Wacky Reference Wednesdays, No. 439

Wacky Reference Wednesdays, No. 439

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

TMNT #4 (variant cover). 2024.
Gouache & watercolor on illustration board, 11 × 17″.

This is probably one of my all-time favorites. You just can't go wrong with the Turtles. The cover was built around the concept of the turtle shell pizza oven — I had the idea, made a really quick sketch, got it approved, and went to work bringing the team to life. I've known these guys since I was 4 and they never seem to go out of style. What's more, they're the ones responsible for getting me into comics.

Lots of internet ref 😅

Some covers don't require any custom-made reference... no elaborate lighting set-ups, no funny poses for anatomy... just a ton of details that need to be perfect. This style's a little easier too. It's not ultra-realistic rendering, which I find more appealing these days (at least for my own work).

digital color study

As usual, this was penciled and colored in Photoshop and printed onto thick illustration board using my Epson P400 (now P900). I have a template that turns the line art to a subdued sepia tone, and lightens the darkest values. Each piece is different, though, and I'll often manually lighten areas that I don't want to show through the paint. I was going for a brighter feel, so I knew certain areas would get fairly light applications of watercolor and gouache, especially in the background.

digital pencils in Photoshop

The "roughs" phase is usually my favorite — it's where I've already got a solid idea, I just need to execute it. Even so, there's a lot of experimentation. I try out poses, expressions, props, and compositions, adding new layers every time I see a new opportunity (colored-coded with Layer Styles) . I even plan where my signature goes.

digital roughs with perspective grid

At some point, though, I have to stop. I had wanted to add a Mouser mixing bowl! But 60 hours was about all I could dedicate. Fortunately, one more gag came to me during the roughs phase. Originally, Raph was going to be in the foreground, but once I saw that everyone could have their "weapons" of choice, including April, everything fell into place.

digital layout

Total: 61.5 hours

layout: 2

col: 0.5

roughs: 8

pencils: 19

paint: 31

digital edits: 1

detail of raw scan

⊡ 6:00:00 AM