farthest from the viewer should always end slightly higher than the ones in the front.  This is called perspective and creates the illusion of depth. Once you have the legs where you want them, you can start connecting all the lines to make all of the body parts fit together.  A pony's head is rather triangular both from the side and from the front with the longest point being the muzzle or nose.  The ears are positioned slightly on the side of the head and in line with the eyes and nostril.  I also like to define the shoulders and belly with a little shading or a small line. The hair is the most fun part of drawing a pony.  You can be as simple or elaborate as you want.  Just remember that hair almost never hangs exactly straight down even when the pony is standing still.  Just a little bit of wave is enough to make it look full and real.  The more wave you add the more the pony looks like a) she is moving or b) there is a lot of wind. Finally, erase your earlier lines and make your final lines look crisp and finished.  Add in shading where appropriate.  A final note: MLP's don't have eyebrows but using a line or shading to define where the eyebrow ridge should be is very important to creating expression for your pony (whether she is sad, angry, suprised, etc.). Now you're done!  Congratulations!

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