Greetings. This was the picture that most grabbed me from today's Drawfriend on Equestria Daily 08/23/2017, and I wanted to share some feedback.



Skillfully drawn character portraits are quite impressive to me, but there's something to be said about the kind of portrait that uses the character as both the foreground and the background. The picture has a clearly defined rectangular border, yet I know nothing about the location where Celestia is sleeping here. As opposed to putting a minimalistic background that cheapens the environment, instead the entire focus is on the character, and the background is not even a consideration.



Nearly the entirety of the background of the picture is composed of Celestia's mane and tail, producing an impressive swirling vortex of hair. Each "collection" of hair comes with its own easily identifiable point of origin that just so happen to be centered right in line with the rule of thirds, maybe only a bit to the right in the case of the tail. The face lines up with the hair, placing it front and center in the focus of the image, and the downward angle of the face creates the impression of her laying her head against the floor.



What's most impressive about this image is how you managed to separate the mane and the tail without them mushing together into a jumbled mess, especially impressive since you didn't take the easy route and distinguish them with different colors. Instead, the swirly lines form solid shapes that can be easily traced back to their respective points of origin. In the bottom left, the only area where it might be a little ambiguous, you used a thick outline to clearly separate the tail from the mane. The result is that this picture would be equally as readable even if it were in grayscale, and I confirmed this idea by viewing the picture in grayscale.



One thing that impresses me about an artist is their ability to draw a character in their own style and still maintain that sense of identifiability. Unfortunately, I would have guessed this pony to be an OC if it weren't for the title and description, as the colors are a bit too outlandish for me to think "Celestia" despite the sun cutie mark. Given the white fur and alicorn status, I might have thought you were going with a "Celestia's mother" sort of character.



My one big point of criticism relates to the way Celestia is contorting her body. We can see that she's rotating her head so she can lay it against the floor despite lying on her side. That part is believable. Next, we follow her spine as it goes down the back. We should note that the spine would be located right in between the wings, at a point that is right around where the line that forms the back is. As the back goes down to the rump, we can see that the body contorts further so that it now faces toward the viewer, allowing us to see the base of her tail. But if we follow that spine line, it doesn't quite line up to where the tail would naturally fall. It looks like it's a bit too low and to the left so that it fits better in that easily viewable position. I think you pulled a little sleight of hand to make the pose work, but the illusion is quite effective.



The expression makes lovely use of those sleepy eyelashes that immediately establish the tone of the image. Her body language also conveys sleeping, with that foreleg positioned in such a way that it looks like she could be clutching a pillow. Your color choice is interesting, and you did a good job using all of the colors of the rainbow by clearly separating them and preventing one color from overpowering the others. The complete lack of black and white really help in this regard,and your use of a dark purple for the eyelashes let them stand out as the darkest part of the picture without feeling out of place. If I had to name a color that is too strong, it would be the red on the left-hand side, as there might be a little too much of it in relation to its intensity.



I'd call this an exceptionally drawn picture with great linework, great shapes, and great color choice. It all comes together to make some terrific imagery, with the face at the center of attention despite all the colors going on. I also love the way you drew the ear. Make the most!