A playful leap through the jungle 🌿🐒
Wuzaru is in the house, baby! Leaping freely through the jungle canopy.
After finishing Radiant Panyang, I felt I couldn’t skip drawing the new character everyone was talking about — the little monkey with unmistakable Sun Wukong vibes. Wuzaru immediately stood out to me as a character full of energy, agility, and personality, and I wanted this illustration to capture that sense of constant motion and mischief.
Rather than portraying him in a combat-heavy or dramatic pose, I chose to show Wuzaru doing what feels most natural to him: jumping, exploring, and owning the jungle as his playground.
Wuzaru feels like a character driven by instinct and freedom. He’s agile, curious, and unpredictable — more of a trickster than a brute force fighter.
In my interpretation, Wuzaru doesn’t wait for the battlefield to come to him. He moves through trees, vines, and ruins effortlessly, using the jungle itself as an extension of his body. Every leap is calculated, but never stiff — it’s fluid, natural, and full of personality.
🧠 TOOLS USED:
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✏️ Phase 1: Sketch & Lineart
I "borrowed" a Spider-Man pose from Pinterest because I wanted Wuzaru to look super agile in the middle of the jungle—and honestly, it was a great choice because I achieved exactly what I wanted. Plus, I saved myself the trouble of painting the legs... though I guess nobody will assume Wuzaru has nothing from the knees down, right? 😅
🎨 Phase 2: Grayscale
The line art had turned out fantastic, so I went straight into blocking out the shape of each distinct area of the character—especially the face, where I created the most layers since there were so many elements I never even planned to paint at the same time. I separated them all into different layers and then started building up the volume using a very soft brush.
🌗 Phase 3: From Gray to Color
In terms of color, the first touches ended up looking quite dull and flat—but you know that’s how it always goes. Multiply mode lets me add color to the grayscale without losing any of the previous details, but the color quality slowly builds up as I use other blending modes, like Overlay, which instantly makes the colors vibrant, and Soft Light, which is more subtle but creates really beautiful color transitions.
🌟 Phase 4: Final Touches
In the final phase, everything came together. I pushed the lighting further, refined edges, and added small details that enhance readability and impact — especially around Wuzaru’s face and silhouette.
Color adjustments, subtle glow effects, and final contrast tweaks helped guide the viewer’s eye directly to Wuzaru, making him the clear focal point while still feeling fully immersed in the jungle.
This was all about balance: keeping the piece energetic and detailed without losing clarity.
Let me know in the comments! 👇
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