Random work in progress

Here are two works in progress, rough experiments with my new bamboo tablet. Both are similar theme, Kate kicking ass and taking on much larger opponents.

 Im not a huge fan of the first one, she looks kinda goofy and the pose is just a bit off. And the borg itself is kind of uninspiring. If his right foot were actually off the ground, that would have made it cooler. I guess I can still change that. All hail the undo function and multiple saves. Dunno why I went with that rifle - looks kind of undersized for the big guy. Why would a borg that size have such a human scale rifle? Not nearly intimidating as it could be...

She's stabbing him with some kind of sword. Is that clear? whatever. do over.

Second one is a bit more promising. Better pose, still kinda butch, but quietly dignified. The borg is almost not even there, just a suggestion, but whatever. When in doubt, black it out.  Kate is once again holding her (my) favorite go-to gun, the heavy barreled, long range bulpup anti material rifle, with bipod and suppressor. Although some heavy caliber rifles do use suppressors, such as the 12.7mm VKs / VSSK "Vychlop" special sniper rifle, I would think this is for looks more than anything else.

I envision most practical field rifles in the future having a baffling shroud encasing the length of their barrels, with narrow slitted vent ports that can be closed with a choke valve, thus turning each weapon from a high recoil penetrator to a low recoil, sound dampened assassin's rifle. The suppressor, similarly, should have a choke valve to regulate the degree of gas absorption, and possibly configure the type and angle of any muzzle flare and should also include mechanisms to compensate for heat bleed.

The arrows/bolts sticking out of the dead Borg likely aren't killing blows, just meant to slow him up and line up the kill shot. Why does she stand on the dead body afterwards? I dunno. Why does my cat sit on her toys after mauling them? To assert dominance I would think.

                     

Kate Character sheet sketches

A few sketches of Kate. First, a general shot of her in combat dress. Nothing fancy, just day to day stuff. Included is a rough approximation on what I feel her minimum loadout should be - that is to say the least amount of guns she's likely to have on her person on any given day. This needs to be paired down somewhat, but I find trimming the list difficult. I feel she should be prepared for anything, and enough weapons to engage a wide variety of targets, from unarmored infantry to heavy combat borgs.

Secondly, some rough sketches as an attempt to redesign Kate's webbing harness to make it more streamlined and less visible. This is a task I periodically undertake in an effort to make her attire more realistic while keeping it simple to render. I cant seem to come up with an improved design so I return to the original one. In a perfect world her harness (incl. belt and thigh holsters) would hold all seven of her primary pistols, some spare mags, a knife or 2, her comm dongle (hi tech walkie)  and maybe a few light grenades - while not being too bulky to either wear or draw, and look something like what Brando would have worn in the wild one.

Thirdly a boring shot of her with a rifle, with an awkward stance and an even worse kneeling/shooting pose. slightly different harness config with a cross buckle below the breast instead of above. Also pictured is Kate's custom Israel OCP and her Rooney close support weapon.

Kate reload

Kate the black, in mid mag swap. Seen here using a generic knock off (probably field equipped) of a Wex Mark  7.1 series frontier rifle. (and various misc sidearms.) Taken from D&C sketchbook as example of diagonal layout.

Sharp sketch

Sharp of the Twelve, reclining after engagement. Taken from design and composition sketchbook as an example of L shape design. Pictured here in generic Wex inc. MeHeavy armor and with a custom breechloading 30mm pulse grenade launcher.

1 km west of town

Here is a one shot single page story, a minute or so in the life or Arus of the Twelve. Here he is taking position outside a town and surveying the scene. No dialogue or exposition required, I figure. More on him later.

Kate field strip

This is Kate, another denizen of my world, the city/state of Archban. She is also an infectee of the K virus, and has adopted the role of older sister/mentor to Caillo. Kate and Caillo are the two main protagonists of the story (which exists largely in my head) that I have been creating (and occasionally writing) since the mid nineties.
Kate's profession, if it can be called that, is a wasteland wanderer, vagabond explorer, occasional bounty hunter, and guerrilla freedom fighter. She makes it her mission in life to destroy the entity that is the Wexray corporation, and its political body, the Great Western Empire.

She is seen here tending to the tools of her trade, stripping and cleaning an intermediate caliber assault rifle.