A Mixed Bag - Tumblr Posts

MichelAngelo from @greatlyblessed Swapverse

(aka Swap!Mikey, aka Evil Mikey, aka DJ Pain)

Full page of my desing for him!

I've been studying character design for a while, and the ones I struggle with the most are the villains.

Because, plain and simple, I don't understand what characteristics create that prejudice in the public, that they see them and instantly say "okay, that's the bad guy".

So I thought: I need less pressure, make drawing fun again!... Let's practice with our favorite franchise! The ninja turtles.

And that's where I found A Mixed Bag and the Swap Turtles

"The Alignment-Swap Universe (or, Swapverse) is an original turtle 'verse in which pretty much all character's alignment is swapped. So the TMNT of this universe are evil, whereas Shredder and Krang are good guys out to stop them from menacing the citizens of New York."

I just LOVE Mikey's characterization in this universe. He is so unintimidating and so dangerous.

Mikey was my first choice because, truth be told, I was intrigued by the kind of villain he is. The kid is an entity of chaos trapped in the body of a turtle, I don't know what the hell he's capable of and that terrifies me to no end but he's so charismatic. I just love every dialogue of him.

And the appearance of someone like that was a challenge…

Shit, fuck, damn… I love a good challenge

I took Halloween pumpkins, Harley Quinn's classic look and put them in a blender with a teenage skater whose brain plays music 24/7. AND BAM! Swap Mikey's look.

Some details:

The forked tongue is in honor of the Dark Turtles from 2003, the first evil turtles I met, Mikey's counterpart had this long chameleon tongue and I wanted to give something similar to my boy.

The stop sign and danger tape are to represent hes nature as the team's "wild card" and along with the triangles throughout the design express danger.

The few circles are to give an illusion of tenderness and softness. Yk, because he's the heart

(What else?)

He has a pendant that was going to be two M's but in the end I reduced it to just one

The smile scar was originally going to be one side only

Those colored balls are actually bombs

He has star stickers

Leonardo from

@greatlyblessed

Swapverse!

(aka Swap!Leo; aka Evil Leo; aka Captain)

This boy has the worst villain name ever and I love it

Full Page!!

Isn't it funny how the only character with a physical description was the most difficult to design?

(...) "The first thing he noticed was the giant, spiked club held in both hands. The second was the mask, red and twisted into a leering grin. An oni. Whoever he was, he was also covered head to toe. A grey hood settled over his face, flowing into a cape. Grey-brown clothes and rags wrapped around every inch of skin. He was taller than Leo— probably taller than Donnie too." (...)

"Tall"... the boy. Is. Tall

MUCHÍSIMAS GRACIAS CHE! I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE WITHOUT THAT EXTREMELY DETAILED DESCRIPTION!

Yeah, no... it wasn't much help.

Honestly, it made my life more complicated, because I made him so tall that he wouldn't fit into the page standing up.

But HEY! finger gun The kid is tall!

Close Up's! :D

(cosa que me olvidé en el anteriordibujo)

I think my problem with Leo's design was that, at first, I didn't understand him. So I had to resort to doing a FULL character study

Most of the information from "Mikey gives a hand" (which is the second story of the Swapverse)

I wanted him to have a classic villain look, because most Leos are classic heroes, but the top hat and the mustache... no, just NO

So I went for the one I like to call ✨Psicópata Carilindo✨

I don't know, the idea of him wearing a mask because he genuinely doesn't think is intimidating enough seemed like an interesting way to play good old classic Leo Insecurity

Inspirations!

Pirates and ballet dancers!

(And obviously Dark Leo from the 2003 series, whose prosthetic eye remains).

There was a design with vertical striped pants (I got the jewelry from this concept)

And another with bandages tied like ballet slippers over more transparent leggings (I kept the length of the leggings, which are now more like stockings, and also the makeup)

My biggest reference for the color palette (and makeup) was this skull keychain of mine

Donatello!

From @greatlyblessed Swapverse!

Full Page :D

So Donnie... I don't have much to say about his design.

I put on Cuarteto de Nos, turned up the volume on my earphone and started drawing

My only thought was:

"Donnie deserves to be the coolest of his brothers, fin"

Soooo~ I gave him tech tattoos, piercings (I tried so many different places for those) and go full mad scientist aesthetic (which is my favorite archetype by the way) and there the Delta design came to life

Close Up's :D

The color of the skin was a bit tricky

Because I was going to use another tone (same green) but in the end I opted for something more gray, so that it would follow the black and white scale.

Anyway! You can see two drawings with the first green-tone!

References :D

I... did not use any references

At least not consciously? (Sometimes I look at him and think how similar he looks to Virgil from Sanders Sides??? But it wasn't on purpose so it doesn't count)

In honor of the Cuarteto, who were my soundtrack throug the whole thing, I added a piece of the lyrics of "Lo malo de ser bueno" (the bad thing about being good)

Which in English would be more or less like this

What a barbarity!

Cheap turns out Expensive

Normal turns out Odd

Could I be the mad one?

I dress slowly when I'm in a hurry

Love being hated

And having the style of a Fail and the grades of a Pass

In english it doesn't rhyme :(

Aaaaand I chose that song instead of Mirada de Nylon because this one has a electronic keyboard and still can't do guitars :(

Heyyy~ I am not feeling good.

Bad day, and insomnia won't let me finish it

But! So I feel better, I'm gonna publish a sketchy preview of (@greatlyblessed ) Swap!Rafa's design. Hope you guys like it <3

Raphael! From @greatlyblessed Swapverse

(aka Rebel, or the worst of the worst villain names known to man omgIlovehisstupidnamesomuchissoedgyIcan't-)

FULL PAGE! >:D

I USED ACRYLICS I LOVE USING ACRYLICS, I LOVE THIS DRAW

*ahem*

I honestly just went with the flow in this one. I had a very vague idea of what I was going for, so I had no choice but to play music

...

And the playlist was like this

IT WASN'T MY FAULT, OKEY!?

MY BRAIN WAS "THIS GIRL IS ON FIREEE" ALL. THE. TIME

I'm so not sorry, people

Close Up's for you

I use my personal recipe to design demon characters (chains, bandages and fire. Put it in a blender with a liter of some alternative fashion. And don't forget love <3)

One more time!

I bet you can't guess who found the first designs of these guys and almost had a heart attack~

It was me, I almost died. GOD This things were a disaster! AND I CAN SAY IT! it was my work, guys, and now I can see it wasn't a very good one.

Rafa's design was to much and Leo's to little. Mikey's design was a bunch of unrelated concepts. I think Donnie's was the only one that worked, but- the colors

So yeah, Redraw Time

I mean- don't get me wrong, I'm proud of my past self and all that- BUT! Since then... I have... gathered new knowledge (rubs my hands maliciously)

So here we are! New looks for @greatlyblessed boys!

Hope you like them ❤️