'Did I Miss Anything?'

You were wondering what Luna did through all of Season Two.....

--

So here's an example of a picture was was very difficult and probably shouldn't have been.

It's entirely my fault. I didn't keep track of priorities. For example, I went to great lengths to draw a geometrically precise tri-fold mirror when a plain one would have been fine. I included all sorts of details on the desk (see the letter she's writing and the ink dribbled all over the desk between the ink well and the parchment?) and even bothered to draw the scene from an angle, ensuring that I'd also have to draw her reflection (both sides of Luna's head!) and Luna from a technically complex position, requiring the translucent veil around her cloud-mane to partially occlude parts of hair, neck, and ears. Her mane is back in a ponytail mostly so it doesn't interfere with the view of the mirror (because I spent forever drawing it), but even this causes problems in terms of drawing Luna on-model. This also causes the composition of the scene to shift awkwardly to the right, which forced me to add the desk and pile of books on the left to restore visual balance and ensure Luna and her book remained at the center of the image, which is the area of maximum visual impact.

This picture is a perfect example of my personal impulse to complexify things that should be kept simple. Imagine the scene from the side, with Luna staged in front of a simple mirror and reading out of a book that's directly facing us. It would still be just as funny, and easier to understand and draw.

I'm not "beating myself up" for this mistake - if I hadn't acted on my impulses to draw a tri-fold mirror it wouldn't be my picture - but this is a great example for all you other artists out there of messing up priorities. Keep it simple, visual, and easily understandable in a heartbeat. Especially when you're trying for comedy. Otherwise, you'll be spending a lot of time literally "doodling in the margins."

*Practices her Royal Glares*