Sketchbook - FairestMoss

Well, I originally wanted to wait and see if they could bring back the old sketchbooks, but as it turns out... I apparently really want to get back into it right away! This new version of the site has me pumped to draw some more! If we're lucky perhaps they will be able to combine old threads with new or something, should they manage to resurrect the ones from the other site.

For a small introduction; I have enjoyed drawing humanoids and horses for many years, and since joining CGCookie I've managed to finally get away from drawing anime-style people and gone full-on into realism, and I couldn't be happier about it. My horses too have followed suit, for the most part, though I still love stylizing them quite a bit. I want to learn all kinds of new things too, from birds to machinery to landscapes, so you will hopefully be seeing that become more of a theme as I continue on.

And as a quick warning, I will occasionally draw content including gore or mild nudity.

My old thread can be found here, if you're interested:
http://community.cgcookie.com/t/2901/

  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied

    To start off, here are a few examples of roughly where I am right now.


  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied

    I have a couple of new drawing to show, too!

    This first one is mostly just a simple color palette, but I can't help imagining it lit up and bolted to a building wall somewhere in a cyberpunk city, much like a billboard. I came up with it immediately after waking up the other day, I think likely because I'd been re-watching the Color Course the night before.

    This one was mostly just a quick sketch I wanted to do. Since moving more toward realism I've been trying to get horse leg anatomy correct, but I keep forgetting some of the nuances. I wanted to see if I could exaggerate it a little bit to help cement it in my own head. The front ones turns out better than I expected, but I still feel I need work on my understanding of the back legs. ...Probably a lot of other stuff, too. The angle and placement of the neck is a tough one.

  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied

    Sometimes I think that the things I wind up coming up with/trying to draw are a mix of too much and not enough.

  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied

    It is hard to say whether I like this or not. I think mostly not. This is like one of my "barf on a page" kind of experiments, one of those that I'm pretty sure if I could salvage it it'd be a good drawing, but otherwise... Otherwise it's just bad color chaos. I usually avoid starting things that I know I can't do well, like this drawing, but I guess I'm never going to learn if I don't embrace my screw-ups.

  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied

    This is the beginnings of my side of an art trade. I sort of halfway gave up on the wings for now, and because of this drawing I've finally wound up joining pinterest so I can get some good references... I'm at the point now where I'm seeing birds when I close my eyes. I'm not working on this any more tonight. But hey, what's that thing Tim's always saying about having a sort of memory bank of this stuff? This probably helped that for me.

  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied

    Man, what is with me and forgetting to upload my work here lately? I guess I need to get used to doing this one the new site. I actually did this on the 5th, so almost a week ago.

  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied

  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied


    Well, this is unpleasant. I almost wish I didn't know why I drew it. Short explanation for everyone else: This is me in spirit, and I do in fact have these scars on my head. As for why I drew it, it's part of my way of facing it.

  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied

    I forgot to upload this yesterday. It's a quick hair sketch I did for a friend.

  • polygondust replied

    You have a great intuition for color. Good job. :)  Very eye pleasing compositions.

    I like the split hair girl in particular. It gives an ice vs. fire and good vs. evil vibe that draws the viewer in.

  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied

    I felt like drawing these in light of a major emotional crash I had yesterday from prolonged stress. I actually rather like how the second one turned out.

    Surprisingly it only took me two hours to do both of these.
    I spent the entire time listening to Tove Lo - Habits (Hippie Sabotage Remix), which isn't my usual kind of song.

  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied

    Thank you! It's something I've always thought I kinda struggle with.

    It did sort of wind up being a bit like a good and evil kind of thing haha. I'm glad you like it. ^^

  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied

    It's been a while since I blasted music into my headphones, but sometimes you just need to.

  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied

    I've been going a bunch of random stuff lately... Most of it's been pretty small so I've not really wanted to upload it, but, eh. Decided to anyway. This will just be a big post of small updates and things.

    First, a couple of updates to previous pieces:


    Next, some tattoos for PonyIsland ponies:
    (It was being dumb, so I had to upload them all as one.)

  • Addyson H.(addysonh) replied

    I love the colors on the pegasus and I also like the styles of your PonyIsland ponies!

  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied

    This drawing has just felt all too appropriate as a mannequin for some reason. It was originally a character concept.

  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied

    I love Camp Camp, and the latest episode was so good I just had to dedicate my first ever RT fan art to Max. Shoutout to any other RT fans here!

  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied


    Had a friend much more knowledgeable about armour than I am help me design the full suit.

  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied


    I had a dream last night of a dude who became a robot shark, then a more advanced robot shark, and then apparently developed some kind of ability to transform himself back into a human figure. Still the same person the whole way through, though the process did fry a few brain cells and he wound up losing a good chunk of his memory through it. The dream was thorough in its explanation of this new character, so I figured I'd see if I can make this guy stick around.

    I'm not claiming this is my best work, I was just trying to get the idea down as quickly as I could.

  • Rain (fairestmoss) replied


    I haven't drawn really since my last upload, with barely an exception for some more PonyIsland stuff I've done. I finally decided that I wanted to work on re-drawing one of my old pieces from 2013.

    Here's the original, which I never quite completed because I was kind of intimidated by the water:I am really, really happy with the new version so far.