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Mei Lan (Early Concepts)
🕑 Added 2025-01-24 15:00:07 +0000 UTCHere's another set of early concept drafts of my characters! This time, it's all about the sultry combat chef Qiang Mei Lan.
Mei Lan has received quite a bit of a glow-up since I originally conceptualized her. As you can see above, her earliest design was really basic (I was still very new to drawing tigers in 2019) and I didn't have a solid idea of how to help her stand out better.
So...I eventually leaned a lot harder into caricature, and turn her into a Kung Fu movie protagonist who happens to be a master chef as well. The fights kind of write themselves. π
Likewise, her design was reworked to be more bombastic (and spicy). Her curves were emphasized and the pattern on her head was reimagined into a mysterious yin-yang symbol. Her body/tail stripes and hair were also reworked to be a little more chaotic: a reminder that she's still a fighter under her flirty demeanor.
Also pictured in these early sketches are some wacky outfits and fun poses I experimented with for (prototype) Mei Lan. Yow! π
