sugarthief on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/sugarthief/art/Ready-to-Pounce-419619820sugarthief

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Ready to Pounce!

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sugarthief
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Description



This was originally just a sketch of Rainbow Dash but I liked her pose so I wanted to actually work on a fully illustrated piece because I haven't done one in, well... years. I wanted to start experimenting with a sort of cell shading style after looking at TamberElla's shading tutorial (linked below) because I suck at shading. I added the fireflies to justify all that golden light I threw on her :/ So here is my practice piece. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out so if you've got some shading skills and feel like critiquing it please do 'cause I could always use some advice!



TamberElla's tutorial:

Image size
1700x1224px 1009.56 KB
© 2013 - 2024 sugarthief
Comments14
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NavelColt's avatar
NavelColt
:star::star::star::star: Overall
:star::star::star::star::star-empty: Vision
:star::star::star::star::star-empty: Originality
:star::star::star::star::star-half: Technique
:star::star::star::star::star-half: Impact

There's something about ponies sticking their rumps in the air and acting like kittens <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/m/m…" width="15" height="15" alt=":meow:" data-embed-type="emoticon" data-embed-id="578" title="Meow :3"/> Especially when the pony in-particular is the athlete tomboy pony who tries so hard not to be cute, despite being an adorable blue pegasus with rainbows on her butt at the end of the day <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/b/b…" width="15" height="15" alt=":D" data-embed-type="emoticon" data-embed-id="366" title=":D (Big Grin)"/>

The one noticeable thing to bother me about this piece is that Dash's wing on the far side of her body is just a bit on the side of proportionally-bizarre. I can see you tried to match the wings up as they'd most likely look in the flexed position they're in, but from this angle it still looks a bit awkward. So little of it is shown, that the fact it's so low makes it look rather out of place at where we're viewing. I actually think making the farther wing stretch up a bit farther, make it closer together with the closer wing, and have it sort of mirror it might look better.

Asides from that though, it should go without saying that one of the best parts of this piece is the great lighting job you've done <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s…" width="15" height="15" alt=":)" data-embed-type="emoticon" data-embed-id="391" title=":) (Smile)"/> Using fireflies as a singular lighting source is both creative and eye-capturing. It feels very natural and looks fantastic. It also gave you the opportunity to play around with shadows a lot, and that always adds to a picture's visual depth.

One has to love Dash's intense expression, as well. Pouncing is obviously serious pony business, after all <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/b/b…" width="15" height="15" alt=":D" data-embed-type="emoticon" data-embed-id="366" title=":D (Big Grin)"/> Us humans couldn't possibly understand!

Job well-done <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s…" width="15" height="15" alt=":)" data-embed-type="emoticon" data-embed-id="391" title=":) (Smile)"/>