The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons - The Return of the Kobold Sorcerer

I recently realized I had a piece make an encore appearance in a recently released Dungeons & Dragons book. The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons was released a year ago and features a piece initially published in 2022 for Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse. This time around, the wiley Kobold Sorcerer has been republished. To start things off, here is the final painting of the Kobold Sorcerer.

Kobold Sorcerer

Originally from Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Emi Tanji

© 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

This is one of my favorite recent pieces. It is always fun to see the ones I like to get a chance to be seen by more people. When The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons was announced and released, I thought it would be fun to work on. It is nice to see that, in a tiny way, I did contribute to it. Here is a look at the book's cover so that you can hunt it down to complete your collection of my works.

The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons

Recently, it has felt as if most of my reused work has been very old work that I am not necessarily thrilled with seeing again, so it is great when it is one that I still like and holds up - granted, this piece is only two years old, so you would hope that this is true. Lastly, here is a photo of the art in the book. It printed great, and there is some fun layout in the book for sure.

Kobold Sorcerer in handy dandy book form!

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

D&D Starter Set: Dragons of Stromwreck Isle - The Return of the Kobold Sorcerer and Fire Snake

It recently came to my attention that the newest Starter Set for Dungeons & Dragons, Dragons of Stormwreck Isle, features a return of two of my monsters. I try to keep an eye out when there are new D&D releases that I didn't directly work on because you never know when a familiar monster might make an encore appearance. To start things off, here is a look at the front of the box for this new Starter Set.

D&D Starter Set: Dragons of Stromwreck Isle is now available wherever games are sold and even in some big box stores. 

This time, the monsters making a return appearance were the Kobold Sorcerer and the Fire Snake. I like both of these a lot, and it is fun to see that they are getting some additional D&D love. I hope they make the adventure fun for all the players. Here is a look at the final paintings for the Kobold and the Fire Snake.

Kobold Sorcerer

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Emi Tanji

© 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Fire Snake

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Daniel Gelon

© 2014 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Lastly, here are a pair of images of the pieces printed in the Starter Set. I think they both printed beautifully, even if the photos of the pages don't show it. I hope this particular Kobold gets its own miniature one day. The Fire Snake already has, but I would love to see how the fire dragon spell would look as transparent plastic in miniature. One can hope...

Kobold Sorcerer and Fire Snake for all your Kobold Sorcerer and Fire Snake needs!

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

Kobold Sorcerer - Dungeons & Dragons - Process

Today, I am happy to share the process and steps for one of my contributions to the Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse. This fourth (and final) contribution is a Kobold. Not just any Kobold, but a Kobold Sorcerer wielding fire magic with the glint of dragon power still coursing through them. Here is the final painting for the Kobold.

Kobold Sorcerer

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Emi Tanji

© 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Kobolds are a ton of fun to design and paint. There is the chance to bring as much or as little personality to them as you want or what the assignment calls for. This particular Kobold was described as:

"This is a kobold sorcerer of indeterminate gender, standing with one arm outstretched, palm up. Confidence and grandeur of a great dragon suffuses the figure despite their diminutive size (2.5 feet tall). Scattered among the kobold’s shoulder and face scales are gold ones. The kobold’s eyes glow with golden fire. Similar golden fire springs from the
palm of their hand, creating a sinuous shape reminiscent of a dragon with wings unfurled. 

The kobold is wearing a light, toga-like tunic over one shoulder, and belted around their waist. The belt is festooned with pouches"

It felt like there was a lot of room to bring some fun personality to this one, and I was eager to get started. I gathered up props and clothing and did a photoshoot to figure out the poses and characters I wanted to bring to this piece. I am always a fan of being able to tell a story through not only the face and hands but with the props, equipment, and weapons of a character. Here are the thumbnails that I submitted.  

Kobold Sorcerer - Thumbnails

 © 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Thinking back, I think I was happy with all of these and would have been so glad to paint them all. Looking at them now, there is still something about 'B' I really like. As you likely can see already, 'A' was the winner among the thumbnails. There were a few notes from production that I needed to address. One is that they wanted the Kobold looking a bit more towards the viewer and it giving some side-eye. The other note was to make the fire dragon more like the one in 'B' and wrap the fire around the Kobold's forearm. I made the requested modifications and submitted a revised thumbnail.

Kobold Sorcerer - Revised thumbnail

 © 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

The revised thumbnail checked all the boxes, and it was approved for the final painting. I always do a final traditional drawing for every project to work out the details and to give myself a tangible product from the assignment. Here are the two stages of the Kobold Sorcerer drawing, the mid-stage line art, and the final rendered drawing.

Kobold Sorcerer - Line art

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

© 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Kobold Sorcerer

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

Art Director - Emi Tanji

© 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

With an approved drawing, it was time to start painting. Kobolds have a set color palette, but for the rest of this piece, I could have fun with lighting, magic, and gear. Here is the painting of the Kobold Sorcerer taking shape.

Kobold Sorcerer - Process

 © 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

I needed to be more mindful of this one than the three others I produced for this book. The reason for this is the in-camera light source of the magic fire dragon. This light source is doing a lot of heavy lifting with focus, light, color, and contrast. The color of the firelight is affecting everything in this piece, and I need to stay on top of that and make sure nothing ends up 'wrong.' Everything in this piece is pushing warm from the fire. This is not a monumental challenge but something that needs to be considered at every step. In the end, I feel I did a good enough job of it, and this ended up being a favorite of the project. Here again, is the final painting for the Kobold Sorcerer.

Kobold Sorcerer

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

 © 2022 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

Dungeons & Dragons - Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse - Part 3

The newest Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse, was released yesterday, and I was lucky enough to have contributed four pieces to the book. I got to design/redesign three of the four pieces, which is always fun. The fourth is a classic monster that didn't need to be revisited and only needed a new illustration - and that is what I have for you today!

Next up, I have for you a Kobold. I love working on Kobolds, and this one was a real treat. I love giving monsters a bit of personality and purpose. This little fellow is a fire sorcerer and is good at his job. He has lots of components and knows how to use them! Here is a look at the final painting for the Kobold.

Kobold

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Emi Tanji

© 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

As with all my D&D pieces, even though the final is digital, there is an original drawing available. This one is no exception, and I was pleased with how the drawing, actually all the drawing from this book, turned out. Here is the drawing for Kobold.

Kobold

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

Art Director - Emi Tanji

© 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

Lastly, a look at a social media image that featured the Kobold. It is fun to see my art being used for promotional uses again. It has been a while. As always, never read the comments!

 

D&D monsters in social media form!

That is all of 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

Trex Miniature

I am thrilled to share with you today another miniature based on my illustrations for Dungeons & Dragons. This time around, it is a prepainted miniature of Trex the Kobold from Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden. While there was a dedicated miniature set for this game expansion, this mini has been released in a subsequent miniature set. To start things off, here is my painting for the Trex.

Trex

Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin 

© 2020 Wizards of the Coast LLC

I had assumed that Trex would not get his own miniature since it was not released in the original Icewind Dale set. I was obviously surprised to see that in the fullness of time, this little Kobold got his chance to be immortalized in plastic. This is a small mini, so it is a bit chunky when you get up close to it, but it is still very faithful to my painting. While I have painted plenty of Kobolds over the years, this is the first to become a mini, and I am super excited to see it finally. Always a good day to see a new miniature based on my work. Here are some images of the official D&D Trex miniature.

Trex 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

Trex - Dungeons & Dragons - Process

Today, I have for you the process and steps that went into my Trex painting from the Dungeons & Dragon's release of Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden. While my process posts are nothing new, in recent years, it usually takes me months, if not years, for a piece to finally get its process post. Well, I am switching it up a little today by sharing the steps that went into a recent painting. Mainly because I have been clearing out my backlog alphabetically, and this one ended up at the top of the list. Anyway, onto the process and steps. 

For Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden, I could only take on one piece because I was working on the final elements of The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia, and while I love working on D&D, I had a lot on my plate that was a higher priority. Thankfully, the assigned piece was super fun and right up my alley. I love working on some reptile monsters, and for me, the Kobold is at the top of the list along with the Lizardmen in the D&D universe. For Trex, they wanted a Kobold with some attitude and confidence. I get a lot of enjoyment from giving personality to my monsters that are beyond 'GRRRR SNARL! I'M A MONSTER!'. While that is fine and fun a lot of the time, working on a monster that is scared, proud, sad, confused, frustrated, etc. is SUPER FUN. To my delight, Trex needed some sass, and I was more than happy to give it to him. Here is how the final painting of Trex turned out. 

 

Trex

Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin 

© 2020 Wizards of the Coast LLC

As with all of my work, I started with a reference shoot to get into the physicality of the character and to work out some posses that I had brainstormed. With Dear Wife behind the camera, we worked out the posses, angle, composition, and embraced any happy accidents. When it was all said and done, I had a lot of reference to work from and got to work on thumbnails.

Trex - Thumbnails

© 2020 Wizards of the Coast LLC

I had three main directions I envisioned Trex taking, and I worked those up. The one thing I was a little concerned with was the fake wings he was sporting. I forgot or didn't realize before starting, to ask how big the wings should be. They were described as being handmade and rather poorly constructed. I was a bit unsure if that meant they went all in, and it was a big mess, or if they did the best they could with what they had and it was a small mess. To cover my bases, I did a second pass on the thumbnail options with tiny wings, which is good since the tiny wings are what was chosen. While I still love option 'A,' 'B' was chosen ,and it is a great one too. 'A' was just a bit too confident and strong for the end product, and production felt 'B' hit it on the head. I was given the go-ahead to work on the final drawing as long as I made sure the nose was not pointed as it appears to be in the thumbnails. Here is how the final drawing turned out.

Trex

Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2020 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Notice anything dramatically different from the final drawing compared to the thumbnail? That's right, the tail. Not only did I forget to give Trex his tale in the thumbnails, but production also didn't notice that it was missing either. When I sat down to work on the final drawing, I had all my reference laid out, including images of other D&D Kobolds. Granted, I was looking at the same reference when I was working on the thumbnails, but when it was all laid out on my drawing table, I finally noticed. Boy, did I feel silly, but production hadn't seen it either, so I figured it was better I caught it now than when I had finished the painting. I added the tale as I worked on the drawing and addressed the other notes regarding the thumbnails. I submitted the drawing, and it was accepted, and we all had a laugh about the missing tale. The drawing was approved, and it was time to get started on the painting. Here is the painting taking shape.

Trex - Process

© 2020 Wizards of the Coast LLC

This painting was a fun and straightforward to work on. I love painting reptile monsters and the forms, patterns, and colors associated with them. I painted this one very quickly too. Some take a bit of work to get into, and some take a while to get to the finish line, but this one came together in about two evening sessions. In the end, there were some things I needed to address after I submitted the final painting. One being that Trex was too good looking, his gear and dress were too clean, to well made. I made him more heroic than he was supposed to be. I didn't see an issue with Trex being a hero, but I did go back in and rough him and his gear up a bit. You can see this in the final steps of the painting. The other issue I needed to address was that the wings needed to be white. I was aware of this going into the painting, and I thought I made them white enough. Apparently, they were still reading very, very red. I liked how they looked, to be honest and hoped they would hit the mark. Unfortunately, they did not. You can see in the process when I went in a made them white. After I made these adjustments, the painting was approved, and I had another assignment wrapped up.

Here again, is the final painting for Trex as it appears in Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden.

Trex

Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden

© 2020 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

Trex - Dungeons & Dragons - Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden

I received my contributor copies of the latest Dungeons & Dragons book yesterday. Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden introduces players to the frozen wastes where the monsters are not the only dangers. I produced one illustration for this book, but it would have been fun to create a lot more. I took on this assignment at the beginning of the year, and I was in the final stages of getting my book ready for Kickstarter and planning out my exciting year, so I only had time to do the one painting. The Kickstarter happened, but not so much on the exciting year. That said, I was pleased with how my piece turned out for this book. Here is a look at the books that arrived for Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden.

 

Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden

My assignment had me revisiting one of my favorite go-to D&D monsters, the wily Kobold. I find that the Kobold can fill many roles in an adventure, and I love using them in unexpected ways in the games that I have run. Anyway, this particular Kobold needed some personality, and it was a fun one to work on. I give you Trex the Kobold.

Trex

Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2020 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Since the final painting for this piece is digital, the only original for it is the drawing. I am happy with how it turned out, but I have still made it available over on my store. Here is how the drawing for this Kobold turned out.

Trex

Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2020 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 Here is a little preview of Trex in the book; please excuse the unflattering photo of the page.

Trex in book form! Do not let this lousy photo of the page sway you; it printed beautifully.

That is all of 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

Fresh from the drawing table... Kobold!

I have for you today another drawing that is fresh from the drawing table. This time around it is a Kobold! "K" offered only two options but one was without a doubt a perfect choice. Kobolds are one of my favorite D&D creatures and it was a real pleasure (and a bit stressful) to get to "K". I present to you my version of a Kobold...

Kobold
© 2010 Christopher Burdett

Having had to illustrate the official Dungeons & Dragons Kobold I had a lot of trouble to see this creature in a new and fresh light. Everything I was coming up with seemed wrong since I had spent so much time making sure I followed the D&D style guide. I decided to turn to the Kobold's Germanic origins for inspiration. Turns out the original Kobold was described as a small little person that could be helpful or harmful. There were three different types, the House Kobold, the Cave Kobold and the Sea Kobold. I zeroed in on the Cave Kobold since they were described as a more ugly monstrous creature and were know for their evil actions. The cobalt family or minerals got their name from the Kobold since it was thought that the creatures contaminated ore with the poisonous cobalt.

With all this in mind I went forward with my Kobold and envisioned them as stunted ugly lumpy men that scavenged the tunnels and caves of the land looking for resources and unfortunate victims. They would take anything and everything from fallen prey, so they soon became loaded down with the gear of adventures as well as their own. They particularly like to go after Dwarfs since their gear was a better size for use.

My first 100 original Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual redesigns (A - Z): Aerial Servant, Ankheg, Ant (Giant), Ape (Carnivorous), Ape (Gorilla), Axe Beak, Axe Beak (version 2), Baboon, Badger, Barracuda, Basilisk, Baluchitherium, Bear (Black), Bear (Brown), Bear (Cave), Beaver (Giant), Beetle (Giant) - Bombardier, Beetle (Giant) - Boring, Beetle (Giant) - Fire, Beetle (Giant) - Rhinoceros, Beetle (Giant) - Stag, Beetle (Giant) - Water, Beholder, Black Pudding, Blink Dog, Boar (Giant), Boar (Warthog), Boar (Wild), Brain Mole, Brownie, Bugbear, Buffalo, Bulette, Carrion Crawler, Catoblepas, Cerebral Parasite, Chimera, Cockatrice, Coutal, Crab (Giant), Demon Type III (Glabrezu), Demon (Juiblex), Demon (Manes), Devil (Ice), Dragon (Red), Elemental (Earth), Ettin, Eye of the Deep, Flightless Bird, Frog (Giant), Fungi (Violet), Giant (Hill), Goblin, Golem (Flesh), Hobgoblin, Homunculus, Hydra, Imp, Intellect Devourer, Ixitxachitl, Jackal, Jacklewere, Jaguar, Ki-Rin, Kobold, Lich, Lizard (Giant), Lizardman, Manticore, Mind Flayer, Minotaur, Naga, Neo-Otygugh, Nixie, Ochre Jelly, Ogre, Owlbear, Peryton, Pixie, Purple Worm, Quasit, Ram (Giant), Roper, Rust Monster, Sahuagin, Salamander, Shambling Mound, Treant, Troglodyte, Troll, Umber Hulk, Unicorn, Vampire, Wasp (Giant), Wight, Wyvern, Xorn, Yeti, and Zombie.      

That is all for today. I will most likely have another drawing for you on Friday as I look ahead to Illuxcon next week. Still a lot to do and prepare, but more on that soon! Until then...

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