#zoro is so fun to draw...sanji not so much (why is his hair so difficult)

[wellfine]

I had a small question for you: I've noticed your body types and details when it comes to characters feel very human. Little traits in body refs come together very well in your designs. Because of how well you can convey these things, I was wondering if there are any OP characters that are more difficult for you to draw? Be it design wise or translating the OP style to your own? Hope this isn't an odd thing to ask haha

Not odd at all, this is a really interesting ask! I always love an opportunity to talk about why I draw things the way I do haha... Also I'm so flattered you feel that way, body variations are something I find really interesting and gratifying to draw so I'm glad people pick up on them and like them too!

HMMmmm... Honestly I find it harder to translate faces to my style than bodies HAHA. There are sooo many interesting body silhouettes in One Piece that I find it more of a fun puzzle trying to translate them! Montblanc Cricket is definitely a challenge for example because his body shape is sooo extreme (dat neck. You know Zoro's jealous) but that's part of why I like his design/drawing him.

I mean okay the hardest Straw Hat for me to draw is Brook LMAO but I feel like that's cheating because you have to be so precise with all those bones. Body-wise... maybe Nami? It took me a long time to decide on what kind of body type vibes she was giving me before I decided she was kind of beanstalk-y but with big boob implants. I try and draw her boobs to look fake on purpose contrasted with, say, Robin or Tashigi, and I hope it comes across. I just think it's in-character that if her boobs got notably bigger after the time skip, well, it's because she wanted big old honkers lmao!

Zoro is also difficult sometimes because I imagine his body changes appearance a lot, not just because he gains muscle steadily over the series, but even on a shorter scale he probably fluctuates between bulking and cutting. I find it enjoyable to draw him at various stages but it does mean he looks inconsistent in my art sometimes and occasionally I worry that people won't understand my intent. Sanji can also be difficult to get the right proportions for because his muscle composition is so unbalanced, like some kind of hyper-cyclist, but I don't want to make him look absurd out of context either.

I'm not a furry artist by nature (despite Everything) so the hardest body types for me to translate are definitely animalistic characters, whether they're Zoan types or Minks! Chopper and Pedro are still hard for me to draw, for example, even if Minks mostly just have humanoid body shapes covered in hair. I have a hard time clicking with them. Interestingly fishmen/mermaids are not as difficult - I think because they're more fantastical, you can be less 'accurate'?

I'm trying to think of non-Straw Hat characters... Honestly I have a much harder time drawing faces than bodies. I'm working on it. I think my headcanon for Law's body type is at odds with a lot of other fans' LOL (same as me seeing Sanji without a shred of ass), I just can't see him as being muscular at all - he strikes me as the type who barely eats enough and doesn't really work out so he's all gaunt and gangly. Kid is WIIIDDEE which is fun to draw but sometimes hard to get the proportions of. One Piece women tend to be harder to translate to my style than men because their canon body types are so much less diverse :/ but I do enjoy it too. Vivi was hard for me to settle on but I like the body type headcanon I have for her now - I just haven't had time to draw it LMAO. Oh, and Yamato can be hard, but for kind of different reasons. His body is so politicised I know I'm going to get weird comments no matter how I draw him. Giving him top surgery makes me personally feel more comfortable in some ways (visibly denouncing transphobes etc) but less comfortable in others (implying that top surgery is necessary to be transmasc etc). But that's a different kind of difficulty. I still enjoy drawing him.

Inorganic shapes are much harder for me to draw so I would say the hardest OP characters for me are characters like Franky or Brook who have bone/cyborg parts! I love Franky's post-timeskip silhouette (sir your A-frame) but I always struggle with his shoulders and forearms because they're not organic shapes so inconsistencies/scale inaccuracies are way more obvious. Sometimes Fishmen designs fit into this category a bit too.

I hope there was something useful or interesting in that answer somewhere! For me personally I would say - based on bodies only - the Straw Hats scale from easiest -> hardest to draw is: Usopp -> Luffy -> Zoro -> Sanji -> Robin -> Nami -> Jinbe -> Franky -> Chopper -> Brook. Usopp is hands-down easiest for me because I take a lot of inspo for him from my boyfriend so it comes surprisingly naturally. (Love u baby)

Thank you again for such an interesting ask and for letting me indulge in talking about myself for so long, I always enjoy asks like this!