#so leos a triangle donnies a rectangle mikeys a circle and raphs a square...

[t1atam3ra]

he's such a loser i love himmm

one design down three to goo!!! im going to nonchalantly yap about my au now

sparkly gem turtle boys.....leo as amethyst...

its pretty much the show's plot with yokai, mutants, and aliens having gems. Mutants are more of a steven situation because of the half-human DNA so they can fuse with people and yokai. Leo struggles with summoning and using his swords and fusing, but gets better at it with more experience. Everything's okay with their villain of the week and after they beat up the Shredder. Until the Kraang comes

In this Au Leo probably did some mystic thingy which signaled the Kraang, making them find earth. Leo is kinda freaking out because of the invasion and now the resistance is formed

After a few years of fighting(the boys would probably be in their early 20s, but i might change that)the resistance finale gets a huge win.

They killed Pink Diamond( aka the fourth Kraang sibling)

Leo thinks everything is finally looking up until the Kraang send a giant beam to Earth, Raph's body is missing, and everyone thinks he's dead. After the Kraang's death beam, people become infected.

Leo takes the title of the leader and focuses on curing corrupted yokai/people of the Kraang. His life has been a repeat of finding the infected and getting Mikey to cure them. Until a Kraang ship comes to Earth...

[reve-ro]

been busy with work and school, but yet ofc i still find time to draw the boys! this time as a human AU!

(btw, i wasnt sure which background color to go with, did i choose the right one?)

a little more info on the deisgns!;

Donnie;

• dreads or die, both for sensory reasons and because thats just very him

• eyes match with his twin (leo) and they both have vitiligo to represent their markings!

• his shell is now just a backpack, both for storage and his extra ams

• eyebrow slit

• utility belt!

• jacket around the waist! personally thats a big sensory comfort for myself, but also in case he every needs an emergency sweater (there wasnt room in the bag)

Leo;

• matching eyes with donnie, vitiligo for markings

• this boy dyes his hair blonde and you cannot convice me otherwise. its also naturally straighter and silkier and his brothers, and he takes great care and pride (ha) of it

• hes the most mixed race!

• red eyeliner!

• ear piercings and black nail polish (hes gay)

• his belt has a medbag

• his shirt has his shell markings!

Mikey;

• he couldnt sit through getting his hair done, so he ties is with a bandana and prayers

• paint everywhere, apron and a digital artist glove!

• his nailpolish is the color of his brothers, as well as a greenish-yellow for April

• his markings are freckles, though they're also on the larger side

Raph;

• he has box braids! this is to keep his hair back and out of the way for fights

• his chest piece is based on his shirt from the turtle tots episode

• scar on eye from the krang, arms wrapped because hes a brawler

• gold eyebrow piercing

• his armour is based on a turtle still, giving him his sharp edges in his frame as well

• he seems the type to peace sign icorre- *ahem*, with a thumb

also, all of their pupils reflect their shape theory! (circle, square, rectangle, and triangle).

now.. should i draw human!leo holding this photo in the prison dimension? (ignoring raphs post-movie scar..)

[chiscribbs]

Here's some more concept art for that turtle knights AU I mentioned a few weeks ago. The AU itself doesn't have an official name yet (working on it), but the plot is going to be basically like...something between Princess Tutu and Shrek?? Kinda??? I'll give more details in an upcoming post, lol. At the moment, just enjoy the designs.

About the images: I did not know much about medieval plate armor going into this, so I had to do quite a bit of research to get a better idea of how I wanted them to look (and also to prevent their designs from being too similar to one another). One of the things I was most conscious of when making these was the characters' shape language. The shape language in Rise is - *chef's kiss* - SO good, I've always loved how each of the turtles has a primary shape that's clearly present in multiple elements of their design (i.e. triangles for Leo, squares for Raph, circles for Mikey, and rectangles/cylinders for Donnie). I tried to carry that over into the helmet and armor designs so that they'd be recognizable even in full body armor, hopefully it was successful.

Second image is me trying to work out what I want their helmets to look like, as well as figuring out how they might emote while wearing them. Because obviously, real helmets don't reveal the wearer's facial expressions, but that looks incredibly boring and static, and I want people to be able to tell what the characters are thinking lol. Raph's gave me the hardest time, I'm still not totally sold on his, but the other 3 I'm pretty happy with!

I also updated their weapons of choice: Raph now has a mace/morning star, Mikey has a sling, Donnie is using a war scythe, and Leo's carrying the classic arming sword that medieval knights are often depicted with.

More to come soon - stay tuned!

[clover-the-awesomest]

The thing I really love about their character designs is the use of shape language. Like. You look at Mikey for example, and five seconds later you immediately understand the kind of character he is. Empathetic, kind, sort of naive, young, not as experienced as the others... The way his face and general design is shaped like a circle, like a smooth and edge-less shape, lets you know who he is just from looking at him. And it's the same with the others too! Leo is a triangle, a stubborn, sharp-tongued, strategic bastard who probably got dropped on the head a buncha times as a baby. Donnie is a rectangle, similar to Leo yet having more sides to him and allowing him to stand taller than his twin. (The fact that they look oh so very similar helps this description out a ton) And Raph is a square. Sharp, simple, sturdy, reliable... Again, just from looking at these bozos for a few seconds gives you a pretty good idea of who they are. Admittedly, Mikey's much easier to detect than the others, but if you've seen even just the first episode of this show, it's then pretty simple to piece together everyone else.

This method of animation/art is very simple and yet it's not utilized very often anymore. That's one of the limits of 3D animation that 2D is able to break, and due to the large amount of 3D animation we've seen in the past 2 decades, we haven't seen this technique in animation at all for a while. From what I've seen, Rise and maybe Voltron Legendary Defender are the first times I've seen any form of shape language in animation in the past decade or so. A harsh pill to swallow, but it also just makes you realize how awesome Flying Bark and the original artists for Rise are for being able to utilize such a downplayed aspect in art.

Admittedly, the shape language does get kind of forgotten with the humans, at least from what I've seen so far. I don't blame them tho. When you have such a limited amount of shapes to use and when you basically only have 3 or 4 humans to focus on in the show/movie, it can be pretty easy to forget about shape language. And besides, animating humans with shape language with a style like this could be quite difficult.

Anywhizzle, that's all I really wanted to say, uh. Bye.

A lot of older TMNT fans dislike the ROTTMNT designs for making the brothers barely look like turtles but actually I enjoy them looking mostly humanoid

They resemble the person they were mutated with a lot, they look like new species entirely and they went into drastically different direction with sharp, pointy dynamic lines, rather than huge round blobified shapes the other series were going for

Plus the designs and thought process behind each of them are amazing

Like, I could rant about Donnie’s design quirks for ages

[builtlikeastickofcelery]

quick read

using shape language (?) to establish character dynamics (and sorta prove that donnie is the older twin) just for fun!!

rise has very shape-focused designs for the brothers, so it’s very easy to apply shape language to each of them. For example, mikey: He is a very round and circular character, from his markings to his weapon (in season one especially) to the literal shape of his head compared to his brother’s. When it comes to shape language, a circle is a symbol of community, friendship and unity, very similar to what mikey appears to value (at least with his family and separate from dr. delicate touch). Circles can also symbolize power, infinity, and balance, which I think hints at mikey’s future potential in the mystic arts (and also that he’s like freakishly strong for his size). and as a nice extra touch, the hamato clan crest is also very circular! (yes I know it’s supposed to look like a pizza leave me alone I’m having a Time) OH AND circles also serve as symbols of perfection :] This is in contrast to leo, who is very triangular, with his markings, weapon and head shape. Triangles symbolize adrenaline, speed, conflict, and sometimes danger, which is on par with leo’s more reckless tendencies, internal issues and spontaneity (it’s also the strongest shape!) However, all his markings are not perfect triangles and are instead curved, which symbolizes (if you unnecessarily over-read into character design choices) him still valuing community and family. (And yes I know there has to be curved elements in pretty much all art so gentle reminder that you’re the one reading this and I can over-analyze this if I want to). Another note is that all of leo’s markings point slightly down, which in relation to triangles is a sign of imbalance or instability.

And then you have a character like raph, who is very square-like, again with his head shape and (specifically season one) weapons. Raph is also meant to be the oldest and most responsible brother, which lines up perfectly with the shape language in his character design. Squares tend to be used to convey solidity, reliability, familiarity, and strength, which is very accurate to how raph’s character as the eldest child is presented. It’s important to know, however, that the square is not (structurally) the strongest shape, despite the way it looks, which often contrasts with the way raph presents himself as the rock or leader.

Similarly, donnie’s design is almost entirely rectangular, from his weapon, to his head shape, to his markings, to his armor. And because rectangles and squares are very similar shapes, they convey similar themes. Similar, not the same. The more abnormal shape of the rectangle adds a less solid feeling to it, as well as the fact that most of the rectangles in donnie’s design are upright and long, which can often be a sign of instability or (structural) insecurity.  This also applies to 2012 to an extent, since they’re also reasonably stylized, however it’s wayyyy less present, especially in Leo and donnie’s designs since all of them are more round (it’s STILL THERE THOUGH)

ANYWAY donnie is the older twin because he is made of older brother shapes and also we’d know if leo was older because he’d probably say something about it in the show. ANOTHER THING THOUGH because a lot of raph’s design isn’t really square-oriented; you have his head and sort of his silhouette, but if you look at the details, for example his plastron, you’ll find that he’s surprisingly triangular! I think this shows that a) he took on the mantle of responsibility at a young age which permanently shaped him as a person despite that not really being his whole identity, and b) that he is very structurally sound because triangles are the most structurally sound shape.

Sorry if this was incoherent I’m having a hard time drawing rn so take my awful analysis!

[turtlemurtlebooyakasha]

I like math, I like art and I like the symbolism part of english and I like turtles so y'all are gonna hear about it.

Tldr: Why the shapes for the ROTTMNT turtles are way too well done and reflect their characters and dynamics perfectly.

*I will be using some aspects of fanon that are more implied in canon than outright spoken… I think. Just my take.*

So, the rundown of the "shapes = characters" if you're new to it, is that certain shapes reflect characters. Whether in the form of designs (such as the characters' design aspect) or even some level of relating these shapes to personality.

The character designs for the turtles are as follows. Raph is a square, Donnie is a rectangle, Mikey is a circle, and Leo is a triangle. You can see this in the way their characters are modeled and the accents to their outfits (Best example is Donnie's rectangular markings and Mikey's knee pads).

That being said, I wanted to deep dive with the math part. Because nerd.

Raphael

Raph is a square.

Squares, by a mathematical definition, are perfect. The only way for something to be a square, is if it has four exact 90° angles adding up to 360° (more on this later) in the corners and all four sides equal in length.

Being the eldest meant being perfect. But beyond that, it also meant being a strong foundation, as squares are typically the basis for many buildings (and families need somewhere to stand, right?)

He had to help care for his little brothers. He had to be the foundation to support them. Their protector. Their leader. He had to cut his swears with silly lines to be the example and had to shape up his anger so he wouldn't hurt anyone.

He had to be perfect. He had to. It was his job as the eldest. The biggest. The strongest. The leader.

But squares are rigid. With enough time and pressure even the most powerful foundations break. Sure he could have been a diamond but it wasn't the right kind of pressure. It was only turning him into dust, rubbing his lines thin and slanting his angles. Thus leading to the change of command in the group.

Donnatello

Donnie is a rectangle.

Much like squares, four corners of 90° angles adding to 360°, but instead of four sides of equal length, it is just the parallel pairs.

Donnie is rigid. He's stuck in his ways. Perfect lines, perfect corners. If he isn't what the rest of the group needed, what else was there? He's the fixer.

Rectangles are like squares in that respect. They're firm. Sharp. But unlike squares they're more unstable.

Take a skyscraper. Without a foundation, not only would the building most likely collapse into itself, but it would also be knocked over by the tiniest flab of a birds wing.

With a foundation though? With support and guidance he thrives. Always looking for approval so his tower will grow ever higher with a lesser risk of falling. He climbs higher, willing anything he can imagine into existence, and forcibly dragging his brother's along with him. For better of for worse.

He's destructive, and constructive, and everything that makes Donnie: Donnie.

Raph and Donnie are similar in many ways, this being one of them. Straight, sharp, perfect. Square and rectangle. They need to be perfect. They tuck themselves into boxes, shove themselves into a role and fight for their life where they are placed.

It's only when Raph lets himself trust his brothers to protect him, and Donnie lets magic take even a slightest part of his arsenal, that they truly start being their most powerful, most true selves.

(This is why I personally think Donnie is older than Leo. He relates to the big brother mentality more in this explanation.)

Michaelangelo

Mikey is a circle.

Bouncy and bubbly and soft and optimistic. He is a circle.

One of my favorite symbolisms of circles is the concept of being eternal. A circle is a never ending loop, take ouroboros (the snake eating its own tail) or wedding rings for example. They symbolize an eternal struggle or an eternal bond that nothing can end. The perfect symbolism of unity, he's what holds everyone together. Circles have to beginning or ending, they just are.

Like Mikey's enthusiasm.

Like Mikey's power.

Mikey is the most powerful out of his brothers. Circles are practically impossible to break. Under stress, they just roll away. Water off of a duck's back. Nothing can hit him, even when it's truly designed to hurt. He's optimistic and he's powerful and he's boundless.

Circles are made up of 360°. Like squares and like rectangles.

It's why Mikey and Donnie play off each other in the "opposites being besties" sort of way. Emotions and unfeeling, caring and couldn't-care-less.

It's why Raph and Mikey are at odds sometimes, Raph trying to force Mikey to take care of himself while being overbearing and Mikey dodging every attempt.

You would think Mikey would be the odd one out, in this family situation. But no. Enter:

Leonardo

Leo is a triangle.

Triangles are shapes with three sides. They have three angles, and when added together they make 180°.

Half of what his brother's have each. Leo's confidence in himself is a perfect match.

Many math nerds will remember there are many types of triangles.

The four main types are acute, obtuse, isosceles, and right.

Acute and obtuse are two halves of the same coin. Is the "most different" angle in the triangle below 90° (acute) or above (obtuse). Not much I can be poetic about there.

Isosceles is what could be referred to as "perfect". Three sides of 60°, with three equal length sides. But that just doesn't feel right to me, because Leo knows he isn't perfect, and he never will be no matter how hard he tries.

So that leaves us with a right triangle. A triangle with one hard rule, a ninety degree, and then two angles that can bend to the length of the sides. Hard, but flexible.

It's what sets Leo apart. It's why he's the leader.

Squares and rectangles bend, their angles break. And circles aren't found in nature, and if they are they're never perfect. Take a marble sitting under a book, it can barely take any pressure before being shot off like a rocket.

But a triangle? They're the strongest shape in nature.

Take a tent. It protects what's underneath it and keeps the rain away, redirecting it gently.

Take a D4. You step on that, it's not breaking. Your foot might, though. It's sharp. It fights back, it's not going down without a fight and you have to break part of it's core to keep it down.

Take a mountain. Going up, it's hard. But going down you excel. Leo guides his brothers, boosting them towards bettering themselves like sledding children on a cold winter day, and giving enemies as much of an uphill fight as he can to protect those he loves.

Leo being the odd one out in terms of angles also reflects his decision making. Going based off of this there was a post I saw once with a bunch of different gifs of Leo reigning his brothers chaos in a little bit, Leo is a voice of reason when his brothers are being too much. Asking them not to risk themselves being put into danger and being a real leader even in his first ever episode.

Earlier we covered the basics of how Raph, Donnie, and Mikey relate.

360° being the main point I've driven home.

But they relate so much more.

Starting with Raph and Donnie's connection to leo, it's pretty cut and dry. Ever seen the measurement of a TV? It's measured by the long side of a right triangle.

Or, in a different light, the shortcut. If you have an area in a city built of squares and rectangles and right angles, you have to take the long way. Down one street then turn left for right.

Leo's abilities lie in his ability to make shortcuts, find the easiest way to complete a task in the shortest amount of time.

For Mikey it's a little more complicated, and I'm going to jump through some dramatic flaming hoops but stay with me.

Time to introduce my nemesis:

More specifically, this drug trip called:

The Unit Circle.

To sum it up, it's a weird way of using SohCahToa and its' very large, problem-causing family.

You can take any angle for a right triangle in this wonderful little unit called radians, and use that to find where a triangle would lay on a circle.

Leo helps Mikey connect to Raph and Donnie. He stands up for him when they're being overbearing.

He finds ways to help his brothers no matter what, he's a natural born leader.

All we need is for him to realize it too. Then he can grow into the badass he was always meant to be.

(Another reason he's a triangle is because diagonal lines aren't the norm and that man is clearly gay okay now I'm done-)

[2k18leo]

Portal Jacked notes:

- noice, I love boneman. Love seeing more of him

- AN ARTISTÉ

- Omfg his name is Hueso?? That literally means Bone in Spanish 😂 I love it

- Finally a Leo-Centered episode

- Leo’s “Haaaaachi Machi!” Whenever he attempts to “portal” is the funniest thing

- HAHAHAHA whenever Hueso is showing the demonstration of Portal Jacking, all the boys are different shapes as to how their heads are portrayed. I.e: Leo is a triangle, Donnie is a rectangle, Raph is a square, and Mikey is a circle. I love it

- I am a strong believer that Leo has started using so much Spanish because he’s been hanging around Hueso so much

- Leo: *shoves entire ship replica that probably took endless hours to create inside a briefcase that obviously can’t contain it, thus breaking the entire ship model* HELPING✔️

- It’s canon that Todd likes Pizza as he is the favorite customer of the restaurant. What an angel

- Also, Hueso working on his ship replica is a total foreshadow that he used to be a pirate

- OH MY GOD LOOK AT HUESO JR. HUESO IS SUCH A HAPPY BONE POP. LOOK AT THAT FATHER AND SON BOND. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

- I love the chemistry that Leo and Hueso have on screen. They’re so funny

- I also really enjoy learning about Hueso’s backstory

- Awww Leo said “Hard as Nails!”

- Okay when Leo has glossy eyes as he has Hueso pinned down, is that showing that Leo was almost in tears? Did he almost start crying out of fear that his only hope to find his brothers after a mistake he caused just ditched him ? Poor bby lemme give you a hug

- I mean, Leo is pretty correct when he admits that he’s the faceman of the group. Leo is on a LOT of ROTTMNT merch. Because I mean, he’s the pretty one (dont @ me, you know he’s beautiful) even if he isn’t the leader anymore. But he is well aware that he needs the rest of his team to actually be a team

- HAHAHA HUESO SAVING LEO WITH HIS OWN FUCKIN LEG AND THEN FALLING OVER HAS ME IN TEARS

- He’s so sure about getting Raph and Mikey back but with Donnie he’s like “🤷🏽‍♀️I guess” 😂😂

- This dumb bitch with two eye patches I LOVE HIM

- “i tHiNk I KnOW wHaT i’M dOInG” *slams into pole*

- This whole ventriloquist act had me WHEEZING

- Leo saying “but remember, you’re the straight man” is definitely going to get people more on board with saying Leo is gay 😂 I can see the posts now

- Pffft and of course Piel means Skin

- Ew. He’s literally JUST skin. That’s actually so disgusting 😂

- He’s the captain AND the flag

- Hueso is definitely the little brother

- These animators have WAY too much fun with this show

- HUESO JUST WENT ALL IRON SPIDER ON PIEL BUT WITH HIS RIB CAGE. THATS CRAZY AS HELL

- Can someone please make edits of Leo with blacked out eyes now? I’m a bitch for dark Leo 😂

- I love how determined Leo is to get his brothers back

- Donnie’s goggles going through his hat is the best thing

- Fuckin Donnie and his sarcasm 😂😂😂 I cant

- HAHAHAHA I JUST REALIZED THAT HUESO HAS BEEN CALLING LEO PEPINO AND THAT MEANS CUCUMBER. IM DECEASED

- Okay overall, I loved this Leo-centered episode. I’m so glad Hueso was with him because I adore that character, and their chemistry is just the best 😂 So please, more Leo-centered episodes, Nick. I love them