Ape Has Drawn Ape! APE HAS DRAWN APE!

[the_gneech]

Eddie Ape was originally conceived when I got an e-mail from the owner and operator of 3apes.com who said, "Hey, I want an ape mascot! Wanna draw one for me? We can do a co-branding thing!" I said, "Sure!" and so when Tiffany needed a supervisor at MegaHuge ConGloMaCo, I came up with Eddie Ape. I originally pictured him as more of a tech support guy than the manager he became, but that's okay. Eventually, 3apes.com seemed to peter out (although it's still there), and I moved to Keenspot and had to do a site redesign, so the whole mascot thing eventually fell by the wayside.

Anyway, I get the distinct impression from responses to my earlier post that people seem to be laboring under the impression that Eddie is a chimpanzee. Um. :) I know that while technically "ape" and "gorilla" are not the same thing, when I think "ape," unless I have a specific reason to think otherwise, I think "gorilla." And Eddie is, was, and ever shall be, a gorilla. The fact that I gave him too round a head does not alter his gorillaness. All I can say is that his original design may have been unduly influenced by Grape Ape, who has a very round head indeed.

Anyway, enough of that. On to the pics!


You can probably guess which one of these is my favorite, by the commentary. :) I tried to make this profile to match the "Ooh!" pic, but it doesn't exactly work. It's also too realistic; I need to simplify it. But it's at least a good start.

None of the bulked-up pics have a clear continuity with the original Eddie model, but I like the way the "Ooh!" pic has that open, basically friendly look that I wanted Eddie to have. It reminds me a bit of Fred Gwynne, which is not a bad connection to make with Eddie. :)

Moving along nicely, I think...

-The Gneech

Comments

[nekomimikun.livejournal.com]

omoshiroi henshin da ne!
Interesting transformation!

[brahma-minotaur.livejournal.com]

I must say Eddie has been wokring out. A lot. I like it.

[kevinjdog.livejournal.com]

I'm going to go out on a limb here with an "If it ain't broke don't fix it" philosophy. I like your new bull designs-- but Eddie was fine as he was.

[kevinjdog.livejournal.com]

Okay - now I read the entry where people thought he was a chimpanzee. *shrug* I didn't think so, but now I understand your motives. Somehow he just never seemed "lummoxy" enough to be a truly "huge" type of ape to me. I guess that "Ooh" one wasn't bad, but maybe make his nose more like a flat thing with two nostrils? Because that one looks more human than anything else.

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

I've been trying to work out the nostrils issue, without success. :) But I see what you mean. -TG

[softpaw.livejournal.com]

the one you put the Ooh next to to me is defently the most ape like, next one would be the bottom left side view of him, making him a bit larger to me is mroe apey then a slimed down guy, in my minds eye apes are big lugs

Cheffie picks nits! (how appropriate for monkey time)

[chef-troy.livejournal.com]

Gneech, one thing my eye is insisting is missing is the line that extends downward from the nose to the upper lip - what is called the philtrum on a human. Also, a gorilla's nostrils don't face down like you have them in the "ooh" pic - that nose looks more human than simian. And keep those lips thin, thin, thin.

If I didn't know "ooh ape" was supposed to be a gorilla, I would not have guessed that's what he was supposed to be.

Also, a gorilla wouldn't be hunched over, exactly - more swaybacked, with his chest out, dig? I think you can skip that, although his arms should be apishly long. I do like the side view a lot.

Just my $.02 - feel free to ignore it, I know my artwork can't compare to yours.

Re: Cheffie picks nits! (how appropriate for monkey time)

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Foo, don't say stuff like that! I'd rather have a single honest criticism than a hundred bits of flattery. :) Your art is no worse than my art was when I started, and is some ways is way better ... so I don't want to hear any more of such nonsense. :)

Re: The philtrum, you mean like the one that's on the "Magilla" pic? That's a good point. *makes a note* And you're not the only one who's mentioned the nostrils -- but the problem with that is I haven't figured out a way to do that without making him look piggish. But I'll work on it!

And if not a gorilla, what does he look like?

-The Gneech, oop ack

Re: Cheffie picks nits! (how appropriate for monkey time)

[chef-troy.livejournal.com]

It's not so much that he looks like something specifically different - "That's not an ape, it's an aardvark!" - he just looks like some unspecified not-ape. (Don't get me wrong, man; knowing that he IS an ape makes it much easier to see, especially the furless face surrounded by fur.)

I have a collection of rubber costume noses - let me go look at my gorilla nose.

*tick tock*

Okay, looks like the key to keeping it from looking piggish is to not let it protrude from the plane of the upper lip. Nostrils facing straight forward, couple of perspective lines above the nostrils to show the wrinkles on the bridge of the nose; begin the philtrum line between the nostrils and continue it downward. The upper lip should be even with or even a little in front of the nose. Does that help?

One other missing thing that may be deliberate is that gorillas have much taller foreheads than chimps (which eddie more closely resembles IMO), to provide an anchor point for their powerful jaw muscles. Like I said, I know you may have chosen not to do him that way because the high forehead and deep-set eyes of a gorilla make it look brooding and grumpy all the time, but anyhoo.

Re: Cheffie picks nits! (how appropriate for monkey time)

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

I tried to suggest the largish forehead and high crown with the shape of his head (sorta conical rather than round) and the large eyebrow ridge ... but yes, I didn't want Eddie to look like he was frowning all the time, which gorillas tend to do. (I snerked some elements of the design from this character (http://www.spacemonkeys.net/PicturesGor1.htm) that softpaw pointed me at, but I tried to soften him up a bit ... and make him not quite so huge.) So do you think I should move his face lower down on his head? Make the eyebrow ridges larger?

-The Gneech

Re: Cheffie picks nits! (how appropriate for monkey time)

[chef-troy.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'd make the eyebrow ridges larger or at least do something to make them stand out above his eyes when he's facing the camera - in Ooh Ape I don't read any protrusion there (shading on the underside?).

I know it's an odd place to look for tips on drawing a gorilla, but check out The Fox and the Hound and look at the way they did Copper's eyebrows. It may give you some inspiration on how to handle heavy eyebrow ridges without making the character look angry.

I don't think you need to move his face down but I'd make his neck shorter - maybe half as long as you have it.

Re: Cheffie picks nits! (how appropriate for monkey time)

[chef-troy.livejournal.com]

Sorry, disregard the neck thing. I went back and looked at Ooh ape again and the neck length is good.

[level-head.livejournal.com]

Comments moved to e-mail...

===|==============/ Level Head

Wow, I can see all the pics tonight!

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

...and I really like the middle one of the sketch collage, and the last one that is a separate image. The former maintains the most of the original Eddie while making him a distinct gorilla, while the latter includes a decent apish torso, etc.

Look at
http://www.awf.org/files.fcgi/149_gorillas.jpg
for a good pic of a gorilla's face (DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD IT IS TO FIND GORILLA PICS ONLINE?!?). It gives you a nice close-up of the nose of a real guy-- note the flatness of it. I think the way to avoid piggishness is to emphasize the smooth septum-- there is no planar division between the front of the nose and the upper lip.

If my roommate's scanner worked, I'd play with it some and send some trials myself, but alas!

Also something they lack of RL gorillas is the peaked head. Again, the middle sketch has the most peaked head, but looking at the image I found, you can see that it is more peaked even than that. Most of the others still have flat, crew-cut hairdos. I hope that isn't suggestive of skull surgery?!? o.O

Just kidding... but seriously, try a drawing of Eddie with the cone of his head pointing more upwards. Look here:
http://www.skullsunlimited.com/Lowland_Gorilla.htm
See how the skull ridge extends smoothly upward from the brow line?

Try playing with that a bit.
Or tell me where to get off.
These are really just my thoughts on eliminating the chimpanzee question (see how low the chimp's skull is here: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/chimp.html )

[rhanlav.livejournal.com]

Hey, TG... not sure this will help ya much, but I was watching an old episode of Scooby Doo today. I was flipping channels... Oh well, anyways, the villian was an 'ape man'. Yeah, of course its always somebody in a costume, but I thought if nothing else, you may wanna check it out.

Oh, here's a site to every Scooby Doo villian from the original series.
http://home.earthlink.net/~srhughes/scooby/villians.html

And WOW! Is Eddie like hitting the gym every day now? ;) *inserts a thick Austrian accent here* JAH... He is like Totally pumped up now. He has da pumpatude goink for himself now.

--Rhan "I'll be back."