Sunken Stalls - The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia

I have a new piece from The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia! With all the monsters complete, it is now time to begin exploring the Grand Bazaar itself. The third stop is a visit to the Sunken Stalls. Not every monster lives on land, but they all have things to sell and things they need to buy. You can find many wonders of the aquatic realms for sale here and desired goods from the land at a noticeable markup. Don't expect to haggle if you can't breathe underwater!

Sunken Stalls
16 x 20 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper
Original - AVAILABLE!
© 2018 Christopher Burdett

Sunken Stalls - Drawing
16 x 20 - Pencil on paper
© 2018 Christopher Burdett

Due to the complexity of these larger full environment pieces I am now working on, I have needed to do value studies to make sure I know where I am going and don't lose my way. Doing these value studies has been one of the best course of action on this project and have saved me a lot of headaches. Here is the value study for Sunken Stalls...

Sunken Stalls - Value study
Digital
© 2018 Christopher Burdett

Here are all of the monsters appearing in the first volume of The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia: Aberrant Stilter, Belled Kreep, Corrupted Knight, Dight-Kin, Eau-de-nil Elder, Ethra VanDalia, Footman, Gray Wanderer, Gullet, Humgruffin Mother, Irritated Girasol, Judicator, Kiplorbic Animal Dealer, Lammergeier Transport, Myopic Riflemen, Nimsbane Curse Victim, Ophiomornous Bureaucrat, Petrous Blacksmith, Quincaillerie, Rapacious Guttersnipe, Saint Marque, Smokestack, Thrice, Uncanny Scribe, Virulent Artificer, Woven Egg, Woven Shaper, Xandrell Tree, Yote Arms Dealer, and Zombic Spore.
 
As an added bonus, I have some images of the line work and rendering process of this piece so that you can get a better idea of it taking shape... 

Sunken Stalls - Process © 2018 Christopher Burdett

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

Kraken Miniature

I recently found out that a rather large miniature was made that is based on one of the monsters I illustrated for the 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. The monster I am talking about is none other than the mighty Kraken. I was able to get my hands on one and boy, it is impressive! The Kraken was designed for 5E by the super amazing creature designer Brynn Metheney and I was brought in to illustrate it for the book. I was also asked to rework the head as part of the assignment. Brynn gave this creature an amazing head, but production wanted something a little different in the end. It was a real honor to be able to illustrate one of Brynn's designs and it is still one of my favorite pieces from the Monster Manual. I never thought they would make a miniature of this particular monster so it was a huge surprise to see that they had. Here are some images of the miniature in all its glory...

I am really impressed with all the detail and how much it really matches the designs and illustration. The sculpture did an amazing job. ...and ALL THOSE TENTACLES!!!!

It just looks great from every angle!

YASSSSSS!

The miniature even comes with some little sandbars, a boat and oars, a treasure chest with removable lid, and a skeleton clinging to a ships wheel atop a pile of gold.

I think this is all pretty cool to say the least! Still trying to figure out how and where to display this one since it is WAY bigger than any of my other miniatures. There are worst problems to have! If you want to compare and contrast, I am including my illustration and detail sketches that I created for the Monster Manual...

Kraken

Digital

5E Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual

© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

Kraken - Detail Sketches

Pencil on paper

5E Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual

© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

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

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes - Hydroloth

Last year I had the joy of working on Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, the newest supplement for Dungeons & Dragons. I created five monster illustrations for the book and had a fantastic time doing so. A huge thanks go out to Kate Irwin for including me on this project! Last but not least, today I have for you the Hydroloth...

Hydroloth

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Hydroloth

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Wrapping things up is the Hydroloth. Nothing like a weird froggy monster to be the cherry on top of a wonderful monster-filled sundae. As with all of these, I have some horribly unflattering reference photos of myself that help make this piece a reality. This is one of those pieces that practically painted itself, but I have more on that in the coming months when I share the process to this piece and all my other contributions to Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes!

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

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes - Eidolon

Last year I had the joy of working on Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, the newest supplement for Dungeons & Dragons. I created five monster illustrations for the book and had a fantastic time doing so. A huge thanks go out to Kate Irwin for including me on this project! Today I have for you the mighty Eidolon...

Eidolon

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Eidolon

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Art Director - Kate Irwin

Original - SOLD

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

This was a fun one and hit me in the D&D feels. If you are familiar with the long history of D&D you should see a striking resemblance between this animated statue and the statue on the cover of the First Edition Players Handbook. In fact, I was asked to make this Eidolon look exactly like the station on the Players Handbook... if it had just stood up and was about to cause some trouble. You might notice that there is a different length in the loin cloth from the drawing to the final... that is a story for another day.

Keep an eye on the blog as I share the rest of my contributions to Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes!

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

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes - Hellfire Engine

Last year I had the joy of working on Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, the newest supplement for Dungeons & Dragons. I created five monster illustrations for the book and had a fantastic time doing so. A huge thanks go out to Kate Irwin for including me on this project! Today I have for you the devil construct Hellfire Engine...

Hellfire Engine

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Hellfire Engine

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Art Director - Kate Irwin

Original - SOLD

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

This was a weird one for sure. When I was working on the thumbnails I thought to myself that I was either immediately nailing it... or I was HORRIBLY wrong in the direction I was going. Turns out I nailed it. The reference I was sent to base this on was a little vague, so I did the best I could and apparently figured it out. In the end, I really enjoyed working on this one, and I think it turned out well, but going into it I was worried. I was reading the stats on this one yesterday, it is a beast. I would not like to find my character on the business end of one of these. If you were wondering, I posed for reference for this one too.

Keep an eye on the blog as I share the rest of my contributions to Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes!

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

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes - Sibriex

Last year I had the joy of working on Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, the newest supplement for Dungeons & Dragons. I created five monster illustrations for the book and had an amazing time doing so. A huge thanks go out to Kate Irwin for including me on this project! Today I have for you the giant demon Sibriex...

Sibriex

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Sibriex

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Art Director - Kate Irwin

Original - SOLD

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

The Sibriex just might be my favorite piece that I created for this book. It hits a lot of important notes with me: it is a mess yet it has some order, lots of detail, oozing grossness, crazy textures, a chance to do a self-portrait. Speaking of self-portrait, a lot of really silly images of me making crazy faces went into the creation of this piece. Production wanted this incarnation to look a bit more intelligent than the preview versions. I was more than happy to step in a try to portray that intelligence. Hopefully, it came through in the end.

Keep an eye on the blog as I share the rest of my contributions to Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes!

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

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes - Choker

Last year I had the joy of working on Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, the newest supplement for Dungeons & Dragons. I created five monster illustrations for the book and had a fantastic time doing so. A huge thanks go out to Kate Irwin for including me on this project! Starting things off I have for you the Choker...

Choker

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Choker

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Art Director - Kate Irwin

Original - SOLD

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

The choker is a classic D&D monster, and it was great to have the chance to illustrate it for this book. When shooting reference images, I did my best to make it seem like I had no bone and I was only filled with cartilage. I think it all worked out in the end.

Keep an eye on the blog as I share the rest of my contributions to Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes!

That is all for another exciting Tuesday 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