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: Cornelius

Cornelius sure does look angry.... maybe that's because the "classic" Planet of the Apes franchise gets all the love for Charlton Heston.  Yet it was Cornelius, or more importantly, Roddy McDowall's performance of Cornelius (and later Caesar) that really carried that series along for as long as it did (and make it viable remake fodder, i.e., Tim Burton's "re-imagining" and the upcoming "Rise" with James Franco).  If not for Cornelius and Mr. McDowall, the Apes franchise would likely be much smaller and not what we remember.

As for the art, much like the Bubbles post 2 days ago, this was drawn as a pencil sketch first, and then some touch ups here and there in Photoshop. The difference is bubbles I went straight black and white, this one I went with some color (albeit, muted).  But I like the watercolor type feel to it, and still retain it's sketchyness.