Who will be the Next Strawhat?


  • Total voters
    473
This is a very basic rule of character design.

In rare case it happens that the character art appears simply because of the design and randomness of the drawing. Its often the case with alien and monster designs (and even in those case you must characterize and make research first)

Exemple here with the remarkable piece of Hardy Fowler (concept artist):


Here you can see that even if he has some basic story selling points, he doesn't dive too much into the story of the character. Its more about key points that he marks as important.

This type of creation method really only works for rough designs like this one. (Rough in the sence that it is not really attached to any bigger project).. but for stories that needs more work (movies, comics, manga) then it became almost foundamental to think carefully about the story and the thematic of the character first as the thematic and the story will have an influence on the design itself.

In the concept art industry, those are done mostly by Writers and directors followed by art directors (those will eventually give the "definition" of the protagonist to the concept artist to make iterations) but for smaller or more personnal project like comics or Manga, the creator has to do this work alone first.

Here, David Colman (illustrator and animator) explain and show the importance of story in character design


Now, the importance of the story you give into your character design might vary, some artist are quite instictive with this sort of thing but others (like Oda) are (or seem) very very focus on doing a deep research of storytelling and the story behind the character before creating them. You can see that mainly because of the symbolism that shine through the most important protagonist of One PIece.


Jinbe. Jeinbe is a side character during his introduction.
Nami. Nami is a side character on the arc of her introduction
Robin. Robin is a secondary antagonist during the arc of her introduction


Not perfect, just efficiant. I'm not playing here. I'm trying to find the best way to predict the next strawhat based on the characterization parameters that all the strawhat share. This can't be done if you are over complicating things or if you are over simplying things.


This is not the question. The question is, why having a strawhat during the tragedy would render the tragedy less impactfull for the character in term of strawhat characterization ?



Maybe, maybe not. You might think that the strawhat will sail together indefinitely, but this is not a certainty.



Do you know why Brook is a skeleton in term of narration and characterization ?



I'm not denying your point, I just say that you should put all the uniqueness point into one single parameter.



That's not how originality works mate.



Yeah, you might think rereading the story lol



Impossible.



Multiple years in 3D animation and movie school. And multiple years studying concept art theory on my own. Sadly I lack the level in term of technicity because I simply can't work. But I know a lot about character design, but overall design in general.



We don't know. it could have a meaning in term of symbolism but its unknown. All that we know is that this unearned scar must always be visible.



Simple. Luffy represents freedom. And strawhats are associated in the contemporain culture with the notion of free spirit, calm, lack of anxiety, happyness and joy in general.



Probably because Oda prefer to show an arm being stabbed rather than a leg. And also because a tatoo on the leg is less easy to hide and more difficult to draw. But in storywise, Arlong probably wanted Nami to be able to see her tatoo with a simple look, which would be a little bit more difficult on the leg.


First because Zoro is most likely inspired by Zorro the south american vigilante and story wise, probably because for ZOro its more practical to were is "beast mode" on his arm rather than a mask.



Because Sanjiwas firstly named "naruto" from the food "narutomaki" a spiral food based on fish. THis name had a sence because Sanji was meant to be a chef. Plus the spiral also has a relationship with the sea and we all know what All blue is.



No. The point of the merry is to symbolize (at least in my interpretation) innocence. Therefore the ship dying represent the innocence that is going away. This innocence gave place to something else, a sun/lion head. This represent pride and happyness.



Sadly no. I felt sick before I could get any real experiences at least something else than school and academic work. This doesn't mean that I don't know how both those industries works. I studied with many professionnal both in storytelling and in Art design. But since I can't work, write or draw.. I study. After that, I studied on my own both concept art and screenwriting for more than 10 years in order to be ready for the moment I could get into action.
So, even tho I don't work.. And even tho there is obviously profesionnal tips and tricks that I can't know.. I'm extremely solid on my theoretical knowledge.


You are not talking here about the creation of a character but the overtake of a license from a studio.






These replies are getting so long. :luchosop:
 
This is a very basic rule of character design.

In rare case it happens that the character art appears simply because of the design and randomness of the drawing. Its often the case with alien and monster designs (and even in those case you must characterize and make research first)

Exemple here with the remarkable piece of Hardy Fowler (concept artist):


Here you can see that even if he has some basic story selling points, he doesn't dive too much into the story of the character. Its more about key points that he marks as important.

This type of creation method really only works for rough designs like this one. (Rough in the sence that it is not really attached to any bigger project).. but for stories that needs more work (movies, comics, manga) then it became almost foundamental to think carefully about the story and the thematic of the character first as the thematic and the story will have an influence on the design itself.

In the concept art industry, those are done mostly by Writers and directors followed by art directors (those will eventually give the "definition" of the protagonist to the concept artist to make iterations) but for smaller or more personnal project like comics or Manga, the creator has to do this work alone first.

Here, David Colman (illustrator and animator) explain and show the importance of story in character design


Now, the importance of the story you give into your character design might vary, some artist are quite instictive with this sort of thing but others (like Oda) are (or seem) very very focus on doing a deep research of storytelling and the story behind the character before creating them. You can see that mainly because of the symbolism that shine through the most important protagonist of One PIece.


Jinbe. Jeinbe is a side character during his introduction.
Nami. Nami is a side character on the arc of her introduction
Robin. Robin is a secondary antagonist during the arc of her introduction


Not perfect, just efficiant. I'm not playing here. I'm trying to find the best way to predict the next strawhat based on the characterization parameters that all the strawhat share. This can't be done if you are over complicating things or if you are over simplying things.


This is not the question. The question is, why having a strawhat during the tragedy would render the tragedy less impactfull for the character in term of strawhat characterization ?



Maybe, maybe not. You might think that the strawhat will sail together indefinitely, but this is not a certainty.



Do you know why Brook is a skeleton in term of narration and characterization ?



I'm not denying your point, I just say that you should put all the uniqueness point into one single parameter.



That's not how originality works mate.



Yeah, you might think rereading the story lol



Impossible.



Multiple years in 3D animation and movie school. And multiple years studying concept art theory on my own. Sadly I lack the level in term of technicity because I simply can't work. But I know a lot about character design, but overall design in general.



We don't know. it could have a meaning in term of symbolism but its unknown. All that we know is that this unearned scar must always be visible.



Simple. Luffy represents freedom. And strawhats are associated in the contemporain culture with the notion of free spirit, calm, lack of anxiety, happyness and joy in general.



Probably because Oda prefer to show an arm being stabbed rather than a leg. And also because a tatoo on the leg is less easy to hide and more difficult to draw. But in storywise, Arlong probably wanted Nami to be able to see her tatoo with a simple look, which would be a little bit more difficult on the leg.


First because Zoro is most likely inspired by Zorro the south american vigilante and story wise, probably because for ZOro its more practical to were is "beast mode" on his arm rather than a mask.



Because Sanjiwas firstly named "naruto" from the food "narutomaki" a spiral food based on fish. THis name had a sence because Sanji was meant to be a chef. Plus the spiral also has a relationship with the sea and we all know what All blue is.



No. The point of the merry is to symbolize (at least in my interpretation) innocence. Therefore the ship dying represent the innocence that is going away. This innocence gave place to something else, a sun/lion head. This represent pride and happyness.



Sadly no. I felt sick before I could get any real experiences at least something else than school and academic work. This doesn't mean that I don't know how both those industries works. I studied with many professionnal both in storytelling and in Art design. But since I can't work, write or draw.. I study. After that, I studied on my own both concept art and screenwriting for more than 10 years in order to be ready for the moment I could get into action.
So, even tho I don't work.. And even tho there is obviously profesionnal tips and tricks that I can't know.. I'm extremely solid on my theoretical knowledge.


You are not talking here about the creation of a character but the overtake of a license from a studio.






really ? woah ! damn i dont know that you formally study design and story like that for more then 10 year and even study with pros, but still come out with this take….. that beyond impressive man.
 
really ? woah ! damn i dont know that you formally study design and story like that for more then 10 year and even study with pros, but still come out with this take….. that beyond impressive man.
My takes are not that surprising once you get rid of all the bias you have about me and when you actually study the narration of the story.

The reason I keep on going with you guys and don't give up is because I know that in time, you will understand.

Its just logical.
 
My takes are not that surprising once you get rid of all the bias you have about me and when you actually study the narration of the story.

The reason I keep on going with you guys and don't give up is because I know that in time, you will understand.

Its just logical.
welp the faster you step into the industry, the faster you learn how wrong you are.
source? personal experience work in one since 2016.
 
Imho, the fruit and memories are a must if he joins. The body can be cloned to not make him a cyborg and redundant like Franky
I do wonder what his fruit and memories will go to. I saw a theory talking about what if the sunny itself somehow ate the fruit and then theirs also the vivi theory

Yeah we don’t need that many cyborgs aboard lol. Especially if a seraphim joins
:pepebusi:
 
Oda said in the new SBS that Caribou didn't hear Luffy's dream, & that emphasizes that only a special group of characters should know.
that group includes Shanks (the pirate who inspired Luffy, and gave him the straw hat), Reighley (spent two years training Luffy), SHs, Luffy's brothers, & Yamato, and out of all those characters, Yamato is the only one who still have no reason to know Luffy's dream, so the only reason for Yamato to know Luffy's dream is that she will join, Oda would have never let her know if she's not going to join.
 
with good designs.
Really ?

Is this good character design for you ?



Leaving the game’s world and characters open to interpretation is what made it as big as it is today, thanks largely to content created by the fandom over the years.
I'm sure theremight be good stories. Tho I wouldn't go as far as saying that there are good character designs in this project.

But maybe I'm wrong and maybe I'm not looking at it correctly, can you give me the top 10 character design of this project please ?


but you can’t bring it to life without giving it an identity
That's basically what creating a story for the character means. Some give the character an amazing background and some give just key points but the creation of the identity of the character ALMOST ALWAYS preceeds the actual design research.

This is - despite what V4N is trying to tell you - how it works in the industry. At least if you work on project where there is a goal for the character more than just being the subject of a poster or an illustration.


but coming up with character designs first can help with figuring out other details that you might not determine otherwise if you didn’t have a visual guide to go off of.
I'm not denying it doesn't exist. It can in some case. In fact in the entertainment industry, the fact of using randomness can help the creating process. Example herewith fengZhu:


BUT, those are only done on early stage and even when you are silhouetting a character there is always some guidelines you need to follow first. Here are some example of people explaining their method:




Again you need to understand that by "telling a story of your character before the design" doesn't necessaraly means that you will give the character all basic rules of characterization and development and start the plotline or the outlining of the development of the character. No. It means that you need some guidelines, and the more the guidelines the better (design relevant guidelines, we don't care about the blood type of the character during the design process)

Damn, this give me motivation to work a little so I will give you my own example:

Let's say I want to create a character in the universe of One Piece:

1. First I put on paper a list of characterization guidelines (what I'm talking about by story). here I want the character to be:

- A Teenager / young adult
- Joyfull
- Smart and ressourcefull
- From a high dinasty lineage
- Surviving on its own.
- Pirate at hearth

Why ? (Don't mind the mistake, I'm doing this on the fly)

Let's say that that Hitori ("one person") is destined to be a princess of the Fire kingdom, a small kindgom where fire is used as an art in all types of fields. 10 years old and with no survival instinct of her own, she has only one thing in mind, to explore the world one day like a pirate to find the Eternal flame, a mythical and magical flame, from the legends of her people, that can shine brightly and proudly through darkness and never decrease.

One day, when escaping the sight of her mother and father, the girl finds a little raft boat alone in the seas, no one aboard. In it, lies a a big box of fruits. When she looks inside, there is a strange yellow fruit. Without hesitation, she bites into the fruit but is immediately seen by people and workers of the kindgom. They sound the alarm that the princess is trying to escape again. One of the weapon forger, a friend of her, notice the incident and hides her into his shop. She is always amazed by his forged weapons. But this time there is something wrong.

The moment Hitori approaches the fire of the forge, her hand starts to ignite on fire. Her friend is not afraid and start to put the fire down with water.. but the more he tries to put her down, the more he flinches. Now, not only her hand is in fire, but her entire arm. And Hitori's friend just collapsed on the floor.

Hitori doesn't understand, panics and searches for help.. but people flinches in front of her and collapses. Now her upper body is on fire and Hitori is desesperated.. she jumps to the castle and go see her parents. Her mother flinches on sight, her father, a very strong man keeps is sanity and ask her what happens. She explains with despair that she hates a fruit and started burning in fire. The man is in shock and ask her the color of the fruit. She tells him and the father takes her into his arm.

This is the Hito hito no mi model Akurojin no hi. The god of fire of the wrong road. In mythology, this god is a spectral flaming deity that appears in the rain and makes people gravely sick.

The father embrasses her daughter for the last time and start taking fire too. He says those last words "this is not your fault, I love you" and collapse on the ground, dead. The girls starts crying and screaming in despair, her entire body burnes in yellow flames and expand all around making the ground shake and the castle collapse. People in the Kindgom collapses left and right. In the span of one minute, there is no one left. The kindgom is dead and Hitori is the last survivor.

7 years laters, the strawhats debark on the island and finds Hitori, alone, trying to fixes the walls of what we now know being the castle of her parents.

-----

So here is the story of the character (that we will have later in the actual story), the explanation of the characterization's guidelines.

Now there is two ways to proceed, either we jumps into the design right away, or we sketch. I will be doing silhouets first. Hitori is a girl and ressourcefull so this must be reflected directly into the silhouette.

As you can see here (forgive the roughness of the silhouets, I'm doing this fast), I liked the long hair tresse of the 1 design and the "pikes" on her head (those will in fact be her royal attributes) but I didn't like the robe, not ressourcefull enough. I like giving scarf belt to my characters so In fine I have her a scar belt and instead of putting her in a dress I gave her shorts (if you can see on figure 4)



Now that we have the shape of our design we can start drawing roughly. I won't do an amazing sketch here, I don't have the time (And i'm incapable of that in my current state) but you will get the jizz.



The lines



And a bit of color



This is far from being professionnal work, this is actually pretty bad, I lack tehnique. But my point is the same. To create this developped character design (you can check the design and pretty much check all the basic points I made before (joyfull/royalty/ressourcefull etc.) I couldn't simply go with my guts on a whim a just play with shapes.

I had to actually think about the character and its story (that I developped a bit after) and create at least a bit of checkmarks and characterization points.
 
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