Intervew with Melissa Thomas (aka Meltyartz)

 Hey everyone! Katie here! We are so sorry for the lack of content lately! Life has been extremely busy (and will only become more so over the holidays!) We will do our absolute best however to make sure we still get some content up! The plan for the coming week is to get at least one video up to talk about the new Resistance episode and to get our interview with Temi Blaev (The stable boy from TLJ) up on the blog! Right now though, here is our interview with the extremely talented Melissa Thomas! We've talked to her briefly before (During our Artist interviews) but this time we got to chat with her even more!

 We've talked to you briefly before. Last time we really just talked about art but I'm sure there is plenty more to talk about! Can you tell us a little bit about your 'style' and how you've developed it?

Glad to talk again with you girls! Thank you for inviting me to do this interview.

I feel like my style is in this constant motion of evolving and growing each day. I definitely think I have my own voice as opposed to say, three years ago, but I always find myself learning something new.

I look to many different artists for inspiration when it comes to developing my style. Each time I discover a new artist or work I like, I pick up different things from them, like how to draw hands, eyes, or ears. They’ve each taught me something different about art. So, when I apply their techniques, eventually it kind of evolves into my own thing over time.

You do a lot of Fan-Art but you also do original characters. Have you ever created a Star Wars or MARVEL OC and if so can you tell us a bit about them?

Gosh, not that I can remember at the top of my head! I don’t think I’ve done a fandom OC in quite a few years. I’d have to go back and look through my old sketchbooks from 2008.

 How do you approach drawing an animated character (Such as Ahsoka) differently than drawing a 'real' character (such as Tony Stark)?

That’s a good question!

When I draw Ahsoka, she’s already this 2D and 3D drawn figure, (as seen in The Clone Wars TV series and Concept Art), so translating her into my style is so much easier than a “live action” portrayed character like Tony Stark. I have a better frame of reference for Ahsoka since she’s already conveyed in a style I’m familiar with.

When I sit down to draw characters that I’ve seen in live action first, I try to combine this mix of the actor with the character to get my interpretation. The first time I sat down to draw Tony, I really wanted to try and capture RDJ’s essence or “vibe” when attempting to convey that character. In other words, I put more of a pressure on myself to make that translation from live action to 2D come off as seamless. I wanted people to look at the drawing and be able to say, “Hey! That’s RDJ’s Tony Stark!” while still maintaining that character on his own. Over time, I change little things about how I draw that character to get what I want, but eventually it just translates!

 We love some of the the art you've created for Savanna Oudit and Brian Ballance (especially for their Prequel Defense Force podcast) what inspired you to do that and what was your favorite part about the podcast?

Thank you! A little over a year ago, Savanna contacted me and asked if I would be interested in doing some new artwork for her Podcast and pin designs that she could give away at Star Wars Celebration Orlando. I was more than excited- I had been following her work for a while and I love The Dorky Diva Show.

Right when Savanna and Brian were working out Prequel Defense Force at the beginning of this summer, she reached out to me again and asked me to create more artwork. This included featuring Brian and Savanna posed sassily with Jar Jar- (a personal favorite of mine to work on, haha!) and logo for Prequel Defense Force! I had a lot of fun with those.

I‘ve loved the Prequel Defense Force Series by Savanna and Brian!  As an avid lover of the Prequel Trilogy myself, it made me so excited to hear them sharing their passions for The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith, while giving some great insight into the movies! They’ll make some great notes about characters/plot/mythology, (which I love digging into) but some jokes will come up like Ki-Adi-Mundi (#nofilter) and the conversation gets hilarious, you really feel like you’re a part of it. Sometimes as I listen to them discuss the movies I’ll yell out “YES” in agreement, it’s a lot of fun! They’re such great people and I love their positivity.

 What is one of your favorite things about drawing and art in general?

The inspiration and happiness I can bring to others through my art makes me so happy. When people comment on my art or share a reaction with me, I love that. It sounds cheesy, but art is a great way to inspire and I always hope that my work does that in some small way. I always want to pull a reaction out of the viewer.

Art has such a power to tell meaningful and hopeful stories, and I hope to give back to the world in the way that others have inspired me too.

 What are some of your hobbies outside of art?

I love to sing-something a lot of people don’t really know about me-haha! I also love writing and playing piano.

 We know you love both Star Wars and MARVEL, how have they impacted you and how are you different because of them?

Star Wars was always this prominent thing when I was growing up. The lore and mystery of that whole franchise has always intrigued me-I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s one of those experiences when once you see it, you can’t break away from it, you want to live there, and that’s exactly how I feel about it. The journey of these characters in this world has not only been something I can connect too personally, but as an artist it makes me wonder how I can type into that mystique of the franchise. Star Wars has helped me tremendously as an artist and inspired me to keep pushing forward as a storyteller.

Marvel is a really fun franchise for me to invest in, personally. I know everyone talks of “superhero fatigue” today, but I never get tired of a good superhero that gets up and fights against evil. In fact, a lot of my favorite animated shows are superhero based! The neat thing is Marvel is this culmination of all these characters, with different personalities and aspirations and struggles going on in their lives, so I think it’s difficult to not find one to relate too. I didn’t get into Marvel until late in the game (2012), but now I’m really invested into some of these characters stories (Like Tony’s, haha!), I never expected that and I’m having so much fun.

 What are some things you do to combat some of the negativity in the Star Wars fandom currently?

Ignore it. Honestly, I don’t even think it’s worth acknowledging. In general, the world needs more positivity. Be the positive you want to see!

Any tips for aspiring artists?

Draw often, draw from your heart!

 Anything else?

Thank you very much for inviting me to do this interview! :)

We hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as we enjoyed chatting with Melissa! Make sure you find and follow her on Instagram to see loads more of her beautiful art! 

May the Force Be With You!

~ The Rogue Fangirls ~