How do you (re)paint cutie marks, symbols, etc. on your pony?

[HighFlyer]

I am customizing a pony right now and I decided to give her new symbols. What materials and techniques can I use best to work as precisely as possible? Don't want it to look self-made of course

 

[SetsunaKou]

HI! It's fun customizing ponies and figures, especially if they come out the way you envision, right? ^.~

I remove the cutie marks with tea tree oil (it's perfectly safe for them, and comes off super easily!), and then rinse/dry.

After the pony is dry, I use diluted acrylic paint and apply it with a super fine artist brush. At least 10/0 size or smaller.

You can use any acrylic (as long as you dilute it to the consistency of cream or milk) for a good effect, but the best, longest lasting is Liquitex brand.


Good luck and have fun!!

 

[Echo Beauty]

I do pretty much the same thing, but I take the symbols and eyes off with pure acetone. Some people don't like it because it can slightly damage the coating of a pony, but I find that I don't really notice it too much and acetone is readily available at Walgreens and such places. (Just don't use nail polish remover that's not pure acetone because it tends to smudge the symbol real bad instead of removing it!)

Also, Be sure to check out all the tutorials and the FAQ sections on this site, that's where I learned all of my techniques! I didn't even need to buy a re-hairing tool!

 

[sunnydaze]

Draw out what you want to put on the pony first on paper then you can reimagine it to make sure it fits the pony butt(working area) and then re work it until it does then use pencil to lightly draw out what you intend to paint. then paint in thin layers the colours of your chosing and be careful to not get too out side your lines etc. I keep a pointed tip cotton swap nearby and some acetone to remove unwanted painted areas quickly before they dry I also work with a razor blade and craft knife to scrape away bits of paint to clean up my lines as well. You may have to find a way to position the pony and your painting hand so that you have you elbow kind of locked onto your body to help keep lines clean and straight and prevent shaking hands. Other have said use a tiny brush and I too reccomend a good round liner brush in a 10/0 or close to that. Also to keep lines smooth make sure your brush is kept damp or the paint will dry on the brush as you try to paint.

 

[SoldierofTwilight]

I know this sounds weird, but I will draw out the symbols to the exact size that I need them on tracing paper (opposite of how I want it to appear on the pony) using a charcoal pencil. My reasoning is because you can lightly press the charcoal drawing to the clean area on the pony and get the image how you want on the pony. Then I paint over the area. Once the paint is dry, I take a Q-Tip to the areas that I didn't paint over exactly and wipe away excess charcoal.
That's how I did this one:


Just my friendly tip. Like all others, make sure you get the consistency in the paint you need, then use a very VERY fine tip paint brush, usually 10/0 or smaller. Dollyhair has a nice brush-

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The La Cornielle Liner brush in size 18/0. Works like a charm for me, but I also now use a variety of Loew Cornell Soft Comfort brushes.

Same thing to the eyes. Just a fiiiine brush and a steady hand. I like to rest my wrist on my table and lower the pony a bit to prevent my hands from shaking.

Anyway, there are relatively excellent tutorials like this one:
PonyCustoms MLP Eyes
and
Symbols

There is a complete section for tutorials and links here on the MLPTP as well! Browse around and good luck! I hope to see some customs!
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[MLPMommy4Life]

I like SoldierofTwilight's method best (but all are good). Reason being, in a way, you're giving the pony a tattoo, and that's how tattoo artists work to get the design on just right.

I'll definitely be looking into the brushes for my own customs and restorations. Thank you all for the tip and thank you to High Flyer for posting the question, because I was wondering the same thing.