A look back at APE-ril...

Yes, I'm getting just as sick of the monkeys as you might be... but I like to do these "look backs" at the end of each month, and since this was the most productive month EVER for Drawsiness, I had to do it's tribute wallpaper...

So above is all 30 apes (and monkeys) from the APE-ril challenge.  Where you draw an ape (or monkey) for everyday of the week.  I kinda cheated, in that some days I did more than one (one day was 7!), but I think as long as I did 30 of them by the end of the month, it's all good.  And I did (barely!).

I decided to visit down pop culture lane with my monkeys... and dug up a bunch of "celebrity" apes I guess... it was kinda fun...   I liked the challenge, it challenged me as an artist.  As I don't usually draw apes and monkeys, and the daily deadline pushed me to be productive quickly... so all and all, I grew... and that's awesome.

APE-ril: Thade

APE-ril is over!!!!!!

Oh my GOD!  I did it!   30 apes in 30 days!  Sure, 7 were today... but still... I did it!  Yay!

Anywho, above is a really quick and crude sketch/digital coloring of Thade.  Tim Roth's character from Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes.  I wish I hadn't had to cram so many monkeys into the last days, cuz this one could have been tons better.  Needless to say, I learned how to better prioritize my time... and hopefully will apply that to future artistic projects!

APE-ril: Terk

Disney fun again... TWICE in one day?  WOW!   Anywho... Terk, Tarzan's gorilla sidekick.  Did anybody else think it was odd that this BOY monkey was voiced by Rosie O' Donnel?

APE-ril: Suzanne

Okay, Suzanne never wore Silent Bob's clothes... but I had to get across that it was the orangutang from Jay and Silent Bob, and the quickest way to do that, was to dress Suzanne up as Silent Bob.  I did it, because she has a beard.

APE-ril: Sky Ape

Sky Ape I know nothing about... I just stumbled across him while compiling my list of apes for APE-ril, and I was like "A big badass smoking gorilla with a jet pack and goggles?   DONE!"   So that's how he got on my list...  for more information on Sky Ape, check out the Sky Ape Wikipedia Page. 

APE-ril: Rafiki

This one really helped re-energize me at the zero hour... leave it to Disney to pick you up when you're feeling down...  This ones was fun, loose, and free to draw (with a ballpoint pen, no less!), and it's just kinda... well "free" is the only word that comes to mind.  I really like the way it came out.

APE-ril: Optimus Primal

This is hands-down probably going to be the worst drawing in all of APE-ril.  But at the same time it was important lesson in doing a bit more diligence in one's research before committing to a project/challenge.  While compiling my list of apes/monkeys at the end of March, early April for the APE-ril challenge, I thought doing Optimus Primal from Transformers: Beast Wars would be win on many levels.  One, it'd be an ape.  Two, it'd be a robot (cuz I'd prolly get sick of drawing monkeys).  Three, there's a new Transformers movie coming out, so you might get some visitors due to random Google searches.  And Four, who doesn't want to draw a bad-ass robot?

Well, I was wrong on almost all of those.  I didn't really get into Transformers as a kid, and especially didn't even watch Beast Wars, so fairly unfamiliar with the show/character.  I also had a horrible time finding suitable reference material on the net (which surprised me a little), and then of course... Deadline crunch.  I had/have fallen behind in the APE-ril challenge, so now at the zero hour, I'm busting out the last few quickly, and this one should of had a whole day (at least) to itself to truly make it better.

APE-ril: Mr. Teeny

It's Mr. Teeny, one of Krusty's sidekicks...  a chain smoking monkey (who I've noticed doesn't have a tail?).  I've always been of the mind that all of the lackeys around Krusty are actually smarter than him... Sideshow Bob, Sideshow Mel, this monkey.  That should of been an ongoing B-plot...  Have the monkey try to murder Krusty or something, I could see it.

APE-ril: Mojo Jojo

I never really watched the Powerpuff Girls, despite many people saying I should...  So I'm not at all familiar with this character, other than knowing he's a bad guy on the show.  When I started the APE-ril Challenge, I was kinda looking forward to do this one, and maybe taking a different spin on him... make him look more like a real monkey, and still have the suit, more comic-book'y and less anime'esque.... But, APE-ril ends tomorrow night, and I still have like 8 more monkeys to draw and such... so...  quality is failing to quantity.  However, it's kinda liberating at the same time, because I'm not getting as hung up on how things look... which opens up things I would otherwise not normally do.

Also, my buddy, Stephen Wittmaak took a stab at Mojo Jojo early on APE-ril... you can see his right here.

APE-ril: Marcel

It's Marcel... Ross' pet monkey from the hit NBC sitcom Friends...  I think this is my least favorite entry into drawsiness... I tried to simplify him, like I did jack, but still ended up getting detailed with it... and it just came out kinda weird.  Live and learn.

APE-ril: Magilla Gorilla

This APE-ril challenge has been kinda fun... I've revisited a lot of my childhood memories of television and what not...  Sadly, I've forgotten more than I remember, usually just what the monkeys look like, and snippets of other memory.  Magilla here is no exception... I don't remember a whole heck of a lot about him.  I know he was in a pet store, and was for sale.  The owner of the pet store looked like Spacely Sprocket from the Jetsons... and there were hijinks that occurred.  Good times.

APE-ril: King Louie

There are two "Kings" in this APE-ril challenge of mine... Yesterday we saw King Kong, today we see King Louie... King Louie always kinda reminded me of Steven Tyler... both crazy looking monkeys... In hindsight, mayhaps I should have drawn King Louie as a judge on American Idol.

APE-ril: King Kong

Can't do an entire month of monkey/ape drawings... and leave out this guy!  King Kong!  Quite possibly one of the most famous apes ever....  and again an interesting challenge to draw...


I started more traditionally with him atop the Empire State Building, and was gonna be kinda cute about it and have him puckering up for a kiss from the blonde lady, but it was just looking weird.  I also didn't want to mess up the Empire State Building, and then the drawing was becoming more and more about the building instead of the ape, which is what this month's challenge is all about.  So I took them out of New York, and back to Skull Island, for a romantic, "Sixteen Candles"'esque  moment with King Kong and the blonde...  It might be cheesy, but it's nowhere near as bad as the ice-skating portion from the Peter Jackson film... am I right?

APE-ril: Jack

Everybody's favorite undead monkey!  JACK!  A lot of people think it was Johnny Depp that made the "Pirates" films so successful... nope, it was Jack the monkey!

I had some trouble drawing Jack.  I think that's because I was trying too hard to go for "Realism" initially, when I boiled him down and simplified the character in a cartoony fashion I think better captured this little monkey rascal.

APE-ril: Grape Ape

I really don't remember a lot about Grape Ape... I know he's from the Hanna-Barbera school of characters, and he was a giant bumbling purple gorilla... but beyond that.. I don't recall a lot...

APE-ril: Gleek

I like this drawing for a simple reason...  it totally captures my understanding of the character.  In my internet research I know that Gleek is the pet space monkey of the Wonder Twins, who you may remember from the Super Friends.  I believe his tale can change size and shape (like it can be used for a lasso, or a rope etc.).

I rarely watched Super Friends.  I vaguely remember the Wonder Twins, and I didn't remember a pet space monkey named Gleek.  I just stumbled across him while researching what monkeys I wanted to draw for "APE-ril", and thought he could be fun to draw... that and he's named "Gleek", and with the popularity of the show "Glee", it might be possible somebody Google'ing the word "Gleek" might stumble across my art blog.  See, I'm smart like that.

I think the way I drew him, that he looks a bit like Adam Goldberg.

APE-ril: Four-Assed Monkey

Dr. Alphonse Mephesto wanted to make the world a better place in the land of South Park... and what better way to do that.. .than with... a Four-Assed Monkey!

This was an interesting one to draw up... because I wanted to stick to my artistic strengths, and keep it more "my style".  South Park, has it's own artistic style... so I decided to kinda meet half way... I drew it to look like South Park, but how I'd draw it.  After coloring, I Photoshop'd a texture to the colors, to give it that "construction paper" feel that South Park has...  Was an interesting experiment...

APE-ril: Flying Monkey

I've always had a certain, unexplainable, affinity for the Wizard of Oz.  I don't know why, just have.  I love it... Everything about it.  The books, the movie, the mythos, the legend.  Possibly like it even more so than Batman...  Maybe.

So I was excited to draw the Flying Monkey from it... It was kinda nice because there have been MANY interpretations of the Oz characters and world, so I wasn't stuck to a particular look or style like some of the other Apes this month, I was allowed some breathing room.  I stuck kinda close to the 1930's film version of the flying monkeys, but I think I gave it a bit of my own spin....  So I like that.  I think I might revisit the flying monkey (or other Oz characters) in the future... because it'd be nice to give it my own spin entirely, drawing very little from other adaptations and sticking to my own perception of the original work of L. Frank Baum.

APE-ril: Dr. Zais

Dr. Zaius made the list of apes for APE-ril, because I decided to pick 2 from each era of Apes... the classic Apes, and the Tim Burton apes.  I did Cornelius earlier this month, so my other "classic" PotA character had to be Dr. Zaius.  This was easy to pick because... he's different.

Seriously, go watch the original Planet of the Apes.  Almost every other ape in that film looks a like, like they were made from a cookie cutter.  Dr. Zaius... different.  More of an orangutan, when the rest were... gorilla?   They're all black, he's orange.  He stands out.  So since he stood out, he made for a more eclectic choice in drawing.  So I drew him.  True story.

On a side note, my art buddy and friend, Stephen Wittmaak also drew up a Dr. Zaius yesterday, so for the sake of comparison, you can check his out right here.

APE-ril: Donkey Kong

Can't do an APE-themed drawing month, and draw Diddy Kong, without drawing DONKEY KONG!  Nintendo's main ape!  When I was first introduced to Mario Kart, way back on the SNES, I always found it amusing that such a big ape was all cramped up on a tiny kart...  It was funny to me.  I tried to recreate that humor with this drawing... so, here we have an annoyed Donkey Kong driving a tiny go-kart.  Just brings back awesome childhood memories.

NOTE:  This is the first time that I've done "Drawsiness" THREE times in a single day!  (I have to make up for the weekend).