Has it really been a year already? When a pandemic and pony time collide it feels like we've all been stuck in a weird time warp of sorts. It has been a rough year for everyone to varying degrees and the stress of everything has certainly taken its toll on many. That's why I'm proud to present another year of a long-lasting EqD tradition: The Newbie Artist Training Grounds! A time to try something new, to find a passion you might have been missing out on, and/or an opportunity to improve your artwork and grow as an artist!
As I gush every year, this is certainly my favorite event on EqD and if you're joining us for the first time I hope you manage to enjoy yourself as well. If you've been on the fence about trying art out for yourself or have been lacking in motivation lately as an artist, we hope you'll join us in the wonderful process of creating art!
Before we begin, I want to give a big shoutout to the founder of the NATG, Phoe, who started the NATG way back when and took me on as a helper back when the event was young. The NATG would more than likely have never been or, at least, not in the same form we see today without her inspiration and diligence. Go give her a visit and some love at the link above!
Now, without further ado, onto the very first prompt for the NATG, an oldie we start every new training grounds with: Draw a pony standing / Draw a static pony.
You can find the compiler you'll be submitting your drawings to here! If you need some tips on drawing, check out our Tutorial Codex for hints and tips!
Animations do not animate when sent through the compiler! Include some text with your submitted animation that people should follow your links to the source to see the animation in full.
If you are late submitting and the submitter is closed, don't just throw your pic into the next day's submitter. Wait for a Makeup Day to submit!
Max Image Resolution is 2000x2000! Resize your pictures to make sure they are the appropriate size, any image software should be able to help you.
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 NATG)
Attention Discord Users:
For those of you with Discord, we have a channel on EqD's official Discord server called #artist-training-ground 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 NATG thing all about for those joining for the first time or for those needing a refresher?
So What Is The Artist Training Grounds (NATG)?
The Newbie 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. After that point, the submitter will still be open for a little while but pics sent in at that time will be added in the morning when I wake up. Science ponies need their sleep!
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 (SFW)!
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!
What Limits Are There On My Artwork Content?
Basically nothing explicit or really violent. A good guideline is to refer to our Drawfriends: if you've seen something similar posted then it should be ok to submit to the ATG.
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Tutorial For Submitting to Our Compiler - Computer
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 or our compiler is blocked in your country, please send your submissions to [email protected] for inclusion into the gallery.
In Firefox select "Copy Image Location" after uploading your image then right clicking on it:
In Chrome select "Copy Image Address" after uploading the image then right clicking on it:
This will give you a direct URL. It must end in ".png" or ".jpg". Example for what it will look like:
Paste your URL Here:
For our mobile friends trying to upload, try this:
Once you have the image uploaded to Twitter, DeviantArt, or wherever try this: Touch and hold the image. Depending on what browser you’re using, select the image URL by tapping the links below:
Chrome: Copy link address
Safari: Copy
If that doesn't work, you can Touch and Hold an image, open it in a new tab and the URL of that tab should be what you're looking for.
Use that URL in the compiler for your image. Hopefully that works!
Tutorial For Submitting to Our Compiler - Computer
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 or our compiler is blocked in your country, please send your submissions to [email protected] for inclusion into the gallery.
A tutorial for grabbing the DIRECT URL of an image can be found below:
(Note: Imgur is recommended if you are new to this, but plenty of others allow you to grab direct URL)
In Firefox select "Copy Image Location" after uploading your image then right clicking on it:
In Chrome select "Copy Image Address" after uploading the image then right clicking on it:
This will give you a direct URL. It must end in ".png" or ".jpg". Example for what it will look like:
Paste your URL Here:
Mobile Users -
Once you have the image uploaded to Twitter, DeviantArt, or wherever try this: Touch and hold the image. Depending on what browser you’re using, select the image URL by tapping the links below:
Chrome: Copy link address
Safari: Copy
If that doesn't work, you can Touch and Hold an image, open it in a new tab and the URL of that tab should be what you're looking for.
Use that URL in the compiler for your image. Hopefully that works!
If you run into issues, send an email to
