The personalities of turtles

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been a favorite of mine since the 1980s.  Beyond watching the cartoons and movies, I was able to bring them to life in a major theme park during the early 90s.  For this project, I was asked to create a little art for a new Turtle fan's birthday.  The media is acrylic on connected 12" X 12" canvases.

It's all about the eyebrows

I guess it is time to wrap up this series of ferrets.  Even after a season of Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, I'm not sure how I feel about his portrayal.  He's a fine actor and I enjoy a great deal of what he brings to the character, but I think the writers have been turning in scripts intended for someone else, whether someone earlier or someone yet to be cast.  At least Capaldi gets to share the TARDIS with Clara Oswald.

Bow ties are cool

Matt Smith's eleventh Doctor came crashing into our hearts with a redesigned TARDIS, a penchant for bow ties and fezzes, and a craving for fish sticks and custard.  The show itself had some fundamental changes as well, with show runner Russell T. Davies exiting and Stephen Moffat taking lead.  While I favor a lot of the tone of the show during Davies' run, Moffat created some of the strongest female characters in the series' history, including my favorite, Clara Oswald.  Argue amongst yourselves, if you must, but that's my opinion.

My Doctor!

No secret, David Tennant is my favorite Doctor.  Despite my sadness at losing Eccleston after a single season, I was won over by the end of  Tennant's first episode, even though he was unconscious during most of it.  His style was easy to relate to, with skinny pinstripe suits and Converse trainers and that wonderful trenchcoat.  He was charming and funny and just enough danger to make him riveting.  I didn't want him to go.

The return of the Doctor

As a kid, I never really embraced Doctor Who.  The alien costumes and low budget special effects sort of turned me off and the local PBS station aired the episodes out of order.  I remember a little about the Cybermen being frozen (on Mars?), but that's about it.  When the show was revived back in 2005, a friend of mine really pushed to get me to watch.  After seeing the first episode, he didn't have to push anymore.  The special effects had improved, but the costumes were the particular stand-outs.  The second episode was set in the far distant future, aboard a satellite positioned to observe the last moments of the planet Earth's existence.  Among the guests were a group of sentient trees that were absolutely gorgeous examples of prosthetic make up and costumes.
 Anyway, Christopher Eccleston played the Doctor for one extraordinary season.  His strong presence paired with unpredictable humor and an infectious smile easily made the ninth Doctor one of my favorites.  And here he is as a ferret.

Seven, Eight, and War

As I continue with the Galliferret Doctors, I've reached one of my favorite looks, Sylvester McCoy's seventh Doctor.  There's something very nice and dapper about this costume, despite the silly nature of the question mark umbrella and sweater motif.

 Next up is Paul McGann's eighth Doctor, but not necessarily the one people might remember from the television movie that aired in the mid 90's.  This costume is the more weathered one that makes its appearance in the "mini-sode" that appeared before the 50th anniversary special.  With one speech, McGann took his version, one that had been developed as a series of audio adventures, and made it canon.  Faced with the most difficult decision of his life, the Doctor had to become something darker...

...which brings us to John Hurt's War Doctor.  My understanding is that the original concept was to bring Christopher Eccleston (the 9th Doctor) back for the 50th Anniversary episode and have him team with David Tennant and Matt Smith.  Unfortunately, Eccleston's relationship with the franchise has been strained and he turned down the role.  That led to the "revelation" of unknown regenerations.

My eyes!

Colin Baker's performance as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor is generally considered a low point in the character's long history.  Quite against the actor's hopes, the producers cobbled together an outrageously mismatched costume that would make one long for the days of black and white television.  Perhaps the prevailing thought was that if Doctor Who appealed to children, why not make it a children's show?  Baker wore a changing cat pin on his lapel, teddy bear buttons on his vest, and a technicolor dreamcoat that would make Joseph feel invisible.

Cricket, anyone?

Never understood the celery. As portrayed by Peter Davison.

Oh, the scarf. Everybody knows the scarf.

The fourth Doctor was arguably the best known of the entire series.  Portrayed by Tom Baker, the Doctor displayed a goofy grin, an addiction to Jelly Baby candies, and a twelve foot long scarf.