....was Melkor ever "young"?
This is awesome! It's like Melkor's own "Annatar".

This is a good question.))
I wanted to portray Melkor as a young man. The newborn. At the dawn of his life. Even before he committed his atrocities, before his heart became hardened.

Thank you!

So those aren't the silmarils in his crown, then?

Heck! This is my huge oversight.: D

Lol! Aw, don't worry, it looks really awesome anyway! And you could just consider them some other 3 jewels he had on a crown previously. or like sauron's annatar form, I'm sure he could take a fair and pleasing form(of his earlier self?)if he wished! also,he probably didn't look like his terrifying evil self while he was pretending to be reformed back in valinor, and maybe didn't take his nasty form till he left WITH the silmarils, so there's a few scenarios I can think of that could explain the picture:) Also, since the picture isn't an official image, there's no reason you have to restrict urself to just what's in the pages! I think the picture is incredible, and it's really cool to look at him from this completely different point of view!