Why Is AT&F Drawn In Colored Outlines? (Patreon)

Why Is AT&F Drawn In Colored Outlines?  This is a question most of you probably already know, but here is the answer for those who would like to hear it again.

Originally after work on a fully colored, shaded, and highly detailed MLP-Related comic series, I was worn out and quit drawing ponies for a few months.  But like anyone who loves to create, you can't keep a drawer down.  I wanted to keep doing comics and tell stories, but I didn't want to put the huge amount of time into my comics mainly doing coloring work and shading.  My old series I was lucky to get one 20-plus panel comic done a week.  I really wanted something I could turn out fast and interact more with the community.

So I tested around a bit and did some lazy sketches using a core character of the color for their outline.  I posted a few early "pilot" ideas and it seemed to be okay.  I kept doing it and well, here we are.  I've had people tell me they are turned off from the series and never read it because they thought the "outline" look made the series appear as an afterthought.  I heard that early on too and it worried me.  It made me want to put as much world building and character depth I could without it being annoying and self-righteous to the reader.  Over time, the colored outlines just kind of became what AT&F was partially known for.  You could see a stack of comics and immediately tell AT&F apart from other series.  Even since then, some artists have mimicked the style!  It was unique for the MLP fandom and fits perfectly in a world of technicolor ponies.  It cuts down the time-consuming full scene coloring and still represents the characters and world well.

I have long wanted to do a full color series, even doing it to AT&F, but as time goes on, I like AT&F the way it is.  I love seeing the improvements and the added details to the world.  I wouldn't change it's artistic style choices and am pretty happy with it.  I mean... it is after my most successful IP I've ever created, and I am thankful for that.  I am thankful for all of you.  Thank you so much for making this possible.  I think about it every single day.

Have a good weekend and enjoy the BIG GAME if you are in North America!