Monkey Visual Development Drawings

Face concept thumbs. 

Side & back view head thumbs. 

How will the feet move? how many toes does this monkey have? 3 and a thumb? we almost wish to create hands out of the feet, as monkeys carry this feature in order to move as they do. Seeing as this is a stylised impression of a monkey, we were not afraid of implementing different cross species of monkeys into one design that we felt was our character. We didn't wish to feel tied down by a sense of reality. 

Shape grammar Thumbs, trying to get a grasp on the nature of the character. Is he short? tall? mean? funny? goofy? Is he flexible? or can he be used moderately to just perform as necessary within the film? What is his personality? 

I settled on the 2nd top left version of the monkey, as I feel the drawing has the ability to maintain the animalistic look, combining this with a human look, to carry the weight of relation and appeal to the audience. I feel as though when it comes to physically animating the rig, the character will be able to move to the demands of the story and what we require the monkey to do within the film, and the way he interacts with the other character and the environment as a whole. I wanted an animal that would be able to move flexibly, and with ease. Not a character with a massive weight issue, because it would practically slow down the pace of the film. I wanted the character to move with that rhythm - the high level pace - and I feel as though this character, with a skinny body mass would help the character to meet this demand. 

 I wanted to implement a cheeky-ness to him. I wanted him to also have personality. It's my desire to make sure he cares about his counterpart, and therefore carries a sense of obedience, but also a sense of recklessness and an erratic that he tries to maintain. A tied up loose cannon. But more so, for the entertainment value of the film. A monkey robbing a bank? it's goofy, and it sounds fun. That's what we want!