ahaha! that’s the best idea i’ve seen so far 
your journey is beginning well 
The Journey Begins Challenge (2D) Entry: jonny duddle
LadyMedusa
#82
Aww… poor little monkey
I too love how the head takes only a little of the helmet 
Really nice detail
good luck and have fun!
MVDB
#84
Great little char design jonny!
I love the big helmet, with only the bottompart covered by the chimps head. This leaves you a lot of room to make some sort of fabric inside the helmet, maybe one with a banana-patern? Or some pictures of his wife and child hanging in his helmet so he’s still a bit with his afamily when he’s out there…
Good char. :arteest:
Dutchman
#86
Hi there Jonny! ::wavey: I think your thread is a nice place to set down my very first post of this new challenge!
Lots of very interesting concepts and ideas seem to flow around here! Your style (especially in that last sketch, but also in your monkeygirl artowork) can be called ‘a new artform’ (to be standing next to ‘Burtonesque’ etc! :arteest: )! I love the style and expression of your work!
When watching your work I know how few chances there are to be seen by the public, but I’m giving it a try! 
All the best luck & Lots of fun!
-Gijs
DelArin
#87
Well, I’ve been an active reader of these boards for a while now, and I think you’ve just convinced me that it’s time to take part!
Thanks for that Jonny. Look forward to finally getting back into my artwork.
jbballaran
#90
Excited to see what you’ll come up with this time Goodluck. Chimpski sounds good man. Nothing too magical with the idea at the moment. Keep pushing!
KOryH
#93
Hey Jonny,
Great stuff. I always liked this concept. It would work for EVERY challenge!
anyway go checkout Enrique Fernandez.
http://enriquefernandez0.blogspot.com/
He has some killer space monkey illustrations.
Not really your style, but similar content. He is a superstar. He refers to his project as Monkey on Mars.
On a side note Chipanzees are not monkeys.
duddlebug
#94
Blimey… what a lot of response to such a little sketch. Thanks to everyone! Sorry i’ve been so quiet, but real work seems to get in the way. I’ve actually used this idea in a piece of freelance work i did over the last few days. So i’ve got more of an idea of how Chimpski could possibly look, but i can’t show that sketch until it’s published!
I may well be sticking with Chimpski. It’s a story i’ve had swirling around my head for a long time. I may even draw a few rough comic pages out. But i’ll probably explore a few ideas for the final image. This challenge has given me the perfect excuse to find the time to visualise all this stuff.
DoInferno, urgaffel, Michael Chang, Taktak, azazel, Dhomochevsky, AndyonaHill, Sergey Banityuk, clos71, bandro, am7 : Thanks for all the comments!
sh@ke: There was a few dodgy iterations of this sketch and character design is always a struggle… but i quite like this one. More design to come though… probably with some colour.
Schaal: Cheers! I can’t wait to see how your piece turns out! And yup, i think he’ll be heading moonwards… So he can set up base and spy on Neil Armstrong!
Paperclip: HAha… a badly disguised american could be a cool idea! And i may well turn the head a little. Although i want him to look reluctantly heroic in a soviet propoganda styleee.
authentic: Cheers! I’m surprised there’s not more space monkeys and apes. I don’t think it matters in a contest like this. It’s a common concept and the space race fired the world’s imagination for so long. There’s gonna be a lot of elves and hobbits and anthromorphic characters for instance. Everyone who explored the cosmonaut thing would interpret it differently methinks.
Elsie: Thankyou! I think i’m more Roly than Rocky. I need to get my New Year diet started…
Ramitxon: I think the low head will need a bit of playing around with, but i like the idea that this little chimp is wearing a normal cosmonaut’s helmet and just doesn’t fill the space. Because he is a bit stunted…
monsitj: Haha… it seems that loads of people toyed with this space monkey or ape idea. I think it’d be great to see a few different interpretations at the end of May!
RebeccaK: OooEeurgggh!? Better buy yourself a new keyboard, eh? Haha. Anyway, glad you liked it. Although it is supposed to be terribly sad and poignant you know?
Squibbster: Cheers. I like dat helmet too. Those russians had a natty line in space fashion!
W!L: Heh… A sitcom would be cool. “You off to space again today, dear?” “Well love, it’s a job”
Walrus: Thanks Mike… and i will make sure that the focus is firmly on the Chimpski family. There’s a long way to go and i need to get into the composition and what’s gonna be included in the final image.
AndyH: Cheers Andy. I’m glad you’re keen on the unused helmet space! Have you entered yet? Given in to the lure of late nights and no social life? eh? huh?
flyinP: Hey Brian! Thanks for the post? I want to see you get involved again in a challenge. Go on… you know you wnat to…
Lady Medusa: hooray! another vote for the big helmet/little head solution!
MichaelMotion: The family photo inside the helmet is a great idea!! Thanks!
Dutchman: Thanks! I’m always struggling with the issue of style. It bothers me. It’s never quite where i want it. And it’s always changing. It drives me bonkers! But i’m so glad you like the stuff…
DelArin: Cool! Take part! It’s a laugh… you know you should…
Abeejieh: Thanks…plenty of time to get this idea developed. And i hope you enjoy where it goes.
Kory: Cheers Kory and thanks for all the input so far! And you’re right, you could use a chimp in space for nearly every challenge. Especially the last few… Grand Space Opera, MAster and Servant, Spectacular and this one! Haha! I had actually seen Enrique’s work before. I’ve got two issues of ‘Le Magicien d’OZ’. But i hadn’t visited his blog (it’s in my favourites now!) and i don’t think id’d seen his monkeys… But they’re just lovely. He gets so much character in to such limited marks. But i’m not going to let them put me off my plans for Chimpski. I think i’m heading in a whole different direction from a very similar source of inspiration. As i mentioned earlier, the Chimpski idea has been in my head for a long time. I nearly used it in spectacular and that piece was based on a pencil sketch i did for my girlfriend on the first valentine’s day we were together. It’s such a popular concept that there’s bound to be lots of stuff around that explores aspects of animals in space, whether it’s monkeys, chimps, or dogs. I love animals and i want to tell a story about an oridinary chimp who becomes a Hero of the Soviet Union. And like you say… “Chimpanzees are not monkeys”
Phew… what a lot of gumpf i’ve typed. That’ll teach me not to neglect the thread for a few days. I’m gonna try and post something in the next day or two, but i’ve been snowed under by stuff that feeds my family…
I’m also gonna try and find an hour or so to browse everyone else’s thread sometime today. I feel a bit out of the loop!
Thanks again!
paperclip
#97
Put the chin up, heroic style and tilt the head over to the side and look down on the baby with a stern/sad look and you’ve got it, man.
Composition feels like it’s missing something…not sure what…Maybe you should lower the perspective a bit, so you’re looking UP at the chimps and people, with the rocket and the sky stretching out to infinity over them??
KOryH
#98
Cool. I was giving you a heads up to an artist we all should be aware of. I am glad to hear that you have an OZ book or two. They are very charming.
GO CHIMPSKI! почетность и гордость
flyingP
#99
maybe the next one, too much other stuff I have started that I want to get finished first