Monkey King

ill_logic

hey all. here's my new project, the first i've posted on here or anywhere in a pretty long while. it's going to be the monkey character from the chinese story 'journey to the west', same one dragonball & numerous other things are based off of.

the chief inspiration is the katsuya terada book 'saiyukiden' or monkey king but i'm aiming to make him look like more of a chimpanzee where as in the terada book, he had kind of a macaque/baboon sort of look. and as he's a bit of an anti-hero, the idea is to make him look fairly badass. the face is pretty stylized but i wanted to go for kind of realistic proportions on the body (as realistic as a monkey-man can get; ie long arms, shorter, but muscular legs). i kind of want to give him stylized chunky hair too but that's way further down the line yet.
this is probably looking a bit dense, because i hope to normal map. to be honest, i did start a couple of concepts but wasn't happy with them so i just started this & have been trying to wing it. any crits/comments about the anatomy/topology thus far? especially in the clavicle area, didn't seem right to me. thanks in advance!!


-J

Daz

Cool, he's got quite a dynamic feel.

A couple of things strike me:

1) Why the anal obsession with quads? It's not at all efficient for an in game model.

2) Relatedly, If it is meant to be a realtime model, it feels unecessarily hi poly. Specifically, why put gazillions of polygons into the circumference of an arm, but hardly any down the length? If you think about that logically, for a more detailed silhouette the other way around makes far more sense.

edit: OK sorry, this is the hi poly for a normal map then? Makes more sense to show the subdivided version then probably. But still, my point about the arms still stands, hi poly or low.

EarthQuake

especiailly if you plan to take him into mudbox/zbrush the arms really need to be fixed, you dont want long straight quads like that for that sort of thing, you want sqaurish quads that will sub-divide nicely

fritz

i think the problem w/the clavicles is the shape...they are straight in your model but have shape in proper anatomy. i realize your are stylizing it but...i'd still give those suckers some shape.


http://faculty.clintoncc.suny.edu/facult...oral_girdle.jpg

ill_logic

daz & earthquake: yeah, it's for a normal map that i will try to work on in a paint program eventually lol. thanks for the advice, but i cut off the arms in those shots intentionally because i just got to them. i just sort of blocked out the shape really simply by extruding down to the hands, but those certainly aren't the finished product. just so i know what proportions i'm working with according to how long i'm thinking his arms should be. this is one of the very first models where i was happy with about how even the poly spacing was (except in the back, it stretches a little here & there), so i'm not looking to half ass the arms like that, but thanks for keeping an eye out!

EDIT: oh & i showed the lower poly that the normal map will be based on because i was looking for some topology advice on it. i know it essentially doesn't really matter for the final result of normal mapping but it's the first higher poly thing i've done in a bit & i need practice & critique. lol thanks!

fritz: thanks very much! i'll adjust that next time i'm in there. it is too straight. i just wasn't sure with monkey anatomy because i was looking to have his shoulders generally hunched very low in a posed shot. but i'll try to add a bit of curvature. thanks!

since i'm on here, i had a quick question, matter of opinion. i was working on a concept sketch & i wasn't sure what color his skin should be versus what color his hair should be. any interesting suggestions? as of right now his skin's probably going to be grey with light orangish/reddish hair.

-J

ill_logic

so here's the concept i finally decided on. thoughts?

and these couple of images are references & things like that


-J

Matabus

Here is another pretty damn cool illustration of the monkey king by one of my new favorite artists, Katsuya Terada.
It might be useful to you.



*edit nevermind I see it on your concept mood board there on the left.

McIlroy

If I was doing monkey king I would take HEAVY inspiration from
General Thade of Planet of the Apes only in chinese robes and clothing
edit*- pic was to big and not any help :-P

ill_logic

matabus - thanks. i've had the book opened next of me throughout this. it is where i got the idea to do my own version of the character. i'm thinking about also following it up with a piggsy model, but i want to finish this one first.

mcilroy - thanks, but as a fan of the originals, i usually walk around trying to forget that movie exists lol, despite how great rick baker's prosthetics are. and from what i remember of his armor in the movie, it seemed a bit on the heavier side than what you usually see for the monkey king. thanks for the suggestion though.

-J

Rhinokey

check out the chinesse oddyesey movies staring stephen chow as the monkey king,, the clothing and outfits, and his preformance were great,, its a 2 part movie . the second half has more of the monkey king in it http://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/chinese_odyssey_2.htm


and i don't think Mc was suggesting using thades armor. in fact he mentioned changing it to robes.

and

Robert Headley

You might want to check out "The Lost Empire" with Russel Wong as well. its a more modern take on the Monkey King and the Journey to the west, at the point of view of a chinese history scholar, its cheesy, but I think Russel Wong makes a good monkey king.. Also the long time in planning Chan/Li project is based on "A journey to the west" as well.

Definately check out Chinese Odyssey, its good stuff. Both.

Btw, I love the hair in the concept.

ill_logic

thanks guys! i do appreciate all the reference advice & i realize there's a wealth of different takes on this same character but i have a fair deal of stuff for this already & i did want to keep it a bit fresh.
i've seen that russel wong monkey king & he was ok & bai ling certainly wasn't too terrible to look at (if that's the one i'm thinking of) but i didn't really get much else out of that version (the bit i watched). as for stephen chow, i heard he had portrayed the character but i never saw any of it. that sounds like it's worth tracking down. at least for him.

as for the model, i haven't had a second to sit down & work on it yesterday or today. holiday shopping. i'm looking to do so right now. it's probably wishful thinking but i'd like the have arms & hands done this evening before i fall asleep. wish me luck!

-J