• Newbie Artist Training Grounds V: Day 1


    At long last it is finally back! Are you all ready to draw from colorful, pastel equines? For four years the ATG has been an inspiration to many people to try their hand at drawing, taking their first steps at improving their skills. As we've stated in previous years we believe anyone can draw and draw well if they put their mind to it! All it takes is dedication and practice! So why won't you join us in this amazing 15 day journey?

    But enough from me, here's a message from Phoe our Blog Pony Princess with some words for you all!

    "Hey folks! my name's Phoe, erstwhile Headmistress of the NATG. You might notice I'm not "in charge" of the proceedings this time around; unfortunately other commitments haven't left me with enough time to devote to the event as you guys deserve, so I've shifted control over to the more than capable hooves of Calpain. He'll be guiding you through this fifteen day journey and popping in every night to showcase your progress and nudge you one day closer toward being a better you: a you that can art!

    Not that I'm disappearing completely, of course! Every one of the daily themes is still a product of the silly pony brain inside my silly pony head, and I'll be lurking in the galleries and in the comments trying to provide feedback and encouragement to as many people as time will let me. Let's all do our best to make this NATG just as great as the ones that have come before. I know you can do it. Good luck!"

    With our introductions out of the way I'm sure those of you new to the ATG are wondering how this is all going down. Well, each day at 12am we will be giving you a prompt to use for your drawing which you will then have 24 hours to complete, though if you're a little late don't worry as we'll keep the doors open a little bit past the due date. During that time you will be able to submit your picture (or pictures if you're really productive) through our submitter system. Anything is acceptable as long as it follows the prompt in some way. Digital art, traditional, colored or not, ect are accepted so feel free to use your imagination to its fullest! And by anything that includes non-ponies as well! Feel free to draw any creature from the world of FiM, humanized, anthro or otherwise. Just make sure that your submission meets our site guidelines meaning no porn or extreme gore and keeps at a PG-13 level or below. 

    For those of you who participated in the last ATG we do not have prizes available this year unfortunately.

    Anyhow, this has gotten long enough I think! We've got something simple for you guys to cut your teeth on: Draw a pony keeping still/draw a pony holding tight. Have fun with the prompt by either making puns, interpreting the prompt in a unique way or whatever you'll be happy with! You'll have until August 23 at 12am PST (-8 GMT) to submit your picture to the submitter which you can find here. Tomorrow we will feature the gallery containing the pictures created for day one and give you the next prompt.

    For those of you looking for some advice on how to draw we have a comprehensive tutorial section on EqD as well as a wonderful tutorial page provided by the ATG Alumni Group.

    EqD Tutorial Page
    ATG Alumni Group Tutorials

    Twitter: Calpain