How to Draw G1 Ponies Tutorial - By Me!

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Truly

Teeny Tiny Baby Pony
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Ok well I made this for everyone to reference off if they would like to, (just please do not claim these particular pictures as your own) How I draw G1 ponies!

(Excuse it not being perfect, still in the middle of moving out and I had to draw on the lounge...)

Step 1: Draw 4 circles, 3 roughly the same size in a 'L' shape, with a smaller one for the nose. Keep the 3 bigger circles a small distance apart, with the smaller one actually touching the top circle.

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Step 2: Draw a few joining lines between the circles, this will help with placement of the neck and such.

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Step 3: Now draw the outer lines parallel to those previous lines, and make the tummy a little rounder than the rest (they are like shetland ponies and a wee bit chubby!)

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Step 4: The legs are a bit tricky, draw 3 circles for each front leg, one circle where it meets the body, one for where the "knees" will go, and one for where the hooves will go.
The hind legs will need 4 circles, one up near the hips inside the body area, one coming towards the front hooves at an angle, and then the other going at 45 degrees in the other direction away from the front legs, then like with the front legs, one circle for the hooves.
The hind legs are basically a very loose "s" shape.

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Step 5: Now the outlines for the legs! When doing this, keep the lines rounded around the circles and lines, but keep it parallel to those lines, and make the bottom part of the hooves a little flatter than the other lines. The line for the front part of the hind leg starts with a single curved line over the first bend up near the body, then a line down to the 'ground.' The back part of the hind leg follows the circles and lines that join the circles, but more rounded. Basically, keep with the form of the circles and lines, but make it curvy.

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Step 6: Time for our little ponies' face and ears! The ears are rounded triangles with a bottomless rounded triangle in the centre for the inner ear. Make the central inner ear triangle on the far side a little squished, as it is at an angle facing the other way. So instead of the 30-45 degree angle of the other inner ear, make it 20-25 degrees of an angle.
The mouth of the pony comes out a little more square around the nose circle (from step 1), but still rounded. The mouth is in the bottom quarter of the nose circle, and the smile can go any way if you like. The smile will not go outside of the nose circle at all, or the pony will start looking like a crocodile!

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Step 7: Draw a darker curved line for the cheek/jawline around the head circle. This just seperates the cheek from the neck.

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Step 8: Now for the nostril. The nostril can be a dot if you like, but I prefer a curved comma-like shape, Keep the nostril inside the nose circle, but up in the top area of the nose circle, and to the right.

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Step 9: Now for the eye placement. Firstly, lets draw a pair of lines that cross over to help us. The vertical line should be where the nearest ear starts, and down to where the jaw meets the neck. This almost is making the head circle into halves.
Then for the horizontal line, it will be where the line for the top part of the nose/muzzle meets the head circle, and go to where the line for the back part of the neck meets the head circle. this gives us a good cross to help us find where our eye goes. (Shown in the green lines)

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Step 10: Now we can do the eye circle. The eye circle will be around the bottom left quadrant of the crossed lines we made.

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Step 11: Let's make pony pretty now! For the rest of the eyes we will draw around the circle we made in an almond shape, with the eyeliner part at the back part of the eye flicking up a little, just like with the toys. The bottom lines of the bottom part of the eyes don't need to meet up.

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Step 12: Now inside the eye circle. draw a smaller circle for the black part of the eye (cant remember the name of it right now) and make it face any way by making it closer to one side, I've chosen to make her look forwards by making the circle closer to the left. Also, add in a much smaller circle for the eye shine.

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Step 13: Now add a little line above the back part of the eye, and keep it parallel to the line of the top part of the eye, but coming closer towards the back. This makes the pony have eyes that look gentle and also like the toys.

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Step 14: Now for eyelashes, if your pony is a girl, or a boy and you still want them there, it doesn't matter, and whatever makes you happy! G1 boy ponies did have eyelashes, but most people find it girly. (Horses have eyelashes anyway and it's all cute to me haha)
Usually there's two eyelashes on top and bottom, but add as many as you want!

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Step 15: Now for the hair, which is tricky. And I did this for a medium haired pony such as the First toys from G1 (eg Bluebelle, Cotton Candy, etc). Draw a few "s" shaped lines for the fringe, the mane, and the tail. (Shown with the blue lines)

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Step 16: To continue with the hair, keep in the same direction as the blue lines, and draw in some little bits of hair, usually curly to some extent. Curl any way you like! (Shown in the pink lines)

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Step 17: Another chunk of the hair now, the fringe will follow with the blue lines and add some little extra flyaway bits of hair. (In the pink, there's a little extra point of hair not going with the rest of the curl. )

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Step 18: And a little chunk of hair flicking up, or whichever direction you like.

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Step 19: Now for a little more of the mane, follow the blue line from earlier, and add in more flyaway pieces of hair if you like. The main part of the hair will follow the blue line.

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Step 20: The fringe was looking a little thin, so I added in a bit of hair behind the other parts of the fringe.

ponytut20_zps3e27c863.png


Step 21: The mane needs more volume too, add in some more hair, and this part can go in a different direction from the blue lines if you like, Like how I've made the main part of the curl face the other way compared to the blue line.

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Step 22: Do the same with the tail, basically the same concept as the mane but all in one area. It all goes in the same direction as the blue line, with some chunks going differently. The base of the tail where it comes out of the rear part of the pony should not be too thick! Keep it thinner with the volume out in the curls.

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Step 23: Now for a pretty ribbon! Draw a band over the base of the tail where it meets the body. (Shown in the green on the tail)

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Step 24: Now inside that band, draw a circle in the top half, this will be the knot of the ribbon.

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Step 25: Draw a rounded triangle coming from this circle within the band.

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Step 26: Do another rounded triangle coming from the other side of the circle. But if it goes behind the pony's rear, it will be cut off as it is now on the other side of the body and will not be seen.

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Step 27: Now within those triangles, draw a squished oval for the inner part of the ribbon. It will meet up with the circle (the ribbon knot).

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Step 28: And do the same for the other rounded triangle, this also meets up with the ribbon knot.

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Step 29: Now for the little loose bits of the ribbon. Draw two parallel lines that are slightly wavy.

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Step 30: Now at the end of these two wavy parallel lines, draw a little triangle with a side missing, this gives a nice ribbon end look.

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Step 31: Add in some lines in the main part of the ribbon, this makes it look like it's going into the knot. I just used a few lines on both sides, no need to go too crazy on this part.

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Step 32: Now that we finished all that, let's clean it up. All the previous stages in a pencil-on-paper method of drawing can be done in pencil, but in digital art just make a new layer to draw over the top of. With pencil-on-paper these clean up lines can be in pen or anything you are using. Go over all the outer lines and the eyes and remove the sketchy bits from all the previous stages.

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Step 33: Now the pony is all cleared up! Should look something like this:

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Step 34: Going with the outer lines of the hair, add in some extra lines to make it a little more hair-like.

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Step 35: Add in some lines for the hooves if you like, these lines don't touch any other lines and are a little higher at the front of the hoof. Also, maybe a few lines in the knot circle of the ribbon.

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Step 36: Colour your pony! (Or draw in symbol before colouring!)

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Step 37: Add in the symbol of your pony, this can be done before colouring in a pencil-on-paper method of drawing so that you get the colour of the symbol right with none of the body colour coming through. For digital, just make a new layer over everything.

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And sign it and make it yours!

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(yeah I love bluebelle! :LOL:)

Let me know if anything's confusing or if you have any questions! I've never done a tutorial before so this is new to me!

(And apologies if this is in the wrong place, I didn't know where to put it...)
 
This is so cool! The ponies look very accurate. I have to try this!
 
Thanks guys I'm glad you both like it :smilepony:
I'd love to see what you draw! (only if you want to show hehe)
 
awww well done! great work! <3 your sugarberry looks so cute!:smilepony:
 
Thanks for sharing this/taking the time to make it. Your Bluebelle looks gorgeous! :smilepony:
 
Here she is!
picture.php
I painted her forehead symbol on her cheek so it would show. Sorry for the dark blurry pic, she looks so much better in real life. Tell me what you think of my first painting!
 
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ilikebothg1andg4ponies, sadly the picture isnt working of your painting :(

and wow i didnt realise that this post was made into a 'sticky' one!

I'm so glad everyone likes this!
 
Thanks for the tutorial. I'll be for sure using this in the future, for I'm horrid as it is now with drawing ponies(or any critters).
 
Wow, awesome tutorial. That must have taken you awhile to make. You should make a website about drawing ponies.
 
thank you for such a comprehensive and easy to follow tutorial
 
I just now followed through and used this tutorial, I swear, this was so useful. I Google searched how to draw G1 ponies and it gives me nothing but G4, it's a little irritating but I'm glad I found your tutorial. It's so easy to follow and I was able to understand everything at once. Thumbs up to you because you made me a very happy person.
:satisfied::smile: Really, thanks for this tutorial.
 
Awesome tutorial! I drew my first G1 and I think it looks pretty good. Your tutorial is accurate and easy to follow. fifi:lolpony:
 
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