Hoodie Time Art Theft - With Resolution!

Today I bring you another exciting story of art theft, well, okay... maybe not too exciting. It is just another run of the mill company stealing artist work and slapping it on products to make a quick buck before they are caught. In this case, as far as I can tell, they were caught rather quickly. This came to my attention yesterday, Thursday August 30th, when artist were posting about a theft site. Looks like I was but one of the lucky artist getting ripped off by Hoodie Time. Yes, I know the link it broken and that is the good news. An personal piece from 2010 was getting slapped on shirts, hoodies, tank tops, etc and since I have never posted anything online that is even remotely print quality I am sure that the product would have been A-MAZE-ZING. Let's have a look at the shirt...

I love how they mark it as a designed hoodie.

Stealing art is does not make you a designer.

The funniest thing, and I wish I had gotten a screen shot of it, was that there was a link at the bottom of each page allowing you to report art thief. There was an email address to send your complaints to. They requested you send the link to the offending product and then links that prove the art is yours. They had a statement along the lines of, "Artist lie about owning the art they submit to us". This is a paraphrase at best, but it is what the intent of the statement. Oh look! The stolen art clothes are even on sale...

So tempting... My stolen art is on sale. Maybe I should order a couple.

(The answer is always NO, by the way.)

Looking at these samples I can not imagine that these would print the way they are depicted. and if they did would not look 'right'. Is the image repeated on the back? Who knows... and we will never know because the entire site is down. I sent in a request to have my stolen work taken down, but by mid afternoon the entire site was offline. A happy ending is always good. A happier ending is that they made no money before their site was taken down. Oh look, a confusing hoodie... are the arms fused to the body?

Just what every kid wants... a Great Old One hoodie...

Since the site is down and it all seems to be taken care of, I will leave you with the original art that was stolen by Hoodie Time. Not sure if this means this is a good piece of work or that it is incredibly mediocre and therefor able to be sold to the masses. Either way, I have always like this piece...

Great Old One

12.8 x 12.5 - Digital

© 2010 Christopher Burdett

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

Scribbling Intensifies - Grand Bazaar WIP

My days continue to bu full and I am my environmental pieces for The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia continue to take shape. The one I am currently working on feels like it is going quickly at the same time that it feels like it is taking the same amount of time that the rest do. It is full  of stuff like all the others so there is no way of getting around all the time that it takes to render all of that stuff. The difference here is while there is a lot of black, a lot of the image is getting a lot of white back over the black as well as just by itself. You will see when it all done I guess. Here are some heavily cropped process images that you may have seen on social media and a few images I have not shown anywhere...

Process images © 2018 Christopher Burdett

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

Handmade Morkoth Miniature by Timmy Gansereit

Last week it was brought to my attention by a friend that someone had made a really cool handmade miniature based off my Morkoth illustration from Volo's Guide to Monsters. It was posted in a Facebook group and after a little hunting I was able to track it down. I LOVE miniatures and whenever I get to design them or something I have designed gets turned into a miniature I am SUPER excited. To start things off, here is a look at my illustration of the Morkoth...

Morkoth

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

The Morkoth, like the Kraken, is one of those monsters you never expect to see as a miniature and you would be wrong. Timmy Gansereit has given me permission to share the photos he posted on Facebook of his Morkoth miniature and I think it is just fantastic. Timmy did a great job and I think it is extremely faithful to the illustration. I just wish I could see it first hand. This is the kind of things that gets me excited about working in the gaming industry, people making their own stuff based on the worlds that you help create. Enough of my talking, here is Timmy Gansereit's Morkoth miniature...

Morkoth Miniature by Timmy Gansereit

Images used with permission of Timmy Gansereit

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

Trash Golem Scout - The Charmin Extender Monster From 2007

I have something weird for you today all the way from 2007. Way back in 2007 a friend, Eric Shepard, was running a blog and doing lots of neat stuff with it and occasionally I was involved. Not sure how it all came together, but it started with Charmin (the toilet paper people) were giving away spring loaded extenders if you contacted them. The extenders were a tie-in to new toilet paper, or something, that Charmin wanted to get them into people's hands. Eric thought it would be fun if a bunch of artists and creative people all got some and made art with them. Sounded fun and I got a extender. People came up with some interesting uses for them but I really remember the kinetic objects that were made and the videos of them bouncing around. I immediately made a monster. I used the extenders to make the body and I used stuff around the house to make the rest. If I remember correctly, nothing was actually ever done with any of the stuff people made for this. Life happened, Eric got busy, or moved, or whatever and nothing was ever posted. I figured that it was about time that these were shared with the world... because obviously the world was waiting with baited breathe for a foot tall sculpture that I made in 2007 out of junk. Anyway... I still have this little guy in my office today, 11+ years later. While you are looking at the Trash Golem Scout notice the background, it is our yard from early 2007 (more on this below)...

Trash Golem Scout
Mixed media
© 2007 Christopher Burdett

I hope you noticed the yard in the image above. I know it might be a little hard to get a feel for things, but you should at least get a glimpse at what things were like. Jump ahead 11+ years and the following images should show you the progression of time and all the hard work Dear Wife has put into the yard. We have never taken the progress photos that we should have, but occasionally there will be a happy accident where the yard shows up in images and you can see just how much it has changed. Not sure how many people will find this interesting, but I think it is really really neat.

Dear Wife's jungle that she made with a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.

That's all for another exciting week on the blog, see you back here on Monday! Until then...

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

Hollow Alley - The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia

I have a new piece from The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia! With all the monsters complete, it is now time to begin exploring the Grand Bazaar itself. The Fifth stop is a visit to Hollow Alley. For many hundreds of years, the Grand Bazaar has slowly grown larger and larger. When outer walls become inner walls, they are often hollowed out and turned into lodging and storefronts. For those with few means, they are an affordable option. Hollow Alley is one of the oldest such wall shops, found deep within the Grand Bazaar. Many deals can be found for those willing to stop by the thousands of shops that make up Hollow Alley...

Hollow Alley
16 x 20 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper
Original - Available!
© 2018 Christopher Burdett

Hollow Alley - Drawing
16 x 20 - Pencil on paper
© 2018 Christopher Burdett

Due to the complexity of these larger full environment pieces I am now working on, I have needed to do value studies to make sure I know where I am going and don't lose my way. Doing these value studies has been one of the best course of action on this project and have saved me a lot of headaches. Here is the value study for Hollow Alley...

Hollow Alley - Value study
Digital
© 2018 Christopher Burdett

Here are all of the monsters appearing in the first volume of The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia: Aberrant Stilter, Belled Kreep, Corrupted Knight, Dight-Kin, Eau-de-nil Elder, Ethra VanDalia, Footman, Gray Wanderer, Gullet, Humgruffin Mother, Irritated Girasol, Judicator, Kiplorbic Animal Dealer, Lammergeier Transport, Myopic Riflemen, Nimsbane Curse Victim, Ophiomornous Bureaucrat, Petrous Blacksmith, Quincaillerie, Rapacious Guttersnipe, Saint Marque, Smokestack, Thrice, Uncanny Scribe, Virulent Artificer, Woven Egg, Woven Shaper, Xandrell Tree, Yote Arms Dealer, and Zombic Spore.
 
As an added bonus, I have some images of the linework and rendering process of this piece so that you can get a better idea of it taking shape... 

Hollow Alley - Process © 2018 Christopher Burdett

That is all for another exexciting 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

Gen Con 2018 - Day 4

Today I am sharing some images and thoughts from day 4 of Gen Con. All good things come to an end, even Gen Con. After a month or more of build up and prep, two days of driving, and afternoon of setup and getting ready... the best four days in gaming is over in a blink of the eye. Very full days and troubled sleep help make it even shorter. Oh well... Sunday was my second best day at the con this year and was a great way to wrap things up. I was even making sales after the show had closed which is really nice. My original drawing sale was a HUGE success and I sent lots of drawings to new homes. I still have a large stack of drawings, so I may continue the sale at the rest of my conventions this year. Sunday was a blur since Saturday night was my worst night's sleep, but as I mentioned in a previous post, I used that time to work on a game plan to insure I can get the most work done moving forward. Tear down went quickly and easily and was followed up with our annual Japanese dinner with friends. A wonderful way to end a great convention. All in all this Gen Con was really great. I am fairly confident that it was my second best year at Gen Con, last year being the best. Already looking ahead to Gen Con 2019 and especially 2020!

Here are some images from Day 4 of Gen Con 2018...

 The crowds were a little lighter on Sunday.

 This years balloon sculpture. Not really sure what that is.

 The state of the table by Sunday. Things are shifted around. Things are sold out. It is all a bit of a mess.

 Still a busy busy day on our row.

 Over the wall and it is a very busy art show.

 All the people looking at all the art.

 Brain Stillman holding the Gen Con Best Documentary award for Eye of the Beholder!

 The room that had been full of busy activity for day is now empty.

 They take the walls down quicker and quicker each year.

 This year the walls cam down while I was away getting my boxes and cart. Luckily Dear Wife was there to take my paintings off the walls before someone laid hands on the wall.

 Everyone hard at work tearing down Gen Con.

 Even though I am leaving with less stuff it is always interesting how it all takes up more room on the trip home. Two more days of driving found us home at last.

That is all for another exciting Tuesday 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