.brood.
Alright. This picture was intended to express the anger/shock/disappointment/etc... that I felt when I found out that they've officially canceled the new TMNT movie. The promise of a fully-CG, John Woo-directed Turtle flick was something I was greatly anticipating. I was sure my green brothers were going to finally reclaim their place in the spotlight. The glory days were at hand. But alas it was not to be... But on a positive note, Konami (who was responsible for the previous Turtles arcade and console games) has re-obtained the TMNT license and is working on new games for the franchise. So all is not lost. ^_^

Anyway, the idea for this picture hit me mid-page during a reading assignment for school, and the homework (and, subsequently, my supper) were put on hold so the picture could have top priority. I was afraid if I set it aside I would be unable to continue it with the same fervor. Basically, I just wanted to show how the turtles would be affected by the emotions I mentioned above. By coloring the bands red (the color which has been worn by all of the turtles and is, I feel, the most mature-looking color for them to wear) and by removing the letter from the belt (an idea which I always thought felt a bit cheesy), I wanted this picture to be able to represent any of the turtles... Although in my heart I've always known I was drawing Raphael. The skull on the belt just goes along with my vision of older, grittier, more-mature turtles I feel they would be now, which I also tried to convey through the long, torn headband strips and numerous scars from countless battles. Perhaps I should clarify: I've never wanted the Ninja Turtles to become too dark to the point of becoming cynical and depressing, but I just can't see them still being quite the carefree, pizza-scarfing, slang-tossing, young kids they used to be. So my vision for them lies somewhere in between. Oh, and since I've been asked by those who have seen me working on this picture, the two handguns are included as a tribute to John Woo.

Lastly, I just wanted to say that I finally decided to stop slacking off in the coloring department. I've been spitting out half-baked coloring jobs lately just to get pictures done, and for this one I wanted something more. So I went back to the selection-based coloring method that I first used for my "Abigail" picture (and neglected to use since.) I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. And I'm going to shut up now because it was just pointed out to me that this is a pretty long text blurb for just a little picture. (Thanks, Spo) So just look at the picture now.