[NEW!] Ref Revamp Several Years in the Making

So today I finally got around to making one of my oldest digital characters a complete ref sheet, drawn entirely by myself and with all of her info and add-ons present. The final product will be at the end of this post, but first, let's look at the progress, starting with her original ref I bought her as!

Here is the original, not designed by me, but purchased back in 2015. It is cute, but I knew I needed to make her a more detailed reference that showed her entire body if I wanted to get recolors of her.
Here is the first real reference I made her, which I drew entirely myself on paper in either 2016 or 2017. I was very proud of it at the time! And I'm honestly still impressed I finished it without losing motivation lol. As you can tell by comparing the info present here and the info present in the newest version, things were very much so still in development at the time of this one's creation.
This is her first detailed digital reference, colored by me in 2018 using free lines from dA that are credited on the image. This one served me well for a long time, but I wanted to make her one that showed both of her sides as well as her scarf like the 2016/17 one did but with clearer quality for ease of recoloring.

So all of this leads to the March 2021 version, which is intended to be the final edition! Digital, with clear colors, both sides, the correct body/mane type, and her important scarf add-on, plus some simple bits of character info. And I actually sat down for an hour straight and drew & colored it myself, which is quite the feat for me.



!!! Please refrain from commenting any criticism, as I am decently proud of this and due to Reasons(TM) I tend to take even the most constructive of criticism very hard when it is given to things I am actually proud of. I am working on that, but in the meantime please don't leave me any suggestions or critiques. I just wanted to share this with you all for the fun of it, nothing more. Thanks.

Last edited on 2021-04-02 at 08:01:46 by Raptor

Aww she looks awesome! It's fun to see her (and your) journey!

Gives me old timey feels when everyone used to have references like this, makes characters feel a lot more genuine. She's very cute ♥

Well, she has developed in many beautiful ways! Each character has their own journey!! Good job!

Thank you everyone!

Maple - I've always been a fan of the kind of references I used to see back when I first joined that were kinda this style, so it's cool you noticed that in it! I want to make more of these kind for some of my other heavily-used characters who could also benefit from updated and more detailed references but I started with this one because she was the easiest to color.

she is very beautiful! ♥ - I love the ref style it’s very cute.

Last edited on 2021-03-28 at 14:54:22 by Tall Oak

You might have inspired me to update some old characters this way! I can just never decide who lol. Looking forward to seeing more!

Total nostalgia seeing this ref sheet! There is nothing like those good old days of EV. It's so bitter sweet to reminisce... 

Nice ref and awesome work Raptor!

Thank you!! It's so cool to me that my art has not only attracted the attention but the nostalgia of some people I'd consider EV legends. I was just out to make my younger self's vision of a DIY character ref a reality, but maybe I can inspire a whole Equiverse Reference Renaissance! lol

She looks awesome, love it Rap! ♥

Next one!

the original, not done by me (2015) - cool design and certainly useable but I wanted to blend the colors more and add some character info
the first revamp, done by me using free lines (2017) - blended the colors more and added the distinction between his eyes; outcome was okay but rather messy

today's finished product, done by yours truly:



Last edited on 2021-04-02 at 08:06:04 by Raptor

He looks absolutely amazing Raptor! ♥ I love it!

Last edited on 2021-04-02 at 09:38:53 by Tall Oak

'Nother one!

There wasn't really anything wrong with the original, which I made back in 2017 using some character-maker game, but I decided a character as important as this guy deserved a fancier ref.

Those look adorable!

I'm really loving all of these ref sheets you've been doing Raptor! As always, they all look fantastic! ♥