Monday, February 28, 2011

Fresh from the drawing table... Quasit!

I have for you today another drawing that is fresh from the drawing table. This time around it is a Quasit! "Q", like several of the the letters left to go, only has one entry and that is the Quasit. Faced with the Quasit I knew I needed to make the best of it, and that meant TENTACLES. Well, that was just where my explorations led me as I began working on this little guy. I present to you my version of a Quasit...

Quasit
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

The Quasit is a little demon familiar for evil wizards and the like. This took my mind in two directions; the Quasit needed tentacles, LOTS OF THEM, and the Quasit needed to be wearing a snappy little outfit, something akin to a flying monkey (they sure did know how to dress!). Really good minions need to be gross or scary and be well dressed while executing their master's wishes. In all seriousness the Quasit did offer me the chance to just have some fun. Up until now the amount of tentacles has been pretty low (oh, Mind Flayer... maybe next time) this little guy seemed like the perfect candidate. For the record, I now have some really silly reference photos of myself in all sorts of weird crouching subservient poses...

My first 100 original Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual redesigns (A - Z): Aerial Servant, Ankheg, Ant (Giant), Ape (Carnivorous), Ape (Gorilla), Axe Beak, Axe Beak (version 2), Baboon, Badger, Barracuda, Basilisk, Baluchitherium, Bear (Black), Bear (Brown), Bear (Cave), Beaver (Giant), Beetle (Giant) - Bombardier, Beetle (Giant) - Boring, Beetle (Giant) - Fire, Beetle (Giant) - Rhinoceros, Beetle (Giant) - Stag, Beetle (Giant) - Water, Beholder, Black Pudding, Blink Dog, Boar (Giant), Boar (Warthog), Boar (Wild), Brain Mole, Brownie, Bugbear, Buffalo, Bulette, Carrion Crawler, Catoblepas, Cerebral Parasite, Chimera, Cockatrice, Coutal, Crab (Giant), Demon Type III (Glabrezu), Demon (Juiblex), Demon (Manes), Devil (Ice), Dragon (Red), Elemental (Earth), Ettin, Eye of the Deep, Flightless Bird, Frog (Giant), Fungi (Violet), Giant (Hill), Goblin, Golem (Flesh), Hobgoblin, Homunculus, Hydra, Imp, Intellect Devourer, Ixitxachitl, Jackal, Jacklewere, Jaguar, Ki-Rin, Kobold, Lich, Lizard (Giant), Lizardman, Manticore, Mind Flayer, Minotaur, Naga, Neo-Otygugh, Nixie, Ochre Jelly, Ogre, Owlbear, Peryton, Pixie, Purple Worm, Quasit, Ram (Giant), Roper, Rust Monster, Sahuagin, Salamander, Shambling Mound, Treant, Troglodyte, Troll, Umber Hulk, Unicorn, Vampire, Wasp (Giant), Wight, Wyvern, Xorn, Yeti, and Zombie.      

That is all for today, see you back here on Wednesday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact
me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

Friday, February 25, 2011

Boneblade Serpent - Dreamblade

It has been some time since I shared a piece here on the blog that I did for the miniatures game, Dreamblade. Today I have one from the very beginning of it all, the Boneblade Serpent. This piece is near and dear to me for several reasons. The Boneblade Serpent was the first piece I did for myself and then submitted as a possible miniature design, the first piece I got to see and touch as a completed miniature and it was the first promotional piece that Wizards of the Coast used for the game. Still to this day this is one of my favorite sculptures and paint jobs of all my pieces I did for Dreamblade. The detail is great and I think the sculptor created a piece that exceeds the designs. Speaking of designs, here is my turnaround for the Boneblade Serpent from all the way back from 2005...

Boneblade Serpent
© 2005 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Before the game was launched there were articles all about the production and design of the miniatures and the Boneblade Serpent got the royal treatment. Needless to say it was incredibly flattering to see one of my pieces getting so much attention and also incredibly embarrassing to have my drawings under the spot light. At the time I was still really self conscious about my abilities and didn't feel like my work was good enough... thankfully those feelings seem to have waned. With many of my early designs I struggled with the feeling that I could have done more or better with them. After all I was still learning a lot with each design and was still in the process of discovering who I was as an artist. To this day I still look at some of these old designs and think, "If only I could have done that now." I finally broke down with the Boneblade Serpent and while I had some down time I made this...

Boneblade Serpent Redux
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

This drawing was much harder to create then I ever thought it would be. I wanted it to stay true to the original but have the sensibilities that I have today. There was moment or two when I was about half way through that I contemplated abandoning the drawing. I stuck with it and learned a thing or two! I am not sure if it is a better design, but maybe it is a better drawing... in some parts... here and there.

That is all for another exciting week on the blog! See you next week! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact
me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

On Blogging and Traffic Patterns

If you follow my blog you might be aware that WIP Podcast episode 22 is out. You will also know that it has an interview featuring me talking about my blog, posting to the blog three times a week and the affects this routine has had on my career. Since the original recording of the interview in November I have had some time to reflect on what I shared. I have also had a chance to look at the traffic numbers and flow patterns for my blog and website. Today I would like to share some follow up thoughts and anecdotes as well as some pretty graphs!

Within an hour or two of taking part in the interview with WIP at Illuxcon I found myself talking about my blogging habits with Jon Schindehette. I was commenting to him about my uncertainty about making the decision to post three times a week and about the time and energy commitment that it requires. Jon is no stranger to blogging and having to find the right balance so that it does not become too overwhelming. Durning our discussion Jon told me about two bloggers that he was aware of that had recently reduced the amount that they posted. One had dropped the post rate to once a week, the other down to once a month. Both reported huge reductions in the amount of followers and traffic. Apparently the blogger that reduced it down to once a month saw their follower rate reduced to almost zero within two to three posts. Though I was initially surprised by this, in the end it made a lot of sense. People want "new" and "more", it is that consumer aspect of our nature.

Do these two anecdotes show that more activity means more traffic and higher numbers? I would have to say yes. I see spikes in my traffic each and every day I post to the blog. The thing that is the big mystery though, do higher numbers and more traffic equal more work and opportunities? From a straight forward numbers approach I would think yes. With more people looking at the blog, hopefully more people are talking about what they see, passing it to friends and coworkers and eventually this would mean more people with the need for an artist would see the blog. Of course it could mean that my networking with fellow artists is simply increasing the number of artist following my blog. I can say without a doubt that I have seen an increase in interest and offers for my service the longer I have had my blog. My website was around for many years before my blog, but it was not until I had my blog that contacts for work began to come in through the website. Yes, you can say that my abilities in the last two years have improved to a point that I am now being sought out. You could also say that is just takes time for my work to trickle out into the web for people to discover. In the end though, if not for the blog and website, would these perspective clients have found me? You need to have the web presence, posting more often just strengthens that presence, in my opinion. The blog has definitely begun to proceed me and people are aware of who I am and what I do before meeting them for the first time. I am still not use to this, but it is flattering to meet people familiar with my work. It is also a great ice breaker!

I have been talking a lot about traffic and numbers, lets start looking at some examples to see what we can make of it. This first chart shows a sample week from just after I started the blog, a sample week a year later and finally a sample week from this month.

March 13, 2009 - March 20, 2009 / March 13, 2010 - March 20, 2010 / February 11, 2011 - February 18, 2011

Though I started the blog in February 2009 I did not start using tracking software until the beginning of March. I use statcounter.com, they have not done me wrong and are easy to use, there are many others services available, find the one that fits you best. As expected, when I started my numbers were REALLY low, and I would not be surprised if some of this traffic reflected my presence on the blog. A year later my numbers had increased greatly with some really high spikes on page views. The graph from earlier this month shows more growth but not nearly as big of a leap as the previous year. You can see the Monday / Wednesday / Friday spikes from new posts going up. Though there was not the amount of growth from 2010 to 2011 as was seen between 2009 to 2010 I think the usage of the blog is more consistent and increased overall.

February 14, 2009 - February 21, 2010 / February 21, 2010 - February 21, 2011 / February 14, 2009 - February 21, 2011

Looking at the number tread over the two years of the blog's life I am happy to see continued growth and active use. The one thing I attribute this growth (beside the fact that my work is so super awesome everyone just comes a runnin' - JOKE) is that I tell EVERYBODY that a new post has been made, what the post contains and that people NEED to go see the post NOW. Thanks to the internet and connectivity of many of the websites and services I use this has been made really easy. My Twitter account is linked to my personal Facebook account and Facebook Fan Page account, my Linkedin account and even my Myspace account. I tweet twice a day about the new blog post and that radiates out to all these other sites letting people know there is an update while providing a link. Also, my blog is connected through NetworkedBlogs which is linked to both of my Facebook accounts, when a new blog post goes up in automatically posts a link to my Facebook walls. If it is a particularly big post, for example a look at my process or when a big project launches, I will also go to Deviantart and post a journal entry directing traffic to the blog. Finally, on my own website I direct people to the blog to see what is fresh and recent with my work since my plans for updating the site have stretched out a little longer than expected. More eyes looking at my blog more often. As for hard number that I can track, I have 318 followers of my blog through NetworkedBlogs, 487 fans of my Facebook Fan Page, 751 Facebook friends, 144 Followers through Blogger and 349 followers on Twitter… as I write this. Yes, there are probably numerous people that are counted among more then one of these lists, but this is still a lot of people and the numbers keep slowly ticking up. For every person I do know on these lists there are two that I don't. Again, how does this affect getting work, hard to quantify, but more eyes can't be a bad thing. I have joked with friends, "It is all about the numbers!" All of this has taken two years of promotion, time and effort on my end. It also meant putting myself out there, trying to find new opportunities to talk to people and say my URLs over and over again. It also has taken posting to my blog three times a week, hoping that at least a majority of the post are interesting or entertaining.

The one thing I am sure I can attribute to my blog habits is that I am a faster artist and I am producing more work then I did two years ago. Yes, this can also be attributed to my skills improving and the natural speeding up of the process over time, but I do think the blog has had it's part in this. Having to fill three posts a week has left my needing to create content for those long spells between projects getting released. It might mean taking part in a ceiling tile painting contest at a local restaurant or taking time to attend a local mini con or just spending my lunch working a new monster drawing. I am making time and putting forth the effort to continue to create. If I had not made the commitment to myself and to the blog's followers to keep updating three times a week there are many many drawings and projects that I just would not have gotten around to or made the time to finish. It has been a burden from time to time but it has also been a great motivator! Maintaining the blog has also improved my organization and planning skills. Since I know I have three days to fill each week I have my posting schedule planned out several weeks in advance with back up ideas if something falls through. In a pinch I now know I can just draw something new! I actively search for opportunities that will lend themselves to a blog post or preferably, POSTS. The blog has also been a great opportunity to share work that has never been seen from earlier in my career as well as work that would not lend itself well to a official promotional website gallery. I got a lot of blog milage AND traffic from all those suits of armor I designed for 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons. A fellow artist commented to me last year that when she went to my blog all she sees is armor. I may have go a little overboard with my posts, but I had created a lot of armor and the blog was the perfect venue for it.

Now that I have mentioned armor and the traffic it has generated let me impress upon you the importance of tagging or otherwise labeling your blog posts. Posting often is all well and good but making the most of labels makes a world of difference. Blogger is a google subsidiary which has it's benefits when it comes to people searching. Words like "Armor" and "Tiefling" have brought a great deal of traffic to my blog (*NOTE: The day after I wrote this sentence I received an email about using some of my Tielfing armor in a tattoo). My labeled blog posts have led perspective clients to me. If you Google search "Dreamblade" there are two links to my blog in the top 10 links, not bad in my opinion. Another useful tool is Google Alerts. Google Alerts allows you to set up searches for keywords or phrases and will send you email reports at a variety of intervals. I have searches set up for my name, web address, and blog address and you would be amazed at the things I have found. I would really recommend you setting yourself up an account if you do not already have one. It is nice to see so many people that use my work without permission at least credit me.

Now lets look at some long term numbers. I have been tracking my website a lot longer then my blog so I can take a broader look at my presence on the web. This graph show unique visits to my blog during the month of January since 2007, five Januarys in total.

Unique visits to www.christopherburdett.com during the month of January 2007 - 2011

Save between 2007 and 2008 the total numbers are all steadily going up. What does this tell us? No idea, except there are more eyes looking at the work I am creating… "It is all about the numbers!" What this does tell me is that I better have the BEST of the BEST work on my website and that I need to get in gear and get those updates to my site finished. These numbers also encourage me that maybe what I have been working on and working towards with my blog and other promotional activities might be turning into something tangible. Ask yourself, did you have any clue I even existed five years ago? Four years? Two? One year ago was I even on your radar? If I had been complacent, not made the effort and not taken the chances I would probably still be off the radar of a LOT of people. There would have been a huge number of friendships and business connections that I would have never made if I had not put forth the effort. If you made a time investment versus profit generated analysis I am not sure you will find that my efforts on my blog have generated a financial profit. BUT, If you add in the amount of friendships I have made and the amount of opportunities I have had because of my efforts on the blog I do think I have gotten way more out of blog then I have put in. The fact I was on the WIP podcast last year for the first time was because of my blog, the reason I went to Gen Con last year for the first time was because I was on the WIP podcast. It is also a two way street, you need to go to other peoples sites and blogs and see what they are saying and talking about. This is a community after all!

I will leave you with one last graph. The day I posted my thoughts on Using Reference on my blog the link was shared on a Fur Affinity forum…

January 21 - February 2 2011. Not even ArtOrder has been able to spike my numbers like this.

I am thrilled to know my post was so well received and that it has been seen by so many people. The idea that it will possibly be helpful to even more folks is really exciting. Never underestimate the power of the internet and be receptive to your audience, they may surprise you! Being able to monitor your traffic and who is linking to you is very important. I went for my evening bike ride on that Wednesday and by the time I got back less then two hours later my numbers on the blog had tripled. Thanks to my tracking software I was able to zero in on the source of the spike. It was exciting to see hit coming in from literally all over the world because of Fur Affinity.

I think that I have rambled enough for today. I hope that my thoughts have been useful or at least slightly entertaining. If you have any thoughts or questions regarding anything I had to say just let me know and I will try to address them in a timely manner!

That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here on Friday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact
me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

Monday, February 21, 2011

WIP Podcast Episode 22

WIP podcast episode #22 is now live, so head over and give it a listen! The entire episode is dedicated to marketing yourself as a freelance artist. If that is not enough of a draw, the episode also features an interview I recorded with the whole WIP gang at Illuxcon last year! I talk at length about my blog and the trials and tribulations of posting three times a week as well as my thoughts on marketing yourself and getting your name out there. Hopefully all my rambling and load breathing can be helpful!


So, just to clarify... RUN, don't walk on over and give a listen to WIP podcast episode 22. I am in the process of getting my thoughts together on what I have learned and discovered about my blog and website since the interview. Hopefully I will have that together later in the week. Many thanks to the Himmelman and Mohrbacher clans for letting me crash their party again and again!

For those not familiar with the WIP Podcast, head over to their website and check out everything that have going on!

See you back here on Wednesday for some more blog fun! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact
me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

Friday, February 18, 2011

Happy BLOG-a-versary!

Two years and 334 post ago I started this blog! How the time just flies by! As always when I hit these milestones I am shocked by the fact that I have kept this blog going and awed by the support, comments and encouragement that you all give back to me for all my efforts.

Many many thanks to you all on this anniversary and I hope that I continue to provide interesting and relevant post regarding the ups and downs of my life as an artist. Three posts a week always seems like a lot, but I have continued to make it happen each week.

As tradition dictates, I need to now post a panda drawing to mark this milestone. Today I have one that I recently completed. It follows on the theme of bad pandas causing havoc around the world. I guess it has been a very panda filled week! Thanks again to you all for stopping by, here is to the start of another year on the blog!

© 2011 Christopher Burdett

That is all for another exciting week here on the blog, I will see you back here on Monday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact
me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

The Marquis and Babe Sapien

As mentioned before here on the blog my wife is part of the local roller derby league and goes by the name, Babe Sapien. She has a been a huge fan of the Hellboy and BPRD comic books for years. Specifically, as if her name was not enough of a give away, she really relates to the fish out of water character, Ape Sapien. A lot of what has drawn her to this character are the BPRD story lines and the way artist Guy Davis has depicted Ape over the years.

Last year I sent Guy a friend invite on Facebook and crossed my fingers. After he accepted I sent a message to him to see if he was taking commissions and told him all about my wife and her derby name. I wanted to surprise my wife with a one of a kind Christmas gift that only Guy could help make possible. Guy flattered me with the offer to do an art trade for the piece I wanted and in return he asked that I do a piece based on his character, The Marquis. I jumped at his offer and got to work on my end of the trade...

"The Marquis and Devil" by Christopher Burdett
© 2011 Guy Davis

In return Guy produced a truly awesome piece. It was a real nail biter due to jury duty, blizzards and life, but Guy's drawing arrived right before Christmas. My wife was blown away by it to say the least. Unfortunately, I have so out done myself that all other gifts that I give her will be compared to it and will be found wanting! I give you, Babe Sapien...

Babe Sapien by Guy Davis

We recently got the piece framed and is now on display in a place of honor in the house. My wife is still telling everyone about it and I can't blame her. A HUGE thanks goes out again to Guy for being such a great sport about this piece and going above and beyond my expectations!

Babe Sapien by Guy Davis all framed and on display!

Please take a moment and check out the work of Guy Davis and his blog about The Marquis. Loads and loads of awesome art and marvelous things for your eyes. You will not regret it!

See you back here on Friday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact
me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentine's Day on the blog

Love it or hate it, today is Valentine's Day. I have plenty of anecdotes to persuade you either way on this hearty chocolaty day. In attempts to maintain my natural standing, I have a couple of visual offering that I hope will appease everyone and their personal opinions of this, the pinkest of all days....

Cupid Panda
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

A pile of silicone hearts I made for the fifth season of Angel, Episode 17: Underneath.
They were dressed with blood and gore once on set! TASTY!
© 2004 Almost Human EFX

That is all for today, see you back here on Wednesday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact
me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

Friday, February 11, 2011

WIP Podcast: THE BLOG

I am thrilled to announce that I was recently approached by the fine folks at the WIP Podcast to see if I was game for some blog collaboration. They are interesting in sharing the thoughts and ramblings of other artists in the field and they thought some of my blog ramblings would do nicely. I was more then happy to get this going! This past weekend marked the beginning of this blog cross contamination with my post about using reference showing up over on the WIP Blog.

BEHOLD, as I spread my bloggy tentacles out into the Interwebs!

A HUGE thanks goes out to all of the WIP folks, Jeff, Caroline, Anna and Pete, for thinking of me and getting me involved. For the last year they have been a great bad influence on me! Getting me to go to places like Gen Con for the first time and to be on their Podcast several times. I am looking forward to more collaborations and involvement with them!

If you are unfamiliar with the WIP Podcast I HIGHLY recommend you heading over there and check out everything they have going on over there. It is definitely worth your time!

That is all for another exciting week on the blog, see you back here on Monday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact
me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Fresh from the drawing table... Purple Worm!

I have for you today another drawing that is fresh from the drawing table. This time around it is a Purple Worm! "P" offered up several monster to choose from but it became clear rather quickly there were only two real options. Though I had my eye on the Peryton for a long while I knew when it came down to it my heart was set on something much larger and much more... uh, PURPLE. I present to you my version of an Purple Worm...

Purple Worm
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

While I was still working in Los Angles I worked on some concept designs for a fantasy epic starring Rob Schneider. Needless to say the project has yet to go anywhere after many years and I am still haunted by the giant wormy snake dragon monsters I designed for it. I exercised some of those ghost in the Crypt Worm I designed for Dreamblade. I think I may have gotten some more out with this Purple Worm. The biggest two problems with a worm monster is that a worm in and of themselves are not very threatening and there are the brilliant Dune sand worms that you are trying to avoid coping. I feel my take on this has become more of a Purple Wyrm, given his little slashing arms and more interesting mouth, tongue, head area. Since I am doing these for myself I can get away with those kind of changes. It is still a giant horror from deep beneath the earth that can devour a player whole!

My first 100 original Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual redesigns (A - Z): Aerial Servant, Ankheg, Ant (Giant), Ape (Carnivorous), Ape (Gorilla), Axe Beak, Axe Beak (version 2), Baboon, Badger, Barracuda, Basilisk, Baluchitherium, Bear (Black), Bear (Brown), Bear (Cave), Beaver (Giant), Beetle (Giant) - Bombardier, Beetle (Giant) - Boring, Beetle (Giant) - Fire, Beetle (Giant) - Rhinoceros, Beetle (Giant) - Stag, Beetle (Giant) - Water, Beholder, Black Pudding, Blink Dog, Boar (Giant), Boar (Warthog), Boar (Wild), Brain Mole, Brownie, Bugbear, Buffalo, Bulette, Carrion Crawler, Catoblepas, Cerebral Parasite, Chimera, Cockatrice, Coutal, Crab (Giant), Demon Type III (Glabrezu), Demon (Juiblex), Demon (Manes), Devil (Ice), Dragon (Red), Elemental (Earth), Ettin, Eye of the Deep, Flightless Bird, Frog (Giant), Fungi (Violet), Giant (Hill), Goblin, Golem (Flesh), Hobgoblin, Homunculus, Hydra, Imp, Intellect Devourer, Ixitxachitl, Jackal, Jacklewere, Jaguar, Ki-Rin, Kobold, Lich, Lizard (Giant), Lizardman, Manticore, Mind Flayer, Minotaur, Naga, Neo-Otygugh, Nixie, Ochre Jelly, Ogre, Owlbear, Peryton, Pixie, Purple Worm, Quasit, Ram (Giant), Roper, Rust Monster, Sahuagin, Salamander, Shambling Mound, Treant, Troglodyte, Troll, Umber Hulk, Unicorn, Vampire, Wasp (Giant), Wight, Wyvern, Xorn, Yeti, and Zombie.    
   
That is all for today, see you back here on Friday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact
me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

Monday, February 7, 2011

ArtOrder - Strength Character

The weekly Concept Tuesday events on ArtOrder have returned and I can't be more thrilled! For those unfamiliar with Concept Tuesday, each week a new challenge is posted and the submissions are compiled the following Tuesday. Here is my submission for this week's challenge...

Strength Character
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

The challenge was to create a character race based on the idea of STRENGTH that would exist in the world that is being created as part of world building exercise on the ArtOrder forums. It is a world of high magic and long lost technology where the great empires have fallen and last heroes fly through the skies on magical motorcycles fanning the fires of hope. You can find more details about all this HERE.

I had a lot of fun with this guy. You better watch out, he has a grenade! I imagined him being able to fly his cycle with the little arms while he swings his club with the big arms. Though strong and natural fierce warriors they are also capable of delicate tastes and are natural mechanics and artisans. They have durable natural armor as skin, something possibly elemental, akin to earth and stone. I am still playing with how tall they should be, though currently I see them shorter then an average human.

Make sure you visit ArtOrder tomorrow to check out the line up! That is all for today, see you back here on Wednesday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact
me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

Friday, February 4, 2011

Lovecraft Creature Lab book - ArtOrder

If you happened to miss the news over at The ArtOrder, the second of the ArtOrder books is now available through Blurb. Lovecraft Creature Lab features 40 pages of tentacled scaly hairy Elder God horror! This is a must have for any Lovecraft fan or those just into monsters and macabre creatures.

Lovecraft Creature Lab NOW AVAILABLE!

And if a book of monsters is not enough... this book of monsters features one of the monsters that I created for the challenge, a Deep One. I recently received my copy in the mail and it sure is a great looking book! Not only did everyone do a bang up job with their designs, but Aaron Miller did a great job putting it all together in creating the book!

The HAWTNESS that is page 16!

Did someone say blasphemous fish frog? RAWR!
© 2010 Christopher Burdett

Be sure to head over to the ArtOrder bookstore on Blurb to see what the artist of the ArtOrder community have to offer. I look forward to seeing the next of the ArtOrder books to be released! Now if they would only do a book for the Mutation Nation Challenge...

That is all for another exciting week on the blog, see you back here on Monday for (HOPEFULLY) the exciting return of an old tradition! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact
me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

My life as a crappy artist - Hainsley Demon

You of course remember the Hainsley Demon from episode 2, Just Rewards, from season 5 of Angel, right? (HINT: Same episode as the Grox' Lar Demon!) Any good Angel fan would, right? I barely recall this demon and I designed it. So that everyone is on the same page, this is the Hainsley Demon...

RAWR! I'm the Hainsley Demon! ...and I like chain necklaces, long walks and holding hands. Did I mention I have orange eyes?

I was able to find some time to take a fresh pass at... you guessed it, another of the the demons that I designed while working on Joss Whedon's Angel series. This time around the Hainsley Demon was the lucky winner of making me cringe more than all the others. Time to get the hard part out of the way... here is my original design for the Hainsley Demon from 2003...

Behold my furrowed brow and spiky bits, I must be a scary demon of genericness.
"*YAWN*... oh look, I believe that could possibly be a demon, I think, that is pondering to attack us." Still not sure why he is slouching, maybe the Hainsley Demons are characterized by their bad posture and hairiness.
© 2003 Almost Human

To make matter worse, the above design was not my intended submission. I had produced a first draft that was so thoroughly mocked and derided in house that I produced the above updated design. You are in luck, I am feeling generous in sharing my shame and here is that initial design...

WHO'S THE CUTEST LITTLE DEMON? YES, THAT'S RIGHT! YOU ARE!
I just want to pinch his little cheeks. Nothing as frightening as a demon with a little half grin and a sheepish look about him. Trouble was, when I finished this first version I thought it was so "badass" and "demony". Between you and me, I think the final product looks and feels more like this version then the second (no fault to anyone).
© 2003 Almost Human

I don't remember all the details with this guy but as far as the episode there was something to do with souls and host bodies and possibly his soul going into a new body... or something like that. On our end though, they wanted a new demon for the episode and being the master wordsmiths that they were fifth season asked for... "a demon with glowing orange eyes". That's it. That is all we got for a description or direction with where to go with the deigns. Sometime their vagueness allowed us to produce some of our best work, not this time. We created a LOT of designs for this demon, I think there were at least three of us designing on it and nothing was hitting the mark. I think they in fact had something in mind for this demon, they just weren't going to share. After passing on a ton of really great designs they finally settled on mine and the rest is now TV history. SO, in an attempt to rewrite history I moved forward on a reworking of the design and came up with something... newer...

Taking the Hainsley Demon back!
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

The frilly nose, horns and cleft head are his outstanding features so I tried to keep those while just having some fun and make something cool. If only I had that mentality when I worked the show originally... instead of all the stress and pressure to produce the next big revolutionary design. In the end I am not sure if it is a better design, but I am much happier with the drawing.

While going through my archive looking for photos and designs I realized I had a ton of photos from the production of this demon. The fact that I designed the concept and painted the makeup may have had something to do with it. I will share with you some of what I rediscovered, here are some images of the painted makeup before it went to set and was put on the actor...

Painted Hainsley Demon makeup.
© 2003 Almost Human

It was a two piece makeup consisting of a face piece and cowl. The cowl would go onto the actor first. Then the face piece would be glued to the face of the actor with the edge blended seamlessly (hopefully) onto the cowl and around the eyes creating the illusion of a unified creature.

Demons have a lot of trouble keeping their eye open apparently. They also have poorly blended areas around their eyes that make them look like they are wearing a mask.

That is all for today! See you back here on Friday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact
me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com