The War Doctor (John Hurt) Character Drawings ("Doctor Who")

Emmy Pflugh

Oct 3

Digital drawing, 1400 x 1080; artwork collage

We're heading on towards the third of my favorite Doctors drawing series from the iconic BBC TV series hit, Doctor Who, and today, you'll get to see the character drawings of the next favorite Doctor, and that's the War Doctor. The second topic from the previous post I shared back in September was on my drawings of the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith), one of my favorite Doctors from the show, and if you didn't get to see the drawings, you can check it out in the link at the end of the topic.

So, my third favorite is the War Doctor. Like how I worked on the drawings for the couple of the Doctors, they are drawn on Autodesk SketchBook in digital drawing medium at 1080 x 1420, and not only you're going to be seeing three of the War Doctor drawings, but it'll also include a bonus drawing fan art, which you'll find out when you get to it soon.

Let's explore on my third favorite Doctor, the War Doctor. He was played by Sir John Hurt.

We first meet him in the final scene from the episode "The Name of the Doctor", but later on, he becomes one of the main characters, and one of the main Doctors, in the 50th Anniversary special called "The Day of the Doctor". This is the episode where you'll get to see him interacting with the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith) and the 10th Doctor (David Tennant) and have all of the three Doctors coming together. The War Doctor was the previous incarnation from the past, in the Doctor's time in Gallifrey, and he was actually regenerated after he was the 8th Doctor (Paul McGann), before becoming the 9th Doctor (Christopher Eggleston). Gallifrey was in the war with the Daleks, and the War Doctor fights in the war to defeat against the Daleks, as a young man. As he gotten older, he becomes stressed, hopeless, and melancholy that he wanted 'no more' part of the war, even when he sees the people of Gallifrey suffering and trapped by the army of the Daleks, imprisoning and murdering them. The War Doctor runs away from the city, carrying the box that contains a device to end the war and even Gallifrey. In his shelter, where he's hiding, he meets Bad Wolf (who turns out to be Rose Tyler) (Billie Piper).

Meanwhile, the 11th Doctor and his companion Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) were called by Kate Stewart to come to the National Gallery Museum in London to investigate the painting with shattered glass on the floor, which turned out to be a 3D painting of the war in Gallifrey. The 11th Doctor spots a time loop with the red hat, and goes in there into the 16th century, where he meets the 10th Doctor for the first time, and Queen Elizabeth I, and of course, the War Doctor comes in. Later on, the Zygons appear to invade London and the museum to find the device, and the Three Doctors have to work together to stop the Zygons. Of course, this is where you get all multiple Doctors from the past and even coming in for the future to fight against the Zygons.

The War Doctor's backstory is explored more in the Doctor Who comics, even you get to see the 8th Doctor's regeneration into the War Doctor in the sequence from the show, which you can watch it in the link below. I watched it, and it was really cool, because that's when you get to see the War Doctor as a young man, except you don't get to see his face much, but you do see the face of the young John Hurt for one shot.

After finishing the 11th Doctor character drawing project, I end up working on the War Doctor drawings in the month of August. That's very early, even when I was saving this post for October, but it's been so fun to do drawings of any Doctors from Doctor Who, so as an artist, you might just as well as say 'go with the flow' to yourself. In order to design the War Doctor in my animation look, I would use Google images of the War Doctor and the image of his sonic screwdriver for references to draw him. Lightly sketching with the pencil, detailing it with the bolt tip pen tool, add the background in TARDIS blue, and painting in color. Even right after I sent one drawing of the War Doctor to the chat to receive their feedback, as I have for the previous Doctors drawings, they'll sent me a link for references to help me understand his character, which was really cool.

The War Doctor was a fun character to draw, it was just so cool to see 'animated John Hurt' as the War Doctor, even right after I had finished the first drawing, it was great! The drawing project was finished on August 21st, 2023. So, let's check out the drawings, and the bonus fan art! Oh! Bonus fan art! You do not want to miss that!

The War Doctor Drawing 1

Digital drawing, 1080 x 1420

The very first drawing of the War Doctor, and of course, I have to add his sonic screwdriver, which glows in red light. Can't draw the War Doctor without his sonic screwdriver, especially any of the drawings of the Doctors.

This is the drawing I got excited, right after I finished it, just because you are seeing John Hurt as the War Doctor in the animation character design. How cool is that? Even seeing David Tennant as the 10th/14th Doctor in his own animation design is very cool, too!

The War Doctor Drawing 2

Digital drawing, 1080 x 1420

Second drawing shows the War Doctor walking away from the war in Gallifrey, and he's got the large sack carrying behind him, which has the device.

I used the screenshot image of John Hurt as the War Doctor photographed in that scene from the 50th Anniversary special as reference and model to draw him in that caricature, and yes, he's holding his sonic screwdriver on his left hand. You can definitely see the hopeless expression in his face, which that was important for me to add it into the drawing.

The War Doctor Drawing 3

Digital drawing, 1080 x 1420

Third drawing of the War Doctor looking at his sonic screwdriver, and for the inspiration, that came from the screenshot of the scene of him turning on the sonic screwdriver, while he's imprisoned in the dungeon with the 10th and 11th Doctor.

Bonus Drawing: Young War Doctor

Digital drawing, 1080 x 1420

Here it is! The bonus fan art of the War Doctor as a young man, and this was actually requested by the chat on Instagram. Like I've mentioned, I watched the regeneration clip on YouTube; however, I was able to find an image of him being young from an illustration from the Doctor Who comics, and that became part of one of my references to draw him young, but only design him in my own art style. And I also used a screenshot image of John Hurt as Kane from the film, Alien (1979) as reference, just because I have to make him look like him but drawing him in a cartoon form.

There you have it! That's all of the War Doctor drawings, and I hope you all enjoyed this topic. Next week, I'll be posting a very new Halloween 2023 fan art on Thursday, October 12th, and if you don't want to miss it, you can subscribe to this blog to get notified for any of the newest topics with my animation drawings, art, fan art, animation tests, and interesting writing pieces. I'm on both Instagram and Facebook, and you can follow me on one of each.

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