This is a quick sketch of a cybernetically modified super-human, drawn on a Cintiq using a pencil brush set. The references for it are from MidJourney, an AI driven image generator which is quite fitting given the subject matter. I was inspired because I'm currently playing the video game Cyberpunk 2077, specifically Takemura's open throat design. The game is set in a dystopian near-future and one of the overarching themes of the world you inhabit is that the overuse of cybernetic implants (artificial organs and body parts) leads to psychosis due to the individual losing touch with their humanity as they become less human. I'm not sure a parallel was intended by the writers of the game (based on a late 80's table-top role-playing game) but like most things in the genre, it's architects are unknowingly writing the future. It made me think of cosmetic surgery (botox, lip filler, liposuction, breast augmentation etc.), once the domain of the super rich and famous but now available to the mainstream. Do people who subscribe to artificial, cosmetic "improvement" judge the value of others more by their cosmetic surgeries and less by their humanity? While it seems obvious that this is would be a case of confirmation bias I wonder if psychologically people lose touch with their human values as they look in the mirror and are less recognisable as a natural, authentic human being. No judgement either way, obvs. ...anyway, enough of that bollocks, I've got dogs to draw :)
p.s. A huge cache of internet points to anyone who recognises the title quote without Google.
Ingenious and fantastic.