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Published: 2017-08-24 12:54:47 +0000 UTC; Views: 3231; Favourites: 216; Downloads: 0
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This Deviation was featured in the following Equestria Daily Post
www.equestriadaily.com/2020/12…
Thank you for providing pony material for all of us to enjoy 
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Is that your OC? Bow and hair tie? THAT'S ADORABLE
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She's actually mine, thank you very much!^^ 
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You made a great design choice
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Greetings! This was the piece that most grabbed me from today's Drawfriend on Equestria Daily 8/24/2017, and I wanted to share some feedback.
When it comes to Friendship is Magic, one of the big ideas that the show and the fandom like to play around with is the notion of anthropomorphism. While many fan artists like to render characters as fully or partially human, and even the main series dabbles in literally humanizing characters in the case of Equestria Girls, the main series prefers to lean on the idea while still maintaining that the characters are ponies first and foremost. Often we see this idea of anthropomorphism invoked when ponies wear human clothing, use human tools, or engage in activities that are decidedly more human than equine. Yet, because the characters have decisively human personalities and fit in a mostly human-based society, there's an acceptable break from reality that allows us as the viewers to give it a pass and take it seriously, whereas we would most definitely not if we saw an actual pony doing these things.
This picture fully applies the idea of an anthropomorphized pony as its main theme in the general style employed by the main series, pushing on the limits of acceptability without breaking them or going "full human." The stage is set by the scene you've created, painting a familiar landscape of a towel on the beach near the ocean. The tone is immediately established as relaxing and peaceful, and the slightly cartoonish sense of realism creates a sense of imagery that draws the viewer into the scene. Just by looking at this background, I can hear the sound effects that would naturally accompany it.
The landscape without the character already makes for a good art piece by itself, but it's when the character is factored in that the cognitive dissonance comes into play. Lounging on the beach under an umbrella on a towel is very much a human activity, yet the character is loudly nonhuman despite displaying such human-like posture. It's easy enough to look at the posing here and think human by ignoring the lack of fingers and protruding snout, but the sheer volume of pony-specific features take up so much space that they are practically alarms drawing the viewer's attention to the species discrepancy. Not only do the stretched-out wings and lounging tail take up so much space, but the tail in particular has been conspicuously decorated with a ribbon. This little detail not only acknowledges awareness of the character that the tail exists, but it also tethers it to a grounded sense of realism. She is treating her tail with the kind of thoughtful consideration a long-haired person might treat their hair, and we know this for absolute certain since it matches the bow in her mane. It's a human thought considered to something not human, and it furthers that cognitive dissonance and creates intrigue.
Whether it be intentional or coincidental, this character's fur color also provides some human-like imagery, in a more humorous way than with the bow on the tail. The light pink fur resembles a possible human skin pigment, though in particular, she resembles someone who is thoroughly and completely sunburned, especially the parts of her in the shade. In addition, there are certain parts of her body such as right underneath her bikini top that look slightly lighter than others, which resemble the effect of tanlines. It's possible all of this is unintentional, but even so it's thematically appropriate considering where sunburn and tanlines typically occur. The reason I think it may be unintentional is that there doesn't appear to be anything else about the picture to back it up. Her expression looks mostly complacent, and there doesn't appear to be any sensation of pain about her. Not to mention, she's underneath an umbrella, which would likely shield her from the sun's rays and make her legs the most likely part to get burned. And those are the part that look the least sunburnt.
The last point of note when it comes to your adaptation of anthropomorphism is the two-piece bikini she's wearing. What's interesting about this element is how it produces the opposite effect to that of the tail on the bow. Humans designed bikinis to preserve a sense of modesty while wearing as little clothing as possible. For a pony, who commonly walks around without any clothing, it would make more sense to remain without clothes since modesty isn't an issue and more clothing is generally less comfortable under the hot sun. In that way, it's as if there was a concerted lack of thought from the character when considering whether or not to wear it. It could be said that the only reason she is wearing a bikini in this picture is because you as the artist believe it looks good, but I believe that same logic can be applied to the character as well. If the ponies are really as human as we imagine them to be, they would naturally be primed to find attractive the same things we do, and vanity is a thoroughly human emotion that grounds the article of clothing back in reality, revealing more about the character in the process.
Getting back to the more mechanical aspects of the piece, the shading underneath the umbrella is a skillfully performed effect. The colors used flow just right to make it look genuine, and the giant dark lines used for the closed eyes provide enough contrast to still let the face stand out despite it being masked in shadow. The shape of the umbrella is clean, and there's an amazing sense of depth to it, which really helps in making the shading work. I also really like how you use the umbrella to tell the viewer where the light source is coming from, as it is positioned to block the sunlight from burning the pony here and clearly reflects that sunlight right in its center.
Moving on to a few minor points of criticism, I'm a bit unsure about the expression you went with here. I can sort of read it as a strained face to complement her stretching pose, but I believe you could have pushed it further to better indicate that's what you were going for. The second hoof that completes the stretching pose is not quite as noticeable as the first, though I can say that I imagined it there before actually seeing it since the body language so heavily implies it. I tend to associate this pose with more of an angrier face, as the face muscles naturally come together when really going for that full stretch. I also may have a bit of uncertainty with the bikini bottom string being so far to the right that it comes in front of the back leg. That is, unless this is the sort of bikini bottom that is tied on each side of the hip and the other side is simply obscured from view.
I'd call this a great picture that both openly and furtively blends reality with unreality quite, creating a perfectly innocuous picture that masks a fantastical dive into the imagination. Hopefully you are able to pick up on what you did well about this picture and continue making thought-provoking art in the future. Make the most!
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Again, thank you so much for this!^^ You drew her so well! I absolutely adore this piece.
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Pony bikinis are so cute, and this is no exception.
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This Deviation was featured in the following Equestria Daily Post www.equestriadaily.com/2017/08… Thank you for providing pony material for all of us to enjoy
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D'aw, this is is precious, really also love how you captured the lighting/shade in here, looks super natural & gives that soothing look, but omggggggggggg love her, that stretch, too cute
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