Equestria Daily

What is with Russia and pumping out awesome pony artists left and right? I almost want to move there just to drain some of that ridiculous skill they all seem to acquire from eachother.

Pony-Way is yet another one with a uniquely appealing style. His pones tend to go for a more curvier build, with thicker barrels and more cuddly cheeks. He also broke heavily into anthro art, rockin an assortment of OC's and canon characters.

Go learn all about his journey into the world of drawing us awesome cartoon horses below!

The Interview

Q:) How did you stumble upon My Little Pony? What was your "origin" story if you will?

A. My story started with the fact that I got my first personal laptop in the summer of 2012. Sometime in the fall of that year I began to notice more and more profile pictures with pony images and memes with them.

To be honest, ponies annoyed me at first. I thought it was a cartoon for little girls, but now I realize that I was thinking stereotypically. Then I came across some pretty weird but funny videos featuring moments from the show, with the addition of a significant amount of photoshop and editing. In my naivety I watched the entire first season in attempts to find one of these edited screencaps (it was from episode of Rainbow Dash and cider)

I started to look for more information about the show and found a large Russian-language forum and began to communicate there. It helped me to make friends, some of whom became an integral part of my life. And also pushed me to continue developing my skills in art.
And now I'm here to answer those questions =)

Q:) What is the process you usually go through when drawing something new? What tools and programs do you use?

A.It usually starts with the idea. Sometimes you can't think of anything for several days, and sometimes, while listening to music or watching videos, ideas come by themselves and you rush to sketch them. The next step is the search for references and the creation of a sketch. Equally troublesome stages, to be honest, huh

What about the tools… I use Wacom Bamboo Pen and Paint Tool SAI. And I've been using this combination for such a long time that the SAI user interface is now imprinted on the tablet itself. I’m trying to use Adobe Photoshop, but it’s too complicated for me.

Q:) How did you learn to draw? What age did you start and what path did you take to get to where you are today?

A.I started drawing when I was a kid, so basically 20 years ago (now I'm 24 years old), but it mostly involved drawing cities, cars and other industrial landscapes, including the post-apocalypse. Later I tried to draw on a computer with a mouse. But only with the arrival of this fandom I decided to buy a graphics tablet and start drawing more seriously.

Now it's been about 6 years. At first it was difficult to become someone significant in the artist community, and, to be honest, I would not achieve anything without my friend (LuneBat) who helped me a lot on first steps and still supports me. However, there have also been other people, who made me lose interest in drawing for a couple of years and they were rather imposing their point of view than giving criticism.

My drawing style has changed several times during these years, I have tried many things and ideas. Sometime in 2017 I started drawing anthro, which appealed to the audience, unexpectedly to me.

Q:) Do you draw professionally? Or is this a side thing to another career or job?

A. I wouldn’t say that I draw professionally straight away, as I don’t know and can’t do a lot of things. But so far, drawing is my main job. I got my diploma this summer but since there are only a few companies in our country which can hire you without any job experience in your profession and considering that I have already worked in several places, I decided that making art would be better for the time being.

Q: ) Who is your favorite pony and favorite princess? And if it's different, who is your favorite pony to draw?

A. In terms of drawing - Cloudchaser and Somnambula. I really like their mane styles and color schemes. And maybe Twilight Sparkle.

Not related to making art - Princess Luna is my favorite.

Q:) What kind of challenges do you usually run into when drawing a character or subject for the first time? Has there ever been an image concept that completely stumped you?

A.I’m not good at shading and color theory so it's a challenge for me every time.
For example you choose the color of the shadows so that the character does not look dirty or like a cold dead man. Also, I want to draw everything carefully and accurately all the time, like some other artists, but I still draw a little chaotically х_х.
There can also be some problems with anatomy, especially when you draw a pose for the first time.

Q:) You also draw a lot of anthro art mixed in with the regular horses. Which do you prefer to do more? If you started with ponies, was it difficult to transition into anthro?

A. I can't say what I like better. Anthro is more difficult to draw than the regular pony, this requires at least minimal knowledge of human anatomy. But what I can say for sure is that the combination of these two directions allows you to relax from one while you drawing the other.

Yes, starting draw anthro after ponies is very hard. My first sketches with them was very scary and inept, no one should see them, seriously =D

Q:) Socks, sweaters, silly hats, swimwear, full body armor, ponies have worn it all. What is your favorite accessory to draw ponies in?

A. Yes, yes, yes and one more time yes! I like all of this. Excluding armor. Armor is difficult.

Q:) What do you like most about Friendship is Magic? What keeps you drawing so many awesome ponies?

A. As someone said before me - “Ponies are cute and charming. That’s enough reason for me to begin with.”

I just want to draw something that someone will like. I've drawn enough just for myself in my life and now I want to share my art with people. Some like them, some don’t. And I also have many friends who also draw. I want to keep up with them.

Q:) Do you have any tips for newbie artists looking to improve?

A.Do not give up and continue to learn. Search for guides, references and training videos. Listen to criticism but be able to distinguish it from imposing a point of view such as "you draw too cartoonish and you need to draw realistic horses." Draw what you like and improve yourself.

Q:) Why do you think My little Pony Generation 4 has been so successful? What keeps you here involved in the community?

A.I think it became so successful because of the departure from the original concept. To be honest, I don't like the g1-3.5. In addition, the series began to fill in things not just for little girls after its eventual success and it was good. They largely played with the visual style. It's hard to explain.
People and friends keep me involved in the community. As well as emotions and the content they generate. There was a time when we were a small company playing pony roleplays and it was actually a separate mini-show for me. And it's cool that the community can live even after the final episodes.

The Mini Gallery

[3] Source

Glimmer by Pony-Way