Talisman: Highland (part 2)

Today I have for you two more cards from Talsiman: Highland. If you missed my first post you can see it, HERE. No monsters today, per say - but real treats of the mountains none the less...

Tumbling Boulder
© 2010 Fantasy Flight Games

Mountain Goat
© 2010 Fantasy Flight Games

I had a lot of fun with the Tumbling Boulder. I initially went back and forth a lot wondering how much destruction it needed to be causing and how grand the havoc should be. At one point it was destroying an entire village, people fleeing in every direction, tress being knocked around like toothpicks. In the end I scaled it back and decided to go with something a little simpler and to throw in a little humor. The final art was cropped a great deal to allow for all the game content on the card so in the end I was correct in toning the scale back. In the final card you only see the running knight and the lower half of the boulder.

The goat... the goat may not be smart, but is really patient. Creepy creepy goat eyes!

That is all for today. I will be back here on Friday with two more cards! Until then...

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

Talisman: Highland (part 1)

Way back in September of last year I began working on the Highland expansion of Talisman from Fantasy Flight Games. It was great to get back into the Talisman universe. It is my pleasure to finally be able to share the work I did on the set with you. I produced 10 pieces for the set with 9 of them making it into production.

Rock Mauler
© 2010 Fantasy Flight Games

Manticore
© 2010 Fantasy Flight Games

I worked on Highland in waves. When I first began working on the set I could only take on two cards and these where the two I was assigned. I got them done much quicker then I expected and to my pleasure more were available. As I mentioned above it quickly increased to 10 cards total. These were some of my favorites to work on, because after all... they are MONSTERS!

I will be back here on Wednesday with two more cards from the set! Until then...

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

Taking the Imposing Demon back - countinued...

A quick one today. You might remember my post on Wednesday about the Imposing Demon. I had a few more spare moments to rework another version of the demon, this time around I picked concept "A"...

Another attempt at taking the Imposing Demon back!
© 2010 Christopher Burdett

Is this a better design? That is up for debate, but I will stand behind that this is a better drawing. I think I like the version seen on Wednesday's post better, but they all can't be your favorite. I might do the other two at some point for fun, but I have many other pieces calling my name right now to think about it.

I received my Pathfinder GameMastery Guide in the mail this week so on top of Talisman: Highland that also arrived on my doorstep this week I have a lot of freshly released work to share with you. I will get started with the Talisman work on Monday! Much to share! Until then...

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

My life as a crappy artist - Imposing Demon

You of course remember the Imposing Demon from episode 12, Potential, from season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, right? Any good Buffy fan would, right? I didn't even recall this demon and I designed it.

I was talking to Melissa Findley over the weekend and the topic of my Buffy work came up and I tried to remember all the demons I worked on, but for the life of me I couldn't recall them all. So I made the mistake this week of going back into my files to refresh my memory. So that everyone is on the same page, this is the Imposing Demon...

Imposing Demon on set with actor James Marsters who played Spike (the demon is on the right). Not the best photo, but you get the idea...

Big brown dangly toothy thing of a demon wearing a airplane pillow around it's neck. I should have stopped there, having refreshed my memory, but I didn't. I went and looked at the designs I did... and submitted to be viewed and judged... for all to see...

OH THE HORROR! Really craptastic drawings that I did just under eight years ago. I somehow thought those little gray squares were going to help...

© 2002 Almost Human

Now that I had something to jar my memory it all came rushing back. The Imposing Demon was used in a bar to waylay Spike in his pursuit of information. It needed to be big and scary and... IMPOSING. My job was to design it. Having fail miserably I turned in the four above concepts for Production to pick from before we moved onto the final. In house we were leaning towards "A" but Production went with "C" and I had to jazz it up a bit and try to make something out of it. Another failure on my end. We make the best we can with the tools available. No need to go into all the issues I have with the above... "drawings". No point in looking backwards, I want to look forward and I took a little bit of time and reworked the Imposing Demon design...

Taking the Imposing Demon back!
© 2010 Christopher Burdett

That was so much fun I just might take a little time and flesh out all three of those other designs and see what I can come up with! Remember, no matter where you are at in the development of your art you will progrss and improve if you stick with it and put in the time and energy.

Okay, I know I said on Monday that I was most likely not going to post anything the rest of this week. I just feel bad when I don't and this idea fell in my lap and wanted to share. I also finally received my copy of Talisman: Highland in the mail on Monday so starting next week I will be sharing the pieces I have in that expansion!

See you back here on Friday, I will try to find something for you. Maybe some more demons! 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... Dragon!

I have for you today another drawing that is fresh from the drawing table. This time around it is a Dragon! There are not many other creatures as iconic and legendary as dragons. So with much trepidation I decided to give it a go and give this creature a pass as seen through my eyes and sensibilities.

Dragon
© 2010 Christopher Burdett

Isn't she a good mother! I will say that I have been less interested in approaching the dragon compared to the other so far. There is just so much baggage, lore and expectations heaped on the dragon that it can be a little overwhelming. I have been squeezing in a little work time on this one here and there for a while now and it is finally done. I am looking forward to getting to work on the next drawing... but you will have to wait till I post it!

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.     
  
To give you fair warning, this might be the only post from me this week. Much is going on and I have to draw the line somewhere. If anything major comes up this week I will be sure to post it as well if things ease up at all I will be sure to post something. Hopefully I will be back on schedule soon with loads of neat things to share! Sorry for the inconvenience...

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

Crypt Worm - Dreamblade

Today I have for you a blast from the past, a Dreamblade miniature design! This is the Crypt Worm from the Baxar's War expansion and was in fact a completely original design of mine that was accepted and turned into a production miniature. Though it is one of my favorites because it is one of my original designs, it holds a deep dark secret that shames me... a MISTAKE! Before we get to that, lets have a look at the design...

Crypt Worm
© 2005 Wizards of the Coast LLC

I was waiting in a doctors office sketching and this creature started to take shape and before I knew it I was working on the complete turnaround for it. Though this is about five years old I am a little surprised to see some similar shapes and forms in this design that I just put into a new creature I am doing for a client. Granted I think I am doing a much better job on my new piece to pull off the forms. Just interesting to see that I apparently have shapes and forms I am drawn toward... that's the making of a personal style.

Anyway... back to my shame... I didn't even notice the mistake until this design was out the door and off to China to be turned into a miniature. I held my tongue for too long, I must now speak of my mistake. I am sure you have already seen it, but if you have not, I have a handy graphic to show you...

My shameful mistake...
© 2005 Wizards of the Coast LLC

SHAMEFUL! I forgot the tail that wraps around to the front of the body. Actually that whole side of the back view is all kind of messed up. At least it did not have any effect on the production miniature. You can see for yourself how the Crypt Worm turned out in it's final production miniature form, HERE.

That is all for another week here on the blog. See you back here next week for some more blog fun! Until then...

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

Pathfinder Companion: Gnomes of Golarion (part #4)

Today I bring you the final installment of Gnomes (and Gnome related creatures) that I did for the recently released Pathfinder Companion: Gnomes of Golarion. If you missed any of the previous installments, be sure to check them out here: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. For the final batch I have for your viewing pleasure a BADGER badger badger badger badger and a portrait of an armored Gnome...

BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER
© 2010 Paizo Publishing, LLC

Gnome Portrait (toot toot!)
© 2010 Paizo Publishing, LLC

For the record I removed the snake from the sketch of the Badger before I submitted it. I was asked to remove the mushrooms from the sketch before I proceeded to the final painting. I couldn't help myself... I am actually hard at work on a new project for Paizo as we speak. I look forward to being able to share what I am working on with you in the coming months.

See you back here on Friday with a 100% less Gnomes. Try to contain the sadness. Until then...

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