Gary Sawyer (Black and White Rendering)
Image Information: Gary Sawyer. His look is based upon Nobuhiro Watsuki's Seta Soujiro from Rurouni Kenshin- a sad character that hid his own emotions away by constantly smiling. Seta was also perhaps the best swordsman in the series, and that's a large claim for that particular series.
Gary Sawyer uses his nonchalant smirk to hide away his contempt and disappointment with humanity. Ten years after the disbanding of his team, his bitterness hasn't faded and he remains reluctant to become directly involved in most human affairs around him. In order to cast attention away from himself as much as possible, he always dresses in understated clothes, such as his plain blue sweater and pants. However, he always has his mountain climbing goggles present out of habit- strange for a resident of Texas.
Without his old Iceman equipment, he still retains superhuman agility, speed, and strength, but his control over the cold is greatly diminished. Unable to launch his Ice Slasher projectiles, he can only freeze things he directly touches, and even then only for a short while. It's fitting, however, as he believes his days as a warrior are long past, thanks to the public's outcries. He has become as cold a character as his old name implies.
Please note that the "cold weather" outfit shown above is not his Iceman gear. It's simply an old coat, snow pants, and pair of gloves he bought second-hand "just in case". Despite his control over super-chilled water vapor and molecules, he still has to worry about the extreme cold he generates damaging his outer skin-like layers.
Gary Sawyer Original Sketch
Image Information: This is the original sketch page for Iceman's current incarnation. It still bears some of my old Ariga influence before I started using my former "bold and clean" style. Still, the basic design stuck around for finalization.
Note that this design is mostly utilitarian, meaning everything on him serves a purpose other than looking like he has a bunch of useless gear strapped on. He still wears the familiar Iceman hood with fur trim, but his face is hidden behind a full mask. The googles are in the same basic shape of the Inafune cartoony Iceman's eyes in an attempt to suggest familiarity, and his facemask has a set of three holes that suggest the old "O" mouth.
On his chest, you'll find a knife. It may be fancy, but it's primarily used as a tool rather than a weapon. Across from that you'll find a small retangular device with some holes. This is the communications device, housing an outgoing camera lens, two tiny speaker holes, and a halogen worklight. Around his waist is a utility belt which he can clip assorted "pockets" on depending on the mission, as well as a harness for mountain scaling.
On his back is a hypercondenser. This is what amplifies his built in condensation powers and enables him to launch ice at will and do all sorts of trickery. So long as there's some sort of moisture in the air, Iceman can draw it out with this device and cool things off in a heartbeat. It is in the shape of a flattened hemisphere to avoid an ackward landing should he fall, be thrown, etc.
He wears a one piece jumpsuit with a custom camouflage pattern composed of navy blue, frost blue and white stripes. The objective of this camo is not to blend in, but rather be easily identified to those in need of rescue. Sneaking is not one of Iceman's strong points, but his usual missions never really called for much to begin with. He mostly worked high altitude search and rescue, along with inclimate weather situations and the rare assault mission.
A pair of white boots and gloves finish off the uniform.
Gary Sawyer Finalized Color Designs
Image Information: Finalized Iceman designs. From left to right, pre/post combat Iceman (2032), field operations gear (2032), and civilian garb (2042).
As you can see, I changed my art style some and went for a more realistic method. Iceman appears to be less "stubby" now, and a bit darker. Please note he is not saluting someone- he's brushing that damned fur trim out of his view.
His pre/post combat outfit is little more than his field operations uniform minus some gear. The hood comes down, the mask comes off, and he usually kept his googles around his neck or on his forehead out of habit. His gloves and boots are also missing, but he wears the tabi-like foot covering that are always worn beneath his boots. He also goes without his knee and elbow pads as well.
First Sketchs for Erik (Gutsman)
Image Information: First sketches for Gutsman. Vastly different from Inafune or Ariga's concepts. I started using the "draw the human form first and then draw on the uniform over that" method here. The concept stayed largely untouched prior to my finalization of the design. His jaw, forearm armors, knee and elbow plates, and belt were really the only things that changed from here until finalization.
Like the other S6 members, Gutsman's face is completely encased in armor. A face-length mask is the first layer, with that massve jaw acting as further protection. On his ears are large, rectangular devices that filter incoming sound and recieve in coming radio signals. His helmet bears an ougoing camera lense, and two small speaker ports on either side of the lense.
His chest armor straps on over his body suit, as does his bicep and thigh plates. In his chest is a halogen worklight. His shoulders are potected by massive, solid LCT plates designed to push away rubble and anything else Gutsman is currently plowing through. On his back, an optional hardcase can be worn, which houses standard Tetsu Roku survival gear and supplies, as well as 4 extra ammo clips for his forearm mounted guns.
Speaking of which, the guns encased in his arms are 24mm fully auto machine guns. At the bottom of the first concept sketch is the final design for his forearms, which took away some of the shape of the original concept and added the wrap around ammo clips that fit around his upper forearm. Each clip holds 30 rounds, and two are held on per arm, totalling 120 rounds. Gutsman usually conserved these rounds and rarely, if ever, needed to change clips during combat- he preferred the "hands on" approach when dealing with tough opponents.
Note that the metal tips on his gauntlets have toothed groves for added grip. A necessity when tossing Buicks around town.
Another Pre-Finalized Concept Pic for Erik (Gutsman)
Image Information: Another pre-finalized concept pic. This was the first appearance of the final jaw design, as well as the elbow and knee pads I would later go with. I also got a kick out of how I realized it looks alot like an infamous Bigfoot picture in the way Guts is posed. Made me laugh, anyways.
Final Gutsman Designs
Image Information: Final Gutsman designs, non-colored. From right to left, pre/post combat Gutsman (2032), combat operations gear (2032), and civilian attire (2042).
Very little changed from concept to finish with Gutsman. His civilian atire was thought up quite some time ago, and his pre/post op. gear came naturally. His pre/post attire is simple- the same pants he wears "in the field", a tanktop, and the tabi-type boots worn beneath his heavy metal combat boots. The most striking difference between his 2032 and 2042 appearance is the lack of hair on the former, as well as the menacing, pissed off look on his face compared to the humble-looking civilian Erik Mauser. Obviously, this is meant to suggest a drastic change of character in a decade's time.
Final Gutsman, colored design
Image Information: Final Gutsman, colored.
I cheated. I scanned in the above drawing and edited out the background drawings. The reason? I couldn't decide what color scheme to go with, so I did a few. Needless to say, this was the only one that didn't turn out butt ugly. At least I hope.
First thing I said was "get that damned yellow out of the picture", in reference to Inafune/Ariga's designs. I just didn't want a bright color like yellow interferring with such a brutal design. In fact, he's pretty much mono tone, save for the muddy, brick red and passive blue lenses.
His camo pattern, like Iceman's, isn't meant for blending in- the last guy capable of covert action was the 7-foot-tall Gutsman with his near 1000 lbs of gear stomping around. However, since he primarily ran around cities, I decided to give him an urban-type camo composed of various grays.
The bottom line was simple- he had to look badass and scary. I think I pulled it off pretty nicely.
Pulsar
Image Information: I just don't know if he looks very beetle-like. He's got the big horn and wings, but I think he ended up looking like some Ultraman extra.
I didn't spend a whole lot of time on this thing, though the pencil shading will tell you otherwise. It's basically there to give you a general idea of what this thing looks like. I may add to it later and perhaps even color it.
Obviously, one of the pics is there to show you what he looks like post-big-ass-bomb in the story. He looses the horn and the jaws, as well as alot of superficial armor plating. He pretty much turns into a skeletal version of himself at this point.
He also lacks real hands, with only three spikes jutting out of his stubs acting as his fingers. Who needs fingers when you have a death ray, anyways? He's not King Kong, and he's not going to climb the Empire State Building with his trophy wife in tow.
That's all I got...For now. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep updating with more art as more characters are introduced, but who knows? That's the plan, anyways.
Rich: Here is the Artwork for the Story
