While I unfortunately can't help with your ray issue, the past couple of months there has been a lot of posts in gameplay about being unable to submit rays, so Howrse has definitely messed up somewhere. Contact us was definitely the right way to go, and they usually respond the following day.

hi, does anyone know what a red x on the creation space menu for creators means?

It means you're creation didn't get through this time. You can try again next time though.

How do I give my coat better chances? I thought it really had a shot :/

Unfortunately there isn't much you can do. You can post your coat on your page, but you are not allowed to ask people to vote for it. I have seen other artists that have accounts on several servers say that getting coats through on int. server is harder than other servers for some reason. It also may not have been because it didn't get enough votes, but instead the Howrse employees didn't pick it this time.
Just remember it isn't because your creation isn't good enough! Even for some of the big-time artists on this site with a large fan base (Visery, or Hennessy for example) it can take several tries! Don't give up!

@Tomaeto
I copied the picture you posted, put some layers of the ray canvas above it and had no error message or anything, just the preview. (Of course I didn't upload it ^^ )
I once had the problem with some lighter colored rays, that my magical eraser also erased one pixel of the ray canvas, and the background was too bright, so the canvas was too. Duplicating the canvas layer from the black pearl solved it for me and seems to work for your creation as well.
it's 2106x940 pixels

Could any kne
Lease tell me

Does anyone know how to get ‘validated’ to start voting in Creation Space? New player! Anything helps!!!

This might be something about your seniority. You need to have 60 days of seniority (and 5 karma) points to submit creations using the black pearl. It might be something like that for the voting as well. I just couldn't find it in the breeders manual. Maybe it's on the page of the creation space?
"validated" could also be connected to validating your email.

also voting isn't open. so that may be an issue

Don't forget to record the process of drawing. Because when I submitted my first work in September, I was accused of using AI. And thanks to the fact that I had speedpaint, I was able to clear myself of these accusations and send my drawing to the vote again in October.
Maybe you will not have the same situation as me, but it is better to protect yourself.

What are the websites/apps you guys use for your creations? I want to start doodling for next month's creations when I get a tablet. I plan to get it around the first week of December and would like suggestions! I've always been more of a paper artist but have always wanted to do art electronically, I've looked at things like diviant art recently and like it, But @Clancy said stuff about speedpaint, should I use something like this as well? I'm not THAT good at realism, but I've drawn horses and other animals my whole life, and they are okay, I should say; please give me some start-up tips!

I also saw something that said we can use a paintbrush on landscapes. Are we not allowed to use particular tools when creating our art?

Please and thank you!

Hello all!

When creating a submission for a golden apple coat, do you guys find it easier/better results when you create in larger document size and then size down your creation to fit in the template? Or do you start creating directly in the provided template? I’ve started drawing in the template, and because it’s only 400x400px, everything is terribly pixelated. I’d hate to have to restart my entire drawing if use a new document and then size it down to fit in the template, and then it looks bad.

Im wanting to start designing some coats that way I can have them ready when I hit my senority requirement. I’m using ProCreate on iPad to make these digital pieces. Other tips you guys have would also be appreciated!

Thanks in advance default smiley

Hi! By "speedpaint" I meant a speeded-up video recording of me drawing my picture. Speed painting. In some drawing apps you can turn it on and then download the video. I hope I was able to explain it to you.

What tablet did you buy? You can draw on your computer in different programs. For example, Photoshop. There is also a program called SAI Paint Tool 2. Some people also draw in Krita. You can download these programs to your computer and try drawing in them. Personally, I like Photoshop the most.

But I would recommend trying SAI Paint Tool 2 first. It is not difficult and is a great start.

Hi!

I advise you to draw in a document of a size convenient for you, and only then reduce your drawing to the size of the template. For example, I drew my drawing on a canvas of 4000 pixels on the long side. Because it is more convenient for me. And you will always have time to reduce the image.

Also, you are unlikely to be able to draw small details well on a 400x400 canvas. It is not convenient.

I'm considering trying out a design or two of my own, but I have a few questions... First, I'm worried about falsely getting tagged as AI for something I do myself - How can you even tell if something is AI or not?? What if you get an image falsely tagged as AI and don't have a recording of your work?? ( I don't know how to do the recording thing).

Also, is there any specific type of drawing that it's potentially better to focus on? (i.e. fewer people turn in drawings for XYZ, so there might be less competition there) And I do see a lot of styles when I vote, but are there any that seem to fair better?? I just want a drawing to stand the best chances if I decide to go that route.

People might look for typical mistakes an AI would make (missing a muscle, some bones, or even having some weird positions/lighting, ...) Another option is to use websites to get a second opinion.

I don't have a recording either. It's something that some programs create on their own ("procreate"?). I'd suggest keeping the file with different layers so you could send this to support in case you're tagged.


I'd suggest to find your own style and use this. I haven't seen that any style works better than another. Just two other things:
* I remember having read that they try to accept some thing of any type, so if there are several submissions with eggs, but only one with a bunny for easter, the bunny might pass more easily.
* Sometimes they send some PMs like "there have been fewer donkeys lately, please submit more donkeys", so, going for these categories might help your creation to pass. (even though I personally think it's a little sad, if people just stretch the ears and say "it's a donkey now" while everything else feels wrong now) This might be what you meant when you said "type of drawing" though ^^ riding horse appears to be the largest category most of the time. So you might try to go for any other ^^

come and play HowrseBP

Been working on this for the last week, first time I'm actually kinda proud of a piece I've done lol (I am not an artist )... Hopefully I've gotten the formatting correct so I can submit next week, I hate how small we have to make them

Excited for January 21st!!!! IYKYK

I'm going to call it "Silver One" ("The Wingleader" coming next month ...maybe....)

Im trying to submit a helios ray but I keep getting "Your coat does not use the compulsory format"

I used procreate to draw the picture
any help or guidance?

got it figured out^^

If you want to have a free art program, I recommend GIMP and Kleki. GIMP is an app, and is a bit better than Kleki but I've still been able to make some nice things on Kleki. Good luck

Slightly off topic (more on the voting side than the creating side)

I absolutely love seeing and voting for all these creations but I wonder why we have to select 1/3 each time? I've seen some sets of three where I haven't been a fan of any of the creations - eg really generic, cartoonish or dark/smudgy/blurry - and I'm forced to vote for one of the three to go through. Alternatively sometimes I've had sets where 2/3 are amazing creations but I'm forced to pick only one.

I really like going into the "see all drawings eligible for voting" section since I can have a full view of everything that's been submitted for the month. I wonder why we don't have a voting system with a similar format, where we can select 50 from the list of everything submitted?

If there are requirements to have x number of coats per species, it could be broken down into "vote for 5 from this page, 10 from the other page" etc.

Curious to get peoples'/mods' thoughts? Unsure if this has been suggested before.

This happens to me a lot, especially after I've already gone through the allotted number of skips per day. I personally prefer the more realistic looking drawings and wish there were way more of them. I'm also that person who likes to select a creation with a coat that matches the coat color of the horse I'm selecting it for. It's more rare when I see two that are both really awesome and I can't vote for both.



This would be a good update to the voting system. Or, maybe if you get to rank each submission on a scale of 1 to 5, or 1 to 10. And the highest ranking ones are the winners.

I saw at least 5 of the same or very similar horse while voting! Is that legal?