Whether you follow the normal or the ...stranger side of the fandom, you have probably run into Shinoda's art at some point. His style is pretty distinctive with it's heavy shading, bubble expressions, and curvy proportions. A good amount of it is on the saucy side, but he does quite a bit of clean art to go along with it.
He also has a pretty interesting real life art presence, with several graffiti images of ponies drawn around his area over on Argentina. It's something that eventually lead him to where he is now in the digital world!
Below the break, I'll let him explain the rest! Go get it.
Q&A / Interview
Q:) How did you stumble upon My Little Pony? What was your "origin" story if you will?
I saw ponies between a bunch of emojis in mid 2012 and loved the way they looked. Then I found out that one of my friends watched the show before and said I should give it a shot. It took me about a week til I drew pone for the first time, they were too cute not to.
I was already into graffiti when I got into pones, and I thought it'd be crazy and funny to paint one on a wall and watch people's reaction. Originally it was gonna be the only time I'd do that, but then I did it again, and again, and again...
Q:) What is the process you usually go through when drawing something new? What tools and programs do you use?
I use SAI, and PS when needed. The process is mostly like "hey this pone a qt", then I picture them in a scene or context that they would fit in and work around it.
Q:) Do you draw professionally? Or is this a side thing to another career or job?
Neither, It's kinda all I do along with streaming, making art for Pony Town and doing street art, but not professionally. It's a good experience tho.
Q:) Who is your favorite pony? And if it's different, who is your favorite pony to draw?
I have way too many favs, the list goes from Luna, Derpy, Lyra and Trixie to Fresh Coat, Grace Manewitz, Azure Velour, March Gustysnows and Peachy Plume, and OCs like Pizza pone, Littlepip and Melon Shine.
Q:) What kind of challenges do you usually run into when drawing a character for the first time? Has there ever been an image concept that completely stumped you?
None I can think of right now, but in the past stuff like anatomy or expressions would make it very challenging, specially for characters like Maud or Tree Hugger where if you get their expressions wrong they'll look off-character.
Q:) You have a few really awesome graffiti ponies up over in Argentina. Do you get permission to paint those? Or is it just a thing you sneak? What s the story behind them?
Neither haha, street art is legal where I live as long as it's painted on public places and it looks nice and doesn't cause any harm.
My friends got me into it when I was 14, but never really found a point in painting regular graffiti (aka just your name on a wall), so around 2011 I started paiting cartoons instead, which later on led me into ponies.
At the start I was really into inspirational quotes too and tried to give my art some meaning. Now I'm kinda embarrased about how cheesy that was, but it brightened a lot of people's days, so that's good.
Q:) Socks, sweaters, silly hats, suggestive swimwear, full body armor, ponies have worn it all. What is your favorite accessory to draw ponies in?
All of them, ponies reach max levels of cuteness when they wear clothes.
Q:) What do you like most about Friendship is Magic? What keeps you drawing so many awesome ponies?
Character design!!! There are so many great characters, both main and background ones, even OCs that people create. Good color palettes and designs are always fun to draw.
Q:) Do you have any tips for newbie artists looking to improve?
Learn from your favorite artists and friends, the more artists you look up to the better, listen to feedback and look into how they draw the things you like. Work on anatomy, expressions, colors, perspective, technique, etc. And check out markcrilley on YT, that man is a saint.
Q:) Why do you think My little Pony Generation 4 has been so successful? What keeps you here involved in the community?
Characters, both from the show and the community. They're entertaining and fun to draw and check out. • c •
More Art!
Follow ShinodaGE on Deviant Art over here!
He also streams every Saturday on Picarto with Agamnentzar and Chiramii-Chan. Follow here for updates or just hang on the channel.
