The Cybermen started out as a medical solution, then they upgraded to the point of which they are nowadays just robots with brains. They have been around almost as long as Doctor Who has been running and are one of the most iconic villains in the British Sci-Fi. So it's about time they got the Droey Drawson treatment!
Above you can see my design, hopefully you approve of it! You're probably wondering why I didn't just pick a Cyberman and draw it instead of creating an entirely new design, and that's because I take advantage of the fact the Cybermen are always changing. Not only could I alter the design to suit the style, but I could take the elements I liked best and combine them to create a completely new design. So now I'll point out what elements come from which Cybermen, for those who haven't worked it out.
We start with the original Cybermen as they appeared in 'The Tenth Planet', not to be confused with the altered designs used in 'World Enough And Time'. To be fair, this design is so distinctive it should get it's own drawing and maybe I'll do that one day, I love how creepy the design is, the suggestion that there is still visible parts of a human being trapped by the machine taking over (an illusion sadly spoilt by the second version of this design seen in World Enough And Time). From this design I took the giant lamp on the top of the head, but embedded it into the headpiece rather than placing it on top.
Next up we have the Tomb Cybermen, this being the earliest Cyberman episode I have watched. These simpler designs have a few elements brought into my design. The face is inspired by these designs (though I have removed the borders to simplify the design), I only wish they still had such a blank expression as these. I also took the wiring that comes down their limbs, most visible on the hips and the left arm in my drawing. Perhaps the most obvious element I took was the hands, these Cybermen have only two fingers and a thumb, which while maybe not as 'upgrading' as having four fingers, I love the look and went with it.
While I had the designs from Revenge of the Cybermen in mind, I ended up using the helmets from Invasion of the Cybermen instead, which I modified to fit the lamps from The Tenth Planet. The wide and smooth handlebars are what set this helmet apart from those used in Revenge of the Cybermen.
The only other classic Doctor Who episode featuring Cybermen I have watched is 'Silver Nemesis', but those designs were slightly altered version of the Cybermen that appeared throughout the eighties, originating from 'Earthshock'. I love the 80's designs for the Cybermen, very intimidating and they happen to have voice modulators that make them sound like Mr. Blobby! All I took from this design was the chest plate and the idea of the piping connecting from the chest plate to the thighs. I'll also point it out now since this is the last classic design, my Cybermen design bears the sort of overall get up that all Cybermen up to this point would be seen wearing.
The last design to have any influence on my Cyberman is not the designs produced by Cybus Industries that we are all familiar with. These are the Twelfth Cyber Legion's Cybermen, though the only difference in design is the replacement of the Cybus logo for just a circular disc. This disc is used on top of the chest plate from the Earthshock Cybermen. The only other element from these modern Cybermen that I used is the armour from the knees down, to prevent my design looking top heavy. These were the Cybermen I originally intended to draw, before I decided I would rather create my own design combining elements from Cybermen throughout history.
So there's my explanation and analysis of the 'Drawson Cybermen', why not give a try at designing some Cybermen yourself, or a different Doctor Who monster? Being a character designer means you get to redesign pre-existing characters as well as create original ones, in fact it's probably a good way to start designing characters!
We start with the original Cybermen as they appeared in 'The Tenth Planet', not to be confused with the altered designs used in 'World Enough And Time'. To be fair, this design is so distinctive it should get it's own drawing and maybe I'll do that one day, I love how creepy the design is, the suggestion that there is still visible parts of a human being trapped by the machine taking over (an illusion sadly spoilt by the second version of this design seen in World Enough And Time). From this design I took the giant lamp on the top of the head, but embedded it into the headpiece rather than placing it on top.
Next up we have the Tomb Cybermen, this being the earliest Cyberman episode I have watched. These simpler designs have a few elements brought into my design. The face is inspired by these designs (though I have removed the borders to simplify the design), I only wish they still had such a blank expression as these. I also took the wiring that comes down their limbs, most visible on the hips and the left arm in my drawing. Perhaps the most obvious element I took was the hands, these Cybermen have only two fingers and a thumb, which while maybe not as 'upgrading' as having four fingers, I love the look and went with it.
While I had the designs from Revenge of the Cybermen in mind, I ended up using the helmets from Invasion of the Cybermen instead, which I modified to fit the lamps from The Tenth Planet. The wide and smooth handlebars are what set this helmet apart from those used in Revenge of the Cybermen.
The only other classic Doctor Who episode featuring Cybermen I have watched is 'Silver Nemesis', but those designs were slightly altered version of the Cybermen that appeared throughout the eighties, originating from 'Earthshock'. I love the 80's designs for the Cybermen, very intimidating and they happen to have voice modulators that make them sound like Mr. Blobby! All I took from this design was the chest plate and the idea of the piping connecting from the chest plate to the thighs. I'll also point it out now since this is the last classic design, my Cybermen design bears the sort of overall get up that all Cybermen up to this point would be seen wearing.
The last design to have any influence on my Cyberman is not the designs produced by Cybus Industries that we are all familiar with. These are the Twelfth Cyber Legion's Cybermen, though the only difference in design is the replacement of the Cybus logo for just a circular disc. This disc is used on top of the chest plate from the Earthshock Cybermen. The only other element from these modern Cybermen that I used is the armour from the knees down, to prevent my design looking top heavy. These were the Cybermen I originally intended to draw, before I decided I would rather create my own design combining elements from Cybermen throughout history.
So there's my explanation and analysis of the 'Drawson Cybermen', why not give a try at designing some Cybermen yourself, or a different Doctor Who monster? Being a character designer means you get to redesign pre-existing characters as well as create original ones, in fact it's probably a good way to start designing characters!
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