Icon of the Realms: Elemental Evil Miniatures

Today I am sharing four of the miniatures from the newest expansion to the Icons of the Realms miniatures, Elemental Evil, for 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons. While I was not involved in any way with the creation of the miniatures, they are all based on the monster that I redesigned for 5th Edition D&D. Always thrilling to see something that I had a part in creating turned into a three denominational object in the real world. Here are some images of the miniatures and my designs for comparison. I am really happy with how they all turned out!

Salamander

Icon of the Realms: Elemental Evil Miniatures

My illustration for the Monster Manual and the miniature

It is the little details that really stand out.

The Salamander's crest is made of translucent plastic for a nice glow effect. RAWR!

Fire Snake

Icon of the Realms: Elemental Evil Miniatures

My illustration for the Monster Manual and the miniature

Fire Bat

Note that the bat's skeleton is sculpted in negative on the underside and then painted. IMHO I think that is a great solution to the challenge of the design.

Icon of the Realms: Elemental Evil Miniatures

My concept design and the miniature

Griffon

Icon of the Realms: Elemental Evil Miniatures

My concept design and the miniature

My hat off to all involved in producing these miniatures. They turned out great and I can't wait to see more from this line of miniatures... especially the miniatures based on my 5th Edition monster designs! RAWR!

That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog, 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

Bestiary: Lost World - Process

Been talking a lot about Magic the Gathering recently and thought I would switch it up today with some Dungeons & Dragons. Still clearing out my blog queue of items that have been patiently waiting to get posted. Today I have the process that went into designing and making the cover for Dragon Magazine issue 42. I first shared this with you way back in September of 2013... it sure has been waiting awhile to be posted! So that we are all on the same page, here is how the cover for Dragon #42 turned out...

Bestiary: Lost World - Dragon Magazine Issue 427
Digital

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Not only was I tasked with painting the cover, but I was also asked to design three new prehistoric drakes that would be featured on the cover. One was the size of a large dog and was to be used as a hunting pack animal, one was big enough to ride, and one was a massive monster of a creature. Three new monsters mixed in with a hunting party of goblins and hobgoblins, what could possibly go wrong? I got to work on concepts and thumbnails, first on the new monsters concepts and then on the overall composition thumbnails for the illustration. Here are how the monster concepts turned out...

Venomous Urdrake Concepts

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Sabermaw Urdrake Concepts

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Ironclaw Urdrake Concepts

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Now that I had some monster concepts I began working up the thumbnails using my favorite designs. Subtle influence on the art director? Possibly... but Kate has always been an amazing AD and she had her favorite monsters and her preferred thumbnail. Here is how the thumbnails for the illustration turned out...

Bestiary: Lost World - Thumbnails

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Thumbnails turned in and decisions made. A little from column A, B, and C and the monsters and composition is all decided upon. Time for the final drawing and time to work up all the detail and figure out all the vague bit in the thumbnail. Here is how the final drawing turned out...

Bestiary: Lost World - Drawing

11 x 14

Pencil on Paper

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

The drawing was approved and it was time to paint! In just 12 easy steps... yeah, right... This was a cover and it had a ton of stuff going on, so I was a little apprehensive about this one. All in all, much to my surprise, it came together extremely quickly and without any major brain melting moments. Here is the painting coming together in 12 steps...

Bestiary: Lost World - Process steps

To help better illustrate the painting taking shape here is an animated gif of the process. You can see what changed along the way a bit better. Like when I got rid of a huge vine or changed the perspective of the Ironclaw's head. There is the expected pushing and pulling of the environment to get the right focus and contrast. ANIMATED...

Bestiary: Lost World - Process animation thing

The painting was approved without revision and production was happy. All in all, a success in my books. Covers do not come my way often, but when they do, I ponce on them. Here again is the final illustration and how it appeared as the cover (it was also used as the lead graphic for an article of the same name and appears in the magazine without cropping)...

Bestiary: Lost World - Dragon Magazine Issue 427

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Dragon Magazine Issue 427 Cover

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

Ancient Carp and Gudul Lurker prints now available!

Prints for my pieces in the Dragons of Tarkir expansion of Magic the Gathering are now available over at my store!  Each 18 x 12 print is signed and numbered and are limited to a print run of 50. Once they are gone, they are gone! Head over to to see all available Magic the Gathering prints.

"Ancient Carp" - Magic the Gathering - Dragons of Tarkir

PRINTS available at OMA!

"Gudul Lurker" - Magic the Gathering - Dragons of Tarkir

PRINTS available at OMA!

Once I receive my artist proofs they will be going up on the store as well. There will be a post about them when they go up. RAWR!

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

Dragons of Tarkir Prerelease

I had the opportunity to be  part of the Dragons of Tarkir Prerelease events in Tallahassee over the weekend and had a blast at Gamescape. Since I did not have to travel I was able to bring a bunch of stuff with me that and set up a full booth. I signed a bunch of cards, sketched some tokens, watched a lot of Magic get played, and had some fun.

Big thanks to Ben, Aras, and everyone out at Gamescape for making the Dragons of Tarkir Prerelease so much fun! Here are some images from the weekend...

The booth offering all sorts of things for your hands and eyes!

Magic the Gathering prints! The new prints will be up on the store in the next couple of days!
PRINTS available at OMA!

Peddling my wears... RAWR!

The Ancient Carp in handy dandy card form

The Gudul Lurker in handy dandy card form

A foil Gudul Lurker was pulled during the first sealed tournament of the Prerelease and is was pretty cool to see one in the flesh so soon... OH! Shiny!

I kept forgetting to take images of the players playing. Finally remembered on Saturday afternoon during a Two Headed Giant sealed tournament. RAWR!

That's all for another exciting Monday on the blog, 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

Toned Paper Ancient Carp / Dragons of Tarkir Prerelease Weekend

It is going to be a Magic filled weekend for me and many other folks this weekend. The Dragons of Tarkir Prerelease events start up at midnight tonight and I have a very long day ahead of me.

Today on the blog I thought I would share the toned drawing study I did for the Ancient Carp. While it is now in a new home where I am sure it will be love and appreciated I was really happy with it and a little sad to see it go. My monsters need to go out into the world to live and grow, so it is for the best. Here is out the Ancient Carp toned drawing turned out...

"Ancient Carp"

Magic the Gathering: Dragons of Tarkir

14 x 11

Colored pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Wizards of the Coast

In preparation of the Prerelease this weekend I have had my new Magic prints made and they are all ready to make their debut tonight. Fear naught, they will be up on my store first thing next week!

Prints are all ready for the numbers... scribble scribble scribble
PRINTS available at OMA!

Ancient Carp with sequential numbering action!

Just look at those numbers! Increasing by one from one print to the next!

As mentioned on Wednesday, if you are in the Tallahassee area this weekend I hope to see you out at Gamescape. You can get all the details about the Prerelease events and when I will be attending over on Gamescape's Dragons of Tarkir Prerelease Facebook event page. If you aim for midnight Friday and 5:00pm on Saturday it will be a good bet that you will run into me. Just look for the banner with Yoda on it!

Come see me at Gamescape above the AMC theater in the Tallahassee Mall! RAWR!

That is all for another Magic filled 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

Tallahassee Dragons of Tarkir Prerelease Appearances

I am proud to be returning to Gamescape in Tallahassee, Florida to take part in their Prerelease events for the newest expansion to Magic the Gathering, Dragons of Tarkir! I will appearing at Gamescape Friday night and again on Saturday afternoon/evening.

I will be signing my cards and those attending will be the first to have access to my limited edition signed and numbered prints of my cards. In addition to signing and prints I will have original art, sketchbooks, play mats, and much more!

Get your hands on my new cards from DoT this weekend!

(I will try my best to not steal them from you)
PRINTS available at OMA!

If you are in the Tallahassee area this weekend I hope to see you out at Gamescape. You can get all the details about the Prerelease events and when I will be attending over on Gamescape's Dragons of Tarkir Prerelease Facebook event page. If you aim for midnight Friday and 5:00pm on Saturday it will be a good bet that you will run into me. Just look for the banner with Yoda on it!

All the details you need over at Gamescape's FB page

Memories of prereleases past at Gamescape

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

Magic the Gathering - Dragons of Tarkir - Ancient Carp

On Friday my second piece was spoiled from the newest expansion of Magic the Gathering, Dragons of Tarkir! This piece was super fun because I was asked to design and illustrate a giant koi monster. Here is the final version of the mighty Ancient Carp...

"Ancient Carp"

Magic the Gathering: Dragons of Tarkir

12 x 8.7 - Digital

PRINTS available at OMA!

© 2015 Wizards of the Coast

I saw a lot of really positive responses to this piece the moment it was spoiled and that was really exciting. I had not expected this piece to resonate with some many. These pieces are created in such a vacuum and nearly a year will go by before anyone will ever see it, so sometimes the initial impact of the piece gets lost for me. You could say this piece made a big splash! Here is how the final card turned out in low resolution goodness...

Ancient Carp in handy dandy card form

A big thanks to Dawn Murin for the assignment and great art direction on this piece! I will have more to share about this in the coming weeks with the process and related aspects.

That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog, 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

Happy Crab Drawing

I have been a *little* busy lately with life and work and making time for anything even remotely looking like personal work has been difficult. That said, here and there I have been scribbling away on things. One of those things was suppose to be a rather happy crab. Things went horribly wrong, or maybe they just took their natural course. Here is my Happy Crab...

Happy Crab

9 x 12

Pencil on paper
© 2015 Christopher Burdett

Original for sale over on my web store!

I just stepped back and let this one take shape more or less on its own. There was the idea of a claw early on and it went from there. Sometimes it is better to let the monster just find its own way in life. Less people get hurt that way. As an added bonus, here are several images of the drawing taking shape...

All images © 2015 Christopher Burdett

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

Blending In RETURNS to TeeFury.com!

UPDATE: It looks like the shirt is now no longer available.  

I am super pleased to announce that my shirt, Blending In, has been brought back to TeeFury.com as part of their Old Skool gallery and is once again available for purchase! Not only is it back, but it is now in three new colors of the shirt and there is no time limitation on its availability. 

What are you waiting for?! Heading to TeeFury.com RIGHT NOW and get yourself your monster insect wearing a car shirt! RAWR! You know you have been kicking yourself since you missed your chance to buy one in 2010...

Blending In is NOW AVAILABLE AGAIN!

As mentioned, my design is now on three new exciting shirt colors, so even if you already have one, you can now replace that old worn-out shirt with one of these new and improved colors...

Totally RAWR Turquoise!

Simply RAWR Silver!

Keeping it RAWR Kelly

Thanks to all the folks over at TeeFury.com for selecting Blending In to be part of their Old Skool gallery. It means a lot that my shirt made an impression on them and is now available again.

Here is the link to Blending In on TeeFury.com one more time, just in case you missed it the dozen time above. Don't miss out on getting yourself one of these exciting shirts that is full of RAWR!

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

Magic the Gathering - Dragons of Tarkir - Gudul Lurker

Last week I had a piece spoiled from the newest expansion of Magic the Gathering, Dragons of Tarkir! This piece is near and dear to me because it is a giant salamander monster that I was asked to design and illustrate. Here is the final version of the mighty Gudul Lurker...

"Gudul Lurker"

Magic the Gathering: Dragons of Tarkir

12 x 8.7 - Digital

PRINTS available at OMA!

© 2015 Wizards of the Coast

I understand that the card mechanics are pretty okay, or so the internet has led me to believe. Either way people seem to think it is cute and there are a lot of folks out there that like salamanders. Honestly, who could blame them, salamanders and newts are super cool. Here is how the final card turned out in low resolution goodness...

Gudul Lurker in handy dandy card form

A big thanks to Jeremy Jarvis for the assignment and great art direction on this piece! I will have more to share about this in the coming weeks with the process and related aspects. This piece had its ups and downs as I worked on it and in the end it is stronger for it all. RAWR!

That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog, 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

Week Blog Vacation

Life and work has ramped up again and I will be taking a week off from the blog (for real this time) to catch up on things and to get my ducks in their appropriate rows. A little blog breather is nice every now again. Fear naught, I will be back before you know it on my my usual schedule with things for you eyes and brain. Should have some exciting stuff on the way... maybe. Until then, I will leave you with this happy crab...

HAPPY CRAB! RAWR!

That is all for today, see you in a week after a little blog break! Until then...

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