Background Pony #ECBB
"[@Badumsquish":](/1145833#comment_4995579
)
Well, you don't have to take a shotgun to anatomy to make the picture work because this kind of thing is possible in real life. All it takes to accomplish is a lot of dedication.
Now I begin my critique-ing. Usually when doing a very deep backbend the legs are kicked backwards and the arms/forelegs on the shoulders are stretched/reaching "up" as far as possible usually for the purpose of balancing the center of gravity or in this case reaching for the ankles/hooves. From what I can see, her hind legs seem to be kicking backwards which is good but that foreleg really bothers me, I'm not sure if she is reaching "up" with her foreleg or "down".
You seem to have strategically covered most of her anatomy with conveniently placed hair, an awkwardly placed foreleg, and bobblehead anatomy (which is probably show accurate but still looks awkward). This is a little disappointing because showing off the rest of her anatomy can give a feeling that this is an actual physical pony and not just a conglomeration of randomly placed limbs.
Take a look at a real world example of this pose (https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Xs0lxw8VvHA/hqdefault.jpg). The contortionist grabs her ankles in order to hold the stretch and keep her spine from uncurling. With enough practice, this kind of pose is possible to do without ankle grabbing but it requires developing something called active flexibility and strength where the muscles in the torso, butt and legs engage to maintain this position without having to grab the ankles. Blossomoforth seems to be using the tree as a prop to help her keep the stretch. In the real example the contortionist is not using her butt as a pillow but is grabbing her ankles to bring her head closer to her knees and ankles. If she wanted to use her head as a pillow she would have to deepen the backbend in her torso and spine and grab her calves or knees to force her head towards her butt. She could even grab her own butt/thigh like in your picture, bending her elbows, if she had the active flexibility/strength to maintain the pose without much support from her arms or a prop like the tree.
Now, in your picture Blossomforth's head seems to be resting on her thigh/butt which is the whole point of the picture. Blossomforth's right hind leg seems to be sticking out at us and seems to look a little short, but this is fine. Because of the perspective, it could be much longer than it seems. However, her left leg seems to be really short, too short. In order for Blossomforth's head to be resting on her plot, we should be able to see much more of her left leg and her left leg should definitely be sticking out much more.
Right now it kind of seems like her head is too big which would be fine if it were closer to us and not resting on her thigh. If her head were closer to us her pose would be kind of like the picture of the real contortionist. In this case her head would not be resting on her plot but it would be closer to us and we would be able to easily see both of her shoulders. Her head would also be closer to her hooves like in the real world example.
In order for her head to be resting on her plot we should be able to see more of Blossomforth's legs and in my opinion her face should be a bit smaller in comparison to her plot but that just might be the wonky "show accurate" proportions of her head. The head to butt position really gives the spine an deeper, extreme curl and we should be able to see her torso/ribcage jutting out behind her kind of like a furry white peach.
To summarize: If you want her head to be touching her butt her hind legs need to be sticking out further towards us in front of her head and the extreme backbend would cause her torso to jut out behind her, especially at the angle she is laying at. Her head should probably be a bit smaller indicating that it is further away from us near her plot. Her forelegs can be reaching "down" (think of hands on hips) if she has support from the tree to keep her position or if she just has some incredible active stretching ability. Or they can even reach "up" like in the real world picture to grab her legs or even touch her butt if her elbow is bent assuming tree support or incredible active stretching ability.
I hope this was helpful and not too convoluted. I can clarify on request.
Well, you don't have to take a shotgun to anatomy to make the picture work because this kind of thing is possible in real life. All it takes to accomplish is a lot of dedication.
Now I begin my critique-ing. Usually when doing a very deep backbend the legs are kicked backwards and the arms/forelegs on the shoulders are stretched/reaching "up" as far as possible usually for the purpose of balancing the center of gravity or in this case reaching for the ankles/hooves. From what I can see, her hind legs seem to be kicking backwards which is good but that foreleg really bothers me, I'm not sure if she is reaching "up" with her foreleg or "down".
You seem to have strategically covered most of her anatomy with conveniently placed hair, an awkwardly placed foreleg, and bobblehead anatomy (which is probably show accurate but still looks awkward). This is a little disappointing because showing off the rest of her anatomy can give a feeling that this is an actual physical pony and not just a conglomeration of randomly placed limbs.
Take a look at a real world example of this pose (https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Xs0lxw8VvHA/hqdefault.jpg). The contortionist grabs her ankles in order to hold the stretch and keep her spine from uncurling. With enough practice, this kind of pose is possible to do without ankle grabbing but it requires developing something called active flexibility and strength where the muscles in the torso, butt and legs engage to maintain this position without having to grab the ankles. Blossomoforth seems to be using the tree as a prop to help her keep the stretch. In the real example the contortionist is not using her butt as a pillow but is grabbing her ankles to bring her head closer to her knees and ankles. If she wanted to use her head as a pillow she would have to deepen the backbend in her torso and spine and grab her calves or knees to force her head towards her butt. She could even grab her own butt/thigh like in your picture, bending her elbows, if she had the active flexibility/strength to maintain the pose without much support from her arms or a prop like the tree.
Now, in your picture Blossomforth's head seems to be resting on her thigh/butt which is the whole point of the picture. Blossomforth's right hind leg seems to be sticking out at us and seems to look a little short, but this is fine. Because of the perspective, it could be much longer than it seems. However, her left leg seems to be really short, too short. In order for Blossomforth's head to be resting on her plot, we should be able to see much more of her left leg and her left leg should definitely be sticking out much more.
Right now it kind of seems like her head is too big which would be fine if it were closer to us and not resting on her thigh. If her head were closer to us her pose would be kind of like the picture of the real contortionist. In this case her head would not be resting on her plot but it would be closer to us and we would be able to easily see both of her shoulders. Her head would also be closer to her hooves like in the real world example.
In order for her head to be resting on her plot we should be able to see more of Blossomforth's legs and in my opinion her face should be a bit smaller in comparison to her plot but that just might be the wonky "show accurate" proportions of her head. The head to butt position really gives the spine a
To summarize: If you want her head to be touching her butt her hind legs need to be sticking out further towards us in front of her head and the extreme backbend would cause her torso to jut out behind her, especially at the angle she is laying at. Her head should probably be a bit smaller indicating that it is further away from us near her plot. Her forelegs can be reaching "down" (think of hands on hips) if she has support from the tree to keep her position or if she just has some incredible active stretching ability. Or they can even reach "up" like in the real world picture to grab her legs or even touch her butt if her elbow is bent assuming tree support or incredible active stretching ability.
I hope this was helpful and not too convoluted. I can clarify on request.