i think pushing expressions or charaturing them as well as features will push you far enough away from the reference hope this helps
This is a com for my friend and she wanted it based on a reference (top left corner) I can't figure out how to draw the expressions in a way that wouldn't be copying the reference cause it doesn't fit my style.
i think pushing expressions or charaturing them as well as features will push you far enough away from the reference hope this helps