Wisdom's Face

This guy has been around for a while now. He has "evolved" as my editing skills have grown. He has been through countless edits. I took this through a thick glass sitting on the floor of a large observation room at a zoo. I was trying not to get trampled by the people coming and going behind me. The chimp was making very agitated rounds about a small yard. As he would make a "round" he would be just a few feet away from me through the glass. He eventually realized all the other people would come and go but I stayed. Soon he would come around and stare at me. I felt so sorry for him being pinned up like that and I felt like he sort of sensed that... I feel like we made some sort of connection as he came around...

The background wasn't very pleasing so I decided to burn it out with the burn tool. This new edition I took the blueness out of his fur. But, I didn't like how removing the blue tones made his fur look so "flat" so I did some split toning of opposite colors in order to add some more dimension. Adding ANY opposite colors together makes brown tones. So, I experimented with different ones until I found the one I was looking for. Blue and orange was exactly what I was looking for. Cleaning up his eyes so he had clear contrast and highlights make them more striking. Sculpting his face in order to bring more focus to his eyes and expression gives it the deep feeling that I experienced and was hoping to share again with the viewer. I hope he touches you as much as he touched me that day... and continues to teach me... And to think he probably thinks his life doesn't amount to much... I have learned so much from this guy... or, he's making a monkey out of me. :-P
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