Comments locked due to multiple reports of slander, and generally shitting on each other.
 
Please do not engage in flame wars and using the comment section to drag people through the mud

@Mercurial64  
alrighty, since mr.grown_artist dared to show up and write a wall of text literally soaking with narcissism  
i call bullshit  
prove me wrong  
it’s simple  
Screen record or even timelapse will do. From scratch to finish.  
Not necesseraly right here and now, i can wait.
 
 
If you manage to convice me then i’ll admit that i was wrong.
 
p.s. it’ll have to be something relatively complex

@Shydale  

That due to them still using old 3D models that are slightly modify or they don’t put that must effort into it. Compare to the Overwatch 3D animators, MLP 3D animators are still nowhere at their level when it comes to their impressive 3D models and animations.

@Officer Hotpants  
Yeah: Never make positive style comparisons again.

I think we all learned something here today.

Hey everyone, it’s your boy Merc.
 
Just wanted to share a few thoughts, because it’s getting a bit ridiculous here.
 
First of all, I don’t trace. However, I admit a did a couple of traces back in 2018, one anthro twilight and anthro starlight. I quickly realized that’s not the way to learn art, so I dropped it.
 
I started learning art back when Shydale was at the peak of his popularity, I quite enjoyed his art myself, it even inspired me.
 
What I believe is going on with him now, is the result of his inability to cope with the fact, that I grew as an artist from scratch, while he was still stuck at the same level for years. It’s okay to find that comfort zone, but I prefer moving on. I’m afraid it’s the case of this guy being salty because someone dared to compare his art to mine. I personally like it when people compare me with other artists, noticing style resemblance, that at least makes me sure I have one. Pretty solid achievement for someone who started drawing a few years ago. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case with Shydale. His arrogance dictates him to be an asshole to me, on public socials btw.
 
I ain’t a saint either, my friends will admit that. But.. how to put it.. I’m not going out and about trying to ruin someone I don’t like, by accusing them of being a tracer, in such a hostile manner too.
 
Let’s get down to some things in particular? In that Fleur pic you see, she originally wears a corset, this is an alt without one. I wanted to push the effect by breaking the anatomy a little, that spine bend is not realistic, but stylistic. Would you know a thing about style, Shy?
 
Gildas wings? Never seen them wet + foreshortened? yep totally fucking traced. I did the best I could there tho, I hate wings.
 
“awkward style of lineart”  
yeah okay, I surrender to the police, you caught me XD
 
You do like making fool out of yourself, sir. Do me a favor, don’t do this bs, be concerned with your own art. This horse head here is a joke, why is it so flat, why she has snake nostrils, my dude?
 
Have fun with your homework.
 
Cheers!

@Anonymous #B4A5  
I used 3d for background planning for a few pictures and it was never a secret. I think i even posted some insights in derpi comments back in the day.  
However i don’t use my pony models for posing. I see no reason to do so and i’d rather do 3d render instead(i hope to get another one done soon tho). Plus my rig is still far from being done, so posing is quite a bitch.  

 
I don’t see much of a reason to continue this thread.  
I provided my opinion.  
You may believe it, you may not.

@Shydale  
>”I don’t break my anatomy as badly as they do so they must be tracing 3D models”  
Or maybe it’s just a result of “poor” anatomy; artists (un)intentionally break it all the time, which means it is no indication of “tracing 3D models”. Not that you’d have experience with broken anatomy, mr-fucking-perfect.
 
>”yeah but have you seen their entire process?”  
That argument kinda falls apart once you realise that not every artist always streams their creations from start to finish, if they stream at all, but I guess that they’re so beneath you that you either haven’t noticed or don’t care.

@Shydale  
You very clearly rely on 3D models too, hypocrite.

@Shydale
 
Yes, I saw Merc work in real time. There are references used, true, but there’s never tracing involved. There was some way back when, but modern era Merc’s stuff is pure dedication.
 
Does he make mistakes? Yes. Does he get help when he tries new or tricky angles? Yes.  
Is any of that traced? Not at all.
 
Your example of Fleur’s broken back? Intentional to an extent. He had to break anatomy for this a bit to make it work. He’s not too happy about it but all things considered, it ended up quite well.
 
Gilda’s wings? I saw that picture being made myself and he went through so many iterations and poured so many hours in figuring out how to draw those damned things that you wouldn’t believe it.  
Were references used? Yes, to figure out that angle. Has any tracing been done? No.
 
Next time I suggest you bring solid evidence if you want to accuse anyone of tracing.  
Because right now? You’re just spreading lies and slander.

@Shydale  

 
Yeah, no, try again

@Acres  
There are certain “hunches” indicating traces of 3d. From obvious raytraced lighting to blatant 3d shapes of additional objects(wings of gilda for example). Plus really awkward style of lineart.
 
@Anonymous #3F20  
>better at horse anatomy  
lol, no.  
I draw cartoony characters, but i did my share of “homework” for horse anatomy. So if they are as good as they claim, they wouldn’t fuck up so miserably when their models fail.
 
Since i couldn’t find it on either derpi or ponybooru it seems like they decided to keep this one as “patreon exclusive” along with other fuckups. So i had to dig one of content agregators to find it. I “respect” creator’s right to keep content exclusive so i won’t post a whole thing. Just a thumbnail.
 
This broken spine is a perfect example of trusting 3d model too much.  

 
Wings as obvious 3d here, looks like one of those chaotic wings you could see on some anthro models from time to time.  

 
Additional question: did anyone ever see them stream the process from start to finish?  
_
 
There are a number of artists doing draw-over-3d stuff(pixelsketcher, or twistedscarlett is need mlp example)
 
Why not post the 3d render instead, you might ask? Answer is simple: plain 3d doesn’t give that much of a WOW-effect as 2d and doesn’t sell that well. Yes, it still takes some effort to produce. But people usually expect 3d to be animated these days.  
_
 
Tbh all this was brought up mostly due to frequency illusion  
i suddenly had same discussion with different people over the last few days

@Shydale  
Well, be that as it may, initially mistaking* this for an allegedly traced photo just goes to show you really nailed it – and on your first public foray (that I’ve seen, at least) into more realistic equine anatomy, no less.
 

 
I for one certainly wouldn’t mind seeing some hoers from you every now and then.
 
 
*In hindsight, the coloring really should’ve made it immediately obvious this wasn’t one of Merc’s…
 
 
@Officer Hotpants  
Sorry. :(

Ah. Now my day’s off to the right start. Thanks guys.

@Anonymous #3F20  
Little did you know, mercurial is the exact same, heavily comes across as if he thinks his horse style is objectively superior to all other styles.  
While the remark about tracing is below the belt, given the lack of evidence to suggest he actually traces (even I have been wrong about artists tracing before), I personally would not put it past mercurial to do so, or at the very least he’s so closely referencing photos of horses that the difference, while technically different, may be arguably negligible. I don’t think shy is “mad” at him for the reasons you stated, though mercurial’s air of superiority might be a significant factor instead.
 
“Better” is very subjective, for both artists. When it comes down to it, they’re just art styles and preferences for what “real” horse anatomy should look like in their eyes.
 
In my opinion, it’s the superiority complexes and similar mindsets/personalities that puts artists beneath others, not their art styles.

@Shydale  
@Shydale  
Jesus dude, pull your head out of your ass. Here someone is trying to compliment you, and you’re trying to start shit outta nowhere against the guy you’re being compared to because you’re ~so high~ on your fucking pedestal that every other artist must be beneath you.  
Like, I get it, you’re mad because Mercurial does better feral horses than you, but trying to claim that he’s a tracer without anything to back it up beyond “I know one when I see it” just makes you the faggot here.

@Shydale  
how do you know the artist traces? Is it all a hunch?

Now that is a beautiful Celestia.

@Shydale  
I’d imagine being an artist helps a lot with that.

@Exhumed Legume  
it’s very obvious that they are drawing over 3d renders and photos. I know one when i see it.

@Shydale  
Tracer?

@Exhumed Legume  
i’m deeply offended  
comparing me to shameless tasteless tracer, ew ew ew

@Exhumed Legume  

 
Same.
 
Horsie style best style.

@Officer Hotpants  
Doesn’t help that I’m watching both artists’ tags. :D  
And yes, damn fine Sun Hoers. 👌

@Exhumed Legume  
I can see that that quite easily. I was surprised, myself; it’s not the style I’m used to from Shydale. Damn good, though. Especially for a (seemingly) first foray into a new style.