Revisiting the Monsters - Demon: Juiblex

In 2010, sixteen years ago now, I began a personal project to redesign most, if not all, of the monsters in the original Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. That original MM had a profound effect on me and led me to eventually work on the game. While I was already working on the game when I began this project, it did prove useful as I have redesigned many D&D monsters in my career on the game. In the end, I completed over 100 drawings for the project and even had a gallery show featuring the work. 

I thought it would be nice to look back at some of my favorites. Today brings us back to my second pass through the book with the Demon: Juiblex. Enjoy!

Demon: Juiblex redesign (2011)
© 2011/2026 Christopher Burdett 

That's 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

From the Archives: Ubervamp (Turok-Han) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 7

Today, I have a monster I worked on for season seven of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This particular monster appeared in multiple episodes throughout the seventh season. I worked on each of its appearances, including the series finale, where the Scobby Gang fought an army of them. This one was a very big deal as it was the main physical threat to the world controlled by the First. And since it was a big deal, there were a lot of hands involved, and we received a lot of opinions.

Before I go any further, I must remind everyone that this work is a collaboration of many skilled artists and technicians. I was one of many who brought these monsters to life, but this time around, I was present at all stages, but my focus was on the design work, paint and finish, and set crew. After twenty-plus years, I cannot properly give credit to everyone else involved. Sorry, but people's names were the first to go after I left LA.

As I said, this one was a big deal to to the show, and the writers, producers, money people, more money people, Joss, and anyone else available were giving input for how this thing should look. If I remember correctly, going into this, no one had any ideas for what this thing should look like. But they were quick to tell us everything that it didn't look like - and that would have been all of our designs. Eventually, we got there, but not after a lot of work. Typically, early in the season, if there was a solitary Ubervamp or a close-up of a hero makeup, that would be Camden Toy. Camden was an amazing suit performer, actor, and friend. I treasure my memories of working with him. Eventually, the Ubervamps would be played by extras and stunt performers, but all the hero shots are Camden. My work on this one is all over the place, too. I did do some design work, sorta - I will explain below, a bit of shop work and a TON of painting. I painted so many of these masks and makeups. The on-set makeup artists got a little wacky sometimes, but that was to be expected. Here are shop images, set images, and more for the mighty Ubervamp.

This is the hero photo of Camden in the full makeup that the boss took on the first day of shooting. I cleaned up the photo and got it ready for promotion, and it ended up being used everywhere. Camden wore silicone makeup, but all the stunt performers and extras wore foam latex.

I said I did do some design work. And here it is!

While on the set of Angel, as an episode of Firefly was on the TV in the makeup trailer, I got a call from the boss to start designing the 'Uber Vampire' while I was working on the set that night. So, that is what I did. I found some paper, and I had some pencils and markers with me, and I got to work. Mind you, I received little to zero input on what I was supposed to be doing. I was told to start drawing, and that is what I did. I did these crude warm-up drawings while on set, working with some other monster. I was trying to figure out what an 'Uber Vampire' looked like, but it wasn't this.

And it wasn't this either.

I wish I had had more time... I would have liked to have had any time to work on these. I was given brief moments on set doing my job to come up with these. The funny thing is, if this was presented to me now, I wouldn't think anything about it; I would start drawing and would likely come up with something neat in quick work. But this was twenty-two years ago, and I didn't have the skills yet to pull that off, so we have these scribblings.

These two were never even finished.

I did as much as I could on set, and by the time I was back in the shop the next day, things had long since passed me by, with the shop's AD taking the lead. He had over a day's lead on me by now, and I had a couple of crude sketches. I fell back to support and processed and prepped his work as fast as he could make it.

If anyone is interested, I still have all of these drawings.

One thing I did design was the Ubervamp's contacts.

The final lenses didn't look like these at all (I think they just used stock lenses), but I designed something to completion, at least. I think these would have been fun, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

I did say that I was responsible for some painting.

These are the background makeups and masks for the final episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It felt like I was working on these day and night, and I was. There were a bunch of us seaming and patching the heads and hands, and then I would paint them.

And here is me from the distant past with the things I painted.

I miss that shirt.

Here is an early version of the Ubervamp. I do not recall the sculptor, but I think this version would have been great. It feels different and unique, but that is likely why they hated it.

Here are some more sculpt variations.

At the end of the day, they had loads of issues with the nose, and they freaked out about anything that wasn't a normal nose... on a vampire... and was UBER. Again, the sculptor is unknown.

Now for some more Camden love with set pics!

GRRRRR ROAR! I'm a monster!

Ubervamp has had a bad day, Ubervamp needs to lay down.

Lastly, here are some set pics with the Ubervamp army. A mix of masks and makeups, and on set, the masks always migrated up close to the camera for some reason. These were all painted the same, but as I said before, the makeup artists took a lot of liberties with these and went WAY off the style guide way too often. Oh well, nothing to be done about it now. RAWR!

That's all for another exciting week on the blog. See you back here next week! Until then...

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

From the Archives: African Portal Demon - Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 5

Today, I have a monster I designed and worked on for season seven of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, episode fifteen, Get It Done. Looking back, I am a little shocked at how many times I worked on multiple monsters for a single episode. Yesterday, I shared with you another monster I worked on for this episode, the Assassin Demon.  

Before I go any further, I must remind everyone that this work is a collaboration of many skilled artists and technicians. I was one of many who brought these monsters to life, but this time around, I was present at all stages, but my focus was on the design work, paint and finish, and set crew. After twenty-plus years, I cannot properly give credit to everyone else involved. Sorry, but people's names were the first to go after I left LA.

This was a weird one. This demon was meant to be a one-and-done monster. Meaning that it had only a very small role in the episode. It would be filmed in a day and would never be seen again. But the fates had a different plan for it. Through a comedy of errors, something kept happening with the shots they needed to get. First, they ran out of time, then they ran out of time again, then the footage they got didn't work, then they needed some more shots, and there was some more running out of time mixed in there as well. Needless to say, this one-and-done monster ended up on set MANY times, and we had to keep making new makeup pieces each time. I ended up on set a LOT with this one over many weeks as they tried to get all the shots they needed. While I was not the person who originally painted the makeup for the first day, I ended up painting all of the new makeup that was needed for the additional shooting days. I designed the markings on the face and body, but those images are not worth sharing. Here are photos from the set and our effect shop of the African Portal Demon. 

The African Portal Demon in all its glory on set.

Oh wow! It's some idiot and a demon! RAWR!

This was a very cool cave interior set on the Buffy lot. It was made using an expanding foam or material to create the rocky texture. I am not sure what happened, but one day, I walked across the set and left massive bootprints across the entire set floor. I got out of there really fast and didn't get near that set for a few days. Thankfully, no one was there to see me do it. It was likely not a big deal, and bootprints on the floor would never have been seen on the show, but I definitely didn't want to be associated with the imprints. There was always someone looking for a reason to yell at someone lower on the food chain than they were. ...which reminds me of another story from another time working on Buffy, but that story will need to wait for another day - if ever. It's just about someone yelling at me for no reason because they liked yelling and screaming at subordinates.

This is literally a millisecond before I sprayed adhesive into the demon's armpit to patch up a hole. The adhesive ricocheted back and barely missed my eyes and coated my hair. Luckily, some rubbing alcohol took care of the adhesive in my hair, and I wasn't blinded at that moment. 

Man, I miss that shirt.

The actor in this makeup has a SEVERE allergy to latex. This makeup, cowl, and upper body suit are all made of... YOU GUESSED IT! Latex! It was a topical reaction, but he looked like he was dragged across gravel when he came out of it all. And yes, he was aware of his allergy. He was aware of what the suit and makeup were made out of. He still did it all, on numerous days, for the money and fame.

I will say he was one of the more charismatic people we worked with. He wasn't the best we worked with, but he was really, really good. He had a lot of fun with the role and could really emote and come through the makeup with his personality.

Here are some photos of the face and cowl sculptures.

Again, these weren't mine, and I do not remember who was responsible. I have a slight guess, but I am likely wrong at this point. I still love the bite mark on the head and shoulder. The chin tusks may have been a reused item but were likely new for this one.

That's all for another exciting week on the blog. See you back here next week! Until then...

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

From the Archives: Assassin Demon - Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 7

Today, I have a monster I designed and worked on for season seven of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, episode fifteen, Get It Done. As today is Halloween, it seemed like a good day to share this one. We only ever knew it as the Assassin Demon, so I am not sure if it ever acquired a different name.

Before I go any further, I must remind everyone that this work is a collaboration of many skilled artists and technicians. I was one of many who brought these monsters to life, but this time around. I was present at all stages, but my focus was on the design work, paint and finish, and set crew. After twenty-plus years, I cannot properly give credit to everyone else involved. Sorry, but people's names were the first to go after I left LA.

This particular demon is one that I had shared before, which consisted of the same single image, but I never shared any of the other photos, details, or designs. While I have designed and painted a lot of monsters for Buffy and Angel, this is one of my favorites. I was given a lot of room to do whatever I wanted to with the paint scheme, and so I went a bit crazy. I also designed it from a very crude sketch from the art director. It was more of a general direction, and I fleshed it out the best I could. Here is a never before shared photo of the Assassin Demon.

RAWR! The Assassin Demon!

This demon is forever tied to my favorite nights on set for Buffy. I needed to go over to set to check on things and to drop some items off. In the process, I also took a lot of photos and spent some time on set. As it was after hours and a last minute call for me to do this, I was able to bring my wife with me to show her Sunnydale and what I 'do at work.' We had a blast walking around the sets, letting her see where the magic happens and as an added bonus, they had absolutely amazing tomato soup with cheesy bread for late snack at craft service, and I think about that soup often. A really good memory of my time there that I try to hang onto. Now for the designs!

I was told my initial design was approved, which is the above image, but later, I was told to make edits to it and give it another pass, which I did.

My second pass had some edits to the forms and shapes, and I better defined the design with shading. Now, if you are thinking that the updated design really doesn't look like the finished product, you would be correct. This is yet again another example of what I did the first time being used, and the updated version was ignored. I have no idea how, when, why, or what led to this, but it was not uncommon. 

 

This is the photo I have always shared for this particular demon.

You might notice that the demon has lavender around the eyes. This was a unilateral decision made by the makeup artist who applied the makeup. We were not there to stop them, but I guess they wanted to make sure that this looked like a mask by calling attention to the eyes and giving it a COMPLETELY different color just under them. Not darker or lighter versions of the surrounding color, but a contrasting color. Sadly, they all can't be perfect, even though this one got so very close.

And one more photo of the demon for good measure.

Lastly, here are some better images of the face piece and cowl I painted for this monster. Like I said before, I was given a lot of room to just be an artist who makes cool monsters on this one without all the bullying and punitive revisions. I recall I even received a compliment for the work I did on this one.

The used face piece and cowl for this one remained in my possession as one of the few physical reminders of my work on the shows. It has been stored in a dark climate controlled environment for over twenty years which has allowed this piece to hold up fairly well.

That's all for another exciting Thursday on the blog. See you back here tomorrow! Until then...

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

From the Archives: Black Death Demon - Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 7

Today, I have a monster I designed and worked on for season seven of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, episode seven, Conversations with Dead People. This particular monster reused a lot of existing parts and pieces but required a new head and back detailing - which is where I come in.

Before I go any further, I must remind everyone that this work is a collaboration of many skilled artists and technicians. I was one of many who brought these monsters to life, but this time around, there were only a couple of us working on this one. I was present at all stages, but my focus was on the design work, paint and finish, and set crew. After twenty-plus years, I cannot properly give credit to everyone else involved. Sorry, but people's names were the first to go after I left LA.

For this one, we used an existing body suit, feet, and hands that we had previously made for other monsters. By combining different pieces from different monsters, adding additional details and elements, and a unique paint job, these preexisting parts become something wholly new. For my part, I designed a new head and a back element to make this piece its own monster. Here is the only photo of the Black Death Demon that I know of that I took in the makeup trailer on the set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

RAWR! The Black Death Demon.

I have no idea if this monster ended up with a different name, but Black Death Demon was what it was referred to by production, and that's what stuck. I am unsure if this monster was even real on the show or if it was an illusion or dream sequence. But no matter, it was real enough to me. This monster marked the first time I designed a piece, and the shop's art director did the sculpting and perfomed in the suit as the monster. I was the set tech that day and got him into the suit and mask. As it was a mask and not a makeup, I could do all the work, and a makeup artist was not brought in. 

From what I could remember, there was not a lot of direction at first for this one. It was all very vague. I remember the mention of a black specter of death, lots of black, and no budget (hence reusing so much). The ambiguous nature of all this likely was why I was assigned it and allowed to do whatever I wanted. Here is a look at my design for the Black Death Demon.

Initially, the monster had wings as they wanted an interesting back element for this one. For filming, the monster runs into a room with its back to the camera and leaps upon a couch. Upon the couch is the lifeless body of Buffy's mother. The monster lingers over the body, ignoring Buffy as she looks on in horror. I am not sure the face of the monster is ever shown on the show. I wanted it to have piercing white pupilless eyes and a distorted extended face. These designs are sold and no longer available.

 

The wings were shot down immediately with no explanation. The eyes were also an issue. After brainstorming with the shop AD, we settled on tiny hands that would grasp the shoulders, and strangely, everybody liked them. The eyes got updated to whatever these are, and those, too, were approved... for some unknown reason, as they are horrible. With approved designs, it was time to make a monster.

I have nearly no photos of this monster's creation. I do not recall why this is, but the images in this post are all of the pictures I have. This is likely due to the extremely quick turnaround that we likely had to make this, and I was probably busy on other projects as well. Here are photos of the head sculpted for the Black Death Demon.

I am sure you are saying to yourself, "Man, the design that this sculpture does not look very similar to your designs," and you would be correct. The AD who sculpted this just kinda did what he wanted, as he usually did. I don't have a problem with how it turned out; it just bothered me that I designed something, it was approved, and then he did something different. That said, he went with the original eye design, which is far superior to the orange swirl mess that was approved. We lost the weird chin, which is fine, I guess, but it would have been interesting to see it in the design. At the end of the day, you never see the face (I believe), so what we did never really mattered - which is sad, really.

The tiny arms on the back were fabricated with armature wire, hot glue, foam, latex, and artificial nails. If I recall correctly, the AD started one, and I followed suit on the other. Also, since the eyes on the final mask were the white forms used as placeholders on the sculpture, the AD couldn't see anything when wearing the mask. For filming, we popped the eyes out so he could see as he ran into the room and leaped upon the couch with the actress on it. I have very solid memories of being on set that day and watching the shot filmed repeatedly. Craft service also brought sushi in for afternoon snack, which was really cool.

Now for a little story! The AD and I arrived at the crack of dawn for filming that day - as you always had to, no matter what time of the day they planned to film you. As the saying goes, "Hurry up and wait!" Well, that day, there was a lot, and I mean a lot of waiting. It took no time to get him into the suit, so we were ready to film about 30 minutes after we got there... only production wasn't. So, we waited and waited, and the day ticked by. The suit was never meant to be worn by the AD, so he soon found himself in a bit of discomfort, and as he could be called to set at any moment, he couldn't take the suit off for a break. One of the reasons the AD was in the suit as he was already a member of the Screen Actors Guild. I would soon be a part of SAG, but at the time, only he was. Sometime in the afternoon, as we continued to wait and the AD continued to be in discomfort, a SAG rep made a surprise visit. We explained the situation, the discomfort, the waiting, and the rep got really serious, a bit angry, and disappeared. Within moments, production was at the trailer, getting us for the shot the monster was needed for. The shot went extremely quickly, and we were wrapped for the day, and the AD could get out of the suit. Gotta love those Union reps; they got stuff done!

That is all for another exciting week on the blog. See you back here after IX in a week and a half! Until then...

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

From the Archives: Background Demon Masks - Angel Season 5

My previous two posts (post one/post two) from the archives were work I did for the Season 5 Episode of Angel, Life of the Party. It might surprise you that I have even more work that I did for this fifth episode in the season. Actually, I have yet to share with you the bulk of the work I did on that episode. I am unsure why this particular episode resulted in so much work for me, but it did. This time around, I am sharing all seventeen background demon masks that I made.

This is where I usually mention that all this work is a collaboration of many talented artists and technicians and that I was one of many who brought this thing to life. But this time around, this statement is not correct. While the parts and pieces were from previous work from multiple shops, I designed, assembled, fabricated, painted, and finished all these masks. At first, I did do some quick design work on paper for these, but that was soon abandoned, and I was given free rein to create a bunch of masks as quickly as I could.

I have shared some of these before, but that was at least twelve years ago, and this master image has been part of my portfolio for many years. I went back and cleaned up, readjusted, and got all the photos looking a lot better. Digital camera technology from over twenty years ago didn't always produce the best archival images. Thankfully, they are still good enough. I was given a large box of parts and pieces, a few starting mask forms, and a couple days to get all the work done. I have very good memories of making and painting these. Unfortunately, as with a lot of my work at this time, it was mocked, and I was bullied by those senior to me at the shop. Here are the seventeen background masks that I made for this episode.

Background Demon Masks

Angel - 2003

Design, fabrication, painting

I am told, as I have never watched this episode, that NONE of these masks can be seen at any time on the show. While I could very easily verify this, I have yet to take the time to check. Not that I could do anything about it now, and knowing for sure that they ended up on the cutting room floor does not add anything to my life. While these demons had silly names at the shop, they never had official names. I think it is best that the old names fade away and we simply appreciate the monsters as they are. Here are some close-up images of some of the masks.

Background Demon Mask Closeups

Each includes bits and bobs from MANY projects from multiple effects shops.

Lastly, an image I have never shared! This is one of a couple of photos of the background masks being worn by extras on set for filming. Wardrobe always made the more unusual choices regarding what the monster wore. At one point, we started pointing this out in our design work by putting the monsters and demons in button-ups, sweaters, sensible slacks, a belt, and nice shoes. These attempts to point out some of our concerns went over everyone's heads.

Nameless extras wearing nameless monster masks - never to be seen or heard from again.

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

Sibriex 2D Miniature

Last month, I shared that there are now 2D acrylic versions of some of my Dungeons & Dragons monsters available. Today, I have for you the mighty Sibriex! Sibriex is one of those monsters that I never envisioned them making the first miniature for it, let alone a second. Not that I think it is undeserving of the miniature treatment, it is that Sibriex is a massive ooze-dripping demon chained to the ground. But, as I love nearly all monsters, I love to see that Sibriex is back and has been turned into a new mini. I updated the design and painted Sibriex for Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, and here is how the final painting turned out.

Sibriex

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

If you want to seek out this set, here is an image of the packaging. The 2D Sibriex can be found in Boneyard Set 1 of the D&D Idols of the Realms line of miniatures.

Boneyard Set 1

I find these to be very fun. The minis are very high quality, and the printing is excellent. There are bases for all miniatures, which are arranged by size. Here is the 2D version of Sibriex.

Sibriex 2D Miniature

I find it interesting that the pose of the 2D image is flipped from the 3D miniature. I guess this is an easy way to make them different and unique. You can compare the 3D mini to the 2D. I like them both and would always go for a 3D piece in the end, but the appearance, color, and detail are all superior in the 2D mini. To each their own, and more minis are fine by me. 

Sibriex Miniature

That's all for another exciting week on the blog. See you back here next week. Until then... 

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

From the Archives: Spider Monster - Angel Season 4

I am still surprised that after twenty years, I still have not shared everything that I worked on during my time in the film industry working in Los Angeles. When I am looking through my archives, I have to cross reference this blog to see if I had or had not shared something. To my surprise, I found a large build that we did that I have not shared yet. I am genuinely baffled that this has not been shared, as it was such a massive project that required all hands on deck. From the archives, I present to you from season 4 of Angel, episode 20, the Spider Monster (more on this name in a moment).

Before I go too far, I must remind everyone that this work is a collaboration of many talented artists and technicians. I was one of many that brought these things to life. This time, I was involved with designing, various shop duties, and set work for this creature. After twenty years, I only still possess a couple of the names of the others involved with this work. Therefore I am unable to properly give credit to the others involved. I am sorry, but people's names were the first to go after I left LA. 

This particular monster was linked to two others I designed and worked on. There was a story arch in season four that took Angel to a temple and portal that had him interacting with the High Priest and the Keeper of the Name. If you look closely at the photos in the latter post, you will see a sculpture that might remind you of a particular Spider Monster.

As I have said, this was a massive project, and we only had a couple of weeks to complete all the work. The Spider Monster was known to us at the Centaur Bug, Centerpede, and the Centaurbug. I have no idea when it became known as the Spider Monster, but that appears to be the official nomenclature. Not only did we need to design and build a suit and makeup, but this creature also required articulated extending legs that were puppeteered on set. There was also a stool that connected to a socket of a seat base built into the suit so that the actor could sit while in the suit. From my experience and the reaction of the actor, this was not the most comfortable suit that we made, but at the end of the day, no suit is comfortable to wear. I have a lot, and I mean a LOT of images for this creature. I had to be selective about what I shared, so without further yammering from me, here is the Spider Monster. 

Spider Monster on set. The digital team removed the human legs in any shot they were visible. You will note the control rod from the boot to the tip of the foreleg. This assisted in making the movement more natural and realistic.

This masterpiece (j/k) was the beginning and end of the official design work I put into this monster. In an earlier version, the entire body shape would be different and more centipede-like. This was the nasty tip of the tail. This direction was scrapped, and other designs were made.

Although I would remain in LA for another year and a half, things were already becoming problematic at work. I will leave it at that for now. I was removed, against my wishes, from design duties on this monster after the first version was shelved. I still wanted to continue working on designs, so that is what I did. On top of my other duties, I was creating more designs for this monster. Some of these I did at home on my own time. The two images above were my first explorations of the new direction. 

This version had different options for the arms. These are my favorites, so I will spare you the other versions. I displayed these at work to show that I was still a needed team member. These designs only enlisted derisive comments from the shop's leadership.

My final design was by far the strongest of what I created.

There were three or four sculptures that tackled the suit all at once.

Looking back, I am always amazed at how much the shop could get done on such tight deadlines.

And the back side of a Spider Monster.

There was only one leg sculpted. It was cast four times and made into different legs. Work smarter, not harder!

If I remember correctly, both hands had to be their own sculpture. There was an effort to see if we could get away with only one, but in the end, they needed a left and right.

Actor Jeff Ricketts expressing his option of the test fitting. His opinion of all of this remained unchanged.

A better view of the stool that clicked into the monster's butt.

I still really like the color scheme and look of this suit. I have no memory of painting on it, but that is not to say I didn't. If I did, i would have been shadowing the lead painter.

And the back of the suit with the interchangeable butt cover. The nubby tail would cover the socket for the stool.

A photo to show off just how bad of an edge the cowl and suit made. This was on set between takes.

A better photo of the face, teeth, and cowl. The face was silicon, and the rest was foam latex.

I have no memory of the shirt I am wearing or what I am doing to the monster's butt.

Monster on set between takes. This shows off the overall form of the suit and legs very well. This is still some quality work. It is nice to look back on and to have been a part of it.

This is still one of my favorite photos of the monster. It has a very human feel for something very much not human - a theme that can be seen in my work ever since. The blurry fellow next to the monster was the cool assistant director. Sadly his name is lost to me.

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