Making of: Midnight at the beech

When i first thought about this drawing, i wasn't really planning on making it a full thing. I actually finished the first sketch and left it there for some time, A couple of days ago, i decided to use it so i could experiment and change a few things with my style. 

Part 1: Sketch

The sketch was probably what took longer. The main issue i've had with my pones when first sketching them, is that the look too... young. And short (that gets somewhat fixed after a few fixes) It came to the point where it actually made me feel a little uncomfortable. Anyways, i wanted my OC here to look like ~cute~ young, slim and full of energy stallion.  

I also experimented with the ears (it was hard) The sketch alone plus the line art took me almost an entire day.

Part 2: Colors and shade

Coloring this was fairly quick. The hardest part was deciding the colors and possible patterns of his swimsuit. So i opened a new SAI file and took a look at my brushed one by one. I picked my favorites and saved it. This will help me with future drawings. 

I wanted to add a small LGBT flag on the swimsuit too. But i didn't like how it looked. While talking to my bf, i remembered how cozy and comfortable it is to snuggle with hoodies on. I thought it would be cool to make an alternate version wearing a hoodie/jacket/sweater or however you call it lul. Best part? I was going to be able to add the gei flag! I went for a normal t-shirt instead because it looked more fitting for the background i had in mind. People on my Discord server helped with the color (we tried a bunch)

Part 3: Background and the Age of Pain

Doing the background was actually fast and "easy". Like i said, i wasn't even planning on finishing this. So i went for something "simple" for the background. I actually liked the simplicity of it. I was about to post it on Twitter but... Something felt wrong. "This is what i can do. But, what if i can do more?" Since i have a lot of commissions to do, i kept questioning myself about whether i should ask Voker what else i could do or just post it. Since i really want to learn and be a better artist, i decided to ask him.

A few minutes passed, he did his russian artist magic thing by telling me where i was wrong and showing me how it could look better. I felt overwhelmed about the huge changes he did to the drawing. It was quite simple for him, but for me? I felt super incapable of doing what he did. It felt waaay above my current skill. 

I took a day off. I needed a bit of time before attempting this. 

Part 4: Speaks for itself

There's not much i can say other than... If you want to get better at something, you need to keep trying, keep wanting to. Never stop learning and practicing 

+BONUS! Rest of the conversation between Aphelion and Midnight.

*The bat was calmly looking at the horizon, getting his mouth closer to his ice cream on his hooves when, suddenly, noticed the flash of his boyfriend's camera and the unicorn pointing this one to his direction*

• Midnight: Oh. You're taking photos of the beach, right? Aphelion?
• Aphelion: Your mane and tail sorta look like water, so technically i'm looking at a very beautiful beach~
• Midnight: ò//c//ó