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Malignanttoast β Plague Doctor
Published: 2010-10-09 10:50:50 +0000 UTC; Views: 50046; Favourites: 1110; Downloads: 0
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Description
My friend told me that I should invest more into my secret love affair with steampunk themes. Some of my recent work prodded at science's folleys, so I wanted to balance it out with one of medicine's ballsiest group of doctors.I envisioned a world where the plague didn't simply incapacitate and slowly kill people; it drove them out of their minds, with widespread riots being waged by the fearful masses.
I wanted the unsettling likeness of a plague doctor for that, but something a bit more militant and priestly, in addition to holding to the grungy, clunky technology of the genre with "cure by any means necessary" undertones.
A lot of time was spent on this, and some experimentation was done as well. Normally I don't work with overlaid textures, and I think it gets a bit gridded-out in some places. I want to refine that, because rendering individual threads and woodgrain lines like I did in "Totems" is just overkill.
It's also more realistic than I'd like to work, all things considered. The character's proportions were meant to be distorted, but avoiding that for so many years made the process really uncomfortable.
Also this is a work of visual fiction and is in no way meant to be historically accurate. I'm happy to answer any questions regarding the character and what all is going on with his suit though.
Furthermore, I hate trying to make smoke.
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Comments: 82
That looks amazing. All in all a beautiful artwork, I have a question though. I'm looking for tips on working digitally, (I started out and have grown doing traditional than made the switch.) do you do your sketches traditionally and color digitally? Or do you do the whole thing Digitally? Also do you have any tips for someone starting in digital art? Your work is very well done, so you look like a good person to ask. Also if you don't mind how did you come up for the lettering on his/ her long coat?
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Fun fact, plague doctors irl didn't actually have to have any formal medical training.Β So some plague doctors might not have been doctors at all.
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During the Early and High Middle Ages, yes, some were untrained mooks that were hired by the church. This was because most Christians were distrustful of the independent medical community, believing many of them to either be bumbling fools or pagan heretics. Some medical practices were considered to be a form of alchemy by some Christian sects, and alchemy was in turn considered a form of witchcraft. However, the famous Plague Doctors with the beaked masks (as depicted here) were a product of the Enlightenment Era. The incompetent mooks that played the doctor during the Middle Ages were long gone. Plague Doctors of this era were well trained medical personal, and doctors such as these were very much respected. One of the greatest Plague Doctors was master physician, Charles De Lorme, who is credited with the invention of the Beaked Mask Outfit in 1619 AD. The outfit wasn't just for show. It was an early attempt at a respirator. The mask was stuffed with aromatic elements, separated by layers of specialized filters made of vinegar soaked sponges, and/or charcoal. Charles did this based on the Miasma Theory, which proposes that the Plague was spread via airborne sources. This proved mostly untrue, although the suit still was useful during surgical procedures, as it provided protection from bodily fluids, thanks to the fact it was waxed, double layered, and completely sealed, making it 100% waterproof. The outfit continued use until the 1800s, where it was replaced by the White Coat, becoming a standard garment for medical procedures to this day.
Charles also revolutionized mineral spa treatments, and invented a medical supplement called "Currus Triumphalis Antimonii". This is the earliest successful attempt at "Biomedical Gerontology", which is a medical practice dedicated to extending the human lifespan. Today we do this in the form of Hormone and Stem-Cell Therapy. Charles De Lorme lived to the age of 94, in a time where the average life expectancy was 35 years.
The last thing Charles would permit, is an inexperienced fool donning his invention in the middle of an outbreak, playing doctor.
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Reminds me of how Kelloggβs two actually effective developments were accidents. He stumbled onto cornflakes, of course, providing a revolution in convenient nutrition. More absurdly, his idea of using yogurt enemas for revitalizing βmystical energyβ, while ostensively nonsense on those grounds, DID help people who suffered probiotic deficiency, although it was decades after his death that that was figured out.
Everything else he did was quack crap or worse: MGM: Male Genital Mutilation. He NORMALIZED it into a non religious convention.
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interesting, never knew about all that history.
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Man, this is awesome. I've always thought that plague doctors looked fucking terrifying, and the way you made this looks cool. Great work.
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Do you mind if I rip off your cloths and kick you down a hole.
Because they are awesome and you aren't awesome enough to wear them!
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This is definitely frightening.
The plague doctors were some interesting people.Β They prescribed drinking urine, self flagellation, and prayer.Β Ironically, two out of those three cures only made it worse.Β
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That probably goes back to how many of them may not have had any form of medical training what so ever.Β Because of how widespread the plague was the standards for being a plague doctor were very low.
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Of course given the fact that "medical training" probably consisted of teaching a person to cut off limbs, and most medical practitioners were also priests, "doctors" had really very little if any actual medical expertise.Β Back then, nobody knew that the Plague was caused by bacteria, or that unclean conditions would worsen and spread the disease.
What can you really expect?
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True, plus they seemed to think that potpourri would protect them from the plague as that is what was kept in the "beak" of the outfit.Β It might have worked too, I haven't looked up too much info on if that did work or not.Β If it did I assume it worked similar to a gas mask.
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They also kept Charcoal in the beak.Β That was more to protect from the smell than from the plague.Β Since they believed the Plague was sent by God, and they were priests, I assume they thought they were immune to the plague.
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Too bad we can't just ask them.
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This is a really nice piece.Β Despite it being steam-punk this gives me aΒ Adeptus mechanicus vibe. :3
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Featured 
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For the love of all things beautiful can I please use this as my inspiration for my Halloween costume this year?
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looooooooovvvvveeeee this....omg! Β
Everything is perfect!Β
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This is stunning. It's creative, astonishingly detailed, gothic, and just plain awesome. You are a genius person. Are you aware of that?
I have two questions: are those types of herbal medicine tucked into his belt? And what was the inspiration behind the flip-down cane?
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Yes it's herbal medicine.
As for the cane, I wanted to make some kind of armored apparatus that can work as a walking stick, a suppression/oppression device and a secure means of prodding the ill. I combined the idea of old articulated gauntlets from the height of the plate mail era in Europe with basket hilts.
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Ah, interesting. Thank you!
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Something about the head/eyes makes it look feminine to me. Like it a lot!
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I'm really digging this art ,the textured clothing it's color and how
the suit looks battle ready on medical and physical fronts
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awesome pic dude, i think i will have to see more of this "steampunk".
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this one is one of my favorite, magnificent work.
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I'm looking at this, then I see my plauge doctor mask I've been peicing together for halloween, wanting to make a steampunk plague doctor costume for halloween. I was looking for inspiration for my concept art, instead I find exactly what I was looking to make......
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You're probably getting a ton of response from this magnificent piece of work since adding it to the PD groups, and rightfully so but I hope you can take some time to talk to me about this and my own Plague doctor.
This appeals to two things I love, the plague doctor, and then robotic like things. I'm blown away by the level of detail of this, regardless of what it is, there's just all this great stuff for my eyes to fallow study and figure out. Then its a steampunk plague doctor and that just makes it ridiculously awesome. I can't say its an original twist on the PD, but you certainly executed it with a lot of skill and character. The sash with the foreign looking text is a really nice touch. That definitely gives him that priest look you wanted.
After studying him I figured out why he so much reminds me of my own plague doctor. [link] We almost have the same things going on. These things were both made separately without any knowledge of the other, and yet they bear this much resemblance. I find that amusing.
Next, I'd like to know of you do commissions. I wouldn't be able to commission something of this detail since I know that'd be expensive, but I am hopeful to find a good artist who could render my PD in a way I cannot, and give me as close a representation to his true appearance. Legos can only do so much. 
Lastly, if its not too much trouble, I'd like to know, what's up with this guy, does he have a name and story and are you still working on that story?
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The resemblance is uncanny, yes. I do take commissions as well, but I'm a filthy capitalist jerk with a lust for real cash prizes. From what I've seen, legos are pretty versatile.
This character doesn't have a name. I guess in the vein of Batman, his whole setup is supposed to embody an ideal and act as a walking symbol. By militantly enforcing civility, remedy and order in a world/setting/wherever that has none, his silhouette and everything else has come to represent those qualities.
As for the man inside, he has Gigantism. In the aforementioned setting, he was also the person who invented the suit, and seeing a lumbering guy coming at you with a cane and needles is usually effective. Admittedly I haven't entirely fleshed out his story in the way I have for some of the other characters I've drawn. This was a situation of "it will look cool, so make it and be happy."
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Incredible! This mixes two of my favorite things: Steampunk and Plague Doctors! Absoulutely awesome.
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The mask reminds me of Tom Banwell's "Ichabod" LOVING the steampunk elements of this. I want that coat man.... I want it like crazy.
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This is amazing! Clash of two things I'm very much a fan of - the Plague Doctors and Steampunk! I really love the design, and the colours are beautifully suited. Very cool stuff!
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Best plague doctor and best steampunk I've ever seen
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