Fleshworm Broodsire - Dreamblade

Picking up where I left off last Wednesday I have for you another look at an old Dreamblade miniature design that I have never shared here on the blog and a redesign with my current skill level and design tastes. This week the miniature getting the spotlight is the mighty Fleshworm Broodsire.

I designed the Fleshworm Broodsire as part of the core set designs in 2005 but the miniature was not released until the first expansion, Baxar's War. To be completely honest there is not a lot really wrong with this design - in my opinion. It is old and my design tastes have changed, but this is a solid piece, all things considered, and resulted in a neat miniature. Yes, it could be better, but it could have also been worse... looking at you, Bound Cleaver... ANYWAY, here is the final design for the Fleshworm Broodsire...

Fleshworm Broodsire
© 2005 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Giant morbidly obese human torso on the body of a giant worm with three worm heads... done, done, and DONE. You will notice that there is a little crushed monster under him and that he has one hand stuck in the ground. This miniature has a game mechanic that allows for it to be removed from the game and all creature in your graveyard to be returned to your reserves. There was a lot to include in the design, but I managed to get it all in there.

I did do an earlier pass on the design. It turned out to be much too spread out to fit on the miniature base and I was asked to condense the footprint as well as some other minor tweaks. Here is the original concept for the Fleshworm Broodsire...

Fleshworm Broodsire - original concept
© 2005 Wizards of the Coast LLC

As you can see it was pretty much all there in the original concept and I just had to rearrange the pose to better fit the base it was going on. The miniature turned out well and was faithful to the design, Here is how the final production miniature turned out...

Fleshworm Broodsire - miniature

Let's now fast forward to 2013 and see how I would approach this monster now. As I have mentioned before I think this is still a solid piece as it stands... yes, I will do things differently from a design stand point but this does not reduce the merit of the original. It can be hard to look back at old work and not see it all as crap... it is not all crap, some of it is just old. The Bound Cleaver I shared with you last week in more in the crap pile while the Fleshworm Broodsire is just old. The distinction between the two categories can be a little grey... but it is there. All that aside, here is my redesign of the Fleshworm Broodsire...

Fleshworm Broodsire Redux
© 2013 Christopher Burdett

One thing I would like to mention before I do a comparison is that there are no short cuts in art, no tricks, no gimmicks, AND ESPECIALLY no way to circumvent the hard work and time it takes to improve. No matter what anyone tells you or tries to sell to you as a short cut. You are only cheating yourself in the quest for a short cut. If you have to redraw something, take the time to redraw it. Unless there is a hard and fast issue with a deadline, there is no reason not put the pencil to the paper and start over. That said, here is a then and now comparison of the Fleshworm Broodsire...

Fleshworm Broodsire comparison

A lot of the update revolves around the design of the monster. Symmetry is boring! It has three head? Nothing says they have to be the same or equal. I looked at some crazy worn heads while I was at it to better inform and influence my choices in the design instead of just pulling things out of my head. I also better incorporated the heads into the body and continued the texture and details into the rest of the body. This better makes it feel like a whole and unified creature. I went ahead and reduced the number of fingers so that they could be larger and more detailed when it came to the mini. Made the brass knuckles more intimidating. Wrapped the tail around the opposite side of the arm digging in the ground to make it stand out better. Not sure if it would have been approved, but I made the hand in the ground appear to be digging in the ground rather then just shoved under the ground. In my opinion this adds clarity and interest. I also have added a lot more surface detail to the entire piece to add interest. Finally, I gave the pose a little more lean, curve, and twist to hopefully make it feel less stiff.

I think that is enough to chew on and think about for now...

That is all for 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