'Alpha' Video Process & File - Creating Characters from Simple Banana Boots

'Alpha' full-length process video: https://youtu.be/9sFv92AgI5s

I wanted to do something with a banana because I saw these banana boots that looked pretty fun. I thought it would make a cool costume for a banana character. That was my starting point. Then, I thought about adding something totally different, like a gorilla, because of the contrast and the whole idea of a gorilla and a banana together just clicked. I found this famous gorilla, Shabani, who’s got a lot of fans for being good-looking, and he’s got this pose where he looks like he’s deep in thought. That got me thinking, what if the gorilla was a smart scientist or physicist instead of scary?

First, I figured they’d be in a lab, doing science stuff, but that felt too out there. I wanted them doing something more everyday. So, I switched it up, making the banana character more punk-fashion, adding tattoos to mix it up. I ended up with her tattooing the gorilla, keeping his scientist vibe but in a different, casual setting. I put science tattoos on him to stick with the theme.

For the design, it was about getting the gorilla’s face right without the hair and making the banana character’s hair and boots stand out. I went for simple clothes that matched what they were doing, like sporty for her because she’s tattooing, and kept it simple for him too, but with a bit of a scientist feel with the tattoos.

I focused on a few key things to tell their story: his shape and scientist symbols for him, and tattoo artist vibes and banana themes for her. The colors and shadows were fun to play with, keeping them a bit unreal with bright shadows, kind of like what you see in video games or cartoons. It was a blast trying this out.

Check out the process video and PSD if you wanna see how I did it all. And if you got questions or anything, just hit me up with a DM, leave a comment here, or drop it in Discord. Really appreciate your support, thanks a lot!