OC Review Forum?

Hi there.
 
So I’ve stopped creating original characters (OCs) for a while because I want to focus on the show’s official characters, but I’ve started venturing back into the realm of OCs. Which is always sucky because I don’t know if I’m creating the characters too overpowered, too cliched, with a crappy design, etc.
 
There used to be a few blogs open on Tumblr that would critique OCs for you, most notably Fan-OC-Critique, but they have been inactive for two years now. So I’m wondering now, are there any other blogs one can use to get their OCs reviewed? Or is there a thread here for MLP OCs?
 
Thanks,
 
-Kirb.

Hmmm… The only one I ever followed closed over a month ago. I can’t think of any offhand. Sorry I can’t be of more help.
 
I’d be willing to look them over if you want? People tell me I’m good at designing ponies, I should be able to suggest some things.

There’s an Awesome OC’s thread but it’s been dead for a while.

@luna the great!  
Hmm, there’s an idea! Maybe we can even keep this thread open so people can submit their OCs for review and we can give our feedback.
 
I don’t really have very good pics of my own OCs, but once I make some I’ll definitely post them here.
 
@Badumsquish  
Yeah, and that’s not really what I’m looking for anyway ^^;

All the ones i know about are dead. Can one be made here? We are an imagebooru eyeballs deep in artists.

@Background Pony #7D80  
Problem is, it would need to be run by people who don’t immediately dismiss every OC they see as a Mary Sue.
 
There are some people who do that. They don’t even read the story and just hearing there’s an OC will make them dislike it.
 
Thanks, FIMFiction.net!

I can review OCs, since I don’t mind them - as long as they have a decent story and design.

@FillerArtist  
Oh, okay. Once I draw my newest OC Scarlet I’ll post her here. Meanwhile I might post a pic of Olive.

 
Name: Black Olive  
Age: 30  
Height: 120 cm (3’11”)  
Clothing: Black and maroon striped scarf, occasionally a white apron for her work in the kitchen
 
Olive works at her pizzeria in Canterlot. Her father also ran a pizza shop, which she inherited when she was younger, but was unable to pay off. Desperate, she sold the shop and her recipes to a chain, under the condition that she wouldn’t start another shop for five years. Having lost everything but still determined, she traveled Equestria and even the other countries finding new recipes until she was allowed to start a new shop.
 
Olive is kindhearted and willing to offer advice, enjoying talking to her customers. She is bisexual, though she isn’t blatant about it and doesn’t act like she wants to screw everypony that walks. She is also somewhat chubby–more so than I’ve drawn her in this pic, as this was a very early picture of her.
 
What do you think?

(Going to keep it a tad brief)
 
Black Olive.
 
Pros:
 
-Design is pretty good. I really like the mane.
 
-Simple color design. No overdone rainbows, no crazy eyes. I can understand what is what thanks to the colors.
 
-Realistic concept. (Works, has relationships with other characters such as their dad. Has some flaws.)
 
Cons:
 
-The color scheme is a tad odd. Maybe give the mane color a slight green tint? Eyes are bright, and they pop out of the colors of the main character. Which would make it hard to frame with color, since the eyes take up all the attention. Either make the base colors brighter, or make the eyes darker.
 
-Scarf colors clash too much. Maybe use a neutral color to make it clash less?
 
-Cutie mark design clashes with the artstyle. And color choice. As with the eyes, they take up too much attention.
 
Make some minor improvements, and it’ll be pretty good.

@Kirb  
I’d go with a lighter and less saturated green for the body, most pones have pale, pastel coloured coats. If you want olive green, i suggest doing that with the hair instead, easier to get away with dark colours in the mane.
 
Something along these lines:
 

@FillerArtist  
Thanks for the feedback! Funny thing about the eyes, that drawing is pretty old and I hadn’t really started making the tint for characters’ eyes yet at this point. I did draw her once with the eye tint, as an anthro (warning: chubby).  

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Notice how it appears much more subdued with said tint added. Of course, if you still think it needs to match better, then I will take that into consideration.
 
Out of curiosity, what type of cutie mark would you recommend? I’m seriously interested: I’ve never been the best at designing cutie marks accurate to the show’s style. (Though of course, I don’t attempt to draw pics in that style–too time-consuming!)
 
@PaskaNaakka  
Hmm. Well, I don’t know. I attempted to give her a greenish black tint for her mane (remember her name is “Black Olive” and that has to come into play somewhere).

As for the CM, make it simple flat colors with no outlines. As having outlines makes it stand out, which the actual show style doesn’t do (If it is, it’s colored outlines, not solid black)
 
@PaskaNaakka
 
I agree with that. Too. It would probably stand out a tad more with colored outlines. (Solid black tends to make colors look dull if done wrong)

@PaskaNaakka
 
@Kirb
 
The colour tweaks see to fix most of the problems. Maybe darken the mane slightly. The eyes have been brought up, but I think they need to be less saturated. Either a dull gold or a light yellow would work.
 
The scarf… Hmm. You wanted olive colours to come into play here, here’s what I’m thinking: In place of the red stripes, use the green that was her original coat colour. That will fit with the softer green of her new coat and it will have both green olive and black olive colours in it.
 
Cutie mark. Those aren’t something I’m great at, but here’s what I came up with:
 

 
The bottom one is basically her cutie mark now, but simplified. On MLP, the cutie marks are usually as simple as possible to get their point across, and don’t have outlines.

@FillerArtist  

Hmm, okay. So flat colors with no outlines for the CM.  

Wait, are you talking about just the cutie mark or the character herself? Because… I’ve tried drawing characters in the “show style” with colored outlines, and it’s time consuming as hell, so I don’t plan on continuing to do that. Besides, it wouldn’t go well with the shading I usually put on pics.
 
@luna the great!  

So a darker green-gray color for the mane, then? And a more pale color for the eyes?  

Interesting, I’ll try to incorporate that into her design. I might make an edit of that pic–or even a new one–for her to test out some new design choices.  

I like the bottom one. Of all of them, it’s the only one that really gets her special talent of pizza making across.

you could always just redesign your oc to be me.

@DanielTepesKraus  
And give up the chubbiness and love of pizza? Please.

@Kirb  
trust me that love of pizza would be going nowhere.

@DanielTepesKraus  
Dude, I battled your OC awhile back. I think the world would explode if my OC turned into yours.

Mind if I do an OC? Her name is Milly. She’s an earth-pone maid, I guess? Dunno. (Spoiler because butts)
 

 
I also made a SFM version of her, but it’s sorta meh.
 

@FillerArtist  
Hmm. Well, interesting design and color choice. I wish I knew more about her backstory, personality type, etc. so I can make a good conclusion. My biggest qualm (besides the fact that the SFM looks uncanny) is that she doesn’t have a cutie mark, or at least not in the picture above. Still, pretty okay character design.

There is a CM (visible on the SFM - right model). Added it on the SFM model for a more “complete look”.
 
As for backstory. I wanted her to pay debts from her parents for funds she got as a youngster, so she got a quick job as a maid.
 
She likes to be a tad saucy to others for a sense of attention. She’s rude to people who don’t listen, and can be a jerk if she can’t get her way. Childish. Also not the sharpest knife in the drawer, as she’s not the smartest.

@FillerArtist
 
First of all: The colour scheme. It’s technically perfect. Almost all the colours look good together. But it’s something that’s been used over. And over. Everyone’s used this colours scheme and you wants your oc to stand out.
 
I made some tweaks that I think could help (Please forgive the awful quality of the art, I drew this in five minutes)
 

 
They’re very slight, but everything’s been shifted from the lights browns and yellow to a more rose-gold tone. It differentiates just enough without completely destroying the original character design. It also matches nicely with the maid theme, at least in my opinion. I also changed the mane style a little, but I think that’s me being nitpicky more than anything so if you don’t like it just ignore it.
 
The eyes! For future reference, green and yellow is usually a no-no. There’s very few ways to make it work- pale yellow and spring green, emerald green and gold, and olive green with a light gold(what is used in this edit.) You could switch it to a darker green and it would still work, but I think this looks best.
 
I like her personality, don’t worry about anything there.

Honestly, I do agree with the color design change. Actually. I honestly designed Milly to be the most appealing-but-cliche OC of all time, and I guess it sorta worked?
 
I do have another male OC, but due to the fact pictures of him are so old/outdated, I don’t have a proper reference for him.
 
As for character design evolution, this was the 1st drawing of Milly.
 

I used to run a blog called MLP:GBU where I rated OCs. You can check it out if you want some ideas or inspiration on what not to do xD