--- Alternative version of this drawing. In this version here you can see his anatomy better ---

It's January, and with the start of the new year, I've decided to post some of my old art from my archives in the next few days, to show some art progression over the years and how some character designs have changed, and here is my first entry for that: a drawing of Meldan Vagenor from June 2016.

His lower body is based upon this stock photo, but clearly with some modifications. Back in the day, my centaurs used to have human looking faces, which I eventually changed to a snout so he would be able to breathe more air to keep his equine body running. Other notable features that I've changed later include:
- he's missing his small goatee on his chin
- he has no wrist socks in this version
- his hairstyle is still the same design I gave my pony character (yes, I'm a Brony. That was my gateway to the furry fandom :P )
- his coat is way more yellow than in the current creamy colour, and his hair and socks are a lighter brown.
- the white accents in his hair and tail were added later
- his back in this version is naked; in later versions I added fur covering his back, and finally I added a mane running all the way down his spine.
- his ears are placed lower on his head in this version, more at the height of human ears. The angle his ears are in is also different, and in this version they couldn't be all upright
While drawing this, I was writing the first version of "The Cleansing" during this time (although it had a different title), which I'm now rewriting completely, having learned more lessons about writing. As a result, the new story has a plot that has been changed drastically from the original story, except for a few key events, so it has basically become a new story (whoops!)

The funny thing is that Meldan started as an author insert character, but as time progressed, his character became more and more different from mine as I wrote along, as what he has to deal with on a daily basis would shape his character far more than I initially realised, and even to this day his character is being tweaked to make more sense with the story and its themes. He has been my first centaur character I created, and still my favourite. The more he changed, the more I liked him, and he has found his own voice. But the core of his character still remains: a centaur, unfit for the modern era, who relies more on his brains than muscle.

Drawn in InkScape