Friday, June 9, 2023

Dungeons & Dragons Word Search and Coloring Book - The Return of the Ankheg

Sometimes I go looking, and sometimes these things come to me. Another Facebook ad gave me the heads-up on something I might want to check out. I checked it out, and I can confirm that it did fall well within the sphere of my interests. After a quick glance at the recently released Dungeons & Dragons Word Search and Coloring Book, I noticed that under Ankheg was something very familiar to me.

Dungeons & Dragons Word Search and Coloring Book
For all your Dungeons & Dragons Word Search and Coloring Book needs.

Much to my surprise (but is it really at this point), under Ankheg I found the design drawing that I produced while working on the 5E D&D Monster Manual and monster redesign. It looked a little funny, but I am sure it was modified a little to make for a better coloring page. Here is my Ankheg drawing.

A drawing of a monster that is near and dear to me.

As mentioned, I recognized it immediately as my work, but the more and more I looked at it, it felt a little off. Not by much, but something just seemed different. I could clearly see my mark-making and my work, but something was... strange. I compared it to the original design work.

Ankheg - Version 02
Digitally modified drawing
12 x 9
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

Ankheg - Final Concept
Digital color over modified drawing
12 x 9
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

After a side-by-side comparison, I knew something was off. It was my design, but with less detail, and the shading was off. That is when I remembered I did additional detail drawings for all of the monsters I painted for the 5E MM, including the Ankheg. Since my final design for the monster was a digitally edited version of my drawing and the illustration in the book was in a more cropped action pose, I redrew that original concept as one of my detail studies. Since it was going to be smaller, I dropped some of the details in the original drawing and changed a couple things here and there. And thus, the mysetery is solved, and I was correct, it was my drawing, just not the one I thought it was at the beginning. Here is a look at all the detail drawings I did for the Ankheg ten years ago. 

Ankheg - Detail drawings
 9 x 12 - Pencil on paper
© 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

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