Equestria Daily

Here's an artist that has headered a ton of Drawfriend posts over the last few years, and someone I've been meaning to get to for the Artist Spotlight section. RysunkowaSucharia, or just Suchar for short, is another one of those fandom success stories who started off at this level only a few years ago, and now creates masterpieces like the Twilight up there pretty regularly. Further proof that art is all about practice practice practice! You can do a lot in 3 years!

How did they get so good so quick? What process do they got through to create something like that? Head on down below for an interview that goes in depth on all of it, plus a mini gallery.

The Interview!

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

My “origin” story is actually fairly simple. I was pretty young when I started watching the show in 2011. At that time it was an everyday activity for me to watch cartoons on TV, especially since I have a younger brother who was really into them back then as well. MLP quickly became my favourite series and at some point I started searching for pony content online too. It took me a while to become familiar with fandom stuff, it was a slow process in my case, but eventually here I am.

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

Going for a references hunt is a must. I spend a lot of time gathering them on Deviantart, Artstation, sometimes simply using Google Images. Or sites with wallpapers when some help in drawing a background is needed. And then I begin to draw. And then I realize my drawing is nowhere as good as all the references I collected. So I look for more references… let’s say it’s a very long process. And the result is rarely fully satisfying but that’s ok because it would be rather silly for anybody to expect that they will master the subject at the very first attempt. And in the end learning anything new counts as progress.
Currently I’m switching from Paint Tool SAI to Medibang but I guess the correct answer for what program I use to draw is still SAI. I also tend to add filters in GIMP but for some reasons I really don’t feel like completing the entire picture there. I work on a Wacom Intuos Pro M tablet.

Q:) How long does your typical pony drawing take to make from sketch to completion?

I suppose the drawing itself can take from 4 to 14 hours but it’s hard to say. I only precisely measured the time once and then I spent about 8 hours on a pic. It was a regular one for me so 8 hours is probably a good estimate. That’s just drawing though, gathering references makes it significantly longer. Not to mention my nasty habit of taking way too frequent breaks to stare at the ceiling for no reason whatsoever. In conclusion... I’m rather slow.

Q:) Have you gotten to a point where you can draw from memory?

I use references a lot. I also usually try to include something new in my artworks. It’s probably hard to notice at first but even when I draw a pony picture, I like to experiment with a background or shading. I kind of enjoy learning new stuff so most of the time when I draw something, it means that improving this specific thing is my goal. And because of that, I need references.

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?

My artistic backstory is relatively short. I could probably say that I’ve drawn since I remember, but if I were to establish when I began to take it more seriously, I would probably point to February 2017 (shortly before my 15th birthday) when I started posting works online and later to February 2018 when I decided to pick up digital art. In 2018 drawing became my main hobby and that’s when I actually started to improve. I’m not exactly sure how I managed to learn the things I’ve learnt so far. I suppose I just saw amazing artists on the Internet and realized that I would explode if I didn’t try to draw like them. And so I tried to draw like them. And failed. But then I fixed my shading and anatomy and gesture and textures and everything and then I fixed them again and then I like… fixed them again because they weren’t awesome enough. It’s has been over 2 years now and I’m still staring at my references and fixing everything but apparently some people like my works, life is funny, I tell you.

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

I’m recently in high school and I don’t have a job yet. Frankly, I’m still not sure what career path I should take. I don’t actually plan to become a professional artist, it sounds nice but I suppose it’s hard to get there. Who knows though, I’m certainly going to keep improving my drawing skills as much as I can.

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

Aaaah, there are so many of them, ha ha. It’s honestly too hard to choose. When it comes to the main characters I suppose my vote goes to the best background pony. She has… the coolest hat out of them I guess? Please, don’t ask me to justify my preferences. Maybe I like AJ because she’s tough and hard working - perfect role model for a lazy potato like me. The favorite princess? I mean, all of them are glorious. Twilight teaches about the importance of friendship, Cadance fills her empire with love, Celestia eats cake, Luna is a dignified ruler of the night… I can only see epic royals here.
Ou, and Sunset Shimmer is the best human horse!

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?

It’s usually about drawing something, having a bunch of decent references, but being unable to make something similar to them. You can precisely see that photo of a cloud, for instance, you see its edges, you see its colors, you see which parts are darker than others, you can even imagine the overall shape but you can’t quite paint something equally pretty. It’s frustrating, but one can also take it as a riddle. To be honest, I still have so much to learn that I could probably talk for hours about things that I just can’t get right. Drawing human faces is one of those things for sure. But there are also more specific ones, like how to put a fur texture on a highly detailed pony portrait.

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

I’m not the most prolific artist for sure and frankly, I haven’t tried drawing most of the accessories mentioned, not talking about other countless examples that could be given. But there’s one thing I know for sure, I enjoy trying things out. So give me all of these, ha ha!
Also, hoodies are pretty cute :3

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

I’m not sure whether I can elaborate on this question much. I’ve been watching the show for half of my life and simply never got bored. I believe I’m far from being the most devoted pony fan, but well, I like MLP, I love to draw, ponies are cute and therefore I naturally enjoy drawing them. Especially since there’s a supportive community too.

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

It’s a pretty funny situation for me because I remember how just two years ago I was reading a lot of Artist Spotlight interviews here, looking for this specific question, searching for tips. And here we are in the future and I don’t feel any smarter or more competent to provide a valuable piece of advice. I could probably talk a lot about studying fundamentals, gathering references, practicing regularly… because these all are helpful tips. But if I were to share something I’ve learnt so far (while I still have so much yet to learn), I would say: if your goal is to begin to draw awesome stuff, don’t make compromises. One could probably look at all the amazing artists from our fandom and think that their rendering methods are too difficult. But my technique has always been to pick an artist whose works I liked the most and just try to draw like them, completely ignoring the fact that I’m nowhere as good as them. So, have high standards but remember that it’s ok to be stuck from time to time too because art is hard. Like a lot.

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

One could write a book about the success of the gen 4. I believe there are various reasons, the one I consider crucial is how the creators of the FiM managed to neatly combine a girly TV series and a more typical cartoon. As a result we got a show that has a cute aesthetic but also won’t bore us to death.
Unsurprisingly, what I like about our community the most is how many cute pony arts it creates and how this artistic part of the fandom developed over time. But there are other stuff to enjoy too, from silly pony videos on YT to the huge variety of fandom music.

Mini Gallery!

[1] Source

Das kleine weisse Pferd by RysunkowaSucharia