The DOODLES, DESIGNS, and aRT of CHRISTOPHER BURDETT: October 2014

Friday, October 31, 2014

Dungeon & Dragons Monster Manual - Stone Golem - Redesign

Not only is this post concluding another exciting week of new monsters from the design phase of 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, but it is also Halloween! What better way to celebrate today's post then with the VERY spooky Stone Golem! ...wait, WUT?! Here is how the final concept turned out...

Stone Golem - Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual - Redesign

Stone Golem. Golem of stone. Made of stone Golem. Going into this one I was given some very specific direction from production. They had something in mind for how they wanted the Stone Golem to look and feel. Needless to say I had a bunch of my own ideas too. So I of course submitted a thumbnail that represented what they had asked for, some that abstract off of that idea, some of my ideas, and a mixed match version of all of the above. Here is how the thumbnails turned out...

Stone Golem - Thumbnails

Not surprisingly, the thumbnail that was inline with what they had asked for was the one picked. Production wanted a statue like construct they could have an Egyptian like feel to it... and they is what I gave them. Option 'C' was the winner and I knew it would be from the beginning... but you just never know and you will get surprised every so often, so never quit experimenting and trying to work outside the expected. With an approved thumbnail is was time to get drawing on the final concept...

Stone Golem - Drawing

9 x 12

Pencil on Paper

Original Drawing for sale over on my web store!

This was a pretty straight forward conversion from thumbnail to drawing. I added detail and made sure it all looked good. The final was approved without comment and I was good to move forward to the final color comp...

Stone Golem - Final Redsign

The final color comp was approved without comment and another monster was squared away. Only a couple monster left! If nothing unexpected happens we will be coming to the end of my monster work on the 5th Edition Monster Manual next week.

A HUGE THANKS to Jon Schindehette for all the monsters and direction during the design phase of 5th Edition!

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

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

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Dungeon & Dragons Monster Manual - Spriggan - Redesign

Continuing another week of monsters from my concept work on 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons with the loathsome Spriggan. The best type of Fey creatures? GROSS Fey creatures! Here is how the final concept turned out...

Spriggan - Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual - Redesign

This was a very late addition to my workload and was a fun one. Production wanted a weird, little, simpering, pathetic, gross incarnation for this Spriggan. I was more then happy to work up some thumbnails of just that. Here is how my thumbnails turned out...

Spriggan - Thumbnails

I really liked 'A' and 'B', not too sure where 'C' was heading but neither did it. 'B' was the obvious winner and needed to be moved along to a finished drawing. Still loving 'A' a whole lot... I may need to remember the feel and mood of it and see if I can channel it into another piece sometime. Anyway, here is how the final drawing for the Spriggan turned out...

Spriggan - Drawing

9 x 12

Pencil on Paper

Original Drawing for sale over on my web store!

The drawing was approved without note and I was all set to move onto the final color comp. This was another one that moved along really quickly without any major issue or exciting story. Just making monsters... Needless to say, it is thanks to years of experience, familiarity with the IP and project, and an established working relationship with the art director that makes this as easy as it sometimes it. Here is how the final color comp turned out...

Spriggan - Final Redsign

The color comp was approved and another monster is all set. Time to move onto the next one...

A HUGE THANKS to Jon Schindehette for all the monsters and direction during the design phase of 5th Edition!
That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here on Friday for another new monster! Until then...

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

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

RAWR! Shirts now available and selfie contest!

My RAWR! shirts are NOW available over on my store! The shirts come in both men and women sizes and come in the most stunning color of BLACK. Get yours today! Supplies are limited!

But that is not all!! My wife is running a selfie contest over on Facebook where you have a chance to win your very own uniquely colored RAWR! shirt. Head on over to Facebook to see the details for the selfie challenge.

Get you very own RAWR! shirt!!!

Be like these cool kids and wear a RAWR! shirt for monstrous fun!

What are you waiting for?! Head over to my ONLINE STORE to get yourself a RAWR! Shirt today!

See you back here tomorrow for a new monster! Until then...

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

Monday, October 27, 2014

Dungeon & Dragons Monster Manual - Shambling Mound - Redesign

Starting off another week of monsters from my time redesigning for 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons with something a little green. It is none other then the Shambling Mound! Everybody loves a giant plant monster that loves to squeeze you to death AND loves lightning. Here is how the final concept turned out...

Shambling Mound - Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual - Redesign

I am no stranger to the Shambling Mound, in fact back in 2011 I redesigned the Shambling Mound for myself. Going into this reworking for 5th Edition I knew I needed to steer clear from anything I had already done for myself while creating the intended product for the client. Insuring that there would be no cross over, production requested that the new Shambling Mound needed to not have any appearance of a mouth, eyes, or anything face like at all. Done and done! I got to work on some very crazy, scribbly, loose thumbnails...

Shambling Mound - Thumbnails

Somehow something was determined to be of value from all these scribbles and option "B" was the winner. Only one thing to do... get to work on the drawing. Now I had to make since of all my scribbles and make it look like vines, leaves, and other plant bits. Here is how the final drawing turned out...

Shambling Mound - Drawing

9 x 12

Pencil on Paper

Original Drawing for sale over on my web store!

The drawing was approved on the first pass and without note. All in all, this monster moved through production extremely quickly. With an approved drawing it was now time to add some color and wrap this plant behemoth up. Here is for the final color concept turned out...

Shambling Mound - Final Redsign

The final was approved without note and another monster was ticked off my list. In the end, when the MM came out the 4th Edition Shambling Mound was used. Not sure what happened, but the piece was by Lars Grant-West and is an awesome painting. Maybe my version will still be illustrated by someone out there...

A HUGE THANKS to Jon Schindehette for all the monsters and direction during the design phase of 5th Edition!

That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog, see you back here on Wednesday for another new monster! Until then...

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

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Monster Manual Prints now Available!

Head over to my WEB STORE to get your prints of my monsters from the 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual! Each print is 8.5 x 11 and comes signed and numbered! The print run is limited to 50 each. You can get them singly or as a set at a discount. Go now and get yours today! RAWR!

Monster Manual prints NOW AVAILABLE!

See you back here on Monday for more new monsters! Until then...

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

Friday, October 24, 2014

Dungeon & Dragons Monster Manual - Helmed Horror - Redesign

Concluding another week of monsters here on the blog with another 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual redesign. This time around it is a monster of animated armor, the very rigid Helmed Horror. Here is how the final concept turned out...

Helmed Horror - Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual - Redesign

Helmed Horror... animated magical armor monster... monster that is armor... not a lot of tentacles going on there. Every monster gets the same amount of attention and the same amount of work, every time. While this one is sort of a straight forward monster... animated armor, I wanted to give it my personal spin and push the boundaries with production to see what they would go for. While there is no need to reinvent the wheel, I did want to make it fresh and feel really cool. Here is how the thumbnails turned out...

Helmed Horror - Thumbnails

While option 'C' is most likely completely wrong for this monster I thought it would be so cool In the end, 'B' was the winner. I was asked to resubmit the thumbnail with another pass of detail and a sword to match the armor. An animated suit of armor needs to be fully armed and looking its best! Here is how the updated thumbnail turned out...

Helmed Horror - Revised Thumbnail

All dressed up and no adventures to slay. The updated fleshed out thumbnail was approved without further comment and it was time to draw. Here is how the final drawing turned out...

Helmed Horror - Drawing

9 x 12

Pencil on Paper

Original Drawing for sale over on my web store!

The drawing was approved without comment... which is good, since it is pretty much the revised thumbnail but in pencil. It was now time to get working on the color comp of the Helmed Horror. Here is how the final color comp turned out...

Helmed Horror - Final Redsign

I think I originally turned in a more monochromatic version of this color comp originally. I was asked to add some more variation to the armor. This didn't take long and did not result in a new version of this image, so this if the only version of the final Helmed Horror. Another monster has been taken care of, one to the next...

A HUGE THANKS to Jon Schindehette for all the monsters and direction during the design phase of 5th Edition!

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

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

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Dungeon & Dragons Monster Manual - Hezrou Demon - Redesign

The monsters continue here on the blog with another redesign from the 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual. This time around it is a demon! The Hezrou Demon to be exact. Here is how the final concept turned out...

Hezrou Demon - Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual - Redesign

The Hezrou Demon has been around since the very first D&D Monster Manual and I was thrilled to get a chance to give it my personal spin. After all, it is a giant fat frog demon and I am all about drawing gaint fat frog demons. Got things rolling with some thumbnails...

Hezrou Demon - Thumbnails

I really love these... but I can see now why they don't work for this particular monster. Man, oh man... I would have loved to flesh out option 'A' though. 'B' is also a favorite of mine. Alas, they are all too big and fat I guess and I was asked to work up some new options. Here is how my second wave of thumbnails turned out...

Hezrou Demon - Second Wave of Thumbnails

Option 'C' was the winner, but he was not over the finish line just yet. I was asked to take that design and stand the monster up a bit. Here is how that updated thumbnail turned out...

Hezrou Demon - Revised Thumbnail

Third times the charm and I had an approved thumbnail for the Hezrou Demon. It was now time for some drawing and to flesh out what I was beginning in the thumbnail. Here is how the final drawing of the Hezrou Demon turned out...

Hezrou Demon - Drawing

9 x 12

Pencil on Paper

Original - SOLD

The drawing was approved with out comment and it was time to get started on the final color comp. Here is how the color version turned out...

Hezrou Demon - Final Redsign

The color comp was approved and another monster was completed. There was some concern going into this that the Slaad are also big fat frog monsters and that the Hezrou would end up too similar. In the end all parties were confident that the two monsters looked sufficiently different and unique.

A few months back I mentioned that the Hezrou had surfaced in the mobile game, Arena of War. That game has come and gone, but the screenshots survive on the internet. Here are some of my screenshots that I had originally shared so you can see how it translated to the mobile game. All in all, I think it is a fairly good adaptation. Too bad the game didn't stick around longer...

Hezrou Demon from Dungeons & Dragons Arena of War

A HUGE THANKS to Jon Schindehette for all the monsters and direction during the design phase of 5th Edition!

That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here on Friday for another new monster! Until then...

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

Monday, October 20, 2014

Dungeon & Dragons Monster Manual - Griffon - Redesign

Back to work and back to covering the monsters from 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons that I redesigned. This time around it is the majestic chimera of a monster, the Griffon. Here is how the final concept turned out...

Griffon - Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual - Redesign

This time around they had a previous design they wanted to stick close to for the Griffon and I was provided a sample piece of art to base my work off of. Seems easy enough, right? Sure... here is how the thumbnail turned out for the Griffon...

Griffon - Thumbnail

Unfortunately, I stuck too close to the provided sample and did not think for myself enough and carried over the anatomy that was not working just right. It was a great piece of art I was working from, but anatomy is one of those things that you need to nail, or fake REALLY well. It became very clear in my thumbnail that the anatomy I was working from needed some more attention. I was asked to go back and beef up and tighten up the anatomy for the Griffon. Here is how the revised version turned out...

Griffon - Revised Thumbnail

Much better, and much more accurate to being a bird lion monster thing. Why didn't I tighten up the anatomy to begin with? I was told to follow the lines I was given and I followed... down the wrong path. Think for yourselves but make sure you still accomplish the task you are asked to do. Now that I had an approved thumbnail it was time to get drawing on paper...

Griffon - Drawing

9 x 12

Pencil on Paper

Original Drawing - SOLD

The drawing came together quickly and was approved without any comment. I moved forward on the final color design...

Griffon - Final Redsign

The color comp of the final was approved and the Griffon was taken care of. Nothing too crazy or Earth shattering about this one, just a good solid classic Griffon design. When I get around to doing one for myself you might see some crazy stuff going on, but for the client, they get classic monster.

A HUGE THANKS to Jon Schindehette for all the monsters and direction during the design phase of 5th Edition!

That is 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

Friday, October 17, 2014

There should be a blog post here...

... but there isn't. Only a sleepy and bored Beholder holding things down while I am away from my computer. I will be back at the computer on Monday with more new monsters to fulfill all your new monster wants and needs. In the meantime here is a sleepy and bored Beholder...

Sleepy ans bored Beholder is sleepy and bored...

That is all for another exciting week on the blog, see you back here on Monday for a new Monster! Until then...

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

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Glorkian Warrior: The Trials of Glork - Fan Art Contest

I recently took part in a fan art contest being held by the great folks over at Pixeljam Games. There was a call out for Glorkian Warrior: The Trials of Glork related art, and since I am a fan and player of the game I was more then happy to jump in and make some Glorkian art. It turns out that I took third place in the contest! Here is my winning contribution...

Glorkian Warrior: The Trials of Glork

Art by Christopher Burdett

You can see the over winners and get info about Glorkian Warrior: The Trials of Glork over on the Pixeljam website. A BIG thanks to all involved and I am thrilled to have won myself a graphic novel! Here is a look at the original drawing that went into my piece...

Glorkian scribblings

9 x 12

Pencil on paper

That is all for another exciting 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

Monday, October 13, 2014

Very Near Mint volume three

I may have first mentioned VNM volume 3 way back in February of 2013 but the wait has well been worth it because VNM3 is now out in the world! I am happy to also share my contribution to this new graphic novel. I have more then once mentioned Justin Perterson's graphic novel series that includes VNM1, Uncanny VNM, and VNM2. Over the years I have taken Justin's characters and turned them into monsters and put them in harms way, and this time is no different. Here is my contribution to Very Near Mint volume 3...

This piece was a lot of fun to work on and I was more then thrilled to be a part of VNM3. Also nice to help a friend and live vicariously in comics through someone else. Here are some images of the piece in process...

Mutants taking shape in red and blue.

Mutants in black and white... and some gray.

If you need another reason to pick up VNM3... how about you need to get it because I am in the book as a character! There was an option in Justin's Kickstarter for VNM3 to be a character in the book and I was quick to jump on that. While enjoying your copy of VNM make sure you keep an eye out for me...

Very Near Mint 3 with special guest star... ME!

That is 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

Friday, October 10, 2014

Dungeon & Dragons Monster Manual - Gorgon - Redesign

Concluding another week of monsters from 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons I am bringing you the redesign of the very METAL, Gorgon. It is all fun and games until a giant metal bull monster smashes in and breathes poison green gas all over you adventuring party. Here is how the final concept turned out...

Gorgon - Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual - Redesign

Okay, I have to admit, this one was kinda hard. The Gorgon is one of those weird monsters that is kinda crazy as a stand alone idea (poison breathing metal bull) but still needs to be kinda like a real bull. I think that was what got me from the beginning, I was in a 'RAWR, MONSTER' state of mind when it needed to be in more of a 'Hey, I am bull... that is metal'. Needed to be less RAWR and more REAL. Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself... Here are how the first set of thumbnails turned out...

Gorgon - Thumbnails

As already mentioned, these were not cutting it for the Gorgon. I got some notes and some art direction and got a new start on a revised thumbnail. Still was fishing a little it on what this thing needed to be. Not necessarily feeling what this thing really needed to be. Here is how the revised Gorgon looked like...

Gorgon - Revised Thumbnail

It was better, but still not there yet. I got some more feedback and art direction (THANKS, Jon!) and after some email conversations I had a better feeling for where this thing needed to head. After some more frantic scribbling on the computer I had an updated version of the Gorgon...

Gorgon - Revised REVISED Thumbnail

This version hit the mark and I was given the go ahead to work up the final drawing. After having lot my way several times with this monster it was good to be finishing it up. Here is how the final drawing turned out...

Gorgon - Drawing

9 x 12

Pencil on Paper

Original Drawing for sale over on my web store!

It looks like I spoke to soon! Upon review of the drawing by the full team I received some notes to edit the Gorgon further. Even though this is a poison breathing giant metal bull it is still a living monster and should not appear to be made or constructed. I was asked to remove anything that looked like a rivet or element that made it look hand built. I made these changes digitally since most of the drawing was to remain the same. Here is how the revised drawing turned out...

Gorgon - Revised Drawing

Seventh time is the charm! I had an approved drawing and it was time to move ahead to the final digital color comp of the Gorgon. Nothing like a big shiny metal animal to bust out all the specular highlights. Here is how the final color comp turned out...

Gorgon - Final Redsign

This final color comp was approved and I was able to mark it off my list. While it was still a fun monster to work on, other monsters came to me much easier and quicker. Not all the monster can and should be easy and we learn from the hard one. I also learned that I did not have as much good bull reference as I thought I did.

A HUGE THANKS to Jon Schindehette for all the monsters and direction during the design phase of 5th Edition!

That is all for another exciting week on the blog, I may be taking next week off from the blog, or maybe it will be on auto pilot! Until then...

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