Top Nine Instagram Images for 2018

One last post for 2018. Here are my top nine images that I shared this year as per the interactions on Instagram. Always interesting to see what filtered to the top or was just posted at the right time to get a lot of eyes on it. And, by the way, if you did not already know I have an Instagram page you can follow! Here are the top nine...

My top nine images on IG this year

That is all for another exciting year on the blog, see you back here in 2019! Until then...

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

2018 Holiday Card - Xandrell Christmas Tree

Hopefully, all of our cards have made their way to their intended destinations, and I won't be spoiling anyone's holiday wishes. That said, I wanted to share our 2018 holiday card today. The Xandrell Christmas Tree brings tidings and holiday wishes from The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia. Hoping that the unexpected finds you in the coming year in the best way possible!

Xandrell Christmas Tree - 2018 Holiday Card 

Pencil on two sheets of paper with a digital composite

© 2018 Christopher Burdett

I created a new drawing of the Christmas tree to add to my existing Xandrell Tree drawing that I created last year for The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia. Dear Wife suggested the idea since I was hoping to use one of my Grand Bazaar pieces for the card this year. This is actually the second time a Grand Bazaar piece was used. The Belled Kreep was featured on the 2014 holiday card. Here is the original Xandrell Tree drawing...

Xandrell Tree
11 x 14 - Pencil on paper 
Original - SOLD

Currently Available Grand Bazaar Originals   

© 2017 Christopher Burdett

Lastly, here is the card exterior and interior so you can get a feel for what it looks like...

2018 Holiday Card exterior
© 2018 Christopher Burdett

2018 Holiday Card interior
© 2018 Christopher Burdett

This is possibly my last post of the year. I hope the best for you for the rest of the holidays and glad tidings in the new year! See you back here in January! Until then...

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

IX 2019 - Main Show Artist Guests

The Main Show guest artists for IX 2019 were announced yesterday. It is a truly impressive collection of artists and IX 2019 is already lining up to be a great event. I am THRILLED to say that I will be returning to the Main Show in 2019. With my return to the Main Show I will be bringing with me the work I have been creating for The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia.  I am really looking forward to seeing everyone and sharing the work that I have been pouring my heart into for the last couple of years. Here is the full list of artists that are currently part of the Main Show...

2019 IX Main Show Artists

We are still ten months away and a lot of work to be done between then and now, but IX 2019 is shaping up to be the first opportunity for people to get their hands on work from the Grand Bazaar. Details to come as they develop, but hopefully the Kickstarter for the Grand Bazaar will be lining up with IX and there about. Either way, art from the Grand Bazaar will be with me and available at the 2019 IX Main Show!

That is 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

Pensacon 2019 Guest Announcement

I am THRILLED to announce that I will be returning as a guest to Pensacon this coming February 22-24! This will be my fourth appearance as a guest at Pensacon and I could not be happier to return. I LOVE Pensacon and I always have an amazing time there. Not enough good things can be said about Pensacon and I hope to see you there!

I will see you at Pensacon February 22-24, 2019!

To up the ante a little, there will be a TON of amazing artists, guests, and vendor at Pensacon 2019. This is the year NOT TO MISS! It is going to be SO much fun and there will be a ton of amazing things to see and do. Just saying. I hope you can make it.

The panel list has yet to be announced, but I expect to be a part of a few panels. I will update with the schedule here on the blog once it is posted. Again, if you are in the gulf coast area and want to have a super fun con experience then I highly recommend Pensacon!

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

What the Heck is Going On? - Grand Bazaar Update

I wanted to update you all on what is going on with The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia. Since I have moved from working on the art to working on the writing it is a little bit hard to share live updates. Here is a image of some words... yeah, not really effective. What I can share is an image of my writing spreadsheet that I am using to keep track of everything that I have completed and what I have yet to begin. As I complete a section I mark it off in orange...

Writing spreadsheet as of 12/16/2018

There is a lot on there and I feel like I am making progress, though I could always be spending more time writing. In many ways the 'hard' sections are completed and moving forward there is a lot of fun stuff to write and I am really enjoying what it taking shape. But yes, lots still to do.

What I need to complete before layout can begin

What does this mean moving forward? Well, once I have completed the sections that are boxed off in the image above I can begin the layout of the book! Things can begin to take shape. Art and words can start appearing on pages, together. Basically, when the first three columns of writing are completed I will have enough material to start building the book as I continue to write, work on spot art, and revise and edit. In a perfect world those three columns could be completed in as early as sixteen days. I would LOVE that to happen. It is most likely going to take a little longer than that.

Things are happening. Things are taking shape. Things take time... and there is never enough of it.

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

Too HOT of Tumblr

If you have not heard, the blogging site Tumblr is removing all adult content off their site as of December 17th. They are purging posts and pages that "includes photos, videos, and GIFs of human genitalia, female-presenting nipples, and any media involving sex acts, including illustrations". You might not know, but I have a Tumblr page that I *try* to keep up to date. On a whim I went over to see if I was affected by the purge when I saw other artists posting their flagged art. I was a little shocked at the volume of work that hand been flagged. Not just a couple, but a LOT of my posts. Post that have ZERO adult content or any of the above listed items that they are looking to purge. It got unfunny really fast as I went through my post history. To be honest I am considering taking down my page, but we shall see. I requested a review of all the posts. We will see what happens. For now here are screen shots of some of the posts that have been flagged, enjoy!

All of these posts and more can be found on my Tumblr... for now.

That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here next time! Until then...

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

One of a Kind Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia Playmats - NOW AVAILABLE!

I recently had four sample playmats printed featuring select images from The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia. I was interested to see how these images would look as playmats and if playmats were a good fit for this project. I am happy to say they printed beautifully, but I am not sure that playmats are the best avenue at this time for this art.

That said, I now have four one of a kind playmats available for anyone interested. Each is standard size, come signed and numbered, and will be not created again in this format or likely at all. For those interested, just follow the link before and select any that you are interested in!

Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia Playmats Available NOW!

The four available Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia playmats!

SOLD OUT!

Hollow Alley

SOLD OUT!

SOLD OUT!

Looking for that unique gift for the holiday season? Look no further! Once these are gone they are GONE.

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

Morkoth Miniature by Timmy Gansereit - UPDATE!

I have been talking a lot about the Morkoth and handmade miniatures lately. Last week I shared with you the miniature made by Drew Nosotti and back in August I shared the miniature made by Timmy Gansereit. This post is a little overdue, but after the campaign was completed and the monsters all vanquished Timmy contacted me and offered to send me his Mortkoth miniature. I was honored and humbled to say the least. I was thrilled that Timmy wanted me to have his creation and jumped at the opportunity. Timmy's Mortkoth now lives in my office with the rest of my monsters and miniatures and it is a prized addition! A HUGE THANKS goes out to Timmy for his amazing work and his generosity. Here are some images of the Morkoth hanging out in my office...

Custom Morkoth miniature by Timmy Gansereit

That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog. With Thanksgiving on Thursday I will most likely 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

The Return of the Gazer - Dragon Heist

Recently it came to my attention that one of my Dungeons & Dragons pieces has made a repeat appearance in the new Dragon Heist book. It is a book I would have really liked to work on, so technically I did. Here is a look at the cover of the book, it is FULL of great art and I hear it is a really fun adventure and offers a lot of world building...

Dragon Heist for all you heisted dragon needs!

If you flip to the back to the monster section you will be able to find the Gazer. I originally created the Gazer for Volo's Guide to Monsters. A lot of talk about Volo's on the the blog this week. Now THAT was a great book to work on! Here is the page from Dragon heist with the Gazer on it...

Gazer's return! RAWR!

Lastly, here is the full art that I did of the Gazer for Volo's. I really liked how this one turned out and it is nice to see it making its return. I am sure it was just an oversight, but I was not credited in Dragon Heist. These things happen and WotC always goes out of their way to make sure everyone gets credited. Just look at my post about the Dungeons & Dragons Dungeonology book to know what a great job they do to credit artists. Like I said, these things happen and it is a fluke for it to slip through the cracks. Not even sure why I brought it up, just in case you went looking for my name I guess. ANYWAY... here is the art for the Gazer...

Beholder Gazer

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

That is 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

Handmade Morkoth Miniature by Drew Nosotti

Recently it came to my attention that a second person has made a really cool handmade miniature based off my Morkoth illustration from Volo's Guide to Monsters. As with the previous miniature it was posted in a Facebook group. With my love of miniature it is so exciting to see people taking my work and being inspired enough to create their own miniatures. 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

I love that the Morkoth seems to be a monster that demands a miniature and people are stepping up to make their own. Drew Nosotti has given me permission to share his photos of his Morkoth miniature and I think it is just wonderful. Drew did a really great job and I think it is extremely faithful to the illustration. This continues to be the kind of thing 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 Drew Nosotti's Morkoth miniature...

Morkoth Miniature by Drew Nosotti

Images used with permission of Drew Nosotti

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

The Return of the Wookiee Navigator - Veteran Turret Gunner

A quick post today about the return of the very first Star Wars card I ever painted. The Wookiee Navigator first saw life in the Star Wars Card Game and went fairly unnoticed. When it was added to to the X-Wing miniature game as the Gunner card it got a lot of attention. Now that the second edition of X-Wing has been released it looks like the Gunner card has made the leap and is now the Veteran Turret Gunner. Here is look at the original art from 2012...

Wookiee Navigator

© 2012 Fantasy Flight Games

The good thing is that this time around the art is a little bigger. I think. Never the less, it is on a bigger card. I think. Which ever it is, here is the card...

Veteran Turret Gunner Card

If you want to get your hands on the card all you need to do is buy one of the new Y-Wing ships and it will be in there...

X-Wing 2nd Edition release of the Y-Wing that contains the Veteran Turret Gunner

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

The Kitten That Ate My Blog

Last Tuesday I walked into the same park I walk every day. Last Tuesday was different. Last Tuesday there was a very small kitten all alone and crying in the tall grass. Momma cat was nowhere to be found and there were no other kittens. I found the nest that the kitten was a couple of feet away from and it too was empty. After a hiss or two the kitten was snuggled up against my leg as I knelled in the grass looking for other kittens. It did not resist me picking it up and at that moment I knew I most likely had a kitten. Walked home with a kitten tucked in my shirt and made a quick drive to our vet. The kitten was pronounced healthy and was about three to four weeks old. Kitten spent the rest of the day at the vet while I got things situated. He does not want a bottle and is learning to eat cat food with kitten formula mixed in AND, most importantly, he uses the litter box like a champ. He is coming with me to the office for feeding and care part of the week. He has also devoured my ability to get any work done at home. I was able to make some notes for revisions to some of my writing last week, but I was not able to get anything actually written until yesterday. The kitten has become more mobile and is exploring more and sleeping a lot. So I have finally been able to carve out time to work.

This is little Mietze (rhymes with pizza) and he is being the cutest little distraction possible...

 Jonsey is not happy about the arrival of Mietze, hopefully in time it will change.

That's 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