Commission: Tailwind!

Well, here is another pony commission!

A friend of mine wanted me to do a drawing of his pony OC, Tailwind. The basic concept was an image of her flying away from Cloudsdale, the pegasus city from the show. I agreed, and got started.

The first order of business was to get used to drawing Tailwind herself. I did these two sketches, which worked out prtty well. Part of her concept if that her wingspan is unusually large, so that had to be reflected.

Upon feeling more confident in drawing Tailwind, it was time to draw Cloudsdale. I did two versions that were radical reinventions of the city, but it was ultimately decided to go with something similar to what was seen in the show. The third and lowermost sketch in the above image as the agreed upon design. The other tow take cues from Indian temples and the minaret of the mosque of Samarra.

It was time to draw. In the end, Tail is depicted as  flying away from the city in the evening, as the sun is giving the clouds a golden hue. In the end, I was very satisfied with the results of this image.

Some landscape sketches for an upcoming project.

Not all of these began as concept art for a specific commission, but they have evolved in that direction.

I won’t reveal a whole lot about the project until it is done, but it s a fanart/pony commission, and it involves a sense of adventure. Some of this is reposted from a blog I wrote about this elsewhere.

Also, waterfalls are cool.

Notice the scale. Look at the pine trees, and how small they are. Now look at the mountain, and the tower rising from the mountain range. Consider how large it must be in relation to the rest of he environment.

A good deal of the feel and aesthetics of these concept pieces were inspired by a certain old NES game. This image in particular depicts something seen in that title. See if you can guess what it is.

A village carved in stone, beneath the shadows of futuristic ruins from an age long past.

When I finish the final image, which is going to be a coverart for a fanfic, I will post it. I may post some of the process as I work on it, if the commissioner/author is okay with it.

Anyhow, consider this a preview. I’m really excited about this project.

Pony commission: Twinkletail.

This was a commission I did for a friend of mine, of his original character Twinkletail.

He wanted a drawing of he with the character of someone else he knew. The basic concept was that Twinkletail (the one on the left) would be writing on her iPad, while the other character was drunkenly doing a radio broadcast. The idea was cute, and sounded like a fun project, so I was more than eager to take it on.

The first order of business was to get used to drawing Twinkletail. He showed me a few other images of her, and I did the above sketch, in my own style. She is a cute, personable character that is fun to draw. A good deal of thought went in to her surroundings. all the furniture and other items are real world objects,

This was the initial lineart, done with copic multiliners on watercolor paper. The desktop items such as the pencil case and tape dispenser are Crate and Barrel, as is the desk. I have an affinity for Crate and Barrel. The drink is a Hennessey, and a rather expensive one at that. The book titles are all significant as well. See if you can spot anything familiar.

Two colored versions were done. Digital and analog. The above digital coloring most closely matches Twinkletail’s color.

This version was colored with watercolors and illustration ink. Twinkle looks a bit too pink here, but I’m actually pretty satisfied with it overall. Moreso than I initially was.

In the end, this as a very enjoyable project to work on. Expect more along these lines in the future.