The Crystal Empire (Patreon)

I once heard someone say that Canterlot was made of nothing but Penrose Triangles link and wishful thinking. That maybe true but it at least stays more on model! I have a commission working its way through my queue and the most important architectural element in the picture will be the palace of the Crystal Empire. So I went out and started collecting reference for the commission. My main source for this was screen shot from the Season Three premiere.

After assembling several screen shots from different angles and distances I started doing a finished sketch of the palace so I could get a better feel for how it is put together. However, after false starts I realized that every screen shot showed the palace with different features, sometimes radically different! Finally I decided that if the artists at DHX were allowed to play fast and loose with it so could I! Besides my Artistic License hasn't expired so I felt it was okay for me to do my own take on it.

Now architecture is one of my weakest subjects. I can turn out a workman-like piece but I really don't grok it the way I understand say aircraft. I don't yet know the language of the profession that well, and I still don't have a good feeling for how all the pieces interact with each other. However I did come to the conclusion working on this piece that Palace of the Crystal Empire is the lovechild of the Eiffel Tower and Superman's Fortress of Solitude.