The DOODLES, DESIGNS, and aRT of CHRISTOPHER BURDETT: Chadra-Fan

Showing posts with label Chadra-Fan. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Hunter in the Night: Star Wars LCG - Process

Way back in 2016, a card that I painted in 2015 was released in the Star Wars LCG expansion, Meditation, and Mastery. Jump ahead to 2020, and I now have the time and energy to look back at this piece and talk about what went into making it. This assignment for Hunter in the Night was to depict a scared Chadra-Fan fleeing from a cloaked figure on the moonlit streets of Mos Eisley or some other city on Tatooine. Since this was an objective card, the final image would be a long narrow sliver of a scene. I have painted one of those before, and since that one was digital, it was not an issue. Since I was painting this one traditionally, I didn't want to paint a strangely sized painting that would be hard to frame and scan. I reached out to production to check that it would not be an issue if I painted the image to the dimensions I wanted, as long as everything they needed was within the cropping area that would be on the card. In the scheme of things, as long as the client is getting what they need and want, the actual size and area of the painting really does not matter, but it is good to have open communication so that they are not surprised at the end. First, here is the final full version of Hunter in the Night.

Hunter in the Night

Star Wars LCG - Meditation and Mastery

11 x 14 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Art Director - Taylor Ingvarsson

Original available on my store!

I, of course, started things off with a reference shoot and thumbnails. This was an enjoyable piece since I could dig deep into my collection of Episode One toys and use several Star Wars Micro Machines pieces as environmental references. Star Wars toys turned into a Star Wars painting for the Star Wars card game. Here are the thumbnails that I submitted for this assignment.

Hunter in the Night - Thumbnails

While we are on the subject of reference and photoshoots, here are some of the images that I took and made to use in the creation of this painting. This first image is of the Star Wars playset I used as a reference for the nameless city on Tatooine depicted in the painting (it is TOTALLY not Mos Eisley, *wink wink*). These playsets were invaluable since they are based directly on the background seen in Episode One, and they help address perspective and lighting. I took many of these images with several playsets and merged them together for the final reference collages.

Hunter in the Night - Reference image

Speaking of reference collages, here are the three final reference images used to create the thumbnails and eventually, the drawing and painting. These are a combination of still from Star Wars, playset images, photos of myself acting out the aliens, and action figure reference. I created something like this for nearly all of my Star Wars assignments, and to one degree or another, I use this technique for all of my work. At this point in my career, since I have done so much of this, I often work up the ideas and forms while I freehand the thumbnails from my head. The environmental pieces for The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia were all created from scribbling and sketching in my head. This is only possible after years of working with loads of reference and observing the world around us.

Hunter in the Night - Reference collage

After the thumbnails were completed and submitted, production selected option 'C' without any notes. This meant I was ready to flesh out the final drawing based on the selected thumbnail. I add details, make adjustments, and get the image to where it needs to be so that I can paint it. Here is the final drawing for Hunter in the Night.

Hunter in the Night

Star Wars LCG - Meditation and Mastery

17 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Art Director - Taylor Ingvarsson

Original available on the store!

The drawing was approved without notes, and it was time to start painting. Here is an animated process for this painting coming together. While it was a straightforward piece, some was pushing and pulling along the way to hit the right tone and to get the color where it needed to be for a night scene.

Hunter in the Night - Process

The painting was approved, and another one was wrapped up. I submitted two versions of the file to the client; one was the image at full size, and the second of the cropped version for the card. I believe that I could have simply submitted the cropped version, but I was being generous and allowed them access to the entire painting that I painted. Here again, is the whole painting for Hunter in the Night.

Hunter in the Night

11 x 14 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Original available on my store!

As you can see, the final crop for the card omits much of the painting. While I could have painted what you see on the card, I didn't want to create an image with these dimensions, and some of my favorite aspects of the painting are not visible on the card.

Hunter in the Night with intense cropping action in handy dandy card form

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, December 5, 2016

Hunter in the Night: Star Wars LCG - Meditation and Mastery

I have another new Star Wars piece for you today! This time around, it is the Hunter in the Night Objective Card from the recently released expansion, Meditation and Mastery. Here is my piece titled, Hunter in the Night.

Hunter in the Night

Star Wars LCG - Meditation and Mastery

11 x 14 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Art Director - Taylor Ingvarsson

Original available on my store!

For those of you that play the game, you will know that Objective Cards have art that is thin and long that runs the length of the card. As you can see above, my art does not fit those dimensions. When I got this assignment, I worked with the art director to create a piece that fulfilled the production's need and allowed me to create a piece that was more in line with the size and shape of work that I like to make. This did mean I was creating more images then they needed, but it was allowing me to create the image I wanted. This all may seem weird, but I needed to do this. Here is the final drawing for Hunter in the Night...

Hunter in the Night

Star Wars LCG - Meditation and Mastery

17 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Art Director - Taylor Ingvarsson

Original available over on my web store

Here is the final production card for Hunter in the Night, and you can see how much the image I created was cropped down for production's needs. I delivered to them the cropped and original versions of the image to do with as they needed. While they were getting two images for the price of one, it gave me the flexibility to make something I was much more excited about working on.

Hunter in the Night in handy dandy card form

I will have more info and details about this piece in the coming weeks/months when I finally get around to sharing the process. Until then, here are a couple images of Hunter in the Night being used as article art over on the Fantasy Flight Games website. As you can see, this piece was officially spoiled over a month ago; it has taken this long for it to finally reach the front of the blog queue!

Hunter in the Night, used on the Fantasy Flight Games website

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

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Heated Tempers - Process - Star Wars: Stay on Target

Today I have for you another overdue process post, this time around it is for my Heated Tempers interior illustration from Age of Rebellion: Stay on Target. I first shared this with you back in December of 2014. This was one of the last pieces that I painted digitally for Star Wars. Here is how the final Heated Tempers turned out...

Heated Tempers

12.5 x 14.5 - Digital

The assignment for this piece was to depict a heated exchange between a Bothan mechanic and the Chadra-Fan pilot whose ship is not ready for combat. This was my first opportunity to paint an A-Wing fighter, a Bothan, and a Chadra-Fan... so it was a WIN, WIN, WIN for me. It was a fairly straight forward piece that needed to focus on the interaction of the two Rebels, a ship, and a gloomy, cavernous hanger. As always, this piece came to life with a photoshoot followed by thumbnails. Here is how the thumbnails turned out...

Heated Tempers - Thumbnails

This thing about the interior art for the Star Wars RPGs is they need a ton of bleed depending on size and placement on the page. Silly me, I forgot about that when I worked up these thumbnails. I made them to size but forgot about the bleed. It was just a matter of adding background to resolve the situation, but I felt like a rookie forgetting about the bleed in the first place. A thumbnail was selected, and I was asked to adjust for the bleed and resubmit it. Option "B" was the winner...

Heated Tempers - Revised thumbnail

The updated thumbnail was approved, and it was time for the drawing. Throughout this entire process, there was a lot of issue with the scale of the relative elements in the illustration. The first issue was the size of the A-Wing compared to the figures. Historically, the A-Wing has been depicted as a rather small ship, maybe the size of an average car. I guess over the years, the A-Wing has increased in size in the Star Wars universe, and there was a bit of back and forth with the AD to get it the right size. I still think I was correct, and it is small, but my job is to fulfill the wishes of the client, and I made sure it was as big as they required. Always be a professional! Here is how the finalized drawing turned out...

Heated Tempers

Age of Rebellion - Stay On Target

9 x 12 - Pencil on paper

I mentioned reference earlier, and once again, I have some super top secret reference of me as the alien monsters... in costumes no less. Who knew that mechanics that work on star fighters use pipe wrenches, but I am sure there has to be at least one pipe in a fighter. Posing for reference allows me to get into the physicality of the assignment, work out computational and anatomy issues, and get much-needed lighting and material reference. You can make it up and risk getting it all wrong or use reference and let the reference to inform your choices to get a lot of it right. Enjoy the reference...

Bothan and Chadra-Fan reference! RAWR!
Photos by Achsa Nute

Time to paint! In just twelve easy steps, you too can have a completed painting of some Rebels arguing over repair completion times. ...or not. Here is a look at the piece coming together...

Heated Tempers - Process progression

You *MIGHT* have noticed that the Chadra-Fan greatly changed size near the end of the painting. In fact, she changed size after the piece was completed and long after it was turned in. The person at Lucas Film that approves everything felt that the Chadra-Fan was way too big. I know that Chadra-Fan are very tiny creatures, this one, in the context of the illustration, is the right size as I painted it. She is in the foreground close to the viewer looking at the Bothan up over there in the middle ground. By shrinking her, she is moved into the middle ground right next to the ship. This effects the composition, tangents, and the interaction between the two figures. I explained that she was in the extreme foreground, and she was the right size. I then made the change because that is what the client wanted, and I am a professional. If this has been a traditional painting, I most likely would have made the change digitally and left the original as I intended. I think I still like the Chadra-Fan larger, but that is not my call. Here is a better look at the process coming together with a handy dandy animated gif...

Heated Tempers - Animated process progression

Once again, here is a look at the final published illustration in all its heated temper goodness...

Heated Tempers

12.5 x 14.5 - Digital

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, December 10, 2014

Star Wars - Age of Rebellion - Stay on Target

Last week I had a new Star Wars pieces spoiled over on the Fantasy Flight Games website, so it, of course, is now showing up on the blog. The newest sourcebook for the Age of Rebellion RPG, Stay on Target, is about to release. I have one piece in this new book, Heated Tempers, and this is how it turned out...

Heated Tempers

A Bothan and a Chadra-Fan walk into a bar... well, not so much a bar as a Rebel hanger, and boy, are they angry. This piece was a lot of fun, and I never pictured myself having a chance to paint an A-Wing. Tha Chadra-Fan is not very happy with her mechanic, and he does not look too happy either! RAWR!

I think this is the last digitally painted Star Wars piece that I made. There are still some pieces in the ether that I can't share with you yet, but this was the last one that I worked on digitally. Kind of glad this was digital, there was a rather sizable edit that I had to make when I had finished the painting. The rest of the story will be saved for another day once the book is out.

Heated Tempers on the FFG website

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