The DOODLES, DESIGNS, and aRT of CHRISTOPHER BURDETT: Star Wars: Balance of the Force

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Star Wars: Balance of the Force - Arcona Rumor Monger PROCESS

Back in January I shared with you the Arcona Rumor Monger that I created for the Balance of the Force expansion of the Star Wars Card Game. The time has finally come that I am sharing the process that went into this piece that was originally produced WAY back in March of last year. So we are all on the same page, here is how the final piece turned out...

Arcona Rumor Monger

Thumbnails came first (surprise surprise). The reference shoot for this was fun and I channeled my inner Arconan to get my head around this piece. I always work out some ideas of what I want to do with a piece ahead of time, then shoot the reference, and then begin to work up the thumbnails. This allows me the flexibility to adapt and work off the unexpected elements that occur in the reference shoot as well as having a strong foundation from the reference. I always come up with better solutions to a piece when I can physically act it out. Here are how the thumbnails turned out...

Arcona Rumor Monger - Thumbnails

If I remember correctly, all of the thumbnails were winners, but option 'A' worked best for the piece. The Star Wars cards can have a lot of chrome (the elements of the card that border and lay over the art) and this piece was going to have a huge strip over the top third of the piece that I was going to have to leave room for. Option 'A' allowed for this gap the best and told the story of the rumor monger. With a selected thumbnail it was time to get started on the drawing...

Arcona Rumor Monger - Drawing

Using my reference more I flesh out the final drawing, making sure everything is in its place and the piece overall is working. At the time I was working on the drawing I was still working through the figures in the background. Playing with the idea of how much I wanted to do with them and how far I was going to push the piece for myself. As you have seen in the final, I added a lot to the background that was eventually covered up in the final card. Those elements are for me, the things I do to make the piece mine. SO... I keep mentioning reference... well, I will tease you no longer, here are some of the reference shots that I used for making this piece...

Arcona Rumor Monger reference for all your Arcona reference needs... RAWR!

The drawing was approved and it was now time to get started on the final painting. The process is the same, the subject matter and the number of correction layers can vary. In eight easy steps here is how the Arcona Rumor Monger took shape...

Arcona Rumor Monger - Process steps

As an added bonus, here is an animated process step thing that I through together so you can see each layer adding to the image. Some of the changes between steps can be very small or very large... that is just how I work.

Arcona Rumor Monger animated process thing...

I have walked through the actual steps of my painting in a lot more detail on other posts so I will not go through it all again here, but if you have any questions please feel free to add them in the comments below. Now that I had a finished painting it was turned in and approved without revisions... which is always good. Again, here is how the final Arcona Rumor Monger turned out...