Funny Things Found on the Web - NEVER MAKE A MISTAKE

Since today is a holiday here in the States and my attention is being pulled in too many other direction I have a short post today. Just some funny things I have found around the web that some how relate back to my work...

Back in February my Google Alerts brought something interesting to my attention. There was a custom Magic: The Gathering card contest going at mtgsalvation.com and someone thought my work would be a good match for their idea... and they were nice enough to give me credit for my work. BlackBull used my Anglerphant for his idea and did a nice little mock up of the piece to boot!

Maybe one day :) Nice of BalckBull to think I have reached the Magic level.
Jeremy, I hope you are making a note of this...

More recently, last week even, some of my dragons showed up over on i09. i09 is the sci-fi/fantasy off shoot of Gawker and usually has some really neat links to check out. Since A Game of Thrones is all the buzz right now I am pleased to see that my recently released work for the card game has gotten some extra attention. At last count over 64,000 people have viewed the link over on i09... that is 64,000 people ready to tell me about all my mistakes...

Thank you internet, how did I ever not get called out on my mistakes before you?

First of all, I apparently misspoke... I made a claim that there were no monsters in AGoT. I have never read the books, I know little to nothing beyond what I have been told by friends that have read the books and they told me that it is a very low fantasy world with no monsters... save some dragons... and maybe one or two little things. I come from a D&D background which is HIGH fantasy and all the other art I have looked at from the card game seemed to have no monsters or magic. My bad... I was wrong, there are monsters.

Second, but no less egregious, there were claims of SPOILERS. Uh... yeah... whatever.

Third, and lastly, yes, they have two legs and two wings. Yes, typically this beast is called a Wyvern. The author of these books calls them dragons. They are dragons.

See? All better and the Internet didn't explode! :D Oh Internet, Why can't I quit you?

That is all for a holiday Monday, see you back here on Wednesday for (most likely) some pencil on paper action! 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 - Sympathetic Demon

You of course remember the Sympathetic Demon from episode 19, The Magic Bullet, from season 4 of Angel, right? Any good Angel fan would, right? I barely recall this demon and I designed it. So that everyone is on the same page, this is the Sympathetic Demon...

Well, at least the unused makeup pieces and teeth.
Sightings of the Sympathetic Demon demon is so rare that I don't even have a picture of it.

I was able to find some more time to take a fresh pass at another demon that I designed while working on Joss Whedon's Angel series. This time around the Sympathetic Demon was the lucky winner. Here are my original designs for the Sympathetic Demon from 2003...

Not sure if it is a Sympathetic Demon, but I sure feel sorry... for myself.
Please take note, this is one of the only times I ever managed to get something usable out of Painter. I have been using Photoshop for over 20 years now and Painter has always been a bit of a conundrum.
© 2003 Almost Human

The Sympathetic Demon was suppose to be just that... Sympathetic. A poor little demon on the run the the path of destruction that the Beast was creating across Los Angeles. He is ends up crossing paths with Fred in a sewer as they are both hiding. Fred is scared, Sympathetic Demon comforts her that he is harmless, gains trust, tries to eat Fred, gets an ax in the head from Fred. Typical Angel plot and character progression. We were asked to go for something sad and pathetic, something that appeared harmless and not threatening. I think I got the pathetic part down... The sculpture, Jonathan Fuller, did a really fun pair of gloves for the monster. When the actor folded his finger back the first knuckles looked like they were the ends of the fingers with blunt nails... but when the actor opened his hands the fingers ended in sharp claws. Really neat idea, just don't know if you saw it in the show. All that aside, here is something... newer, as far as the design of the Sympathetic Demon is concerned...

Taking the Sympathetic Demon back!
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

Not much to say about this one. In an attempt to reach sympathetic I think I crossed well over into pathetic. I think that works too. I did have a lot of fun drawing it and it came together really quickly. On to the next art albatross that I carry around my neck...

That is all for another exciting week on the blog. Monday is a holiday, so I might not make it onto the blog... but then again, I just might. 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... Xorn!

I have for you today another drawing that is fresh from the drawing table. This time around it is a Xorn! "X" offered up just one monster option so at least I can say the decision making process went quickly and smoothly. It is also hard to go wrong with a crazy mixed monster with a funny name. I present to you my version of a Xorn...

Xorn

© 2011 Christopher Burdett

To my the name Xorn always implied an alien or perhaps a Cthulhu monsters... or both. Being a bizarre mixed up earth elemental that can phase through solid rock would seem to imply that. The Xorn has always been depicted with some rather unconventional anatomy so I thought I would just push it some more and add some much needed tentacles. Not much else to say about a creature that eats rocks and metal and can pass through solid objects and has a funny name. Maybe our brains can not handle anymore knowledge of such a creature... perhaps it would lead to madness. I did have a lot of fun with it and it now has some much needed tentacles!

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.     

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

A Game of Thrones: Queen of Dragons (Drawings and more)

Last week I shared with you the dragons I produced for A Game of Thrones: Queen of Dragons expansion, if you missed them you can see then here: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3. Since I got such a great response to the posts I thought I would share the drawings that went into the dragons as well as some extra stuff I found on the interwebs. First up though, here are the drawings that went into the three dragons...

Drogon
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

Rhaegal
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

Viserion
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

First off you might notice that Viserion got reversed for the final painting. As I was working on it I flipped it to get a fresh look at it and realized, to me at least, that it looked better if he was approaching right to left. You might also notice that compared to some of the other drawings I share here on the blog these are a little loose for me. Since I was told several times that George Martin is extremely particular about his dragons I was hesitant to finalized too much with these, especially if there were going to be changes. I did not know what to expect since these were the first AGoT dragons I have worked on. As I mentioned I apparently had nothing to worry about.

Next up, here are some things I found around the web. I was on a gaming website I frequent and I noticed a banner ad that had some familiar faces...

BANNER AD, RAWR!

This was only the first or second time I have come across my work being reused this way and it was pretty neat. Makes me feel a did a good job if it is being put to other uses. When I clicked the ad it sent me to a website related to the expansion and those familiar faces...

I need to pay better attention.

While I was distracted elsewhere a website featuring the dragons had been up for I don't know how long. Note to self... pay better attention to the internet. Anyway... I thought it was pretty neat and thought I would share. This is the first time my work has been featured this way.

That is all for dragon fun here on the blog today, 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

A Game of Thrones: Queen of Dragons (Part 3)

Now there are three of them... Wrapping up a week of dragons here on the blog I bring you the final installment of my work on A Game of Thrones: Queen of Dragons expansion. Last but not least is Viserion, seen here in the midst of descending on some hapless victims (who are conveniently just out of frame)...

Viserion
(With real castle stomping action, other accessories sold separately)
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

The art order called for Viserion dropping from the sky to attack a castle and I was happy to oblige. I wanted to depict the eye line of someone who most likely will be inside the dragon in a matter of moments. Of course... now that I am looking at the piece afresh, I really should have had some arrows flying up at him from inside the castle... oh well. Next time. Though I have not seen it, here is how the final card should look...

Viserion
(now on a piece of card stock for your convenience)
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

I guess I like making things interesting for myself... a white and gold dragon in a pink and purple lit sky. If we do not challenge ourselves how do we hope to improve? I also just wanted to try to depict a dragon in a different and unique way since these are but three of the thirteen dragons I produced last year for various projects. For having not done many dragons for my professional work I certainly made up for it last year. More on all these dragons as soon as there is something to tell!

That is all for an exciting dragon filled week on the blog, see you back here for all new fun on Monday... and maybe a little more dragon action. Until then...

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

A Game of Thrones: Queen of Dragons (Part 2)

As promised on Monday, I have for you another dragon from A Game of Thrones: Queen of Dragons expansion. Today I bring you, Rhaegal, who has just taken flight and is lifting up into the air...

Rhaegal
(With real flying action, other accessories sold separately)
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

Rhaegal is depicted in a more passive situation compared to the other two who are in the midst of attacking or just about to attack. For a while I didn't like Rhaegal as much because of that, but as I look at it more and more there is something about that quality that draws me in. I had a lot of fun with Rhaegal's long snaky body and it turns and twists off into the distance. Though I have not seen it, here is how the final card should look...

Rhaegal
(now on a piece of card stock for your convenience)
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

For some reason I do not like painting blue skies and I will always try to find a way around painting one... when possible. Not sure what it is, but I much prefer a yellow sky, I even will take a red, orange or any number of purple to gray skies over blue any day of the week. There is not one blue sky in any of these dragon piece, there is a red/gray, a yellow/creme and (on Friday) a Sunset with pinks and purples. Maybe I just like making it hard on myself keep up with the color effects of having a colored sky... or maybe I have unresolved issues with the color blue... or maybe, I just like skies of a different color.

That is all for today's dragon adventures, see you back here for the final AGoT Dragon! Until then...

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

A Game of Thrones: Queen of Dragons (Part 1)

I had a chance to work on A Game of Thrones last year and I am pleased to finally share the work I did on the game. I am sure you are thinking that there are no monsters in AGoT and you would be correct... but there are certainly DRAGONS! In total, I created three dragons for the Queen of Dragons expansion and I will be bringing them to you all this week. First up with have the fire breathing Drogon, who is doing what apparently it does best...

Drogon
(With real fire breathing action, other accessories sold separately)
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

The dragons of AGoT are of a serpentine nature, long and lean, more snake than lizard. I was told George Martin is very particular about the dragons that show up in the game so I was a little nervous going into the project. Apparently I had nothing to worry about because I hit the mark with each one on the first pass. Though I have not seen the cards in person, the images on them online look pretty good, and so far I am pretty happy with the final product...

Drogon
(now on a piece of card stock for your convenience)
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

This was my first opportunity to work on AGoT and to be honest, an opportunity I thought I would never have. Since it is a game of power struggles and intrigue I assumed my talents would be unnecessary for the type of product created for the game. Boy, was I wrong! I had forgotten about those pesky dragons, won't make that mistake again!

That is all for Monday, see you back here on Wednesday for more dragon fun! 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... Wasp (Giant)!

I have for you today another drawing that is fresh from the drawing table. This time around it is a Wasp (Giant)! "W" had several monsters to choose from and for a long time I thought the Wyvern or Wight would have won out. In the end I must have still be on a giant insect monster kick from the Umber Hulk and went with the Wasp. I present to you my version of a Wasp (Giant)...

Wasp (Giant)
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

When will those pesky wizards learn? Now they have gone and made horrific giant wasps. How else could such a creature come to be? I really wanted to take these critters to the extreme and actually make them the size of giants. Their massive mutated bodies being too much for their tiny wings, they walk about the landscape hunting and destroying everything in their paths. Beware their sting!

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, where there will be DRAGONS! Until then...

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

The Black Sepulchre - Dark Heresy

The Black Sepulchre, the newest gaming supplement for Dark Heresy is out and I contributed a piece to it. For those that don't know, the Dark Heresy RPG is set in the grim dark future of the Warhammer 40k universe. The Black Sepulchre allowed me to add my own voice to the 40k universe with the designing of some original monsters. I was tasked with coming up with Thrung's Pets, a pair of hyena alligator mutants. This what I came up with...

Thrung's Pets
(I for one welcome our new hyena alligator mutant overlords)
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

I had originally placed a bow with a skull tie in the mane of the one chewing on the bone. I figured that was the female and she needed something that made her feel pretty. I was told the folks at Games Workshop might not think it was very funny and I was asked to remove it from the drawing before it was submitted to them for approval. The only feedback I received on the original drawing was to make all the spikes and skull medallions 50% bigger... an easy fix to say the least. Here is the finalized approved drawing for these two lovely mutants...

Thrung's Pets
(now on a piece of paper in pencil for your convenience)
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

This was the very first Warhammer 40K project that I worked on. The 40K universe has many fans and has a huge detailed back story. In the end I had a lot of fun with this assignment and had a blast designing something new for the 40K universe. This project also allowed me to do some black and white work again, which I had not done in some time. I have more 40K work on it's way, and I look forward to sharing it with you.

For the record, this pair of hyena alligators do have names, but I can't tell you... it's a SECRET! If you ever meet me in person maybe I will tell you...

That is all for a very mutated Wednesday, see you back here on Friday to wrap up the week! Until then...

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

Mansions of Madness

After monsters, I think I love designing miniatures best. The good folks at Fantasy Flight Games have been good enough to still be putting out products with miniatures and I have been lucky enough to work on some of them. Though Mansions of Madness came out recently I began working on it back in 2009. Since there is always a huge turnaround time for projects with miniatures this can be expected... but never enjoyed. I designed two of the monster miniatures that were included in Mansions of Madness, the Hound of Tindalos and Witch...

Hound of Tindalos
(Barking at you from the 4th dimension)
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

Witch
(Now with 100% more modesty)
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

I am told that the Hound was very well received internally at FFG, which helped in me getting more miniature work since. It was the first miniature design I had done in a while and I felt a little rusty when working on it... though I got into the flow pretty quick. The Witch was a little out of my comfort zone since she is hardly monstrous, but I take them as they come and it was for a miniature and I can't say no in mini designs. It also never hurts to work outside your comfort zone.

I have not had a chance to see the miniatures in person yet but I have seen photos and they seem to have turned out really well. Since they come unpainted many folks are posting photos online of their custom paint jobs and they are all looking super cool.

I look forward to sharing my other miniature work with you, but don't get excited, it is most likely going to be a while...

That is all for you for today, see you back here on Wednesday for something from the dark grim future! Until then...

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

Mastering my domain...

In just over a month I will find myself in Amherst, Massachusetts. Why do you ask? Well, I am attending this year's Illustration Master Class, that's why. If you are unfamiliar with the IMC I would strongly suggest you take some time to check it out. Like Illuxcon, it has been the talk of the town in the illustration field for several years now and is one of those "if you can, you MUST go events".

Take your first step into a larger world...

This is my first journey to the IMC, though I have heard many stories of past years and have been proselytized by the IMC converts. I never imagined I would be going to it anytime soon, but my wife surprised me this past Christmas. While I was busy doing an art trade for her with Guy Davis she was busy clearing my leave with my supervisors and setting in motion my registration. She told me I was ready to attend and there was no point in waiting for another year.

I am a little hesitant of what I will find at the IMC. I feel like I am on Dagobah and Yoda has sent me into the cave and though I think I am fighting Darth Vader it just turns out to be me... yeah, that is how I feel right now about IMC. ...but in a more positive, I am glad I am going kind of way. To be honest, this could not have come at a better time. I am not sure what I am expecting to find, but I feel it will be just what I need to find right now. ...if that makes any sense.

Since I will be bringing a lot of equipment I am driving to the IMC... Florida to Massachusetts in just 20 short hours of driving. That will be an adventure in and of itself.

I will not be blogging the week of the IMC since my time will be much better spent concentrating on the events there. I will be documenting as much as I can so that after it is all over I can do some blog posts recapping my experience at IMC 2011. Keep an eye out on the blog all the same, there might be a post or two of some kind...

That is all for another exciting week on the blog, see you back here on Monday for some NEW WORK! Until then...

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

Call of Cthulhu: Silver Twilight Lodge (part 2)

On Monday I shared the first of two cards I produced for the Call of Cthulhu: Silver Twilight Lodge expansion. Today, I have for you my second one, Unbound! (it has TENTACLES!). This was a great piece to work on, the art order allowed me to choose any Cthulhu mythos monster I wanted and depict it expectantly appearing in a ritual gone wrong. For reasons I can not yet share (save it being neat and having tentacles) I picked the Crawling One. So here is the Crawling One, UNBOUND...

Unbound!
(RAWR! Behold my glistening tentacles! THEY ARE MIGHTY!)
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

Again, thanks to the internet I have an image of what the final card turned out. The big bad Crawling One gets to strut his stuff... I wonder if he is going to eat that 2...

Unbound!
(now on a piece of card stock for your convenience)
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

Here is the drawing for Unbound!, unlike the Faceless Abductor there were not really any major changes to the overall piece as it went from drawing to painting. As I have mentioned previously I started with several loose thumbnails and then settled on this final composition after sharing them with the client. Originally I liked another composition much better, it had the Crawling One more in a profile, turning back to take notice of the fleeing cultists. Looking at them all agian now, I think the better decision was made...

Unbound!
(now on a piece of paper in pencil for your convenience)
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

This was a really fun one to work on and my favorite of the the two piece I contributed to this expansion. I did get to pose for photo reference for all the monsters and fleeing cultists, which is always fun. Running around in a cloak in the yard and imagining I have a torso of tentacles can really get you in the right frame of mind to work on a piece.

That is all for an exciting tentacled Wednesday, 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

Call of Cthulhu: Silver Twilight Lodge (part 1)

Late last week I received permission to start sharing recently released work, so expect lots of new work to be appearing on the blog in the coming weeks!

First up, I have a piece I did for the Call of Cthulhu: Silver Twilight Lodge expansion, the Faceless Abductor (imagine that, a monster!). This is one of two cards I created for this expansion and this is the first time I have worked on the Call of Cthulhu franchise. Hard to believe I did these practically a year ago now. The assignment was easy, depict a Nightgaunt with no face hanging out in the shadows of a cave, here is what I came up with...

Faceless Abductor
(How can he say 'RAWR' without a mouth??)
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

This expansion has been out for a little while and I have yet to see the cards in person. I was able to find a scan of the card on a fan site that gives me some idea of how it turned out. Looking forward to finally holding my contribution to the Cthulhu mythos in my hands.

Faceless Abductor
(now on a piece of card stock for your convenience)
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

Here is the drawing that went into the piece. As with other projects I have shared with you here on the blog, I started with several very loose thumbnails before moving onto a more finished drawing and eventually the final painting. You might notice a couple of things that ended up changing from the sketch to the final piece...

Faceless Abductor
(now on a piece of paper in pencil for your convenience)
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

First off, the final piece ended up flipped horizontally. When working on a piece I always flip it to get a fresh look at it, sometimes I realize it is just better off to stay flipped. The second change, and the one that means more to me, is that the rocks in the background went from looking like formless drippy blobs to looking more like actual underground rock formations. As I talked about at the beginning of the year I spent a lot of time last year trying to break old bad habits and use more reference. In the drawing I was making marks of what I thought rocks were like and when it came to the painting I was faced with big formless masses of drippy garbage. I stopped myself again from going down the bad habit highway, got a bunch of good rock reference and got back to work with a better understanding of what these forms needed to look like. They might be just rocks in the background, but they deserve the same attention that the monster gets or the whole thing will fall apart.

That is all for today, see you back here on Wednesday for something with TENTACLES! Until then...

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