Blast from the Past #683: Sketchbook pages 27 (Leonardo back view) and 28 (Donatello back view)

These two sketches on two consecutive pages of the sketchbook, pages 27 and 28, were clearly done with the intent of trying to work out how the "new look" for Leonardo and Donatello would appear from the back. I drew them lightly in photo-blue pencil, which is always tricky to photograph. So to make the lines stand out more, I tweaked them in Photoshop, which is why there is some shadowy speckling in place -- it's an artifact of my inexpert Photoshop manipulation.

Worthy of note in the Leonardo drawing (sketched on May 4, 1994) is the tapered redesign of his shell, as well as the slightly different arrangement for holding the scabbards in place. -- PL

Blast from the Past #676: Sketchbook page 20, pencil sketch of new costume ideas for Leonardo

On page 20 of the sketchbook, I drew this sketch of Leonardo with his possible new gear, the same stuff he had on in the drawing from the previous page. -- PL

Blast from the Past #675: Sketchbook page 19, Leonardo leaping, new costume ideas

I like this drawing from page 19 of the sketchbook. I like the pose, the way I inked it, and the little bits of detail reflecting some thoughts on new costuming for Leo -- the different scabbard strap arrangement, the belt pouches (including one with the yin/yang symbol), and the "rising sun" graphic on his kneepads and over-the-head bandana. -- PL

Blast from the Past #672: Sketchbook page 15, Leonardo displaying mutations

Here on page 15 of the sketchbook is another unfinished pencil drawing, this time depicting Leonardo with his "new mutation" claws out -- at least on one hand.

As I look further at this sketch, I notice there is some texturing on his face, seemingly to indicate rough, scaly skin. Was this a consideration, to give Leo -- maybe even all the Turtles -- a slightly different basic look, with rougher, more reptilian skin? I can't remember... but it sure would have made them more time-consuming to draw!

There is also a slightly different arrangement for the straps which hold Leo's scabbards, as well as a belt which looks like it may have incorporated pouches or pockets of some kind. -- PL

Blast from the Past #671: Sketchbook page 14, ideas for further mutations

Not much on this page -- just a few quick doodles, trying to work out ideas for further mutations for the Turtles (apparently in this case specifically going in a sort of monstrous direction with Leonardo), along with some other potential story notes. Here's what I wrote on this fourteenth page of the sketchbook:

     "4/26/94

       Physical mutations:

       Leo

       Play with more radical mutations/morphing


       -- Karai variations?

       -- Nobody as a woman?

       -- Foor Elite similar to Shredder Elite in "City at War" -- traditional garb, gear, and semi-mystical "Bushido" approach"

      
         It's interesting to me that roughly a decade before I had April O'Neil don the mantle of Nobody in the TMNT Volume 4 comic books, I was thinking about introducing a female Nobody. -- PL

Blast from the Past #367: pencil drawing for cover of Archie Comics' "TMNT Adventures" #41

This is interesting to me for the idea more than for the drawing. Where did I get the idea to have those two characters reflected in Leonardo's sword blades?

At this point in time, I can't recall. But it worked pretty well, even if logically and optically unrealistic. -- PL

Blast from the Past #365: Leonardo pin-up

Here's another pin-up drawing of Leonardo I drew back in 1987.

I am not sure why, but I really like the pose in this one. -- PL

Blast from the Past #272: Leonardo with sword raised

Here's another pin-up, executed in ink with a real brush, from back in 1987. -- PL

Blast from the Past #252: Leonardo pin-up drawing

From back in 1987, here's another pin-up drawing I did of Leonardo... inked with an actual brush. -- PL

Blast from the Past #246: Leonardo pinup drawing

Here's another pinup drawing from back in 1987 -- the year all the craziness started. One thing that's curious about this drawing is that I didn't draw the ends of both of Leo's swords, something I rarely did. I think it was probably down to poor planning on my part and the size of the paper I was drawing on. -- PL

Blast from the Past #186: Leonardo pinup

Here's one of my TMNT pinup drawings from the early days, in this case a Leonardo from 1985.



It's interesting to compare these to later drawings, to see how my style of drawing the guys changed over the years. And not just the style... you can see by the fact that Leo has one broad diagonal strap across his chest -- instead of the two narrower ones we later settled on -- that some of the costume details were still in flux. -- PL

Blast from the Past #175: Leonardo fighting the Shredder

I did this pinup drawing back in 1986, and probably sold it at a show. Fortunately, I made a copy of it before it disappeared.

It's not bad, but I think either the Shredder it a bit too small or Leo is a big too big. -- PL

Blast from the Past #90 repost: roughs for Leonardo and Usagi story "The Crossing"

Going through some old files a few years ago, I found this interesting artifact -- eight sheets of what looked like scratch paper clipped together, with my loosely-scrawled rough layouts and dialogue for my Usagi Yojimbo and Leonardo crossover short. It's been a while since I last read the finished piece, but I think it pretty closely followed these roughs.









According to the folks at the very cool Usagi Yojimbo fan site (http://www.usagiyojimbo.com/), the issue of UY with this story is still available from Fantagraphics.

One thing I'd like to mention relates to a comment I read somewhere -- an UY fan was miffed that, in this story, I had Usagi behaving in an arrogant, obnoxiously aggressive manner... something the real Usagi would not do. That is true -- but what Usagi is doing in this little tale is using himself as the basis for an object lesson, a kind of parable to help the youngster understand concepts of honor and respect. To help get the message across, Usagi shades the truth and makes himself look less honorable than he really is. Looked at this way, it's very doubtful the Leonardo/Usagi meeting ever happened quite like this. (But it's still a fun story!)

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Well, that's it -- I've finished reposting all of the old "Blast from the Past" posts I had originally put up on the "Planet Racers" website. It was fun doing it, as it allowed me to see your thoughts on those items. Going forward, "BftP" will now feature only new old stuff (and maybe a few new new things as well)! -- PL

Blast from the Past #87 repost: Leo fights a monster

(Note: I have this sneaking suspicion I may have already used this piece in one of my palblog posts, so if I have, please excuse my somewhat imperfect memory. -- PL)



Here's one of my TMNT pinups from 1987, featuring Leo battling a creepy monster. I'm pretty sure I started drawing this for fun at a convention and finished it later. -- PL

Blast from the Past #65 repost: Leonardo and Frostbyte

This is a penciled piece I did back in 1992. It's signed by me "To Sam" -- I'm not sure who Sam is. I think this may be the only drawing I've ever done which pairs one of the Turtles with a character from a Funatix! property, in this case Frostbyte™, the leader of the Barbearians™.



(In case you don't know, Funatix! was a toy concept and design group made up of most of the Mirage dudes: me, Mike Dooney, Jim Lawson, Steve Murphy, Eric Talbot, Dan Berger, and for a while Steve Lavigne and Craig Farley. Ken Mitchroney was also one of the founding Funatix! members, but problems due to geography -- Ken lived in Florida at the time -- led to his leaving the group early on. We worked on a bunch of different concepts, but Barbearians™ was one of the first and the most fun.) -- PL

Frostbyte™ and Barbearians™ ™ and © 2009 Funatix! Inc.

Blast from the Past #142: Leonardo fighting Triceraton

This is a pinup sketch drawn by me in 1987. -- PL

Blast from the Past #54 repost: "Space Leonardo" pencils

I can't remember exactly why I drew these two view of Leonardo in a space suit.



It might have been as a possible toy design for Playmates, or as a sketch study for the cover I did for one of the Palladium Books TMNT role-playing games which showed all four Turtles in space. Whatever the reason, I kinda like it! -- PL

Blast from the Past #122: Leonardo with one sword

This is another pinup drawing I did, back in 1986. I like the inking of it.



Curiously, I drew Leonardo here without his usual accoutrements of dual scabbards, chest straps, and belt... not sure why. Maybe I was just feeling lazy. -- PL

Blast from the Past #112: Leonardo pinup

Here's another pinup drawing, done by me in 1987. I like the pose and the exaggerated foreshortening of the sword in this one. -- PL

Blast from the Past #37 repost: Leonardo's new costume

Here's another proposed costume redesign for the never-produced fourth live action movie.



The “rising sun” bandana on Leo in this version actually comes from a much earlier costume redesign session, when we were toying around with changing the costumes for the Turtles in the comic books. I kind of dig the “utility belt” Leo has in this drawing. I believe Leo’s new mutation was the ability to morph his skin into a kind of nearly impenetrable chrome-like surface (shades of Ben Boxer from Jack Kirby’s “Kamandi” comics!). -- PL