How to Draw a Monkey Head

Video Transcript

"I'm Joel Hickerson with Grin Dog.com, and today we're going to draw a monkey's head. First thing you want to do with cartooning is you draw the construction elements of the figure, and then you come back, you can come back and pick the lines you like with a darker marker, and flesh out the drawing. So for a monkey, if you see a monkey, you always notice it's big mouth. So we'll draw that....we'll start with that with a big circle. And then it's head is kind of in the background, which is always another circle, but the constriction lines start that way. And I usually like to draw big to small. So then the next thing would be the elements of the face. Now monkeys are known for their big ears. You do that, and then you draw the eyes. And, it's pretty rare you don't see a happy monkey, so we draw a big smile, teeth, maybe, they've got hair so you want to give it some kinda....portrayal of hair. And therein you have the basic construction elements. A big circle for the mouth. A smaller circle for the head behind the mouth. Circles for ears, some accessories, like hair and teeth. And then you come back with your marker and a Sharpie. A real simple Sharpie. Usually cartoons are mostly black and white when you're just drawing for fun. And you fill in the details. Again, pencil lines aren't the ones that matter, it's the black lines when you're coming back to do the finished drawings that you really want to pay attention to. And cartooning is fun. It should never be taken seriously, because then it changes the personality of the drawing. You won't have as much fun with it. So, with that, you end up with a pretty good representation of a monkey, and then if you want to, after you're done, you can come back and erase the construction lines with a white eraser. Usually a Pelican, or some brand. Statler makes a good one. A white eraser or art gum. And erase your lines, and then you can come back at the very end if you want, and do things like shadows. The more complicated things. But really, cartoons should be simple with dark, heavy lines. And just make the lines you really want to accent even heavier, like the smile. And, that's pretty good. And you got a couple little stray hairs if you want. Little things that make it even a little more fun for you or for whoever you're drawing it for. Even a tongue, there."