This is how I draw ponies. It is the circle method. I use a multitude of circles to try to get the pony's proportions drawn out.

Other people have different styles and methods. Whatever works for each person is good. And maybe one person could find out multiple methods. The point is to have fun.

Before I get into the pictures, allow me to give you a small college-esque lecture.

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I'll speak a little (only a little) about a book I bought called "Drawing Horses" by Don Mayne. He uses the RIDE technique.

R = Rough out your sketch lightly in pencil.
I = Improve your pencil sketch as needed.
D = Draw over the final lines in ink.
E = Erase all pencil marks completely.

People aren't afraid of drawing as much as they are afraid to make mistakes. Forget about making mistakes, they don't matter! Yes, it can be frustrating when you try to draw something but doesn't come out right. But those are not mistakes, those are opportunities to learn something. If you can see that the legs are too short, for example, then next time you'll sketch them a little longer. See? You learned something.

Remember, if you really like something you drew, then it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks of it. Drawing to please yourself is the most fun of all.

Since I'm often uninspired about poses and such, I used Miss Nightglider to be my model. Isn't she lovely, folks? And she works for peanuts.



I find that making a thumbnail sketch of your drawing is helpful. It gives you an idea of pose and background (if any) when you get started. It is not required to look all professional or anything, just a quick sketch for guidance.

I will also look at pictures of real horses or horse paintings to get an idea for proportion and position.



My next step is to get my drawing paper (I used card stock so the paper will survive any constant erasing I do). I use a clicky pencil (0.5 lead), a white eraser rectangle thingy, a circle template (not required, but can be helpful), and the finest tipped permenant marker I could find (for later use). I also try to draw lightly because there will be some erasing.

I use larger circles for the body. Sometimes the \"chest\" circle is larger than the \"bum\" circle, but I guess it all depends on the pony and the position.



I then draw a circle to show where the head goes, and then a smaller circle for the pony's muzzle. These circles usually overlap. I put in the triangle for the ear.



Next, I draw circles to show where I want her legs to go (I usually draw the legs that are \"towards\" me first, then her legs on the other side second.)



And then the other legs.



After I draw the circles, I find drawing a few lines where the legs and neck go really helps. I also made a small circle approximately where the eye will be.



This is where I really start adding flesh to the pony. I don't follow the curves of the circles completely, they are just a guide.



Now, with all the lines and circles and things, the drawing gets really busy and sometimes confusing. I take a little time, and a lot of caution, to erase some of the circles without erasing the outline. Not easy, but it makes it easier to work with (at least for me).



Now comes some more fun stuff. I add hair. You can pretty much make the hair do whatever you want. It can be straight, wavy, curly, ringlets. Relaxed, frizzy, windblown, however you desire. I also made the eye more interesting. Not completed, but getting there. I also adjusted the muzzle as I thought it looked a little long. Gave her a smile, too. All throughout the drawing process I tweak it here and there to get it \"just so.\"

You can see the neck line and the hair lines overlap. I usually leave it that way until it get inked, as it is a delicate operation to try to erase those small areas.



I've now inked it, and even added a ribbon to her tail to give a real sweet touch. Added even more definition to the eye and darkened in the pupil.



And here is the final product. I let the ink dry for a few minutes and then took my big eraser and got rid of all the pencil lines.



Viola! She is done. I've since colored her in on my Paint Shop Pro.

Here is Fireweed, the drawing I just did all colored in.



Now, before I finish up, I'll borrow some of the words and pics from the aforementioned book. Only two pictures.

When a pony's body moves, the basic shapes in its body moves too. Using those two circles to position the pony is the secret to drawing the pony from different angles.



Think of two oranges on a plate. When you turn the plate, one orange appears to move in front of the other.

Well the same thing happens when you turn a pony. From the front or the back, you'll see the two circles overlap.

No matter what angle you want to draw, start by figuring out how the circles will be positioned!



Now, I just want to put in a link to Annie Mårtensson's drawing tutorial

http://medlem.spray.se/pony_corner/

If anyone else finds links to similar tutorials, please post it. If any of you seasoned artists have more tips, please feel free to share. Thank you and happy drawing!

The words in black is a Photoshop Tutorial. The Words in green are PSP tutorial (Thanks to SourdoughStomper for the PSP translation)





Make a Sketch of a pony, then ink it.
Once you have inked your sketch, erase
the pencil lines and scan your drawing.
It's best to scan your drawing in Black and White.

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Once you have scanned your drawing,
go Image>Adjustments>Levels (Or CTRL L)
Do you see the 3 small arrows? bring the arrows at
then to the middle and click ok.

Go to Image>Mode>RGB Color

Go to Image>Increase Color>16 million colors.
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In your Layer Palette, lock the layer, this is to
make sure you don't color on your sketch.
Make a new layer and name is \"Color\" Change the Mode
to \"Multiply\"
Select your Magic Wand tool. With your Magic Wand, select
the area you want colored on your locked layer.
Then color it on your layer \"Color\"

Make a new layer or two. If you know how to lock the sketch layer, then you are already more knowledgeable than I. If you have one layer, you could call it \"color\" or if you have two, you can call it \"body\" and \"hair\" or whatever you like. Select your Magic Wand Tool. With that MW tool, select the area you want to color (you can use the shift button if you want to choose more than one area at once). Then go to the layer you want to use and fill in the colors you want to use.
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Now that you have the base colors, your ready to start
shading, When your shading it's always best to know
what direction the light is coming from.
Select your Magic Wand tool. With your Magic
Wand, select the area you want to shade on your
locked layer. Select your \"Burn Tool' for shading.
Then start shading on your layer \"Color\"
Use the \"Dodge Tool\" to make the light areas.

You can start shading after you have your basic colors. Think about where you want the \"light\" coming from so you can highlight and shade accordingly. I suppose you can either use the dodge and burn tools, but I just use the \"Lighten/Darken Brush\". To make the shading and highlighting look nice, I suggest you choose a hardness of 70% or so, and an opacity of 40% or lower. Now that you have your brush ready, you can use the Magic Wand to select the area you want to shade and highlight on your colored layer. I think the left mouse button makes it lighter and the right mouse button makes it darker.
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I usually do the symbol last, on a new layer.

Ditto!

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Here's the finished pony. Can you guess who she is? It's Starswirl!


To color the Black lines, make a new layer, with you Magic Wand, select the black lines and color the lines (any color you want) on your new layer.

If you want to change the black outlines to match closer to the pony's body and hair color, you can use the replace color function and change black into the color of your choice, probably a few shades darker than the body and hair.

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Here are some good tutorials for you to try out.

1. Dragon Paint
2. Nethersphere
3. CG GRAPHICS TIPS
4. Elfwood tutorials
5. How to Draw
6. Annie Masson pony web site
7. Cardinal Melody's Pony Maker