Author notes

Melandra Jones OF THE FUTURE

Allyndn

on Aug. 4, 2012

The first few issues of Found Art were about me doing what I *could* rather than what I wanted to do. To be honest, I didn't really know what I wanted to do, artistically, at that point. Melandra was built with the then-free Aiko3 character and Anime Starfighter bundle. Imagine my dismay to discover that virtually everyone who picks up DazStudio makes almost exactly the same first character (Upper left corner image). They don't usually put her right into a comic book, though. After doing FA for little over a year, I decided to update my Gen3 models to Gen4 models. The first Gen4 version of Melandra showed up around Chapter 16 (lower left image). A big improvement, I think. But still two problems: 1) it still has that generic look, and 2) as my own style becomes crystalized (it's actually moving towards the artist I aspired to be 20 years ago), the giant eyes and tiny chin look Melandra sports is looking increasingly weird when surrounded by the rest of the cast. So, I started working on a "Gen4.2" version of Melandra which fits my current artistic vision. Her kit has been a bit customized as well, so that it doesn't look right off the digital rack. Made her eyes a big more realistic in size. Got the hair out of her face too; she's a CAPTAIN after all, not some teenager in space. Anyway, here's a render of potential "Future Mel" I did before my computer started giving me trouble. I'll post my Max and Dunk evolutions over the next few days.