Horse Avatars: 500 x 500 pixels

Stable Avatars: 350 x 350 pixels

Stable Banners: 669 x 150 pixels

Stable Bios: Any Height x 550 pixel width, can be any size but the Bio Box will shrink the image to 550 pixels wide and constrain height to maintain the correct porportions.

Canvas Size: When you're creating your image you may want to start on a canvas in the 1500 x 1500 pixel range. I personally start with a blank 2k x 2k square and drop my main background image in before shrinking/cropping the canvas down to the size I want to work with. This part is entirely personal preference, but you should always start on a canvas that is slightly larger than the largest cut you want to make. Depending on Framing (where the centerpiece/horse sits) I'll make a seperate canvas for a Horse Avatar vs Stable Set.

I'm one of those people who cut the horse out, then bring it over the main canvas, and then prepping it. Partially cause I can be lazy and won't always prep areas that will be hidden later or may need more/less prep than the rest of the body. I like to do a quick spot check for random little bits like dirt, grass, or marks that I can Spot Heal Brush out to get a cleaner coat before smoothing things out. I like to use a Pressure Sensitive soft brush with the Smudge Tool at around 8% strength for the body, and a smaller/weaker brush for the face. The size of the body brush should fit the area that you're working on, a bigger brush for the neck/shoulder/barrel, and a smaller brush for the legs. *If you use clipping masks, apply the mask and then lock the transparency on the layer to keep clean edges without smooshing stuff back into your horse.*

Typically when recoloring stock images, you want to start with a base coat similar to your end goal coat, i.e. Chestnut -> Palomino, Bay -> Buckskin. Depending on in your horse has black points/sections you don't want to change, you should Lasso Tool around the parts that will be a different color to change them independently. When 'Lasso-ing' check if Feathering is on and how many pixels from the edge are getting feathered. Feathering with create a softer edge than no Feathering. Depending on the pixel distance, the edge can be hard or very soft, I don't usually go more than 3 pixels, but again this is size related/preferential.

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With Adobe Photoshop in particular, you can save your selections as Work Paths so you can easily select the same areas as you need too.

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When using a White/grey horse stock image, you can create a layer on top to color the coat and use a blend mode like Overlay or Vivd Light to have the color "sit" on top and allow the details to come through. Opacity may need adjusting or trying a different blend mode to suit your tastes.

When creating white markings, I like to drop the Color Saturation and then adjust the Brightness/Contrast to get a White color. Depending on the Background/lighting I wish to add, I'll adjust the Hue again to give the white areas a slight 'tinge' of the desired color.

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Another trick with creating White Markings is creating a copy of the horse stock and making the whole thing white. I use Clipping Masks to erase what I don't want so I can change the Markings as much as I want without needing to hit Undo repeatedly. I find this method works well with the White Layer above the color layer with a blend mode applied on the Whites. This will take some playing around with to get a look that you like so don't be alarmed if it looks weird at first.

If you're planning on doing big/extreme body edits, I very strongly recommend creating a copy of the stock you are using and locking that layer from being edited. In the event you mess up badly or decide you want to start over, then you have a 'back up' to use right there. Always Always Always make copies of layers/images that you'll be doing heavy editing to on the offf chance something goes wrong. This applies namely to the Horse Stock and your main Background image.

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If you're creating a new piece of body try to use what you can from the same stock image to make the new body part. This will keep the color more consistent if you Hue/Color adjust later.

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Examples:

This was one of my Fall 2021 Rumble entries, I used part of a leg and a chunk of mane to make the tail.

When I sold it, the Buyer wanted an appaloosa and the color change was very clean because I made the tail from the same color/saturated image.

Depending on your artist vision you may want to keep the hair on your stock image or make an entirely different set of hair. If you choose to keep the hair, erase as little as possible during the Body Prep Phase. I like to color adjust first and then come back to do the hair as it's easier (in my opinion) to do things in that order.

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To create strands of hair, using a Smudge Brush, prefferably a small (3px to 7px, depends on image size/desired strand size) soft edge or semi-soft edge with pressure sensitivity enabled if possible. The Smudge Tool strength should be up pretty high, 90% to 98% (100% may not give the desired look). Then you just drag/smudge the color from the existing hair into strands as you like. This may take some practice to get a look you're happy with or to get a feel for what settings work best for you.

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When drawing new hair in I make a sketch of what I think I want the hair to look like in case I decide "Oh maybe this won't work how I thought it would" or "Let's try this style first and then this other style". I have done upwards of 5 different sets of manes/tails for some pieces if I decided to add/remove accessories. A sketch beforehand can save you time if you want to play around a bit.

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When picking colors for the hair, try to pull colors from the horse body as much as you can for a more natural/seamless look. For really basic hair I'll use 3-4 colors, for more detailed hair I'll use 7+ colors/shades. I like to block out the large sections with a biggish hard round brush and then shrinking the brush to add more detail. Between 4 px to 8 px is the smallest I typically go, but that may change depending on canvas size/preference. I also like to use a brush that is size and opacity pressure sensitive for hair as that can help build depth as the sections/brush strokes overlap.

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I like to use a middle tone for blocking out the main shapes and then, starting with the darkest or second darkest shade, moving from dark to light strands to create depth. For a dark mane I'll probably start darker, for a light mane I like to start with the middle tone.

I made this^ Those are my initals -please don't remove for crediting-

A lot of artists ask for opinions on what Tier they may fall into, permitted you get no response or you don't have any recent examples of your work, I suggest trying to recreate a Rumble entry from past HEE Art Rumbles. I AM NOT saying you should try to make the exact same piece that was entered. I want you the take the horse and background stock and make your own piece as if you were entered in that Round. And then compare it to the real entries and see if your work fits that tier or a different tier. I think it would be best to start with Tier 2 Rounds and if you feel you art is better or worse than you can shift up to T1 or down to T3. This is also a good way to get motivation to make something if you aren't feeling inspired on your own.

From knowing your Tier, you can then work on pricing by comparing different shops in that Tier and seeing where you feel your skillset falls. If you're really good at adding accessories then maybe you can charge a bit more than someone who isn't. Sometimes if you're newer to the HEE Art marketplace you may need to start with slightly lower prices if you aren't seeing the demand you want or if you have too much demand you may consider raising prices.

If you ever feel like you're ready to move up Tiers, don't be afraid to do so, it's possible some players may be upset if the price change is too high, but at the end of the day you get to decide what your time/art is worth and your growth as an artist is more important than someone begging for cheap/free art. If you aren't sure about it, you can always host a Poll to get feedback.

REserving