Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521244
O N E P I E C E | P E R S P E C T I V E 1 1 5 future, I based the world in 18th century piracy. It was important to have this recognizable, relatable reality on which to build the fantasy. We worked with an ever-expanding reference library, and my loose sketches, where drawing is really thinking at this stage. Our constant question of each of the concepts was, "Where's the One Piece?" in each set. As a guide, I referred to One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda's book, the Ruruba, which illustrated his real- world inspirations for many of the settings. So Loguetown, in the opening of the show is based 0n Florence, Italy; The pagoda in Arlong Park, later in the series, is based on China's Great Pagoda. But it also gave me license to use other cultures, so Cocoyashi Village, Nami's home village, I based on traditional Indonesian vernacular and its extraordinary roof profiles. But finding the One Piece was also adding anachronisms, like a refrigerator in the galley of the Going Merry, or making Garp's warship a 19th century ironclad, with gun turrets inspired by civil war Mississippi gun platforms. Focused storytelling stopped the fantasy from being mere whimsy, and gave everything its own internal logic. Every set had a history, based on close character readings. Windmill Village, Luffy's home in the pilot episode, is where he learns his B C A. BARATIE RESTAURANT EXTERIOR. THE SET WAS BUILT IN A SHALLOW PADDOCK TANK ON THE BACKLOT. CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION BY JAKUB VYKOUKAL B. THIS IS ONE OF MY EARLY SKETCHES FOR MORGAN'S OFFICE. LOOSE NOTEBOOK SKETCHES ARE A BIG PART OF MY EARLY DESIGN PROCESS C. CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION REFINES AND DEVELOPS THE SETS, AND HELPS ME TO RESOLVE VOLUMES AND PROPORTIONS IN 3D. CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION BY DEON DELANGE