Assignment Four

Zodiac Ying/Yang

This time our assignment was to create two characters to represent not only good and evil (or yin and yang) but to also represent one of the twelve animals of the Zodiac.

I was assigned the monkey.



Research:

As always, I began with some research on first the Monkey in the Chinese Zodiac, as well as what yang (which is what the Monkey is characterized as) is.

The Monkey

9^th position of the Chinese Zodiac

Yang: Positive, bright, active, dry, hot, summer, right, strong, light, and masculine

Element: Metal

Colors: White/Yellow

Season/Month: Summer, August

Motto: “I entertain”

Food: Cloves

Gemstone: Peridot

Ruling Hours: 3pm-5pm

Good Qualities:

Inventor, motivator, improviser, quick-witted, inquisitive, flexible, innovative, problem solver, self-assured, sociable, artistic, polite, dignified, competitive, objective, factual, intellectual.

Bad Qualities:

Can be egotistical, vain, arrogant, selfish, reckless, snobbish, deceptive, manipulative, cunning, jealous, suspicious.

Next I chose what kind of monkey I wanted. I just googled Monkey and found Dusky Leaf Monkeys, which look like they have glasses. Glasses... inventor... Yes, my mind latched onto that idea.

Dusky Leaf Monkeys: Active in late afternoon and early morning. Spectacle markings fit the idea of an inventor character.

Websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_zodiac

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_%28zodiac%29

http://www.taopage.org/yinyang.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/yin-yang

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusky_Leaf_Monkey

For my human counterpart, I chose to create an inventor who is very aristocratic. I also early on decided to give him a slight steam-punk feel to match the idea of his inventiveness.

Process:

For the actual drawing of our characters, our teacher had us do a Silhouette technique in which we drew shapes to create a silhouette and then to create the character from there. This process was a lot harder than anticipated but it was also a very interesting way to work. I also cannot spell silhouette without looking it up but I digress.

First I drew up some for Yek, the monkey character.

These ones were fun.

Next were ones for the human, Montgomery.

His were trickier due to my wanting to keep human proportions in mind.

Mongomery & Yek:

Montgomery:

Montgomery is an evil inventor who lives just outside of London, England. His family has a long line of inventors, however none were quite as evil as Monty. Monty is always creating new inventions, be it a machine to pollute waterways or one to block out the sun using a flying machine. None of his plans succeed however and Montgomery is always trying to figure out why.

He sports two handmade items on his person, the only things that seem to work; a retractable dagger on his right arm and a special watch that he uses to tell both time and direction.

Montgomery is a very aristocratic and intelligent man in his mid-30's. He speaks very properly and with utmost politeness. He uses it to keep the police off his trail of evil. He loves the finer things in life, such as tea time and comfortable chairs.

Yek:

DESCRIPTION GOES HERE