How To Draw TMNT 2012 Part 2 - The Plastron And Bridge

How to draw TMNT 2012 Part 2 - The Plastron and Bridge

Turtle shells are comprised of three main components:

The carapace - the part of the shell on a turtle's back

The plastron - the part of the shell that is on the turtle's front

The bridge - the part on the side that connects the carapace and plastron together

How To Draw TMNT 2012 Part 2 - The Plastron And Bridge

Today, we will be focusing on the plastron and bridge of the shell

Note: Many parts of this tutorial will be referencing the vertebral, costal, and marginal scutes of the carapace. To learn more about them see part 1 of the tutorial series

#1 The Plastron

IMPORTANT!!: The shape and details of the plastron vary between Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey. If you are going for a show-accurate art style, then way you'd draw the plastron for one of the brothers won't be the same you would for another. However, due to Tumblr's image limit, today we will just be drawing a generic plastron for any turtle. I will be making a separate post dedicated to the shell differences between the four brothers in the future

Now, then, we'll discuss the plastron. Typically, the plastron on real-life turtles is comprised of many scutes and bones; however, the plastrons in tmnt 2012 are much more simplified. After some observation, it's been determined that it'll be easier to break down the tmnt 2012 plastron into three skeletal components + an outline. So, let's begin

The bones of the plastron we will be focusing on are the hyoplastron, hypoplastron, and xiphiplastron. We will be working top to bottom

[the hyoplastron is labeled as "Hyo", hypoplastron"Hypo", and xiphiplastron "xip"]

The Outline:

To begin, let's draw the outline of the plastron. First, draw two lines at a slight diagonal angle in the shape of a wide ∧. Next, draw a V where the two lines meet in the middle. Afterwards, erase the part of the lines that are above the V

When we take a look at the plastron, we can see that the top of it is skinner than the bottom. Therefore, when drawing the sides of the plastron we will be drawing at a slight diagonal angle outwards. Keep in mind, these lines are not completely straight. They are rounded and extend outwards before slightly coming back inwards at the bottom

To finish, draw two diagonal lines drawing near the center with a small horizonal line in the middle to connect them. The outline of your plastron is now completed

The Hyoplastron:

The hyoplastron are the bones closest to the top of the plastron, as well as the smallest

To draw this, draw a horizontal line near the upper-middle part of the plastron, leaving plenty of room for the hypoplastron and xiphiplastron. For guidance, remember that the line you're drawing should be aligned with the shell crack on the marginal scute shown below

The Hypoplastron and Xiphiplastron:

The hypoplastron are the bones in the middle of the plastron, the xiphiplastron are the bones at the bottom

When drawing these, remember that the hypoplastron are the 2nd largest bones out of the three while the xiphiplastron are the largest.

Draw a horizonal line a little below the mid-point of the plastron. For guidance, remember that the line you're drawing should be aligned with the shell crack on the marginal scute shown below

Finishing Touches:

To finish this off, draw a vertical line down the center of the plastron to separate it in half

Next, we're going to add some cracks in the plastron where the sections of it meet together. If you look closely, the sections are not actually touching each other at the very ends. Rather, they diverge and leave small > and < shapes, similar to the cracks on the marginal scutes of the carapace

Occasionally, we find scratches as well as small cracks in between the connecting lines of the sections and on the outskirts of the plastron. As there's not a specific turtle we're focusing on today, feel free to place these extra little details wherever you like

Finally, and this is optional, we're going to add some definition by thickening the lines separating the sections. This will add depth and emphasize how the plastron is made up of several parts put together. The lines don't need to be perfect as imperfections are normal

#2 The Bridge

The bridge is the bone that connects the plastron to the carapace. So, how do we draw it?

Outline:

To begin, let's draw the top and bottom of the bridge

The top of the bridge is the armhole for the turtles. To draw it, make a line in the shape of the U connecting the plastron and carapace together. The line should start from the bottom of the upper costal scute of the carapace and connect to the upper part of the hyoplastron of the plastron

The lowest dip in the U should be around level with the crack in the closest marginal scute and the crease separating the hyoplastron and hypoplastron

The bottom of the bridge is going to be where the turtles stick their legs out. To draw it, make a line in the shape of a ⌒ connecting the plastron and carapace together. The line should start from the first crack of the lower vertebral scute and connect to the lower part of the xiphiplastron where the plastron goes inwards towards the center

Cracks and Definition:

Now, we're going to add in the cracks and definition

First, we're going to add two new lines to our bridge. Near the top we're going to add a line in the shape of a V, and near the bottom a line in the shape of a ∧. These show how the bridge is being pushed outwards due to the arms and legs and adds a 3D effect

Now, let's add the cracks. If you look at the arm and leg holes, it splits off into three pieces. To draw the cracks, we're going to place two Vs close to the plastron on the top and bottom of the bridge

As a tip, the cracks in the center of the bridge should line up with the tip of the V and ∧ lines you made in the last step

After adding the cracks, erase the part of the outline inside of the cracks to create the gaps

Extra Details:

Ever notice those brown markings on the bridge? While it's not exactly clear what they're meant to be, my best guess would be that they're inframarginal scutes (scutes that are on the bridge)

Now, If we take a look at the model, it looks like there's only two of them

However, if we take a look under the belt there's three of these scutes. You just can't see the one at the bottom due to the belt being in the way

So, how do we draw these?

First, draw a straight, vertical line near the carapace of the shell. This line is going to ensure all the scutes are the same length. Keep in mind, the inframarginal scutes take up about 3/4 of the bridge in width

It's also important to note that the scutes should be placed very close to the bottom of the bridge, leaving some extra room at the top

Next, we're going to add the scutes following the pattern shown in the diagram left to the shell

To draw the top scute, draw with a diagonal line going downwards-right for the top. For the bottom, draw a straight, horizontal line

The middle scute should be a normal rectangle

And finally, to draw the bottom scute make a horizontal, straight line for the top and a diagonal line going upwards-right for the bottom

Erase the unneeded parts of the original vertical line you drew

And that's it. You now have a bridge to connect the plastron to the carapace. With everything put together you should get something that looks like this

I hope you guys enjoyed today's tutorial, they're fun to make

Part 1 | Part 3 | Tutorial Masterpost

More Posts from Drakosha54 and Others

drakosha54

1 year ago

(aug. 20th, 2022)

my full work for @ springmxtxzine ! this weird little family. look at them bonding and having what is definitely fun :D

446 notes View Post

drakosha54

11 months ago

Okokokokok- Ignore How Rough And Messy Some Of These Redraws/sketches Are - But It's Apparently Also

Okokokokok- ignore how rough and messy some of these redraws/sketches are - but it's apparently also dinosaur month?? (WHY did no one ever tell me it's Jurassic June? I love dinosaurs) And like. What if Rise but dinosaurs?!

I don't often post such loose sketches but I wanted to show these off cause I really like some of this.

Design choices and dino species + the reasons I picked them bellow (looking for potential Donnie dino suggestions):

Clothes: Without the shell they really need clothes. They'd all have pretty much the same pants to keep some unity, except maybe Mikey (I decided they should all have the same pants after I finished the Mikey sketches, not sure if I'll keep the shorts or change to pants). Accessories are a mix of pre and post finale.

Raph - I think would keep it simple and practical but would also wear nice jackets and stuff when in casual situations. I need to work on giving him an alternative outfit and tweak his accessories a bit.

Donnie - An oversized pull-over hoodie cause we already know he loves that shit. We see him wearing it all the time. Easy enough. He wears a comfortable singlet underneath so the straps of his battle sail don't rub. Nice soft fabric, tight fit so it doesn't move around, tucks it into his pants, etc. When he wears the battle sail he won't overheat so he can wear hoodies basically all year round.

Leo - He's in one of those shirts with obnoxiously large arm holes and make it cropped cause 1. I think he would 2. I want it to be different from Raph and Donnie's singlets. He usually wears the shoulder strap off his shoulder but pulls it up when he needs to. He has some of the black bandages over his mid drift atm but I might just make his pants super high waisted in the final version. He'd probably wear a bomber jacket (also cropped?) over the top for cool weather, but doesn't like to hide his feathers.

Mikey - I think he'd mostly wear hand me downs when he's younger. He definitely goes through a stage of rebelling and wanting to pick his own and would find a middle ground of appreciating sharing some of his brother's clothes and modifying them, as long as he has the choice of his own available. Not sure if that would be before or after this design. At the moment he's got Raph's old shorts (from a loooong time ago), Leo's old shirt, and Donnie's old zip up hoodie. He does have his own accessories though, including pins instead of stickers.

Dinosaurs: I kept them all as non-avian dinosaurs, AKA not including animals that are colloquially considered dinos but aren't (like pterosaurs). I wanted to keep an even split of herbivore vs carnivore just so one wasn't the odd one out. I wanted to keep most of their body structure, colours and distinguishing features the same as canon. Obviously I added tails cause, yeah, of course haha. I did want them to be recognisable as different species of dino using distinct characteristics that their species is known for. I did ignore a lot of differences though, like size and bipedal vs quadruped (although the quadrupeds might be more likely to go to all fours, especially when fighting or afraid). Leo and Donnie are carnivores so have sharper teeth and claws.

Raph - Some kind of Ceratopsian (likely Triceratops or something very similar) and he was the first idea I had for this and I'm really happy with it. I think it just suits him. Trike Raph just came to me in an unprecedented moment of genius. His spikey frill replicates his spikey shell. His sturdiness, protectiveness and willingness to kick ass when needed, all scream trike to me.

Donnie - Spinosaurus but looking for other species recommendations. More details below: So I wanted to figure out a way for him to have tech with a similar function to his battle shell (in the sense that it's something that helped him in day to day life) and so I went with spino cause one possible theory about a function of spinosaurus' sail is temperature regulation. So his battle sail has heating/cooling systems as well as other tech. A spino's sail was probably not fragile but the battle sail would also help protect it from being targeted during fights or crushed during extreme impacts. It was also thought to be used for display, and what's more of a display than a battle sail? The only problem I have with this is that it's lacking part of what makes Donnie's battle shell so great, which is that it is essentially a prosthetic. Not quite the same as how prosthetics are used in people of course, just in the sense that it is replicating the functionality of a body part that he doesn't have (I can't think of a better word). Well he does have a shell but it doesn't function in the same way that his brothers shells do, which leaves him with less defense than they have, hence a big reason for the battle shell (I hope I explained this well, it was hard to try and word properly). I can't think of a good way to do this with dinos. I was thinking of a carno or something with tiny arms, then Donnie could have tech enhanced arms but I'm pretty much ignoring body structure in the others so it would be weird to have just Donnie be affected by a difference in limb structure/functionality. I was thinking prosthetic tail but every non avian dinosaur had a pretty substantial tail. Except therizinosaurus but even they hade pretty obvious tails. I'm open to suggestions for this one if anyone has ideas. It does have to be an extinct non-avian dinosaur (anything not in Avialae), preferably carnivore but if someone suggests a really good herbivore or omnivore then I can try and swap Mikey for a carnivore. I want there to be an even split. I also wanted to give him something different on his face, like his brothers, and that could only be a little spino crest and it crowds the top of his head but I can't put it anywhere else...

Leo - A type of Dromaeosaur. I was tossing up between this and a dilophosaur where his red stripes were part of the dilo's crest, cause I wasn't sure about giving him feathers. But dilo Leo was so plain compared to the rest and the crests were hard to get looking right so I went back to raptor Leo. I can definitely imagine him literally and metaphorically preening his feathers too. You can't really see it but he does also have that big raptor claw. Raptors were smart, tactical and worked in packs so I think that suits him. I wasn't specifically referencing how some artists draw Leo's stripes coming off his face (I was just trying to replicate his stripes somehow, even though it doesn't make a huge amount of sense) but I realised afterwards that it kinda looks like that and might have been subconsciously inspired by it.

Mikey - Is an Ankylosaur. I'm pretty happy with the species but I need to work out the design of his armour plating so that it looks interesting, cool and protective but isn't too chunky, too pointy or super lumpy looking. I went with an anky cause Mikey is often hiding in his shell and he can't do the same here but he could curl up in a defensive ball. Plus I could imagine him using his tail club in his razzmatazz fighting style. A little like his kusari-fundo or nunchacku/nunchucks (not sure on proper wording).

629 notes View Post

drakosha54

11 months ago

April Loved Mythical Critters And Legends And Mysteries. She Was Not Expecting To Meet Any Of Them In

April loved mythical critters and legends and mysteries. She was not expecting to meet any of them in person, but she’s not complaining! These are ACTUAL dragons! Or, well, two dragons and two little serpents. And they’re funny and nice and just fun to be around, not to mention absolutely adorable! She’s not missing out on that opportunity.

Splinter tries to stay away, but this little girl is very persistent. She finds them almost every time they come out.

… Doesn’t help that the boys usually try to go find her, too, lmao.

703 notes View Post

drakosha54

11 months ago