• Newbie Artist Training Grounds VIII: Day 1


    My goodness, just look at the time! Hello everyone, it appears that another Newbie Artist Training Grounds is upon us. Yes, another year has already passed and it's time to get those fingers moving and those creative juices flowing once again. I, Calpain, will be your host once again for this year's festivities and I simply can't wait to see what you all are able to come up with over the next 30 odd days.

    Over the years, since Phoe started the ATG during the early years of pony, the ATG has helped those of all kinds either practice their skills at drawing or have introduced them to the wonders of making their own artwork. I'm very pleased to continue the tradition and hope that you all enjoy yourself!

    Now then, is everyone excited to get this party started? As usual, we start off with an oldie that we've led every ATG with since the beginning just to get you all warmed up a bit: Draw a pony standing / Draw a pony frozen in place.

    You can find the submitter for today here and if you're looking for tips on how to draw check out our tutorial codex here

    For those wanting to know when Makeup Days are:

    While we commonly say the ATG lasts 30 days technically it's more like it lasts for 30 prompts. After 10 prompts there will be a rest/makeup day for those of you who want to recharge your batteries, makeup prompts that you missed, or if you just want to try some old prompts over again.

    To simplify everything there will be:
    A makeup day after prompt 10 (After Day 10)
    A makeup day after prompt 20 (After Day 20)
    And a makeup day after prompt 29 (After Day 29, the reason being that day 30 is the graduation day prompt and the gallery presented the following day marks the closing ceremonies for the ATG)

    Attention Discord Users:

    For those of you with Discord we are really pulling out all the stops this year as we have a channel on EqD's official Discord server called #creators-plus-atg for you to hang out in with your fellow artists during the event. You can join our Discord server here.

    So, down to the nitty-gritty stuff. What is this ATG thing all about for those joining for the first time or for those needing a refresher? Well, check on after the break for a full run down on the event, general guidelines and a tutorial on how to upload your pictures to our compiler.


    So What Is The Artist Training Grounds (ATG)?

    Now for the nitty-gritty of the event for those of you joining for the first time and for returning artists as well! The Artist Training Grounds is an event for people in the fandom hoping to take their first stab at drawing colorful equines (and improving skills/just having fun for people who are already in the trade) and then have their artwork shared on the website for others to enjoy and provide feedback! The hope is that by drawing every day it can become a habit that can lead to a lifelong love for not only creating pony art but art in general.

    Each day we will have a prompt, usually starting off very simple and then progressively moving into more complex territory with prompts I hope can be interpreted in multiple ways thus tickling the artistic muse and resulting in a variety of pics. These prompts will last for 24 hours in which time you can submit your picture or pictures (if you're feeling really creative with a prompt) to our compiler, though it is usually a soft 24 hours and pics can be accepted for a half hour to an hour after the 'official' closing time.



    Are There Limits On The Media I Can Use?

    In the past we've had ponies submitted on all sorts of media, drawn with all sorts of tools. If you want to draw your ponies completely on a chalkboard with colorful chalk, go for it! If you want to just use lined paper with your mechanical pencil from school, no problem! The point is to get you guys drawing and as art takes many forms it would be unfair of us to limit how you create your artwork.


    As with last year this applies to 3D art too as it is also a form of artwork.

    If there are any questions not answered up above, leave them in the comments or email me at [email protected] and I'll be sure to answer them.

    OCs are welcome, art doesn't need to contain canon ponies. Other species from the MLP universe are welcome too, so feel free to draw dragons, zebras, gryphons, yaks, timberwolves, Breezies, donkeys, Equestria Girls style characters, anthro, ect as long as you feel comfortable drawing them for the day's prompt.

    Also, images must be Safe for work!

    Finally, all skill levels are welcome from those who have never drawn before up to those who have been drawing for several years. All are welcome to participate!

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    Tutorial For Submitting to Our Compiler

    First off, our events where pictures are involved require the use of our compiler which can accept links from deviantArt, tumblr, FurAffinity, or any other hosting site as long as you can grab the image URL.

    A tutorial for grabbing the URL of an image can be found below.

    If you can't use our compiler for whatever reason, either you can't use an online hosting site for whatever reason or our compiler is blocked in your country, please send your submissions to [email protected] for inclusion into the gallery.


    Paste your URL Here:


    If you run into issues, send an email to [email protected] or [email protected]

    Twitter: Calpain