[cracks knuckles] Now this looks like a post for me. No one asked for a breakdown of Joel’s proportions and why we perceive him as so lanky (which, in fairness, he is…but not As Lanky as you’d think at a glance), but I’m an artist and I got Stuff™ to say so you’re getting to hear it anyway. So!
The most obvious reason why he registers as lanky is that a good part of his body is simply Leg. It’s hard to tell how much exactly because he loves his long shirts and tunics and it’s hard to tell where exactly his torso ends and his legs start, but he’s quite long-limbed. The fact that said legs are very slim (anon, you gotta give me proof of the big thighs before I believe it…okay that came out wrong) is more easily noticeable than his shoulders and arms. In general the vertical lines in his body are more easy to spot than the space he takes up sideways, which is in part due to…
Point two: silhouette! Here’s where it gets interesting, because I think another reason why Joel gets perceived as a lanky beanpole is the way he dresses. For one, this man loves his head-to-toe black outfits. Wearing one color from head to toe creates one long, cohesive line, which in turn makes you look longer and taller.
(Which, if you’re already long and tall to begin with, just makes you look like a freaking beanpole.)
In addition, his iconic tunics add to the illusion—the way they’re cut off at the shoulders creates a narrower, more rectangular silhouette for his torso, with his arms being sort of separate from the long all-black line of his outfit. The tunics are also quite long—once again, vertical lines over horizontal. To top it off, the shoes he usually wears tend to hit pretty high at the ankle, drawing the eye up and creating the illusion that his legs start at a higher point to begin with.
Personally I’d argue that the way Joel usually stands makes him look more lanky too: feet close together, legs fairly close together, further hammering home how slim they are. That being said, he is still genuinely skinny for a guy his height, strong shoulders and (upper) arms notwithstanding—try this pic for size:
I know, I know, height difference, but that’s not the point here. Look at the shape difference: Aleksi is way more square while Joel is long and rectangular. They seem about the same width, but on Joel it’s stretched out over a visibly longer frame.
TL;DR: Joel is only lanky in parts, but the outfits he wears make him look Extra Noodly while downplaying stuff like the width of his shoulders. Thank you for tuning in.
