Creature Incarnations: They Creep - Drawings

I have for you today some of the work that went into my recent pieces from the Dungeon Magazine article, They Creep. Not only did I need to create a pleasing composition of nasty insect monsters for the illustration, but I had to also design the insect monsters. Since I was given some general guidelines and a few pieces of reference I had a general idea of the look for each monster. In the early thumbnails I was working on arranging their masses. The design of the monsters in these thumbnails has a lot to be desired...

Scarabs thumbnails - 'B' was the winner, though the monsters still need a lot of work. You can see some of my early horrible musings in the borders. You have to get the bad ideas out so that you can make the good designs.

© 2011 Wizards of the Coast

Bugs thumbnails - Again, 'B' was the winner and I still have a bit to do on the design end of these monsters. More design horror in the borders.

© 2011 Wizards of the Coast

After a bit of feedback from my art director (thanks Jon!), a bit of thinking and a lot of looking at and gathering insect reference I moved forward on a new loose digital sketches. I was trying to get the over all design of the monsters formed while keeping myself from getting to fixated on the details - there will be plenty of time for that later.

Scarabs draft - coming together now. Did a lot of research and planning to get the two larger monsters to this point. Again, I can not express upon you how important looking at reference is. I did not copy from nature to design these, but I saw how nature works and tried to use that as a starting point to make something new.

© 2011 Wizards of the Coast

Bugs draft - These monsters came together a lot easier. With the scarab they had to feel similar since they were all the same type of insect, with these bugs they could be very different.

© 2011 Wizards of the Coast

I nailed them all with the drafts and was given the go ahead to create the final drawing. Now to sit back and enjoy my favorite part of the whole project... the drawing on paper with a pencil. I can now start to worry about details now that the over all form has been determined.

Scarab drawing

© 2011 Wizards of the Coast

Bugs drawing

© 2011 Wizards of the Coast

For the opening illustration it was a slightly different situation. I did this one a good while after doing the first two monster pieces, so the designs were all locked in. I had to come up with a cool image of a human fighter that is in WAY over head and most likely soon to need a cleric. I got my thoughts together and jumped into some reference photos to work out my thoughts and to see what happy accidents developed. After looking at all the photos I moved onto some thumbnails to work out the compositions...

They Creep Opener thumbnails - I tried to come up with some very different angles and feels for each one.

© 2011 Wizards of the Coast

I think I still feel really strongly about 'B', but 'D' was the winner and with only a few notes to take into account I given the go ahead for the final drawing. This is one of those pieces that I am always wondering if I am putting too much into. When does it reach the breaking point with monsters... can you even have too many monsters?

They Creep Opener drawing
© 2011 Wizards of the Coast

You can see how all these pieced turned out, HERE. I have mentioned this in the past and I will mention it again, the more work you do in the planning and preparation stage of your illustrations the greater chance you will succeed with your painting. You get out of your work what you put into it.

That is all for another exciting day 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

Creature Incarnations: They Creep

Today on the blog I am pleased to finally bring you three new pieces for Dungeons and Dragons! These appeared last month in Dungeon Magazine issue 191 and went live while I was at the Illustration Master Class so I have not had a chance to share them until now. If you guessed these might have monsters in them, then you guessed correct! On with the monsters...

They Creep: Opener
© 2011 Wizards of the Coast

They Creep: Scarabs
© 2011 Wizards of the Coast

They Creep: Bugs
© 2011 Wizards of the Coast

This was a really special assignment since I was able to design six all new insect monsters for Dungeons and Dragons. Can't complain about that! There were some notes and reference they wanted me to use as I started on some of these, but I also had a lot of freedom to just make them cool monsters. And making cool monsters is hopefully something I am good at.... hopefully. Not sure there is much else to say about these right now - I have loads of drawing to share with you soon that went into these which might offer more to talk about. I am a little distracted with planning for Gen Con, you will have to forgive me.

As always, a huge thanks to Jon Schindehette for getting me involved with this. I had a lot of fun with them and am really happy with how they turned out.

That is all for today, more new work 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

Mind Flayer Tadpole - Volo's Guide to Monsters - Process

The monsters are in charge of the blog, and they have decided to share with you the process and steps that went into making the five paintings that I contributed to the Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Volo's Guide to Monsters. I hope you enjoy it!

Today's selection is the Mind Flayer Tadpole. This one was a fan favorite. Everyone really reacts to the tadpole up against the eye and responds well the to creep factor. This was also an excellent opportunity to get a self-portrait into a D&D book! Here is how the final Mind Flayer Tadpole turned out...

Mind Flayer Tadpole

9.1 x 10.1 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

To start things off, I did a photo shoot with a kneaded eraser on my face to stand in for the tadpole. Not the most elegant of photo shoots, but it got the job done, and I got some great reference to work with. I know much of the work that I do needs to be creepy, but after so many years I am desensitized to it and go on instinct. This piece seems to have hit all the right buttons with people, so I must be doing something right. Here are the thumbnails for this piece...

Mind Flayer Tadpole - Thumbnails

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

I was given the go-ahead to take option C to a finalized drawing. Once I turned it in, there was some concern that the drawing looked off and that the anatomy of the face was not working. Since I was working from the reference, I was a little confused, and there was some back and forth communication to figure things out. Finally, I sent my reference photos in to show what I was aiming to do and it was all cleared up immediately. One of those things was a picture is worth a thousand words. We were all on the same page, and production could continue. Here is the final drawing for this piece...

Mind Flayer Tadpole

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Art Director - Kate Irwin

Original - SOLD

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Now that the drawing was approved I could get started with the painting. With all of these Volo pieces, the painting went quickly, smoothly, and there were no issues or concerns. Which is always nice. I just got to sit back and have fun making pretty monsters. Being an isolated figure helps out a lot too. Here is the paint work for this piece coming together...

Mind Flayer Tadpole - Process steps

You will notice that there was some adjustment of the green background glow behind the ear. This was a request from production. The original green was considered too bright, and I was asked to knock it down a little. To better show how the painting developed, here is an animated progression of it taking shape...

Mind Flayer Tadpole - Animated process

While there is a fair bit of pushing and pulling of form and value the painting was extremely straight forward. I get into a zen state when working on isolated figures as I work the large forms and then lay in all the detail work. I just want to make a really pretty monster for these types of pieces, and hopefully, I did. Here again, is how the final painting turned out...

Mind Flayer Tadpole

9.1 x 10.1 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

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