The DOODLES, DESIGNS, and aRT of CHRISTOPHER BURDETT: Balance of the force

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Star Wars: Balance of the Force - Arcona Rumor Monger PROCESS

Back in January I shared with you the Arcona Rumor Monger that I created for the Balance of the Force expansion of the Star Wars Card Game. The time has finally come that I am sharing the process that went into this piece that was originally produced WAY back in March of last year. So we are all on the same page, here is how the final piece turned out...

Arcona Rumor Monger

Thumbnails came first (surprise surprise). The reference shoot for this was fun and I channeled my inner Arconan to get my head around this piece. I always work out some ideas of what I want to do with a piece ahead of time, then shoot the reference, and then begin to work up the thumbnails. This allows me the flexibility to adapt and work off the unexpected elements that occur in the reference shoot as well as having a strong foundation from the reference. I always come up with better solutions to a piece when I can physically act it out. Here are how the thumbnails turned out...

Arcona Rumor Monger - Thumbnails

If I remember correctly, all of the thumbnails were winners, but option 'A' worked best for the piece. The Star Wars cards can have a lot of chrome (the elements of the card that border and lay over the art) and this piece was going to have a huge strip over the top third of the piece that I was going to have to leave room for. Option 'A' allowed for this gap the best and told the story of the rumor monger. With a selected thumbnail it was time to get started on the drawing...

Arcona Rumor Monger - Drawing

Using my reference more I flesh out the final drawing, making sure everything is in its place and the piece overall is working. At the time I was working on the drawing I was still working through the figures in the background. Playing with the idea of how much I wanted to do with them and how far I was going to push the piece for myself. As you have seen in the final, I added a lot to the background that was eventually covered up in the final card. Those elements are for me, the things I do to make the piece mine. SO... I keep mentioning reference... well, I will tease you no longer, here are some of the reference shots that I used for making this piece...

Arcona Rumor Monger reference for all your Arcona reference needs... RAWR!

The drawing was approved and it was now time to get started on the final painting. The process is the same, the subject matter and the number of correction layers can vary. In eight easy steps here is how the Arcona Rumor Monger took shape...

Arcona Rumor Monger - Process steps

As an added bonus, here is an animated process step thing that I through together so you can see each layer adding to the image. Some of the changes between steps can be very small or very large... that is just how I work.

Arcona Rumor Monger animated process thing...

I have walked through the actual steps of my painting in a lot more detail on other posts so I will not go through it all again here, but if you have any questions please feel free to add them in the comments below. Now that I had a finished painting it was turned in and approved without revisions... which is always good. Again, here is how the final Arcona Rumor Monger turned out...

Arcona Rumor Monger

Arcona Rumor Monger in handy card form

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

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Star Wars: Balance of the Force

For the last couple years I have been doing my best to make every assignment "mine" and today I have for you the first of my Star Wars pieces really that fits the bill. I have been looking forward to sharing this since last March and it should be a representation of things to come. The most recent expansion to the Star Wars card game, Balance of the Force, is now out and I have one new card, the Arcona Rumor Monger, in this expansion...

Arcona Rumor Monger

I mentioned on Monday in my look back at 2013 about how I have been working to carve out a section of the Star Wars and D&D universe and tell that part in my voice... well, this is one of those Star Wars pieces. The assignment was to depict a seedy bar where an Aronan rumor monger leans forward to tell the viewer some juice gossip. That is a fairly open assignment and this piece could have gone in any direction. I could have easily put the Arcona up against a wall or other generic backdrop... but that was not the piece I wanted to create. I wanted to start building my Star Wars world. Since an Arcona appears in the cantina in Star Wars: A New Hope, I wanted to include a bunch of other cantina aliens in this piece. Before I get too far ahead of myself, let's have a look at the final production card so you can better see what and why I did what I did...

Arcona Rumor Monger in handy card form and a lot less background

Yup... the chrome of the card template covers up EVERYTHING that I put in there that was mine. I knew this going into the assignment and it in a way made me more determined to do it. I put all that back there for my needs as an artist and as a fan of Star Wars... not for the client or the people that play the game. I know it is back there, that part in mine. It might seem a little weird to do this, or perhaps a waste of my time and energy... but I know I made the right decision and it has lead to me doing more of this. I have been pushing pieces further then expected and doing more with them. It has gotten me reinvigorated about creating more complex visual worlds and pieces.

If you were wondering what was written in Aurebesh in the background and on the datapad, it is the name of bar, "Ric's". Worked with the folks over at FFG to get a suitable name for this bar that would be approved and add some flavor. Also, if you think this Arcona looks a little familiar... well, his face did sneak into another recently Star Wars piece that I shared back in October.

I did specify above that I have one NEW card in this expansion, but it turns out that there are two card in the expansion with my art on it. Apparently a pair of wily Trandoshans that I first painted for the SW RPG core book have surfaced again, they do get around...

Oh hai, Trandoshans... glad to see you guys made it...

If you had forgotten or missed it before, here is how the original piece of those two Trandoshans turned out...

AT-PT ...and apparently Trandoshan Security Team

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