I have a confession to make. I’m exactly three years too old to have played with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys. I am able to pinpoint the time gap because my younger brother, Loki, was the exact right age to play with them. His collection was mighty. Even though I was way too mature, I occasionally deigned to join in on the action figure battle royales. Sometimes I even played with him. After all, what are big brothers for.
Leonardo, Captain of the turtle team, was always my favorite. I’m not sure if it was his serious demeanor or his katana sword that won me over. Even though I was always more a fan of the comic than the cartoon (what kid wouldn’t pick gritty violence over silliness and pizza???) I went with the blue mask here. Y’see, originally all the turtles’ masks were red. No, I’m not embarrassed that I know that. Seeing as he’s all ninja-y, I used some fantastic traditional Japanese paper for the shell. I don’t play with patterns all that much, so I’m very happy with how it turned out.
Coincidentally, the monthly topic over at the El Gran Frikiton blog is TMNT. Go figure.
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August 22, 2007 at 11:13 am
zari
your style is so original!
August 22, 2007 at 11:43 am
Alina
AWESOME style!!
Alina
August 22, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Nicole
Very interesting!
August 22, 2007 at 3:20 pm
neilornstein
beautiful work
August 22, 2007 at 8:00 pm
froggie
fantastic, patrick! the peekout layers work soooo well! :))
August 22, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Irwing
You are very skillful with using textures. Congratulations for your work.
August 22, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Andrew Thornton
I always look forward to your pieces. Another winner, indeed! For someone who doesn’t “play” with pattern much, you’ve used it masterfully. Nicely done.
August 22, 2007 at 8:43 pm
Mike
Outstanding work…excellent.
August 22, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Digital Scott
Quite beautiful! I love the composition. Very strong.
August 23, 2007 at 5:49 am
patrick
Thanks everyone (and welcome to Papercuts to the first-timers!). Mind you, when I say “play”, I’m not minimizing fun experimentation. I think play is an important part of art. An important part of everything, really. Keeps life fresh and interesting.
On a side note, the original plan was to have the wood pattern show through the shell pattern. It wasn’t really working, so that’s when the Japanese paper entered the picture.
August 23, 2007 at 7:12 am
Paul Bommer
your work is inspiring patrick
and absolutely unique
will definitely check back
August 23, 2007 at 12:34 pm
fossfor
wow! this is very impressive, great work!
August 23, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Sarah
This is amazing. The textures work so well and I love the sense of bulk and solidity the layers give to the whole image. If you’re willing to share I’d love to know a bit about your process - also the size of the work?
And thanks for visiting my blog.
August 26, 2007 at 6:27 am
Kim
This is so awesomely cool! Do you ever sell these or prints of it? Or the canvases and buttons?
August 27, 2007 at 8:16 pm
onesickindividual
that is one sick piece. diggin the detail.
August 28, 2007 at 11:21 am
Maarit
My little brother was into TMNT too. He’s eight years younger than me, so I was way too old for them, but I do remember playing a TMNT computer game a couple of times!
The pattern works well, I think, and I like the way the composition makes the piece look almost abstract in a way. Nice!
August 29, 2007 at 3:00 am
michael
that is crazy!! i love the turtles, and that style is v v nice - all your stuf is original and creative. i really like your piece on christopher walken hehe genius!
September 4, 2007 at 11:16 am
Alexiev gandman
That good work collage… me guta much… Greetings from Buenos Aires… and very good works…
http://www.alexiev.com.ar
Alexiev Store
September 20, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Manuela
WOW
wow I like his skin
September 20, 2007 at 8:01 pm
eli edmundson
Hell, I used to play the old TMNT role playing game, I was a walrus, damnit! The original comics were definitely the best. Love the movement in this one!