The internet it still not back and I am extremely busy right now, so another quick blog post today. This time around I have for you the drawings that went into making my most recent Magic the Gathering card, the Lathnu Sailback. I meant to share these with you sooner... but things got in the way, as per usual. They are here finally, so it all works out. Here is the line drawing and toned value study for the wily Lathnu Sailback...
I filmed myself working on the line drawing and I will have that to you very soon. Again, meant to have it up sooner... but life has been rather complicated as of late. Also, I will have these up on my store very soon. I have been neglecting the store and have a lot to add to it!
That is all for anther 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
The internet is still down at the house and I am getting lots of ducks in rows, so a quick blog post today. While traveling at the beginning of the week I had lots of down time in airports and on planes. All this free time meant there would be scribbling on paper in monster form. Here is what came of all my scribbling...
You never know what tomorrow will bring. I just returned from a long weekend in the Bahamas and I had planned to share with you some images I took while there of neat animals and cool reference. Unfortunately, the day before we returned a storm hit back home and took out one of our trees. The good thing is that the house is fine, but we returned to a house with no power and many tons of tree laying across the yard. Two days after the storm the power is thankfully back on, but the internet may be out until Monday. All of this is making it difficult to have posts up on the blog as planned. I will try my best to have something up here on the usual days until everything is back to normal. In the meantime, here are some images of tree that decided to take a nap...
One of the largest in the yard it stretches nearly the length of our property.
For scale, here is Dear Wife standing next to the upended root mass.
They estimate that about 2 tons of dirt is part of the root mass.
Glad I am not going to have to deal with it... though it will cost us.
Roots were pulled horizontally through the earth when the tree fell leaving holes and trenches in the ground.
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
I have updated my store with Aether Revolt prints! Follow the link below to get your very own signed and numbered prints of the Lathnu Sailback from Aether Revolt, the newest expansion of Magic the Gathering. As always, these prints are limited to a print run of only 50 copies.
I realized I never actually posted on the blog that I will be returning to Pensacon. I must be slipping, not sure how this slipped through the cracks. Especially because this year I was asked to do the art for the VIP shirt! In exactly a month from now, Pensacon will be going on and Pensacola, Fl will be hopping with fun and celebrities. I guess I fall somewhere in the middle of all that...
Come see me and a whole lot more at Pensacon 2017!
February 17 - 19 in Pensacola, FL
I assume I will again be part of some great panels, just like last year. When those are announced I will be sure to share them here in the lead up to Pensacon. I can't wait for Pensacon, for me it is one of the most fun cons that I attend. I may not know a lot of the other folks in attendance, but the staff and organizers run a great event and there is never a dull moment and I have a ton of fun.
Speaking of VIP shirts... The great and powerful Mike Ensley approached me some time back to see if I was interested in creating the shirt given out as part of the VIP attendee package. I thought it sounded like a lot of fun, so I of course had to do it. I batted some ideas around and eventually started working on some concepts for Neptune leading the an army of Deep Ones and the mighty Cthulhu itself. The concept was approved and received well and I got to work. Here is how the final art turned out...
Pesacon 2017 VIP shirt
13 x 19 - Digital
While the only way to get your hands on a shirt is to be a VIP attendee (which are long since sold out) I will have a limited run of deluxe signed and numbered prints available at the con. They will be 13x19 full bleed and limited to a run of 30 prints. If some are left over from the con I will make them available on my store. The final for this piece was digital, but I also will have with me the original drawing that went into this piece as well. It was a fun one to work for sure...
Pesacon 2017 VIP shirt - Drawing
14 x 17 - Pencil on paper
That is all for now regarding Pensacon. Be sure to check back as the con nears and I will have more information about my activities at the con!
That's 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
Over the weekend I took part in the prerelease events for Aether Revolt at
Gamescape in Tallahassee, Fl. It was a fun time out there Friday night. Always exciting to see players opening their
first packs of a new set and getting to see my cards for the first time.
A HUGE thanks to Ben and Aras for having me out and for all the
hospitality. Can't wait for the next time around. Here are some images
from the weekend...
All set up and ready to go!
Had my remaining Magic the Gathering originals with me.
Friday night was the first opportunity to get your hands on my new print for the Lathnu Sailback.
The players are amassing to start the night of play.
Got to sign some old friends...
...and got my hands on a new one.
Again, a HUGE thanks to Ben and Aras and to everyone that come out the
prerelease this weekend. It was great to talk to you and a lot of fun.
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
Dear Wife has put together a Facebook Blog, Reading Reading, centered around the fun and interesting things to do in Reading (pronounced Redding), PA. Why you might ask? As of 2016, Reading, PA is Illuxcon's new home and the city has a lot to offer while you are attending Illuxcon.
Throughout the year ahead Dear Wife will be sharing information on restaurants, attractions, and points of interest in both Reading and in the surrounding areas. Driving in? Why not stop at a great vineyard. Starving and in need of a tasty hole in the wall? Reading Reading has you covered. Illuxcon is an amazing experience and your time in Reading should be no different. If you are planning on attending Illuxcon or are curious about Reading, I urge you to head over to Facebook and Like and/or Follow Reading Reading!
My friend Nicholas Rich passed away this week. If you were fortunate enough to know Nick, you will know what an amazing and kind human being he was. Nick was just so damn nice. I certainly did not know him as well as I had liked and I did not see him as often as I should, but we all live forever and there will always be more time. Until there isn't. Nick left us far too soon and left far too many people behind. Believe me when I say that Nick was one of the best of us... humble, kind, thoughtful and giving. It pains me to no end to be writing this. I can not help but think of his family and the hole his passing has caused in their lives and in so many others. BUT, we had the chance to know Nick and we had the gift of having him in our lives.
Nick was also an artist. Though he would constantly be self depreciating and dismissive of his work, I always enjoyed it and was happy to see what he was working on. He dreamed of working more in the fantasy side of things and I am pretty sure he wanted to work on games. I tried to help him as best I could with his work, but there is never enough time and things don't always work out the way you think they will. I want to share with you some of his work. You can't know the man by looking at his art, but hopefully you can see a little into his mind and appreciate his voice.
All images are copyright Nicholas Rich
This last image we are fortunate enough to own and is part of our collection
If you would like to see more of Nick's work you can see it HERE
Nick was a model for a couple of my pieces back in 2012. One was for Dungeons & Dragons and the other was for my 2012 Illustration Master Class assignment that unfortunately was never completed. Always really liked both of these pieces and they mean a little more to me now. No one will know it is Nick, but hopefully I have given him a little immortality through D&D.
I will part of the Aether Revolt prerelease events at Gamescape this weekend in Tallahassee, Fl. Friday night, arriving prior to midnight, I will be at Gamescape signing card and selling my wears. This will be my only prerelease appearance this time around. If you are in the area or interested in getting your hands on my newest prints then I hope to see you out there. The fine folks at Gamescape even made a gif thingy for promotion, here it is a static image...
Come see me at Gamescape!
2415 N Monroe St, Suite 2064
Tallahassee, Florida 32303
If everything goes well at the printers this week I will have prints of my new card from Aether Revolt with me at gamescape! I will have prints, playmats, artist proofs and more with me... basically everything I have that is Magic the Gathering related. I should even have some of my original art with me. Here is the art from my card appearing in Aether Revolt...
The entire set of Aether Revolt, the newest expansion to Magic the Gathering, was spoiled last week. This means I can now share my card coming out as part of Aether Revolt. I present you with the Lathnu Sailback...
Nothing like a big scary lizard monster to make me happy. This piece offered up some interesting challenges with lighting that I solved with a maquette, but that discussion will have to wait for another day. I will share more about this piece in the fullness of time when I break down the process and steps. A HUGE thanks goes out to Cynthia Sheppard for the Lathnu Sailback assignment!
While the final for this piece was digital, the original drawings associated with this piece will be available soon. Prints will be also be available soon. Finally, artist proofs will be available once the set is released and I have received them. Here is a look at the final card version of the Lathnu Sailback...
LathnuSailback in handy dandy card form
As an added bonus, I will go ahead and share with you how the first version of the final Lathnu Sailback turned out. a little different in some spots and a little more snarly bad monstery. The whys and hows of this will come later, but for now here is the art...
I have mentioned this in passing six or seven years ago here on the blog and I figured it was about time to share more about it. By 'it' I mean the project that started my entire career in motion.
Back in the summer of 1999 a vampire movie was being filmed in Tallahassee, Fl. A film maker from LA had moved to Tallahassee to teach at the film school of Florida State University and fell in love with the area and wanted to make a film based in Tallahassee. I was a student at Florida State University at the time and a lot of the crew for the movie was being pulled from the film school and the local population. There were signs up in the art department looking for people with art backgrounds that were interested in working on the project. One of the positions they needed people for was in the makeup effect crew. I was giving the contact information for a person in LA that would be coming out to oversee and create all the effects. A phone call later I was lined up to be on the makeup effects crew and I was about to get a crash course in makeup effects, make up, painting, being on set, and a ton of other stuff. I even did some story boarding for some of the key scenes of the movie.
I spent most of the summer of 1999 working all night and sleeping during the day and in some cases working all day and all night. It was all a lot of fun and a lot of weird and crazy memories. I certainly learned a lot and it opened the door for me to later move to LA and work in the makeup effects industry making monsters for TV and film. This one project was the beginning of it all. Even though I do not do that work now, because of my involvement and being in LA to meet the people I met and learn all the things that I did it paved the way and allowed me to find my way to were it is now.
As I remember it, the movie had several working titles but eventually ended up with Vampire Rock. In the end Vampire Rock was never released but as far as I know, it was completed. I have never seen it and I have know idea how much of my involvement with the movie is even evident in the final product. In some additional pickup filming done in late 2000, I was helping out with additional makeup effect and had the chance to be onscreen. No idea if any of that was even used. There is a trailer for Vampire Rock over on YouTube if you are interested.
While working on Vampire Rock I painted a lot of things, applied lots of make ups, and drew many drawings. No idea where any of the art or photographs are now. If I come across them I will be sure to share them in the future. I am sure they are all horrible, but at the time they were amazing. I should make a point to see if I can dig any of this stuff up.
Fun fact, though it is now abandoned and most likely will one day be torn down, an old Coke warehouse was our base of operations for the entire filming. A LOT of the film was shot in the warehouse and it served as several sets. Our makeup studio was even set up in the building. We had our fair share of shooting at various locals away from the Coke warehouse, but a lot of memories center around this old building.
Though it has seen better days, this Coke warehouse was the heart of Vampire Rock filming
While digging up information and details about Vampire Rock I came across a blog post of a person that had actually seen the finished version of Vampire Rock. They seem really negative and extremely critical of the movie. Seems a little unfair since most people will never get a chance to see it and form an opinion for themselves. Like the majority of TV and movie projects, a lot of people worked long and hard on something they believed in and wanted to succeed. Hopefully one day I will get to see the finished movie and get to see how all our hard work paid off.
That is all for another exciting week on the blog, see you back here next week! Until then...
For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com
Something a little different today. I usually use my art to represent myself in the world, but there are times that call for a professional head shot. I have been using a great photo taken by Dear Wife and it has served me well. Kira Derryberry, a photographer I have known for years approached me to do a sitting with her to get some head shots done that suit me as a working artist that will also assist her in a character portrait project she is working on. This sounded like a great opportunity and during the holidays we got together and made it happen. Kira had some new lighting gels she wanted to try out and I brought along the appropriately branded accessories. Sometimes you can't do it all and working with other artists and craftsmen to get a quality product made is definitely worth the time and effort. I am extremely happy with how the photos all turned out and I can't speak highly enough about Kira and her work. Here are some of our favorite photos from the shoot...
Not all of the time was spent making normal head shots. We played around with posses, lighting, and exposure times to see what works and doesn't. There were some happy accidents and the expected unsuccessful accidents, but we had fun. Here are couple of the more fun photos from the shoot. These make for great reference... maybe they will lead to something monstrous...
Again, I have nothing but praise for Kira Derryberry and her work. If you are in the Tallahassee / North Florida / South Georgia area and are in need of a photographer I HIGHLY recommended Kira Derryberry Photography (or on Facebook)!
That's 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
