Greetings! This was the pic that most grabbed me from the Drawfriend on Equestria Daily 09/02/2017, and I wanted to share some feedback.



I do often find it interesting on occasion to analyze reimaginings or redraws of an already existing image. If the original image is already good, it's impressive to see it be improved upon. But even if it's a sidegrade or even a downgrade, it's interesting to see what the artist chose to emphasize and how it relates to what the original artist had in mind.



Allow me to start by dispelling any implication that would suggest this picture was traced or copied from the original image. At best, I could say it was greatly inspired by it and incorporates a similar theme. When comparing the two side-by-side, it's clear that everything from the expression to the pose to the background to even the viewing angle are independently defined, with the personal touch of the artist to breathe new life into them. There's definitely some similarities, but they pretty much end at the starting line, before the picture gets up and running.



The main similarity between this picture and the original is the focus on character expression. With those giant, asymmetrical eyes on the one recognizable face roughly centered at the 2/3 horizontal division line, there's no question that the face Applejack is making will be the #1 factor that will be mentioned when people comment on this image. What's most interesting to me is that your expression is different from the show's. In the original, Applejack's mouth is set much higher, her head faces more to the left, her eyes are more crossed, she's got those lines of anxiety under her eyes, and her eyes themselves are not level. Yours, in contrast, makes Applejack look more focused in their gaze, with her eyes being level. She's about as frazzled and frightened but looks much less confused. With her eyes pointed more toward the viewer, there's more of a personal connection, like she's directing the emotion in her face at us, asking us a question with it. However, her head is still ever so slightly tilted so that she is still not fully looking right at us, which would make her looking into the middle distance. Either way, the impression is that there's something on her mind, and I'd imagine it to be a rather loud exclamation.



Obviously this picture strives for a higher degree of realism than the original was going for. Aside from the impressive taffy-like texture of the hair, it's especially noticeable in the legs, which look much more solid than whatever squishy material they are made out of in the original picture. It's also worth noting that we can see the entire bottom half of Applejack's mane from this picture's perspective, likely helped by the fact that she's not turning her head as much here. She's also slightly more horizontal than in the original, which is most noticeable by comparing the angles of the cutie marks. It puts her body mostly on the same plane from a three-dimensional perspective and creates a stronger sense of forward momentum in the positive x direction. It also comes across as a more natural pose for Applejack to make when being suddenly trapped like this, as it doesn't look like she's craning her neck outward at all despite still having a rather long one. If we look at the two pictures like Applejack posing for a magazine, this one was the better take.



With so much focus on the character, the background is more of a stage, but I can't deny the effort you put into it. The greens and blues add a brilliant shine to paint a beautiful early morning environment that the original picture didn't even imply, and I didn't overlook how you worked in the shine of the background into the tinting on Applejack's right-hand side. There's even a small bit of color symbolism going on, with the danger of the bugs being on the darker left-hand side. Since the bugs have a natural glow to them, the color contrast draws itself. Minor details that you didn't attempt to recreate include the various lanterns in the trees, the rock on the far left, and the edge of the log in the foreground. These would have been nice additional features to add to the exactness of the recreation, but I can understand not getting mired down by details. The one thing about the background I do find a little distracting is the little section in the top left where the leaves cover the branch. I realize that was directly inspired by the original scene, but it makes it look like the end of the branch is breaking off and moving through the air like AJ is. The jaggedness of the leaves create the illusion of a serrated edge on both ends, so it looks more broken than it does in the original.



One minor thing I did notice is that Applejack's eyelashes look to be obnoxiously asymmetrical. On the right side, they all emerge from the same point of origin while on the left side they each have their own. I've seen each of these styles used in the show before but usually not on the same pony at once. Since AJ's left eyebrows are concealed in the original, I can understand how something like this might happen.



The only other real criticism I have for this piece is one that is really more of an issue with the nature of the image. It's the lack of context regarding what is happening. I can understand Applejack's surprise and immediately connect it with her getting her legs tied up, but I am left in the dark as to what tied her up and what she was doing beforehand. The way the bugs are rendered is a nice artistic effect, but it's one I can easily interpret as a simple particle effect for aesthetic purposes and not actual bugs. Since you didn't include the bug bites on Applejack's fur, there's no real context to make that connection either. Given that the original image by itself is lacking in context as well, this isn't the kind of point I'd care to harp on. Mostly it's just a friendly reminder of how emission or addition of minor details can mean a lot in terms of affecting the viewer's ability to read an image.



You have quite the smooth style that really emphasizes the individual shapes that make up the body parts. I find it to be most noticeable in the nose and flank, as those two parts are super rectangular, almost unnaturally so. Perhaps it can be considered an artistic weakness for the purpose of realism, but I can accept most stylistic decisions by artists as long as they are consistent. I hope you continue to find new ways to effectively recreate memorable moments. Make the most!