Looking Back: Bloodspear Orc Archer - Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures

Today I am looking back at a miniature design produced for the Dungeons & Dragons miniature game ten years ago that I have neither shared nor was it ever actually made. The assignment was to design an Orc archer for the miniatures game. Ten years on, of course, we can see that the miniature was never made. Here is a look at the never produced Bloodspear Orc Archer...

Bloodspear Orc Archer

9 x 12 - Pencil on paper (multiple sheets)

© 2007 Wizards of the Coast LLC

This design was created at the same time I created the unfortunate Orc Raider. In fact I worked on a whole bunch of Orc miniatures all at the same time and only the Orc Raider saw production. The Orc Raider was easily one of the most despised miniatures I ever designed. People just did not like how the mini turned out and I got to hear all about it. I wonder if any of these other Orcs would have been looked upon better if they had been made. Here is a look at the full turnaround of the Bloodspear Orc Archer...

Bloodspear Orc Archer Turnaround

9 x 12 - Pencil on paper (multiple sheets)

© 2007 Wizards of the Coast LLC

I was really happy with how this and another archer turned out. I was really excited to work on some archers and was looking forward to seeing them as minis. Alas, that never happen. But I still have the drawings... kind of. This piece, much like ALL of the Orc minis that I designed went through a lot of revisions when it came to the face and postures. Not sure if I was misunderstanding the reference I was given, that things were changing on the production end of things as I was working on these, or that I was dealing with the fact I was doing fully rendered drawings instead of sketches as I worked on this... or all of the above. Here is a look at the various stages that the Bloodspear Orc Archer went through before being approved...

Bloodspear Orc Archer variants

9 x 12 - Pencil on paper (multiple sheets)

© 2007 Wizards of the Coast LLC

My goal with a lot of my work was to have a great looking drawing at the end of it. These minis were no exception. Unfortunately, since I was creating fully rendered drawings instead of sketches, when there were changes I did not have the time or energy to completely redraw everything. Instead I would draw new parts on new sheets of paper and then digitally composite them on and may digital edits. This left me with a single great drawing for the side and back views, a great drawing of the front that looked different than the other views, and multiple sheets of paper with a pair of legs on one, a head on another, and an arm on a third. At some point there may be a collector that is really into this and will think it is pretty cool, but I still wish I had ended up with a clean perfect final drawing of the approved front view. Oh well. At least I got to design a cool Orc archer!

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