Tales from LA - That Bit Ain't Right

I have searched and searched for images to go along with this post, and after a great deal of looking, I have been unable to locate anything. Which is a shame, because I think seeing the original designs would have helped with this, but no matter, for this post, I quickly scribbled up something to help.

This story goes back to my time working in Los Angeles. We were hired to work on a PSA commercial focused on improving health. Please remember this: this is supposed to be about improving people's health. Another detail to remember is that the two people making all the decisions on the production side of things are British. Picture what they say with the appropriate accent. It is part of the adventure.

The big, amazing, new idea they had to help improve health was so new and so amazing that it took hours for them to try to explain it to me clearly so that I could understand and design it. The best I can explain it is that they wanted us to physically make "fat socks"... but not like that. Imagine someone is carrying more body weight than they want, and they "pull" the unwanted fat off themselves like clothes, but it's flesh and hollow. Just the outer ring or skin of fat... because that is how our bodies TOTALLY work and all our body fat is along the surface. Feast your eyes upon this very quick sketch.

Getting an idea for what kind of monstrosity they wanted us to make? Well, to get to this point, the point where I finally made something similar to what I have posted above, it took hours. Hours with two British men and the shop supervisor sitting behind me as I sat at my computer and worked. And they did helpful things like be super impatient, repeat the SAME not-explanation over and over like it was going to change anything, and the cherry on top, after EVERY mark I made, every choice I made, after I did ANYTHING... the peanut gallery responded in their accent with:

"THAT BIT AIN'T RIGHT" 

For HOURS. And I am not being hyperbolic or exaggerating. It was maddening. Nothing I did was right, and they most definitely could not tell me what to do differently or what they wanted. It was "fat sock" and "that bit ain't right," and that is all I had to work off of. Even today, "that bit ain't right" is seared into my memory. Well, after a Sisyphean design session, we had something, and the two not-at-all-helpful men left. Long story short, the things we made were horrible. They made no sense, looked dumb, and no one understood what they were or what they were doing at the shoot. It was bad, bad, bad. To be honest, I have no idea if the PSA ever got made, completed, or aired, but I cannot imagine for a second anyone watching it would understand it or take away from it that they should eat healthy and exercise... or something, whatever it was they were trying to depict. 

And as a side note, humans carry extra body fat for MANY different reasons, many of which are outside the control of the individual. So the idea that body weight was something that could simply be removed by sliding the fat off always felt callous, disconnected, and cruel. But hey, what do I know?  OH YEAH! I know THAT BIT AIN'T RIGHT! You know what I am saying?! They knew best, and the fact that they were unable to quickly and easily explain their big idea to anyone else never registered as an issue. Good ole LA!

That's all for another exciting Monday on the blog, see you back here Wednesday! Until then...

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

Revisiting the Serpent People

In 2009, I was hired to design a series of miniatures for Fantasy Flight Games. They were gearing up to make plastic minis of all of their Arkham Horror/Call of Cthulhu monsters, and I was at the right place at the right time to get the bulk of them. It was a fun project with a lot of freedom for a grotesquely small amount of pay. And then nothing. It wouldn't be until 2011/12 for the monsters to finally be released as unpainted figures in board game sets and as fully painted premium minis. By and large, they all turned out great, and I still look back at them favorably. As it has been 17 years since I made the art and 15 years since they were eventually released, I thought it would be nice to revisit some of them. Next up in alphabetical order, we have the Serpent People. Here is my design and the final miniature.

Serpent People

12 x 9 - Pencil on paper - 3 separate drawings

Arkham Horror Monsters / Mansions of Madness 

© 2009 Fantasy Flight Games

 

The Serpent People miniature

And, as an added bonus, something I have never shared before, here are the thumbnails that I created for this piece. Over the past 17 years, I had forgotten how loose and sketchy these were.

Serpent People   - Thumbnails

Arkham Horror Monsters / Mansions of Madness 

© 2009 Fantasy Flight Games

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

Revisiting the Monsters - Vampire

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 to the Vampire. Enjoy!

Vampire redesign (2010)
© 2010/2026 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

Revisiting the Alligraffe

Right about now, sixteen years ago, I was reintroducing myself to my clients and making a fresh start of things with my art. Well, I should say that all the work to improve my skillsets and to become more serious about what I was making and doing began to manifest. We have finally reached the final Monday of sharing my contributions to the ArtOrder Mutation Nation art challenge that Jon Schindehette ran... sixteen years ago. The final one I will be sharing is the unfinished Alligraffe.

Anglerphant

14 x 11 - Pencil on paper 

Original - Not sure

Mutation Nation Challenge
© 2010 Christopher Burdett

The focus of the challenge was to take two animals, combine them, and make a new crazy mutant. I ended up designing four monsters, and three became finished paintings. These three paintings saw a major improvement in my painting skills, my use of reference, and baby steps into creating an environment for the monsters. This is also when I officially announced I am only working on monsters moving forward. These were well received and were 100% responcible for me once more working on projects with WotC. The time and energy I put into these more than paid off, and would mark the beginning of a new chapter in my art career. I had always meant to finish this one, but never did. Granted, there is nothing stopping me from doing it now, but things have progressed so much in the last sixteen years, and my focus is elsewhere.

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

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

Revisiting the Proto-Shoggoth

In 2009, I was hired to design a series of miniatures for Fantasy Flight Games. They were gearing up to make plastic minis of all of their Arkham Horror/Call of Cthulhu monsters, and I was at the right place at the right time to get the bulk of them. It was a fun project with a lot of freedom for a grotesquely small amount of pay. And then nothing. It wouldn't be until 2011/12 for the monsters to finally be released as unpainted figures in board game sets and as fully painted premium minis. By and large, they all turned out great, and I still look back at them favorably. As it has been 17 years since I made the art and 15 years since they were eventually released, I thought it would be nice to revisit some of them. Next up in alphabetical order, we have the Proto-Shoggoth. Here is my design and the final miniature.

Proto-Shoggoth 

12 x 9 - Pencil on paper - 3 separate drawings

Arkham Horror Monsters / Mansions of Madness 

© 2009 Fantasy Flight Games

The Proto-Shoggoth   miniature

And, as an added bonus, something I have never shared before, here are the thumbnails that I created for this piece. Over the past 17 years, I had forgotten how loose and sketchy these were.

Proto-Shoggoth   - Thumbnails

Arkham Horror Monsters / Mansions of Madness 

© 2009 Fantasy Flight Games

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

Revisiting the Monsters - Umber Hulk

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 to the Umber Hulk. Enjoy!

Umber Hulk redesign (2010)
© 2010/2026 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

Revisiting the Anglerphant

Right about now, sixteen years ago, I was reintroducing myself to my clients and making a fresh start of things with my art. Well, I should say that all the work to improve my skillsets and to become more serious about what I was making and doing began to manifest. Over the next several Mondays, I plan to share my contributions to the ArtOrder Mutation Nation art challenge that Jon Schindehette ran... sixteen years ago. The next one I will be sharing is the Anglerphant.

Anglerphant

10 x 7.5 - Digital 

Mutation Nation Challenge
© 2010 Christopher Burdett

Anglerphant

14 x 11 - Pencil on paper 

Original - SOLD 

Mutation Nation Challenge
© 2010 Christopher Burdett

The focus of the challenge was to take two animals, combine them, and make a new crazy mutant. I ended up designing four monsters, and three became finished paintings. These three paintings saw a major improvement in my painting skills, my use of reference, and baby steps into creating an environment for the monsters. This is also when I officially announced I am only working on monsters moving forward. These were well received and were 100% responcible for me once more working on projects with WotC. The time and energy I put into these more than paid off, and would mark the beginning of a new chapter in my art career.  

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

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