Revisiting Monster P.I.

I didn't expect to be revisiting this one, but as I finally, after nine years, got to play through the entire program, I thought it would be fun to take another look at this project and all the monsters I made for it. 

First and foremost, this was created for my day career back in 2017. I originally shared this here on the blog in 2019, and it then vanished as if it never existed. For the project, I named it, created the logo, designed and created all the monsters, designed and created the Hub World in both normal and damaged states, mini game tutorial animations, and more. It was an extremely fun project to be a part of, and it is good to revisit and share it all again. The project was to create a testing interface for reading, word comprehension, and understanding. As you move through it, you will be tested, and if successful, you get a clue to the monster responsible for the damage and then play a fun little timed mini game. At the very end, you have to pick your monster from a lineup. After successfully finishing everything, you can make your own monster using all of the parts and colors.

And as I have finally been able to play through it all, it is a lot of fun and a great mix of testing and fun. Here is the vast majority of what I created for the project.

The Monster P.I. poster that I created using my assets.

Here are the monsters I created in their original forms. I also named all the monsters and created a backstory for each one. Respectively, they are: Zirrple, Dundur, Tromps, Wobbly, and Snerp.

All of their parts and colors are entirely interchangeable, making for many interesting, silly, and fun monsters.

 

Here are larger images of each monster. Cycling movements were added to give them a little more life. Everything was made to be interchangeable, which created some fun and challenging obstacles. 

Dundur, Snerp, Tromps, Wobbly, and Zirrple.

Clues would include tentacle legs, four arms, a spotted body, big ears, or the color. 

The Hub World was another large undertaking for the project. I needed to make the city look interesting and fun. I color-coded each location to the monster that, in its original form, is likely to be attracted to. Meaning that Zirrple likes the library. This was done mostly for myself and the little stories I wrote about each one. In the actual game, the monster will be a unique combination each time it is used. But this allows the location to be visually unique. After you visit a location, take the tests, collect the clue, and play the mini game, the location is repaired, and you can select another location to investigate. 

The Hub world.

The damaged Hub World.

 

The last major contribution to the project was animated tutorials for each of the mini games. They needed to be quick, simple, and explain what you need to do in the game to succeed. Each location had a themed game you could play. The game was timed, and you are rewarded one to three stars based on your performance. 

Game tutorial animations.

Here is a video that the center has used to advertise the game and our ability to create such projects. We are always on the lookout for projects like this, as they are super fun and allow us to really push ourselves and be creative.

Monster P.I.!

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 Crawling One

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 Crawling One. Here is my design and the final miniature.

Crawling One

12 x 9 - Pencil on paper - 3 separate drawings 

Arkham Horror Monsters / Mansions of Madness 

© 2009 Fantasy Flight Games

 

Crawling One 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.

Crawling One - Thumbnails

Arkham Horror Monsters / Mansions of Madness 

© 2009 Fantasy Flight Games

And, AND as another added bonus. Here is a piece I did a couple of years after this assignment, where I go to illustrate myself and the Crawling One for the Call of Cthulhu: Silver Twilight Lodge expansion. For the miniature design and the illustration, I started with established FFG designs for these monsters. I smoothed them out a little and added a lot of myself, but they are still on guide. I distinctly remember in the forums for this game that there were a few people who were not happy at all about the look of the Crawling One, and that it was wrong, as it doesn't look like this. I laughed and got back to making art and monsters. As a side note, this piece originally came out in 2011, but in 2020 (or thereabouts) it returned in the Arkham Horror expansion Final Hour.

Unbound!

 Call of Cthulhu: Silver Twilight Lodge

 © 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

Unbound!

 In card form!

 © 2011 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 - Lizardfolk

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 Lizardfolk. Enjoy!

Lizardfolk 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

Revisting the DXR-6 Disruptor

I will continue to be saying this for a while longer: I am REALLY BUSY writing the next book, so the blog will continue to mostly be posts looking back at older work. Today I am sharing a Star Wars piece I painted in 2013/14 for a board game and it ended up making the roads. So, here we are again!

DXR-6 Disruptor Rifle

Imperial Assault Core Set

10.127 x 9 - Digital

© 2014 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games 

One of the main reasons this piece is being revisited is that one of the reference images popped up again on the socials. It reminded me of this one, and so here we are. More to the point, I shared this photo likely the day after it was taken, but with no context, I was not breaking any NDA. 

DXR-6 Disruptor Rifle - Reference
Photos by Achsa Nute

Here are images of the piece taking shape with the thumbnails and the final drawing. This one was focused on the figure and blaster, so background and environments were not needed, and it let me make it all one big explosion.

DXR-6 Disruptor Rifle - Thumbnails

© 2014 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

DXR-6 Disruptor Rifle

12 x 9 - Pencil on paper

Original - SOLD (a LONG time ago)

© 2014 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games 

This art has ended up on at least three cards. The first time, it was hilariously and severely cropped. Like, why even at that point? I was thrilled when it was released so that the art could finally be seen. It is likely out there elsewhere in books, cards, and stuff, but I may never track them down.

The many cards this art has been used on.

There may be more, but I only know of these three. 

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 Child of Abhoth

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 Child of Abhoth. Here is my design and the final miniature.

Child of Abhoth

12 x 9 - Pencil on paper - 3 separate drawings

Arkham Horror Monsters / Mansions of Madness 

© 2009 Fantasy Flight Games

The Child of Abhoth 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.

Child of Abhoth - 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 - Kobold

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 Kobold. Enjoy!

Kobold 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

Revisting Smaug the Golden

Not to sound like a broken wheel, because I will be saying this for a while longer, but I am REALLY BUSY writing the next book, so the blog continues to mostly be posts looking back at older work. Today I am looking back at one of, if not the, favorite of Smaug paintings done for the Hobbit card game (original process post!). In total, I painted five Smaug-centric pieces, and this was the first one in the series and the last to be released. The art was eventually cropped to a square, but you do what you can. This piece is not without its flaws, I know them all too well, but I still really like this one, even with it being painted in 2012.

Smaug the Golden

The Hobbit: On the Doorstep 

10 x 8 - Digital

Art Director - Zoe Robinson 

© 2013 Fantasy Flight Games 

I used to spend SO much time laboring over these pieces I was being paid nearly nothing for. I guess it was good because I still have this cool dragon to show off. But all that time and effort spent on someone else's world. I will always say that doing that work taught me so much about how to create my work and my world. 

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