The DOODLES, DESIGNS, and aRT of CHRISTOPHER BURDETT: Announcing The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Announcing The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia - A Project of Monsters & Stories!

I am thrilled to formally announce a project I have been working on for some time now. You may have noticed that I have been posting a series of monsters drawn on toned paper. Well, these have all been part of a large project set in a world that I have been developing for nearly two decades. With the posting of my most recent drawing on Monday, Ethra VanDalia, I present to you, The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia...

Announcing The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia

A Project of Monsters & Stories!

The Grand Bazaar is just that, a massive city-sized marketplace created by the being known as Ethra VanDalia. The Grand Bazaar has existed for thousands of years. It is inhabited by monsters and creatures who sell their wares, do business, and otherwise live their lives in the ever-expanding warren of shops, towers, and dungeons. Every monster has a story, and I plan to use The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia to tell them all.

This is an ongoing project and is very much in production. When I have created all of the art, written all of the stories, and have it all completed, I will be bringing it to Kickstarter to help fund the project as a book. I have a lot planned, and I hope that you will join me in this endeavor to see it a reality. I will continue to update on my blog about each new piece and give updates as things advance. This project has nearly completely taken up all of my art-making time this year, but as I have said before, this project began almost twenty years ago with a dragon creating powerful magical items.

Ethra VanDalia
11 x 14 - Pencil on paper
Currently Available Grand Bazaar Originals

Ethra, or at the time, Eathra, first appeared in the fall of 1998 in my first etching class in college. The world that Ethra lives in was already taking shape in this first piece, but it would take nearly two decades for all the pieces to fall into place. Here is that very first etching of Ethra...

Eathra Van Daillia Completes the Gems of Power
Etching on paper - Edition of 8
© 1998 Christopher Burdett

This is not the first time I have shared this image here. In 2007 I revisited Ethra with a much-needed update as I played again in the world of the Grand Bazaar - though, at the time, I still had not put the pieces together. The 2007 reworking of Ethra paved the way for its final incarnation...

Finishing Touches
11 x 14 - Pencil on paper
Original - NFS

I needed to work and play in the visual world of the Grand Bazaar for a while before I felt ready to finally approach the final version of Ethra, and in turn, announce this project. Here is a look at the evolution of Ethra...

The evolution of Ethra
1998 - 2017

If the world and monsters of the Grand Bazaar seem familiar to you, it is because I have been creating works over the years set in it. At the Illustration Master Class in 2011, I produced a piece titled Haggling that features a Kiplorbic Animal Dealer and Nimsbane Curse Victim...

Haggling
11.9 x 15.8 - Digital
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

Last year I created a piece titled Marketplace based around an Irritated Girasol...

Marketplace
11 x 14 - Acrylic on board
Original - NFS

The pieces are falling into place, but I still have work to do. Once I have completed the base set of monsters, I will be moving on to illustrating the Grand Bazaar itself. I want to do this project correctly. This means it will receive as much time as needed to make it right. Here is a look at the currently completed monsters for The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia...

The first 21 monsters from The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia

*UPDATE!*

The current list of monsters appearing in the first volume are now complete! You can see them all in the following image and learn more about each in the links below!