Hamato Leonardo - Blog Posts

The dynamic in Rise between the rest of the team and Leo is. so fucking funny. Because like you've got these three extremely talented individuals who all seem like perfectly reasonable people at first glance, right, but then if you squint hard enough you realize they're actually all batshit insane (affectionate) and the clown boy standing behind them is secretly their common sense.

Clown boy will occasionally put himself and the others in danger to Prove Himself or Prove Someone Wrong (see Minotaur Maze and the movie) but like otherwise... i think people forget Leo's overwhelmingly the voice of reason in most situations?

Raph, Mikey, and Donnie are all incredibly powerful boys with very specific skill sets. They are also, as a direct result of this, the WORST decision-makers on god's green earth lmao. When presented with a problem, Raph will smash, Donnie will blow shit up, and Mikey will razzmatazz. They will all run straight toward death with the same oblivious enthusiasm of a dog about to run straight into a screen door. None of them realize this and all of them think they are Extremely Good At Problem-Solving.

And the guy cursed with the common sense to realize this is literally the LAST person anyone would expect.

When you look closely, the entirety of Rise is actually a chronicle of Leo trying to find new and creative ways to keep this team of superpowered fools alive while simultaneously white-knuckling his Cool Fun Guy persona so the others don't realize he's secretly the Boring Responsible One. Haha, you know what would be Cool and Fun, guys? Not going after the Spine Breaking Bandit lol. Getting home before the sun goes up lol. Evacuating that civilian lol. Not telling the guy dangling me off a roof "you won't, no balls" lol.

The sacred struggle of every iteration of Leonardo is thanklessly wrangling the most trigger-happy siblings in the world, and Rise Leo has not escaped it. He just does an occasional shenanigan to avoid detection and his brothers fall for it every time.

I redraw this for 2 years ago.

So I was working my Leo’s redesign so long but I started over again and I need help with pretty marking for Leo. It’s hard to pick for me. 😭 he’s my favorite turtle.

I noticed some parallels, and decided to spend hours and way more effort than necessary turning them into a drawing! Because of course I did

odd man out is a comedy actually–

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It’s headcanon time! So, this is how I think Raph got the cracks on his shell and plastron…

There are so many good boywithuke songs that fit Leo so well and I want to make some many animatics, but I can't fucking animate and its like raaaagh

Last week I read the fourteenth chapter of Mutant Ninja Midlife Crisis , and my god it was hard. Tears, agony, anger, panic and anxiety, all lumped together, so to speak. And every time I reread this story something moves inside me.

@mutantninjamidlifecrisis , I will never stop thanking you for giving me this.

Every single scene was a constant crescendo, and it brought so many images to mind that I literally didn't know which ones to pay attention to. But then… the Kraang came (God knows I almost had a heart attack too), or worse, Leon had to face the Kraang. Tired, destroyed, alone... who holds himself up only by some strength that still clings to life, like a trapped animal ready to bite and growl even when death is one step away from taking him. It was heartbreaking. It was heartbreaking to watch him relive the worst moments of his past. Cruel. And this bond with Donnie... The scenes are written too well. The sensations it makes me feel are too vivid.

Leon who lets go of an almost animal instinct and even goes so far as to tear Kraang Two's tentacles with his teeth? What are we talking about? And then...the scene that for some reason gave me shivers.

Leon, who doesn't feel tired... or fear... he feels anger. The pure and most toral anger he has towards those who dared to take his brother away from him. His twin. The imagination of the reunion he had constructed. His future.

I imagined it exactly like this. Still with tears in his eyes, a trickle of blood running from his forehead down his entire face, snarling with drool and alien blood. And full of rage.

I'm done.

Maybe I was a little long-winded. But I can't do anything about it. I hope you enjoy, and thanks if you got this far!

I imagine that the rare times Donnie ever hugged his brother, he poured out such a level of emotion that made each one unforgettable.

Plus, yes, I think Leo loves hugs from his twin more than he could ever admit.

So... here we are. Hugs!

Hi, just wanted to throw in some color. Now I can return to my dark lair.

I really like drawing the arms of these turtles!

Donnie and Leo holding a small Tiny Tello (from @somerandomdudelmao ).

Good night.

Here's a little Rock version of Neon Leon.

Well, I have too many things to say. Starting from the most obvious, I'm eternally undecided, and as a consequence I haven't been able to choose among all the versions I've made and therefore I've uploaded (almost) all of them. I hope they are to your liking.

The beckstory is quite trivial: I heard the song below and it grabbed me so much that the hand started sketching on its own, with the only goal of making Leo as cool as possible.

The result is this... I hope I managed to convey the idea of his nature a bit cheeky and impertinent, while Leo sticking his tongue out and winks.

As always hope you enjoy.