Wednesday, November 29, 2023

"Recent" Magic the Gathering Artist Proof Drawings

Today I have "recent" Magic the Gathering artist proofs that I added a drawing to their backs. All available artist proofs and drawing options can be found on my store. These are from September and October. These are a mix of orders that came in on the store and commisions from IX last month that I  completed after the convention. I present a selection of drawings on the back of Magic the Gathering cards.

Nothing like being told, "Just have fun with it". It is always a lot of fun!
 
Always fun to do some gift cards for Apathy House Booster Club. It is a fun yearly tradition.
 
And finally a Gundam with a massive sythe!

That's 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

Monday, November 27, 2023

CYBER MONDAY is Live in the Grand Bazaar!

My CYBER MONDAY event in the Grand Bazaar has begun! As a reminder, here is what is happening under the tenting:

• I am offering FREE shipping in the continental US. This offer goes live at 12:01 AM on Friday the 24th and continues till Midnight on Thursday the 30th (all EST). 

• I am offering FREE Kaijudo artist proofs with drawings on their backs! When you purchase over $100 on my store, you will receive ONE FREE Kaijudo AP (a single randomly selected card), and if you purchase over $150 on my store, you will receive THREE FREE Kaijudo APs (one of each of the three cards and if possible the same number on all three). 

• I am offering discounted the pricing for some of my Magic the Gathering artist proof reprints when you purchase a black and white or color drawing on their back. 

• Lastly, I have added many pieces of new art to my store

The free shipping will apply automatically at checkout, and I will add the FREE Kaijudo APs to all orders that qualify. There is nothing you need to do when purchasing from my store.

This is a sample of what you can expect from the FREE Kaijudo aritst proofs!
Remember, you will receive one for free with any purchase over $100, and if your purchase is over $150, you will recieve one of each of the three cards!

That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog. See you back here on Wedesday! Until then...

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

Friday, November 24, 2023

BLACK FRIDAY is Live in the Grand Bazaar!

My Black Friday event in the Grand Bazaar has begun! As a reminder, here is what is happening under the tenting:

• I am offering FREE shipping in the continental US. This offer goes live at 12:01 AM on Friday the 24th and continues till Midnight on Thursday the 30th (all EST). 

• I am offering FREE Kaijudo artist proofs with drawings on their backs! When you purchase over $100 on my store, you will receive ONE FREE Kaijudo AP (a single randomly selected card), and if you purchase over $150 on my store, you will receive THREE FREE Kaijudo APs (one of each of the three cards and if possible the same number on all three). 

• I am offering discounted pricing for some of my Magic the Gathering artist proof reprints when you purchase a black and white or color drawing on their back. 

• Lastly, I have added many pieces of new art to my store

The free shipping will apply automatically at checkout, and I will add the FREE Kaijudo APs to all orders that qualify. There is nothing you need to do when purchasing from my store.

This is a sample of what you can expect from the FREE Kaijudo artist proofs!
Remember, you will receive one for free with any purchase over $100, and if your purchase is over $150, you will receive one of each of the three cards!

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

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

BLACK FRIDAY, CYBER MONDAY, NEW ART, FREE SHIPPING, FREE ARTIST PROOFS, AND MORE!

 

With Black Friday a couple days away and Cyber Monday just behind, I wanted to share all you can expect from the Grand Bazaar in these times of deals and incentives:

• First and foremost, I am offering FREE shipping in the continental US. This offer goes live at 12:01 AM on Friday the 24th and continues till Midnight on Thursday the 30th (all EST). 

• I am offering FREE Kaijudo artist proofs with drawings on their backs! When you purchase over $100 on my store, you will receive ONE FREE Kaijudo AP (a single randomly selected card), and if you purchase over $150 on my store, you will receive THREE FREE Kaijudo APs (one of each of the three cards and if possible the same number on all three). 

• I have discounted the pricing for some of my Magic the Gathering artist proof reprints when you purchase a black and white or color drawing on their back. 

• Lastly, I have added many pieces of new art to my store

The free shipping will apply automatically at checkout, and I will add the FREE Kaijudo APs to all orders that qualify. There is nothing you need to do when purchasing from my store.

This is a sample of what you can expect from the FREE Kaijudo aritst proofs!
Remember, you will receive one for free with any purchase over $100, and if your purchase is over $150, you will recieve one of each of the three cards!

Kaijudo fronts...

And Kaijudo backs!

So head to my store starting Friday, November 24th, to take advantage of my Black Friday and Cyber Monday event!

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

Monday, November 20, 2023

Kwuguian Portrait - The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia

I am thrilled to share another new piece from The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia. This illustration is for Book Two: The Completed Circle. This will be a character portrait accompanying one of the short blurbs at the beginning of a chapter. I shared more about these with the first post focused on these portraits. With most of these, I have an idea regarding their voice and placement in the book, but the fun part is that it is not set in stone and may turn into something very different from what I first plannedI present you with a Kwuguian (name to come later) that was mentioned in book one but gets a face in book two.

Kwuguian
The Grand Bazaar of Ethra Dalia - The Completed Circle
5 x 5 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper
Original - SOLD
© 2023 Christopher Burdett

Kwuguian - Drawing 
5 x 5 - Pencil on paper
© 2023 Christopher Burdett
 
These are the smallest pieces created for the books. There is something charming about a 5 x 5 image, and I have already framed them up. They look great in a frame and made an excellent addition to my conventions this year. Here is a look at the sketch for the Kwuguian to show where it started.

Kwuguian - Sketch 
 Digital 
 © 2023 Christopher Burdett
 
That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog. See you back here soon! Until then...

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

Friday, November 17, 2023

NEW Aarakocra Miniature

If you are saying to yourself there is already an Aarakocra miniature out there and that I shared it here on the blog, you are correct. Today I am sharing one of several NEW Aarakocra miniatures that was 'recently' released. Let us start things by looking back at my original Aarakocra painting that I created for the 5th Edition Monster Manual.

Aarakocra
 Dungeons & Dragons - 5th Edition Monster Manual
8x11 - Digital
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures release of the Aarakocra Fighters is a two-pack of Aarakocra miniatures. I think the miniatures looks excellent and are very dynamic. Maybe one of these days I will be asked to revisit this monster and I will be able to paint one in the middle of the action. Here is the unpainted Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures release of the Aarakocra Fighters.

Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures - Aarakocra Fighters
 
As I have stated above, the Aarakocra has already been made into a miniature. It was a prepainted mini that was part of a standalone miniatures game that is now no longer in production. It seemed interesting, but I never played it. It was an early way to get miniatures based on 5th Edition versions of the monsters, though. Here is the Aarakocra from that early line of minis. 
 
Aarakocra - Miniature
Icons of the Realms
2014 

That's 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

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Runic Colossus - Dungeons & Dragons - Process

Today, I am happy to share the process and steps for one of my contributions to the Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants. This is one of four contributions to the book. Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants focuses on all things giants, including giant things that are not living creatures. Here is the final painting for the Runic Colossus, a giant statue that can shoot energy-PEW PEW PEW.

Runic Colossus
Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants
11 x 14 - Digital
Art Director - Emi Tamji
© 2023 Wizards of the Coast LLC

I was asked to design and illustrate the Runic Colossus, a new monster for Dungeons & Dragons. I was provided with the necessary reference, so I jumped right in. The Runic Colossus was described as:

This illustration depicts a RUNIC COLOSSUS. The colossus is an enormous CONSTRUCT made of smooth STONE with mithral or adamantine around the joints and stands at 30 feet (9m) tall. The colossus is modeled after a STORM GIANT. Runes are inscribed along its body (no more than 1 per body part).
The colossus is firing a beam of MAGIC ENERGY at a foe offscreen. This beam could be fired from the chest, hands, or eyes.

This all sounds like a fun thing to work on. While I had some trouble fitting the Gigant into the compositional space, the Runic Colossus was a lot easier to make work in the tall narrow area I needed to work in. We shot some reference of me doing my best Runic Colossus impression and started scribbling. Here are the thumbnails that I submitted.  

Runic Colossus- Thumbnails
 © 2023 Wizards of the Coast LLC
 
These were well received, but they were not all the way to where they needed to be. Production liked where 'A' was headed, but they wanted the body twisted a little more and the waist accentuated more to show that this is not a living, breathing giant. I will say that I was pretty excited to do a version of 'B' with that cool frontal helemt plate and the eye beams shooting around, but it was not meant to be. Here is the updated thumbnail that I submitted.
 
Runic Colossus- Revised thumbnail
 © 2023 Wizards of the Coast LLC
 
The updated thumbnail checked all the boxes and was approved without additional notes and revisions. I was now approved to take it to the next process phase. I always create a final traditional drawing for every project to work out the details and to give myself a tangible product from the assignment. Here is the Runic Colossus drawing.
 
Runic Colossus
Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants
11 x 14 -Colored pencil on paper
Original - SOLD
Art Director - Emi Tamji
© 2023 Wizards of the Coast LLC

The drawing was approved without comment, and it was time to start on the final painting. Here is the painting of the Runic Colossus taking shape.

Runic Colossus - Process
 © 2023 Wizards of the Coast LLC
 
The painting process was straightforward, and there were no issues. There were no edits or changes requested for the Runic Colossus. Sadly, I have no juicy stories to share about how production wanted major edits or that I had a breakdown halfway through and decided to make this as an etching. I sat down and painted it, and it was done. I will say that I have found I like to paint green leaning rock and stone. I'm not sure why, but I just prefer it a LOT more to a more neutral grey rock or stone. It just spices it up more, and it makes me happy. Here, again, is the final painting of the Runic Colossus.
 
Runic Colossus
Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants
© 2023 Wizards of the Coast LLC

That's 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

Monday, November 13, 2023

Dryskedawn Wasp Portrait - The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia

I am thrilled to share another new piece from The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia. This illustration is for Book Two: The Completed Circle. This will be a character portrait accompanying one of the short blurbs at the beginning of a chapter. I shared more about these with the first post focused on these portraits. With most of these, I have an idea regarding their voice and placement in the book, but the fun part is that it is not set in stone and may turn into something very different from what I first plannedI present you with a Dryskedawn Wasp (name to come later) that was mentioned in book one but gets a face in book two.

Dryskedawn Wasp
The Grand Bazaar of Ethra Dalia - The Completed Circle
5 x 5 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper
Original - SOLD
© 2023 Christopher Burdett

Dryskedawn Wasp - Drawing 
5 x 5 - Pencil on paper
© 2023 Christopher Burdett
 
These are the smallest pieces created for the books. There is something charming about a 5 x 5 image, and I have already framed them up. They look great in a frame and made an excellent addition to my conventions this year. Now that convention season is over I will have all remaining portraits on my store soon. Here is a look at the sketch for the Dryskedawn Wasp to show where it started.
 
Dryskedawn Wasp - Sketch 
 Digital 
 © 2023 Christopher Burdett
 
That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog. See you back here soon! Until then...  

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

Friday, November 10, 2023

Infected By Art Volume 11 - A World of Stories

While at IX last month, I was able to get my copies of this year's Infected by Art. I always look forward to getting my copies at the event, and it has become a bit of a tradition in that respect. This year marks the release of volume 11 of IBA, and once again, I have a piece included. A World of Stories from the upcoming The Completed Circle got a full page in IBA #11, and I think it printed great. Here are images of the book, my art, and my art in the book.

The IX exclusive cover for Infected by Art #11

A World of Stories
The Grand Bazaar of Ethra Dalia - The Completed Circle
16 x 20 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper
Original - SOLD
© 2022 Christopher Burdett

A World of Stories in IBA #11

That's 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

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Casual Commander Podcast Interview

I recently was on the Casual Commander Podcast talking about Magic the Gathering, art, and more. It was a super fun time, and the interview is now available for all to hear! Hopefully, I was not too much of an blithering idiot, but I have my limits - so no promises. In all seriousness, go check these folks out!

Go give my interview over on the Casual Commander Podcast, and while you are there, check out some of the other episodes!

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