Fresh from the drawing table... Black Pudding!

I have for you another drawing that is fresh from the drawing table. This time around it is a Black Pudding! I love the slime monsters! They can be practically one big tentacle if need be. I have been waiting to get to this "B" monster for awhile, but I wanted to get the most of the mundane monsters out of the way before I started on the monstrous monsters. I present to you my version of a Black Pudding… 

Black Pudding

9 x 12

Pencil on paper

Original - Currently not available

© 2015 Christopher Burdett

Historically, a lot of the slime monsters have been portrayed in a more passive slow moving form. This is true especially in the original Monster Manual. I like a much faster more animated slime creature. This amps up the danger and scare level, in my opinion. Slow is great, but a whirling mass of tentacles lunging at you as it dissolves everything it touches makes for a good monster / player interaction. Simply look at how the Blog was depicted in the 1950's vs. the 1980's. The 1980's version of the Blob was WAAAAAY more horrifying. Also, these crazy monsters come with a lot of resistances to attacks and damage to make them that much more of a threat. Maybe we need to keep that wizard around after all.

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 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

Elves of Uteria

Late last year I shared with you some work I was doing for Elves of Uteria as I was working on it... because the work was not covered under an NDA (which is AWESOME!). Elves of Uteria is now out and I got my hands on a copy and wanted to share the work again as a whole for those that may have missed it...

Elves of Uteria

(Michael Bielaczyc & Dane Clark Collins)

Buy it, play it, love it! RAWR!

I was asked to join the project by the most excellent, Michael Bielaczyc, and I was thrilled to join the team and make some monsters. In total I designed and illustrated three monsters and they are still some of my favorite drawings from last year. Here again are the three monsters and an image of the page they appear on in the book for added fun...

Drekava - Elves of Uteria

9 x 12

colored pencil on toned paper

© 2013 Christopher Burdett

Drekava... just hanging... waiting to swallow your soul...

Devouring Ooze - Elves of Uteria

9 x 12

colored pencil on toned paper

© 2013 Christopher Burdett

Devouring Ooze is doling out the free hugs...

Tentacle Crawler - Elves of Uteria

9 x 12

colored pencil on toned paper

© 2013 Christopher Burdett

Tentacle Crawler arrived late for that whole free hugs thing... so it is here to eat you face...

If you have a chance you should really check out the book! Thanks again to Mike for including me on the project!

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

Eye on the Realms: Forgotten in a Chest - Process

Today I have for you a look at a piece I shared with you back in July for a D&D article, Eye on the Realms: Forgotten in a Chest. ...JULY?! Yikes, I am either way behind schedule with my posts or I have just too much to share with you... Either way, here is how the final illustration turned out to refresh your memory...

Eye on the Realms: Forgotten in a Chest

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

A hapless thief picked the wrong chest to break into... this is why you want to make sure to make EVERY saving throw. My wife is always interested in taking a more active roll in my illustrations as a model. I am sure she would like me to do something more with her then have her face eaten off by an ooze hiding in a box... but I could not have done this piece without her!

I had some general compositions in mind for this piece, so the first step was to get my wife suited up in my armor and shot a bunch of reference photos. Using this reference I fleshed out three thumbnails...

Eye on the Realms: Forgotten in a Chest - Thumbnails

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Option A was the winner, but option C was a strong contender. In the end, option C was dropped since there was a chance it could have come off a little silly if not handled just right. Option A got the job done and there was not any chance that things could take a detour to wackiness. Now that I had a thumbnail it was time to get to drawing...

Eye on the Realms: Forgotten in a Chest - Drawing

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

The drawing was completed and approved without any issue or changes. That only means one thing... time to get to painting! In just eight easy steps you too can have a painting of your wife with her face eaten off by an ooze... or not...

Eye on the Realms: Forgotten in a Chest - Process steps

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Since I don't do a lot of human... let alone female humans in my work I was a little concerned about how this piece was going to play out. I had a lot of great reference and in the end this piece came together really quickly. Much quicker then ever imagined actually. I love those pieces that almost paint themselves. Thankfully, the more I work, the more I paint, the more I draw... the more that the pieces seem to take on a life of their own and help me create them. I am not putting in less work, but rather the piece is almost starting to carry some of its own weight. Well... not sure if that makes any sense, but after these years of work it is a rather nice feeling. I just need to sit down with the painting and it will be okay and it will get finished.

Here is the how the final turned out again for your viewing pleasure... (RAWR!)

Eye on the Realms: Forgotten in a Chest

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here Friday! Until then...

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

Elves of Uteria - Devouring Ooze

At the beginning of last month I mentioned my involvement with The Elves of Uteria RPG and now that all my work for this project is wrapped up I thought I would share it with you this week! On Monday I shared with you the wily and evil Drekava. Today I have for you a rather wicked pool of slime and tentacles! I present to you the Devouring Ooze...

Devouring Ooze - Elves of Uteria

9 x 12

colored pencil on toned paper

© 2013 Christopher Burdett

As an added bonus I have for you several photos of this drawing in process. The Devouring Ooze came together REALLY fast. I believe this piece was completed in one sitting for the most part. This was also the piece that attracted some unexpected attention from a stranger... but that is another story altogether... Without further fanfare, here is the Devouring Ooze taking shape...

All images © 2013 Christopher Burdett

That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here on Friday for another new monster! Until then...

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

Eye on the Realms: Forgotten in a Chest

The July issue of Dragon magazine is out and I am happy to share with you one of my contributions to this issue. Dragon #425 features the article, Eye on the Realms: Forgotten in a Chest, and the wife was nice enough to let me have a slime creature eat her face off. Without any further explanation I present to you a slime monster in a chest... 

Eye on the Realms: Forgotten in a Chest

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

At the time it seemed like a totally logical series of events... get assignment for a slime creature eating the face off of a thief then turning to the wife and asking her if she wanted to get killed in D&D. She has expressed interest in modeling for and appearing in my illustrations... I come to find out that this was NOT what she meant. Silly me! I could not have done this piece without her laying on the kitchen floor, and I think that is what really matters :)

As always, I would like to thank Kate Irwin for involving me on this project and for her art direction! In the coming weeks I will have for you my thumbnails, sketches, and a process step by step breakdowns for this pieces. 

That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog, see you back here on Wednesday for more new monsters! Until then...

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