I did my best to complete @sariphantom's 2025 RiseTober Challenge (see the prompts under the cut!) last October, and while I couldn't bring myself to complete the list due to a variety of reasons, I'm quite happy with a lot of the sketches I got out of this challenge! I particularly had a lot of fun with the crossover pieces!
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I won't lie, ending up the challenge with putting a clown wig on froggy!Leo felt like a great ending to the challenge for me, ending it on a funny note while I was doing all I could to not get crushed under life and the looming creative burnout.
Sorry those are completely out of season and that I shoved all of them in one post... I couldn't bring myself to do separate posts for each sketch.
Also please ignore that I completely forgot to add the day & prompt for day 19 (pumpkin). It's like that too on my other accounts.
For those a little confused, here's a BRIEF SUMMARY of what you should remember from the previous arc!
I can't tell you how happy I am to jump back into the shorter format! It's so nice to not have to draw a ton of special effects and characters in every panel! Don't get me wrong I love how epic those scenes can feel but hoo-boy it takes so long.
Took a bit of time to myself to finally sketch out my vision for Frida based off Andy Suriano’s Farewell. More design thoughts under the cut.
I know some were wary of her appearing too feminine, but honestly I enjoyed the challenge of finding a way to feminize the base turtle model and stay true to Andy’s wonderful design. I don’t want her to just look like her brothers in a show that embraces their differences.
The biggest thing I added to her design was an exposed heart. My own little twist inspired by a real life issue some turtles deal with as well as a fitting ode to the artist she is named after, Frida Kahlo, who would often drew herself with her heart floating outside of her body. (And yes I made the creative decision to keep her heart at her center as with many turtles.)
This deformity occurred during her mutation where the sudden growth spurt tore open a hole at the seam of her plastron. She has survived as long as she has because of Big Mama who uses mystic wards to keep her heart physically safe and emotionally numb. If you look closely to her plastron in the show it’s not actually a natural body part but rather seems to be an attachment of her trench coat. Likely a false cover to hide her obvious weak spot (or at least that is my head canon!)
I love the idea of her and Donnie having something they can relate to and I’m sure he’ll be happy to design chest armor for her down the line once she’s free of Big Mama. Maybe someday I’ll figure out her full Mad Dogs outfit, but for now this is just her base and bandana.
As each of the boys embodies a shape, I found it all too fitting to have Frida’s be a heart. It’s honestly a cool shape that uses both rounded forms and sharp points, which I think would encapsulate her character well. Prickly on the surface but a softy deep down. I tried to find less typical ways of feminizing her. Sharpening her beak and digits while retaining the style of feminine eyes present in most of the female cast but matching it more closely to the unsettling shape of the eyes on her assistant’s mask.
Her markings are a color flip of Mikey’s, where as his are yellow spots with orange outlines hers are orange with yellow outlines. Coupled with her yellow eyes to match Donnie and Raph, it gives her this fiery vibe that I think still sets her far apart from Mikey.
The mask was honestly the hardest part. I love that it further accentuates her heart motif and made her more expressive, but just giving her the obvious bow and calling it a day did not sit well with me. I decided to try more of a high ponytail look, but I think it still needs some work. I’m pretty sure I like her with yellow though, both as a nod to Jennika and the idea of April giving her something of her own to help form the bond between the two.
Would love to flesh her out further but back to my usual stuff first.
Oops... sorry for the delay, I really liked the idea. I just left it a bit unfinished.
Personally I don't think Pomni would dress this way, she's too tough for skirts MUJAUJA... but if a role deserves it... the toothy guy won't take long to put one on her.
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