Pony Town skin guide!
by no means should this be used as a strict rulebook, but rather to be a tool to help on occasions
1. - Hue Shifting
one of the main pieces of advice i give to people is to use hue shifting in skins! whilst not obligatory, it's a good and simple way to add interest hue shifting is changing the colour of shading / highlights to slightly warmer or colder colours on the colour wheel here's a great video explaining it in more depth!
simple gradient without (top) hue shifting, and with (bottom) hue shifting!
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this is the general guide i follow when hue shifting, but always feel free to experiment on your own!:
(remember you can apply the slight tints to your already existing colours, rather than using this as it's own palette, e.g:)
hue shifting is a great technique, but can be overdone if the gradient is too harsh (changing colours too quickly) you can use hue shifting in tandem with adjusting tone + saturation, e.g having more saturated lighter colours and more desaturated darker colours
desaturated lighter colours + saturated darker colours (top) vs saturated lighter colours + desaturated darker colours (bottom)
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2. - colour palettes
premade colour palettes are a great way to easily add interesting colours to something! generally, they're complimentary colours or have aspects of colour theory included (which is explained well in this video!) a good website to use to generate/find colour palettes is coolors.co as it has a feature to randomly generate palettes AND has a tab for trending/popular ones (which are usually very pretty!)
these can be used for oc inspiration (if you're struggling with colouring), or as a replacement for hue shifting in shading (since you can just copy the hex codes over if you're lazy) ㅤ
3. - Outlines
I see many people have issues with outlines, or simply do not utilise the feature at all! while it's fine to have specific design choices, or choose not to use them, it's always nice to adjust them a little to fit your pony better!
a few people dislike when you overdo an outline, or colour random ones neon (which is fine! do what you want and what feels best for you and your style!), but you can always try and keep them in the most "realistic" places for example, people generally use lighter outlines next to the lightest shades of your palette (like the highlights of the hair) also, you can always apply hue shifting to the outline too, instead of leaving it an exact darker version of your original shading. e.g
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edited outlines (with hue shifting)ㅤvsㅤ unedited outlines (locked on 50)
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you can also add lighter lines in to add shape/further highlight!
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sometimes i see people using all lighter shades for their skins, by turning the set brightness down to 0 and such. (pictured below)
whilst there is no issue with this, it can often lose clarity of shapes / different shades within your pony, so makes it difficult to figure out what you're looking at :(
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for example, i will use one of my old test skins to demonstrate this (feel free to reference it, i have no attachment to it) but keep in mind my style has since changed and it is not the best example :(, so use this advice loosely
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unedited outlinesㅤ ㅤㅤㅤvsㅤㅤㅤㅤ VERY light outlines
in comparison, here's one with edited outlines (mixing both light and dark/hue shifted colours):
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4. - Why don't my skins look detailed?!
there could be a multitude of reasons for this, however one trick people use is to use accessories to add to a feature (e.g. using the unicorn horn to add more shading to the hair, or using the horns as a hairpiece) e.g.
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before + after using horns, unicorn horn + sideburns to enhance the shape of the hair many people choose not to use sideburns, which is totally fine! i use them because of my own personal preferences, but feel free to adapt any of this advice to your own style :3
people also use the grasscode to enhance/change the shape of hair or other parts of the body, but it will look strange when you are not stood on the appropriate grass/path, and many people try to avoid it at all costs i use it to make some of the (personally) ugly hairstyles not so ugly, or to create a specific tail shape, but i am looking to try and reduce it as much as possible
furthermore, many people use the accessories such as the saddle/wings to help make a more interesting outfit/body, but this is not necessary
if you prefer a simpler style, that's totally okay! ㅤㅤ
5. - Tinting
tinting can be done by anybody who's willing to spend the extra time on a skin :3 it can be done in any editing/art program (such as ibispaint, procreate, clip studio paint, etc.) that has a layer function! tinting is where you add a colour filter/overlay over a skin you have already completed/are in the process of making, and transferring the colours over via their hex codes (here is a good website which allows you to easily colour pick)
here is an example of tinting on my previous model!
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6. - Gradient Maps!
personally, i use gradient maps in clip studio paint to further enhance my tinting, and i believe ibis paint, procreate, photoshop and clip studio paint all share these aspects. my process of using gradient maps usually includes applying the gradient map and reducing the opacity/using the "colour" / "overlay" layer blending modes, as demonstrated with below:
original skin ^
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You can use this free website to use/create your own gradient maps!
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using gradient maps on a skin with no hue shifting can often do the work for you, so it is a helpful tool to learn! you can also use gradient maps without adjusting the opacity if you like a bolder colour look, and feel free to reference the skin examples here :) ㅤ
7. - Experiment!
There's no rulebook to Pony Town skins, and this guide should not be treated as such. My greatest advice is just to experiment, test new styles, recreate your favourite characters, etc. improvement comes with learning more, and no-one gets anywhere without trying new things!
credits go to this person ;D ㅤㅤ