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Kein
#172751
1 year ago
This is pure awesomeness:

"[...]
But frequently, backgrounds don't have characters. Thus, they need to become their own character, their own personality. And I was constantly reminded of this while watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

My own backgrounds were subtle, feathered, just flavors of the character imposed into the scenery. They were blended, driven with light, and painted with loose soft brushstrokes. But in Friendship is Magic, the backgrounds are lush with purpose, teeming with accessories, and tighter than William Shatner's girdle.

The amount of detail and personality injected into the buildings throughout are quite inspiring. All their houses are decked out with an avalanche of minutia that embody each character that resides within it. But amidst all the details, the way its drawn is very minimalist, allowing all the bits and pieces to be absorbed quite easily. It shows a lot, but does not inflict sensory overload.

Thus, I decided to engage the polar opposite of my usual painting style and attempt an MLP:FiM styled background. Not just with the same intention...but with the same look, the same style, and by Celestia the same exact tools. No Photoshop allowed. Flash only.

This image was inspired by a trip I took to Canada several years back. When hiking along Lake Louise, there was a random coffee house perched right on the edge of a cliff. It's a memory that's always stuck with me.

While watching Friendship is Magic, I noticed that Ponyville is suffering from a very tragic lack of a coffee shop. Since the town seems to be driven by muffins and hay, I imagine that coffee was not quite a viable source of energy, and therefore, wouldn't be a central element of the town's topology. So if there is a coffee shop, I imagined it being on the outer perimeter of Ponyville, and in this case, converted from an old farm house just on the edge of the Everfree Forest.

To loop it into canon (for those who care), this would explain why Fluttershy is so calm and collected. She also lives on the edge of the forest, so she could be in close proximity to this place too for her green tea fix.

I also studied a lot of references from the show to find the most consistent design elements. Lots of spirals. Lots of celtic medieval architecture. And my favorite, lots and lots of Chuck Jones influence.

The backgrounds are also a lot less saturated than I originally imagined.
[...]"

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More information on the deviant page, it's in the source.
Tesseract27
#172763
1 year ago
Oh now that's pretty looking.
Anonymous
#172831
1 year ago
Gorgeous.
NTSC
#172853
1 year ago
Very good adaptation of style! Something does get me about the building. A very unique cafe, it didn't strike me as one until I read the description. Maybe cause I don't see too many two story cafes, originally designed from farmhouses. Good observation of style queues from the show!
Anonymous
#174042
1 year ago
Oh, wow....