There's a topic in my forum titled Black Pearl [help] that has some links to linearts.

Hello! I just wanted to ask if it's worth to continue with this horse. It's supposed to be an irish cob with black splashes and white feather:

mellow, I think it looks really good!! You should definitely continue with it. The style reminds me of a childhood picture book I loved, Billy and Blaze. The movement of the feathering and mane looks super nice.

I'm not sure what your plans are, but if you keep with the pencil look (which I really like by the way, don't see that style often), I'd suggest bumping up the contrast, the feathers don't come across to me as white right now. It also looks like there's a tail wedgie situation going on, if that makes sense I think it would look more realistic if the tail hairs originated more from where the tailbone is, and less perpendicular to the length of the hindquarters. I don't think the tail between the legs is necessarily a problem, but maybe have there be a small gap between the thigh/gaskin and tail hairs?

Overall I think it's got lots of potential!

FoxyDancer>>I'm glad you like it. I admit that I didn't notice the tail problem... So I fixed it by using the horse galloping cycle as a reference and decided to keep the traditional look. The head is still not finished.

Hi all. I've been working on a new coat and I haven't drawn a draft horse before, nor a horse in a jumping pose... I'm wondering if anyone can tell me if the proportions are okay? If not, what would you change about it? I've looked at a lot of references but still feel something is a little off with it and I can't for the life of me figure it out.

TIA

Basically love it!

I'd say maybe tilt the body up at the front or tuck the back legs up. He appears to be fairly horizontal. At that point in his 'flight' over a jump if his legs were trailing like that the fence would be going down....

Thank you!

Oh, now that you mention it I can see it lol I'll give it a go both ways you've recommended and see which looks the best. Appreciate thhe help Rowan

Are you allowed to resubmit creations if they weren’t accepted before? I’ve been working hard on one and I’d hate if I couldn’t resubmit it if it didn’t get in on the September one.

Yes you can send the same one in as many times as you like if it has not been accepted yet.

Yay! Also 1 other question- do you submit the horse with the frame on it or without? I’m prepping for tomorrow and don’t want to do anything wrong. Thanks!

It needs to be sent in with the template.

In case of any mistakes, swap between a light and dark background to check and erase if necessary.

I usually save the template (frame) and then open it up in photoshop (or whichever program you use), select and copy the horse I made, and pop it on top of the template. I size it down so it fits inside and then use sharpen to bring back some of the detail. I flatten it so its all together as one (but not sure this really matters) and then submit it.

Okay thank you!

Yes and definitely play around with categories. I made a draft coat which didn't get through in May - I added wings and a horn and submitted it in June and July (both times it didn't get through). Finally removed the horn and submitted it as a draft Pegasus and it made it. I keep a sheet tracking how many creations are submitted in each category each month and aim to make creations which won't have a lot of competition (generally Draft pegasus, winged pony unicorn and pony pegasus.)

I decided to create bumblebee horse coat and like always when i turn him into 400x400 px to fit model that we need to have for black pearl he changed in a very blurry horse.. is there any chance, any program that wouldn't do such a thing with art or is this really impossible to keep good picture at 400x400px. Just wondering because this is my problem for months now
the first one (without resizing):


the one that fit into model:


I would also love to hear what i can fix on this coat- never stop learning

I usually just use sharpen to bring back some of the detail. I don't know what else can be done beyond that, someone else may know. It looks fab! Your colouring is great and I like how fluffy it looks. If I had to pick out something to change I think its the positioning of the legs... but that might just be my opinion, I have the same trouble with my poses always having to rework the legs to get it right

Thanks WhiteTiger i will try sharpening if that would do at least something to this horse
I already tried so many positions and it just kinda doesnt work so legs are a little bit lost case

I really like your drawing. Anatomy is almost perfect. What i think the problem is are still legs.. More specific right back and hind legs. They still seem to be in a little unnatural position. I would suggest you to move hind leg just a little bit forward and do it a little bit shorter (on small picture it is actually the same lenght as left but it makes horse a little bit to flat). Back right leg i would curve just a little bit at hoof.
All other things looks perfect to me and i can't wait to see finished colored result

@Spiritual: I think it's come through the shrink pretty well. There's no way of keeping all the fine detail. It's frustrating... but on the other hand maybe it's nice that you are only handing over a lower quality version to Howrse and the full version remains 'yours'. I think technically the arrangement you have with Howrse is only a licence to use, and you retain copyright anyway, but this way you definitely retain copyright on the big version!

For me, I think the neck looks short. Looking closer I don't think it actually is: it's the effect of the position of the head plus colouring plus furry lower neck.. I'd be inclined to think about making the neck all black, or carrying a black mane on down the neck, and/or shortening the fuzz so that the underline of the neck is restored.

The downside is that it might look less bumble beeish. And I have the same problem with people in jumpers with thick/fluffy necks so maybe it's just me!

Overall it's really cute.

RowanGreen i actually didn't think about shrinking in that way. Now that i thought this is the way to remain coat as "yours". That is kinda great to maintain copyright
Yeah i agree about the neck it looks kinda short but if i would make it longer it would not look as bumblebee but more like wasp. It is intended to look more fatty, fuzzy and squishy as bumblebees are

i am sorry to spam so many messages at this topic but i totally forgot to ask. Can i include horse's shadow on creation space or is it forbidden?
sth like this:

Using shadows in your creations:

We are probably going to add them ourselves in the future to have something that has the right perspective on the backgrounds, and that has a uniform texture across the coats.

You can use shadowing, but we ask that you keep them very light so that the images will fit with most Helios Ray backgrounds.


From the post at the top.

Sorry if these questions seem silly but I'm rather new to this; why does the page for the Black Pearl say "99 passes (instead of 195)"? Is there a special offer going on? Also if I purchase it one month but don't use it, will it be available for the next month?

Hi, there was a special where the Black Pearl was discounted and also made available to players with lower seniority than usual. I'm not sure if it is still the case (we'll see on the 1st).

You can't store it in your inventory - you purchase the pearl when you submit your artwork. Kind of how you can't buy an item from the black market to put in your inventory - it has to go straight on a horse.

Does anyone know a free app thats good to use for this stuff?

Hi Everyone! Trying to upload a GA coat submission this month and it is my first one! I'm using the app procreate on an Ipad Pro and having trouble figuring out how to fit it into the template howrse provides. Any advice on how to successfully upload this to requirements? I know it must be in PNG format, just not sure about the sizing. Any advice appreciated