Blast from the Past #703: Sketchbook page 48, another look at the proposed "Fifth Turtle"

This is the last page in the sketchbook, and the drawing on it is very likely my last attempt to come up with a design for the proposed "Fifth Turtle".

I kind of like this drawing, but in all honesty, I'm glad this movie never got made. -- PL

Blast from the Past #702: Sketchbook page 47, some additional ideas for the proposed "Fifth Turtle"

Here, on the penultimate page of the sketchbook, I penciled a few more ideas wherein I tried to find a viable look for the proposed "Fifth Turtle".

I don't think I met with much success here. -- PL

Blast from the Past #701: Sketchbook page 46, even more ideas for the proposed "fifth Turtle"

What the heck am I doing, posting another page of this stuff on Christmas morning? I should be relaxing with a cup of tea, staring at our Christmas tree or something.

Oh, well...

Here on page 46 of the sketchbook, I drew some more concepts for the look of the proposed "fifth Turtle". There's another "Predator"-inspired one, and a couple of "Alien"-inspired heads.

Weird. -- PL

Blast from the Past #700: Sketchbook page 45, more ideas for the proposed "Fifth Turtle"

What "Predator" infuence? :)

Here are a few more doodles from page 45 of the sketchbook wherein I tried to come up with a workable look for the proposed "Fifth Turtle".

Only three more pages to go! -- PL

Blast from the Past #699: Sketchbook page 44, more ideas for "fifth Turtle" design

On page 44 of the sketchbook, I doodled this, trying once again to come up with an interesting look for the proposed "fifth Turtle". Here, he looks a bit too "froggy" in the head and face, I think.

And where did his tail go? -- PL

Blast from the Past #698: Sketchbook page 43, pencil sketch of Spyder?

This one is kind of boring, but in the interest of completeness, I will post it. It looks to me like I was trying once again to work out a viable costume design for the proposed villain "Spyder".

I confess this does not look that viable to me.

You may notice the different orientation of the page here -- apparently, I turned the sketchbook sideways to do this drawing, and I have no idea why. -- PL

Blast from the Past #697: Sketchbook page 43, drawing of Spyder?

This finished drawing on page 42 of the sketchbook is not labeled, but I am reasonably certain that it represents another attempt by me to craft a look for the proposed villain for the never-produced fourth live-action TMNT movie, the incredibly cleverly-named "Spyder" (yes, I am being sarcastic).

I kind of like this drawing... I'm not sure why, exactly. Maybe it is the way I used spot blacks in it. -- PL

Blast from the Past #696: Sketchbook page 41, another sketch of proposed "fifth Turtle:

Here on page 41 of the sketchbook, I tried again to come up with an interesting look for the proposed "fifth Turtle", this time incorporating a utility belt kind of thing, and a new type of weapon -- a chain with two weighted ends. I think there is a traditional martial arts weapon that looks like this, but I cannot recall at the moment what the name of that weapon is. -- PL

Blast from the Past #695: Sketchbook page 40, idea for fifth Turtle

Here on page 40 of the sketchbook is a drawing which depicts another version of the proposed "fifth Turtle", this one musclebound in what seems to me to be done in a somewhat deliberately humorous fashion. -- PL

Blast from the Past #694: Sketchbook page 39, Ideas for fifth Turtle?

On page 39 of the sketchbook, I drew these rough sketches of what I think are some ideas for a slightly different facial look for the proposed "fifth Turtle"... including what appears to be either a tattoo or some kind of face paint in one image.

I also noticed on this page that I drew the "fifth Turtle" with three fingers and a thumb, as opposed to the classic TMNT look of TWO fingers and a thumb. And looking back at the previous page, I see that I did the same thing with this more finished drawing of the "fifth Turtle". I didn't notice that when I posted it yesterday. -- PL

Blast from the Past #693: Sketchbook page 38, design for "Kirby, the 5th Turtle"

Here on page 38 of the sketchbook we have my attempt at a design for the character of "Kirby", who was supposed to be a "fifth Turtle" in the proposed -- but never made -- fourth live-action TMNT movie. This drawing appears to have been inked by me with one or two markers.

It's very odd for me to see Turtles without their kneepads -- they look so, well... naked, with their knees hanging out in the breeze.

I have to also say that this one makes me cringe just a little bit. Some of the details of the period in which this drawing was made are lost to faulty memory, but I do seem to remember a number of heated discussions about the studio's desire to have another Turtle in this fourth live-action movie, and that desire colliding with my feeling (as I have stated a number of times before) that just adding more Turtles is a creatively bankrupt idea. It's easy, it's lazy, and -- generally speaking -- it's stupid.

As I recall, the only way I could agree to go in this direction--  and not puke -- was to imagine that this "fifth Turtle" was NOT just another turtle that happened to be in the bowl with our original four Turtles and then somehow gotten lost (but conveniently mutated and trained and equipped in similar fashion) -- an idea distressingly common and popular among some of the movie and TV and toy people we'd dealt with over the years -- but instead a Turtle from another dimension in some ways parallel to the dimension of our original Turtles.

Truth be told, I never really liked the idea, but I was prepared to accept it if it meant we could do another movie. As it happened, that deal fell apart, and that fourth live-action movie never happened.

I'm kind of glad it never did. -- PL

Blast from the Past #692: Sketchbook page 37, another "Spyder design?

I'm pretty sure this drawing, which follows the last one, is also another try by me at coming up with a design for the villain named "Spyder" in the proposed fourth live-action TMNT film. -- PL

Blast from the Past #691: Sketchbook page 36, design for "Spyder"?

I did not make any notes on this thirty-sixth page of the sketchbook to indicate what or who the subject of this drawing is supposed to be, but I am pretty sure this was my attempt to create a visual for the character of "Spyder", who -- if memory serves -- was to be the main villain in the proposed fourth live-action movie. -- PL

Blast from the Past #690: Sketchbook page 35, design for dimensional doorway machine

Here, on page 35 of the sketchbook, I "got my Kirby on" (as Ken Mitchroney used to say) and on November 8, 1994 drew what I described in the handwritten note on this page as a "Possible design for the machine which creates the dimensional doorway (for movie #4)".

I don't remember all of the details of the story or stories for the proposed fourth live-action movie we discussed back then, but I do seem to recall that this was one way we were considering introducing a new Turtle character. -- PL

Blast from the Past #689: Sketchbook page 34, notes on ideas for proposed TMNT comic

On page 34 of the sketchbook, I had jotted down some notes on ideas for the TMNT comic that Kevin and I planned to do together. It's interesting to me how some of these ended up (in one form or another) in my TMNT Volume 4 series. 

I've typed out the notes below so as to make them easier to read. -- PL 

10/20/94

-- virus brought by aliens to Earth -- or that aliens take from Earth back to the stars? some kind of mutant AIDS virus

-- maybe AIDS was originally an alien disease

-- would aliens want to settle on Earth? Maybe do home-swap with some humans

-- Fugitoid comes back with TCRI's -- he's their spokesperson/being?

Something happens during these three (?) issues that results in his body being destroyed

Our Earth First And Last (OEFAL): radical reactionary group opposed to aliens and the idea that Earth is not supreme

-- when we first see the guys in this series, they already have their new costumes (except that Don has no visor and Raph doesn't have the "skull" chest plate 

this looks this way when he morphs

-- should we set this story 3 years in the future?

--  April has taken on the mantle of Nobody (the original has died?), and is married to Casey Jones, and is one month pregnant (though she has told no one yet).

Where are the transmats going to be located? What will they be like?

Maybe the Utroms bring one ship, land it, build one transmat, and use that one to beam in all the stuff needed to build the other ones.

-- have the city be five times as paranoid as usual when the aliens announce their presence -- people with guns and telescopes on rooftops watching for aliens

Blast from the Past #688: Sketchbook page 33, non-TMNT-related creature

This drawing on page 33 of the sktetchbook has nothing to do with Turtles -- I suspect I started it during a meeting when I was bored or tired of drawing Turtle stuff. 

I don't know if I had a purpose in mind for this critter, but I think I like the way it looks. -- PL

Blast from the Past #687: Sketchbook page 32, Donatello in action pose

This drawing on page 32 of the sketchbook was done in photo-blue pencil, and some of the lines were so light I couldn't see them until I tweaked it in Photoshop.

This appears to be an image of Donatello in an action pose, wearing some of his new gear. I kind of wish I'd finished this one... I like the pose. -- PL

Blast from the Past #686: Sketchbook page 31, another drawing of Splinter in new mutation form

On page 31 of the sketchbook, I did another loose drawing of Splinter in his were-rat new mutation mode, this time from a slightly different angle to try to work out how he would look from the side and back. Again, this photo-blue pencil drawing had to be tweaked in Photoshop to show up better.

Some of you might be wondering why I used this hard-to-reproduce photo-blue pencil on so many of these sketches. Well, my main reason was that unlike traditional black or grey pencil leads (really, graphite), the photo-blue pencils tend to smudge a lot less easily. Also, because -- by their very nature -- the lines drawn with a photo-blue pencil typically don't show up when a drawing is photographed for reproduction, you can be a lot looser and messier with your sketching and not have to worry so much about the stray lines being reproduced after you've inked a piece. -- PL

Blast from the Past #685: Sketchbook page 30, Splinter in new mutation form

Here on page 30 of the sketchbook, I drew Splinter in a pose showing off some of the aspects of his new "were-rat" mutation. I kind of like this pose.

As with some of the sketches on previous pages, this one was drawn in photo-blue pencil and needed some Photoshop tweaking to show up more clearly, so please excuse the occasional odd artifact of that process. -- PL

Blast from the Past #684: Sketchbook page 29, female Nobody

Likely pursuant to the note I wrote on page 14 of this sketchbook, here on page 29 is this loose, unfinished sketch of a female version of "Nobody", the costumed crime fighter first introduced in the pages of the first volume of the "Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" comics way back when.

I had started inking this one, again with a brush, but apparently got bored with it or got called away with other, more urgent duties. -- PL

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 #682: Sketchbook page 26, close-up of Raphael in new mutation mode

Here on page 26 of the sketchbook is a study of Raphael in his new mutation mode, with claws extended. This one was inked with a brush. -- PL

Blast from the Past #681: Sketchbook page 25, new-look Foot ninja

Here on page 25 of the sketchbook is another drawing of the "new look" Foot ninja in various actions poses, displaying traditional and non-traditional weapons. 

This piece was not inked with a brush, but with some kind of markers. -- PL

Blast from the Past #680: Sketchbook page 24, Raphael fighting Foot ninja

From page 24 of the sketchbook, here's a more elaborate drawing, fully inked with a brush, depicting Raphael -- in new mutation mode -- engaging some new-look Foot ninja in a bloody battle. 

I like this one. -- PL

P.S. I just noticed an interesting detail -- the skull-like sculpting of Raph's plastron.

Blast from the Past #679: Sketchbook page 23, ideas for Foot ninja

On page 23 of the sketchbook, I was playing around with another look at the Foot ninja -- this drawing incorporates elements of the "scary face" masks shown in previous sketches, as well as some new weapons. The notes I made on this page read:

"Ice bullet guns

The assassin's choice:

No ballistic evidence!

Need to wear heavy gloves - cold protection"

I think I was inspired by some crime show I saw in years past which posited the possibility of making a bullet out of frozen water -- ice -- so that when someone is shot by it, the bullet eventually melts, thus preventing any ballistics evidence from being collected. I'm not sure if it would work, technically -- could a bullet made of ice survive the stresses of being fired out of a gun? -- but it's an intriguing idea, nonetheless, and I thought it might be appropriately stealthy for ninja assassins like the Foot. -- PL

Blast from the Past #678: Sketchbook page 22, penciled sketch of new costume ideas for Nobody

On page 22 of the sketchbook, I did a little penciling on an idea for some new gear for the character of Nobody, adding some utility belt-type stuff and weapons, as well as what looks like some flexible body armor in key spots. -- PL

Blast from the Past #677: Sketchbook page 21, inked drawing of new ideas for Raphael

On page 21 of the sketchbook, I did this more finished piece showing some ideas for Raphael's new look, including a chain belt and thigh-strap holders for his sai, as well as some physical manifestations of his new mutation.

For some reason, when I look at this drawing I feel a deja vu, like I've already posted it, a couple of years ago. But I can't remember for sure. -- PL

Help Stan Sakai!

I was just made aware, via a comment posted today in my recent "Ask PL #11" blog entry, that CAPS, the Cartoon Art Professional Society, has started a fund-raising effort, though direct donations of money and donations of original artwork which will be auctioned, to try to help out Stan Sakai and his wife Sharon with the many expenses they have incurred recently as they have struggled with Sharon's health issues.

For more information, go to this link:

http://garageartstudio.blogspot.com/2013/11/help-stan-sakai.html

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 #674: Sketchbook page 18, Raphael leaping

This loose drawing from page 18 of the sketchbook gives me pause. I'm pretty sure I drew it, but it also has the flavor of a Kevin Eastman sketch, especially in the pose. Perhaps that day I was inspired by something Kevin drew in his sketchbook...?

In any event, this is another attempt at a new look for Raphael, focusing on his gear. Notice the said strapped to his leg, the hooded cloak, and the curious look to the kneepads. -- PL

Blast from the Past #673: Sketchbook pages 16 and 17, ideas for Donatello

On pages 16 and 17 of the sketchbook, I was working out some ideas for a new look for Donatello, including some more pockets and pouches for his various bits of tech gear, as well as headgear which presumably  would incorporate some vision-enhancing gizmos.

Sorry about the quality of the page with the blue pencil sketches -- I tried to tweak them in Photoshop as I'd done with other pages previously, but for some reason I couldn't get a clean selection of the blue pencil areas, possibly because the photo was a bit blurry. And I don't know what that yellow-brown arc is in the middle of the page -- it certainly isn't part of the drawing. It almost has the look of the residue that  might be left if part of a rubber band had been squished between the pages and left there for a long time. Who knows? -- PL

Ask PL #12

Unless I am overlooking something (always a possibility), it looks like it's been about a year since the last time I did one of these, so I thought it might be good to do another one. I'm well over the cold I was suffering from when I posted the last "Ask PL" in January, but, as in the introduction to that entry, I request that you don't ask me about the IDW TMNT comic book series (I'm not reading it) or the Nickolodeon TMNT show (I've only watched the first two episodes, and although I have just bought the entire season on DVD, I have yet to watch them) or the upcoming movie (I know nothing about it that hasn't been released to the public... which isn't much, I guess).

Got any questions? I might have answers. -- 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 #670: Sketchbook page 13, Foot ninja design

Here on page 13 of the sketchbook, I was playing around with yet another variation of the basic Foot soldier design. This one has some more body armor and tech bits, though I don't recall what, specifically, these pieces were intended to do.

 Like the previous page, this one was drawn in photoblue pencil, making it difficult to see the lines. So I worked with it a bit in Photoshop to darken it up. What looks like spatter in the lower left hand corner is actually just an artifact of the photography and the Photoshop manipulation -- I think it was originally a slight shadow on the page. -- PL

Blast from the Past #669: Sketchbook page 12, Foot stealth corps

 This unfinished drawing on page twelve of the sketchbook is labeled at the top "Foot Stealth Corps"... which, upon reflection, seems a bit redundant -- I mean, as ninja, aren't the Foot supposed to be stealthy?

In any event, this appears to be an attempt on my part to think up a new look for some of the Foot clan's soldiers. I only partially inked this one, the remainder being in photo-blue pencil... which I had to mess with in Photoshop to get it to show up a little better, hence the rough look of some of those penciled lines. -- PL

Blast from the Past #668: Sketchbook page 11, Raphael posing on gargoyle

     Here's another partly-finished drawing from page 11 of the sketchbook, this time of Raphael standing atop a sculpted gargoyle on the corner of a tall building.

     I'm not sure why I drew this one, as there is nothing abut it which speaks of new mutations. Perhaps it was just something fun. I do like the pose and gesture. -- PL

Blast from the Past #667: Sketchbook page 10, loosely-penciled downward-leaping Leonardo with claws

On the tenth page of the sketchbook, I drew -- or maybe I should say "started to draw" -- this dramatic shot of Leonardo leaping downward, one hand grasping a sword and the other displaying his new pop-out claws.

I kind of wish I'd finished this one -- I like the feel of it. But I probably felt too lazy at the time... I mean, I'd have had to draw all those windows and other building details, in extreme perspective no less! -- PL

Blast from the Past #666: Sketchbook page 9, penciled group shot of new-look Turtles

This sketch from page 9 of the sketchbook shows all four Turtles displaying their new mutations...

... except, apparently, for Michelangelo. I'm not sure why I didn't draw him any differently. -- PL

Blast from the Past #665: Sketchbook page 8, leaping Leo with claws out

     The drawing on this eighth page of the sketchbook interests me, because I rarely draw in this sort of "chiaroscuro" manner. I admire people like Bernie Wrightson and Mike Mignola who can really pull it off. I think I got about eighty percent there with this one.

     I suspect this drawing was done to at least in part demonstrate how Leonardo's retractable/extendible claws would look in action... or maybe I was just having fun. -- PL

Blast from the Past #664: Sketchbook page 7, Raphael in "Tuff Skin" morphmode

Here on page 7 of the sketchbook, I drew Raphael using the morphing power from his new mutation to change the texture and density of his skin. It looks like I used some kind of marker to ink this one.

Sharp-eyed readers will probably recognize the similarity here with the way the skin of the Thing from "The Fantastic Four" looks. He was always one of my favorite comic characters, especially the way Jack Kirby drew him (and, in my opinion, no one since Kirby has really drawn him as well, or as convincingly).

However, as I recall, this rendering was just a test to see what might work with this new idea, and if we'd gone forward with it, we'd have figured out a style which did not so closely ape that of the Thing look.

Or at least tried to. -- PL

Blast from the Past #663: Sketchbook page 6, inked drawing of new Foot soldier

     This next page of the sketchbook features an almost-finished drawing of one of the proposed new design Foot ninjas, wielding a non-traditional weapon -- some kind of massive hammer.

     Looking closely at this drawing, I can tell that this was inked by me back when I was still inking with a brush dipped in a bottle of ink -- something I rarely do anymore, having been seduced by the convenience and ease of use of brush marker pens. -- PL

Blast from the Past #662: SKetchbook page 5, more ideas for Foot soldiers

     Following in the vein of the previous page of this sketchbook, page five has some more conceptual sketches for possible new looks for the ninjas of the Foot clan.

     Apparently, I was thinking of leaning more towards a less traditional ninja type of garb, with some tech stuff and integrated body armor panels.

     And judging from the doodle at the top of the page, I was considering giving the basic Foot mask a scarier appearance... loosely inspired, I think, by the look of Jack Kirby's "parademons" in his "Fourth World" comics ("New Gods", "Forever People", "Mister Miracle") for DC back in the 1970's. -- PL

Blast from the Past #661: Sketchbook page 4, ideas for Foot soldiers

Here's the fourth page of the sketchbook, which features some loosely-penciled sketches of ideas for the soldiers of the Foot ninja clan.

I wrote:

"Every new Foot soldier has a third eye ("the Eye of Karai") which is a video transceiver device that constantly relays data back to Karai's central processing computer."

Apparently, I was thinking that a tech upgrade to the Foot would be appropriate… something that, in a different way, eventually came to pass in the 2003 4Kids TMNT animated series.

Further down the page, I wrote:

"Flying Foot soldier"

… next to a small doodle of a Foot ninja with some kind of pop-out winglets at arm, waist, and calf. I don't recall going any further with this idea, but I kind of like it. From the way it is drawn, I suspect I intended them to be gliders rather than powered flyers. -- PL

Blast from the Past #660: Sketchbook page 3, ideas for hulking mutated Splinter "were-rat"

On this third page from the sketchbook, I drew this rendering of how Splinter might appear in his "morphed" form. Here's a transcription of what I wrote on this page:

"Splinter could have the (limited) ability to morph into a huge were-rat

Perhaps he can't do this too much or too often, because it takes a lot out of him.

Whipping action tail!"

I wonder how this would have worked out if we'd actually gone forward with it? 

I find it a little amusing that I provided Spinter with some modesty-preserving torn shorts in this drawing, much like the Incredible Hulk and his purple pants. -- PL