Pocket Squares - 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 is one of the numerous pieces of spot art throughout the book. This supporting image is trying to find its exact home in the book. It could go well in the Cryptic Knight section, the Arrival section, or any number of spots. In the fullness of time, I will figure out where it needs to live. Depicted here are very common and sometimes hazardous extraterrestrial items that find themselves all over the Grand Bazaar. They are deminisal storage cards that can become lost or discarded by those that bring them to the planet. The mathematics needed to create them is one of the stepping stones to interplanetary travel so that they can be found in nearly all space-traveling species. Strangely, when their name is translated, it almost always ends up being something close to 'pocket' and 'square.' I present the Pocket Squares.

Pocket Squares
The Grand Bazaar of Ethra Dalia - The Completed Circle
9 x 12 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper
Contact me regarding availability
© 2024 Christopher Burdett

 

Pocket Squares - Drawing 

9 x 12 - Pencil on paper
© 2024 Christopher Burdett

 

This is one of the many pieces I completed so far this year. It has been a blur of pencil and paint. Nice to finally be sharing them. Here is a look at the sketch for the Pocket Squares to show where it began.

 

Pocket Squares - Sketch 

 Digital 

 © 2024 Christopher Burdett 

As a bonus, I have some images of the rendering process of this piece so that you can get a better idea of it taking shape. Additional fun fact: While this is the same paper I have used for my work on the Grand Bazaar, this sheet and several others recently used was from a larger piece of Rives BFK that I have had since college, so over twenty years old. I am not sure if it is the age of the paper or if the paper is made differently now, but water does not go down on this paper the same way as all the others of the same type I use. So there was a lot more drying time and a lot of impatient waiting to see if the washes went down correctly and if the pencil was blending the way I desired. In the end, there was no deviation from the image I was able to achieve, just some uncertain moments of waiting for things to dry.

 

Pocket Squares - Process

© 2024 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