Friday, July 12, 2013

A New Challenger Appears...

I have been drawing on the same paper (Bienfang Graphics 360 Marker Paper) with the same stylus (Prismacolor black colored pencils) for about 8 or 9 years now. LOVE this paper and pencil combination. A 1000 monsters have come to life on this paper with these pencils. This is not all changing... but a new challenger as appeared to get my attention and time... TONED PAPER! It is not like I didn't know it existed, but for some reason I just didn't think it was right for me. Well, at the Illustration Master Class this year my eyes have been opened and I see a new path for some of my work. I have been frantically practicing and experimenting with the new papers and I am happy to share with you one of my finished drawings...

Horned Demon
9 x 12
colored pencil on toned paper
© 2013 Christopher Burdett

What does this all mean? For one I now have a more finished drawing that I feel in and of itself is a finished piece. I think all of my other drawings are finished... but I am not sure that is felt by all of the public. I feel that these pieces on toned paper are, to me at least, much closer to a finished piece of Art (big 'a') and has gotten me thinking about future options and opportunities for my work. This also means I will have two originals for any of my drawings I take to a finished toned state... the toned drawing and the black and white sketch/drawing. Similar original products at different price points. Hopefully this mean that my work will be ending up in more people's hands as well. So if you have been wanting to own my originals, now is the time to act! I am going to have a lot of my drawings and sketches with me at Gen Con and Illuxcon and they will be reflecting my new pricing! I will leave you with the black and white version of the demon drawing...

Horned Demon
9 x 12
colored pencil on paper
© 2013 Christopher Burdett

That's 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
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7 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 12, 2013 at 11:55 AM

    Cracking drawings!
    The toned paper works really well.
    Stew.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christopher BurdettJuly 12, 2013 at 7:12 PM

      Thanks so much, Stew! Really appreciated! :D Very nice to hear that you are enjoying them.

      Delete
  2. UnknownJuly 12, 2013 at 12:55 PM

    I really like the result of the drawing on toned paper. I bought a sketchbook myself, haven't had time to play with it though.

    I did want to ask you something, do you think you'll need to do a separate drawing on white paper to scan and paint on the computer? Since it's easier to paint over (or under I guess) a white background, the same thing could be said for traditional painting if you need to copy the drawing to a watercolor paper / board, etc.

    Maybe the drawing on toned paper is more a study than a step towards the final. But making the drawing twice would take more time, which would be difficult with deadlines approaching.

    I'm probably just thinking aloud, I haven't had much time to work on my toned paper because of this reasons and I wanted to know your opinion.

    Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. Christopher BurdettJuly 12, 2013 at 7:19 PM

      You have hit all the major issues! I have thought about all these things as I have moved forward with doing these. For me this is a way to take the drawing I am already doing / done and turn them into a more finished stand alone piece of work then just the line drawing on white paper. Yes, this does mean more work on my end, but drawing is my favorite part of making illustrations and this just means I draw more. It will also give me two originals... the white paper and toned paper drawings. I will not use these toned pieces as my under drawing in a painting, you are correct in that they will just not work as well. Like I said, these are to be stand alone pieces. It also allows an additional tier for people who want to buy my work. You have on the cheapest end my prints, then my sketches on white paper, then my toned paper drawings, then my canvas prints and finally at the highest priced end my traditional medium paintings.

      Delete
    2. UnknownJuly 13, 2013 at 1:05 AM

      That's interesting, I suppose that's the approach I'll have to take with my own toned paper drawings then. As with the traditional work I do, I'll pick which drawings have potential to be done again on a toned paper. I have to see if the piece has the potential to be done that way.

      Delete
  3. RealmwrightJuly 13, 2013 at 1:06 AM

    The toned paper definitely makes it pop more. It puts a capital A in both Art and Awesome - there was already one in RAWR ;)

    If you do more Buffy stuff revisited and pair the newer drawings on toned pages versus the older works on plain white, the difference will be staggering

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    Replies
    1. Christopher BurdettJuly 13, 2013 at 11:27 AM

      Yeah, I will have to see about that when next I revisit Buffy/Angel work. There are plenty I recently did that I would love to have a chance to have on toned paper, but they were taken to such a finished state on the regular paper it would be a waste of time at the moment... but future pieces on the other hand...

      Delete

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