Ambitious Farmhand - The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia

I am happy to share another new piece from The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia. While other new pieces I have shared with you last month (Articulate Polyglot and Vexed Beanmonger) are destined for use in Book Three: In the Black, this illustration is the first completed work for Book Two: The Completed Circle. I needed to shake off the funk I battled this year by completing the Articulate Polyglot before I could gear up on The Completed Circle. Now that the first one is done, I can not focus on knocking out the book's art. I still have some pieces for In the Black I will be working on soon, but I will be focusing on book two for now. This new piece is the first character piece in the book, and it is also the hero of the folktale that book two centers around. This young Thrakese farmhand is about to set off on a grand adventure... we think, from what is left of the original text, it can get a little confusing. I present to you the Ambitious Farmhand.

 

Ambitious Farmhand

The Grand Bazaar of Ethra Dalia - The Completed Circle
13 x 17 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper
Original - Available
© 2020 Christopher Burdett

 

Ambitious Farmhand - Drawing 

13 x 17 - Pencil on paper
© 2020 Christopher Burdett

 

Typically, I share the final art and the line drawing that will eventually become the line art in a coloring book. I rarely have, or never, shared the original sketch that I create for these pieces. As with all of my work, I start with reference and a digital sketch that I use to work out the reality of what's in my head for these images. You should be able to draw a straight line from the digital sketch to the finished art. More detail is added, and elements get fleshed out along the way, but the overall piece is locked in during the sketch. Here is the sketch for the Ambitious Farmhand.

 

Ambitious Farmhand - Sketch

13 x 17 - Digital
© 2020 Christopher Burdett

For millennia jarroot has been grown and harvested in Thrakaa. After several days in the drying houses, the root is used to produce an alcoholic beverage called jarre. It is potent and a staple at any Thrakese meal. When you dream of adventure and excitement, your days in the fields can feel very long.

As an added bonus, I have some images of the rendering process of this piece so that you can get a better idea of it taking shape. 

 

Ambitious Farmhand - Process

© 2020 Christopher Burdett

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

Elemental Essence Shard - Dungeons & Dragons - Tasha's Cauldron of Everything

Last week, the newest supplement for Dungeons & Dragons, Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, was released. I produced one illustration for this book, and it was a little out of the ordinary, for me, at least. I worked on this project in May when I was struggling to make art. I took it on, hoping that a deadline and outside stimulus would jumpstart my interest and motivation and get me back to the drawing table. It had some effect on this, but at the time, I remember really struggling to get this one done.

If I understand correctly, at one point, there were going to be a lot more monster assignments in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything than there ended up being in the final book. Since I was only taking on one painting, this left me with a set of three crystal shards. I accepted the challenge, and while my motivation was lacking at times, I approached the crystals as a professional. It turns out that production was really impressed and that it exceeded their expectations. This is, of course, very flattering, but I was warned if I kept this up, I will be known as the item guy and not the monster guy. Here is how my Elemental Essence Shard painting turned out.

 

Elemental Essence Shard

Tasha's Cauldron of Everything

11 x 14 - Digital 

Art Director - Kate Irwin 

© 2020 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

Since the final painting for this piece is digital, the only original for it is the drawing. This piece marks a change in my process. While completing a pencil line drawing used for the final digital painting, I am taking the drawing to completion once the linework is approved. This gives me a better idea of what I plan to do moving forward with the painting, it allows me more time to enjoy working on the drawing, and it provides a superior finished original. I have been doing this with my WotC assignments since working on the illustration. I am happy with how it turned out, and I look forward to sharing more of these finished drawings with you in the future. Here is how the drawing for this Elemental Essence Shard turned out. 

 

 

Elemental Essence Shard

Tasha's Cauldron of Everything 

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper 

Original - SOLD after being damaged by my cat

Art Director - Kate Irwin 

© 2020 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Here is a little preview of Elemental Essence Shard in the book. Please excuse the unflattering photo of the page.

 

Elemental Essence Shard in book form! Do not let this lousy photo of the page sway you. It printed beautifully.

That is all of another exciting Monday on the blog. Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday this week, this will likely be my only post. 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 Prints are Gone, Long Live the Magic the Gathering Prints!

On Wednesday, I announced a liquidation sale on all of my Magic the Gathering prints. In about thirty-six hours, I had completely sold out of my stock of MtG prints. This was the goal, but I was not expecting the speed and completeness of it all. I am currently working through all of the orders and will be doing so through the weekend. The good news is that just under half of the orders went out today. Thanks to everyone that took advantage of the sale!

If you missed out on a print during the sale or one that had previously sold out, you are in luck. As mentioned on Wednesday, Original Magic Art is now handling all of my MtG print sales! I have a dedicated page on the site where my prints and playmats are available. As I only sold prints at 18x12, OMA offers prints of my MtG work in multiple sizes. These prints are open editions and are not signed. Bring them to my next convention appearance, and I will gladly sign any print you bring. I am thrilled to be partnered with OMA to offer all of my MtG prints and playmats. I will continue to offer all of my MtG Artist Proofs on my store. Head over to check out all of my MtG prints!

A sample of the prints and playmats that are available at Original Magic Art!

That's 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

Magic the Gathering CLEARACE Print SALE!

 *UPDATE: All prints have sold out!*

*Prints featuring my Magic the Gathering work can now be purchased at Original Magic Art!*

With the arrival of the Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia, and that I am now using Original Magic Art for my print sales, I am discontinuing selling MtG prints at events and on my store. To that end, I am deeply discounting ALL remaining Magic the Gathering prints on my store! All of my prints are limited to an edition of 50 and come signed and numbered. Once they are sold out, only open edition unsigned prints will be available from OMA. Several of my editions are getting close to selling out, and now is your chance to get them before they are gone!

 

Get them before they are gone!

Until they are sold out, all of my Magic the Gathering prints are all only $8 each! If you purchase at least FIVE prints, I will include ONE extra print for FREE! This is the time to complete your collection or stock up for the holiday gift-giving season. Head over to my store and have a look at the remaining print selection!

 

Once they are gone, they will no longer be available as limited edition signed and numbered prints!

 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

D&D Monster Cards - Volo's Guide to Monsters - Return of the Gazer and Yuan-Ti Broodguard

Within the past two years, give or take, a D&D Monster Card deck was released for Volo's Guide to Monsters. Included in this deck are two of the monsters that I painted for Volo's Guide to Monsters. Where are the rest, you ask? That is a story or another day. That said, I think these are really cool sets. If I could still make the time, let alone be near other humans, to play Dungeons & Dragons, this is precisely the kind of accessory that I LOVED as a DM. Quick and easy monster access. No flipping pages, no marking up a book to find what you need, you can simply pull the cards ahead of time and have them on the ready for encounters. The cards have images of the monsters and stats on the back—an all in one go-to source. Okay, enough up selling the product. I have mentioned before that while being in a book is fantastic, there is just something extra special about having my work as a miniature or a card. Maybe because it is a singular focused incarnation. I am really not sure, but I do love holding them in my hands. With the release of Volo's Guide to Monsters Monster Deck, my Gazer and Yuan-Ti Broodguard ger their own cards. Here is a look at the deck box and the cards.

 

Volo's Guide to Monsters Monster Deck

 

Gazer

 

Yuan-Ti Broodguard

The Gazer was a personal favorite from my work on Volo's, and I am always happy to see it make the rounds. It has not been in two books, a miniature, and now a card. Seems like I am not its only fan. Here again, is the final art that I created of these two monsters.

Beholder Gazer

Volo's Guide to Monsters

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

Yuan-Ti Broodguard

Volo's Guide to Monsters

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin 

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

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

Catoblepas Miniature

File this under things I would never have expected to see in a million years. Last month I shared with you that the Magic the Gathering plane of Theros has been added as a realm in Dungeons & Dragons. This new D&D supplement saw the inclusion of the Breaching Hippocamp painting that I created for Theros. Well, it seems that the Hippocamp was not my only monster coming to D&D. Much to my surprise, the Catoblepas that I painted for Theros has been turned into a miniature. To start things off, here is my Loathsome Catoblepas that I painted for the very first Theros set that came out in 2013.

 

Loathsome Catoblepas

Magic the Gathering - Theros

Digital

PRINTS available at OMA!

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

For several years after the release of Theros, Magic players would happily tell me at conventions that Loathsome Catoblepas was the worst card in Magic (at that time). Not sure what they were trying to accomplish, and it is not like I had anything to do with the card stats or mechanics, but never the less, player after player would inform me of this fact. As it was the first Magic card I was ever commissioned with and completed, I never knew how to process these interactions. After seven years, it no longer matters because there is now a super cool miniature based on my painting. It is a big mini too. It is incredibly faithful to my painting, and it is a fitting end to the Loathsome Catoblepas journey. Not sure what the stats for this monster is. I feel like I didn't see it mentioned in the Theros D&D book, but I could have easily missed it. Here are some images of the Catoblepas miniature that now lives and frolics in the D&D universe.

Catoblepas Miniature

That's 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

Hydroloth - Dungeons & Dragons - Process

For you today is the process and steps that went into the frog monster, Hydroloth. The Hydroloth appears in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, and I first shared it with you in June of 2018. It has taken a little time to finally make it back for its process post, but better late than never. For those that do not recall, the Hydroloth is a froggy demon monster that has been part of the Dungeons & Dragons mythos for some time. As part of Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, the Hydroloth made its 5th Edition debut and received a bit of a redesign and a fresh coat of paint. While some of the redesign work was done before accepting the assignment, as you will see below, I got to push it a little further. To start things off, here is my final painting for the Hydroloth.

Hydroloth

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

This Hydroloth process post marks the completion of my process posts for my work on Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes was an enjoyable assignment, and the kind I look forward to when D&D assignments come my way. To start things off, I gathered some extremely unflattering reference photos of myself living my best demon frog monster life. From the offset, I began pushing this monster's anatomy a little to make it more of a physical threat. If I recall correctly, some of the concept work for this monster was a bit frumpy. Please understand, the work was top-notch and fantastic, but the monster came off, to me, as a little nonthreatening. I attempted in my reference and thumbnails to give it a bit more menace, both potential and real. This monster needed a little more 'RAWR.' To that end, I played around with the size and position of the head, began enlarging the mouth, and make it a little more muscular. Here are how the thumbnails turned out. 

 

Hydroloth - Thumbnails

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

I must have been onto something because I was asked to revise thumbanil 'A' and make the Hydroloth even more menising. The Hydroloth has traditionally had blunt frog fingers and toes, which continued to the concept work I was given. Production requested that the Hydroloth receive some proper claws on its fingers and toes, make sure the eyes were fixed on the viewer, and to provide it with a lot of sharp teeth, bumps and spikes, and texture. I was happy to do all of the above. Here is the updated thumbnail I submitted. 

 

 

Hydroloth - Revised thumbnail

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

This revised thumbnail was approved without further comments. I was ready to move onto the final drawing—the drawing portion of the assignment continues to be my favorite part of the entire assignment. Recently, I have made time to get more out of this part of my workflow. While I can't share anything now, hopefully, in the not too distant future, I can share those drawings with you. For now, here is the final drawing for the Hydroloth.

 

Hydroloth

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

With an approved drawing and a clear path to completion, it was time to start painting. As with nearly all of these isolated monsters, it is a painless and straightforward process to create the final painting. Yes, there are exceptions to this, but for the most part, I enjoy the speed and ease associated with this type of assignment. Also, this type of work is guaranteed to be focused entirely on the monster. I came here for the monsters, and isolated monster paintings do not let me down. All that said, here is an animated look at the Hydroloth painting coming together.

 

Hydroloth - Process

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

If you have watched several of these, you will see that I have a set production process. I have a preset collection of layers and styles that I drop into all of my files as I begin the painting. I talked a bit about this in 2013 when I answered questions about my file setup. This previous post should address any questions about my layers. Here again, is the Hydroloth final painting in all its froggy goodness.

 

Hydroloth

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes 

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

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

Website Redesign and Update!

For many years I have had a fantastic custom made website built by the astounding Rodney Johnson. As impressive as my site is, sadly, the internet has changed over the years, and my site was no longer functioning at 100%. I don't have the skill set to update the existing site, and Rodney is not really doing freelance web work, and I can't blame him. None of this changed the fact that my website needed an update, least of the reasons being that I needed a mobile-friendly site. 

I took it upon myself to research options and see how best to consolidate my web presence, and I landed on Squarespace. I found it extremely straightforward and easy to design and work within their templates and interface. I have made an art forward site and include all my additional links, such as my blog, newsletter, store, and social media links. I feel like I now have a better presentation of my work on this new site. As my work and focus have changed over the years, I have felt like my site hadn't kept up with that change. I now have a gallery devoted to my work on The Grand Bazaar, which has been missing. I now have a breakdown of the art in each gallery, which allows me to better present the art in context. For years I have been a little embarrassed by the continued presence of my makeup effect work on my site. Now, I have a brief description of the work and that I no longer do this work. It allows me to keep it since it is a crowd favorite but still denotes it as work from early in my career. I also have a gallery for drawings, designs, and miniature work, which is all near and dear to me. And, of course, a gallery for my tabletop gaming work. This has been quite a bit of yammering for a new website, so let's just cut to the chase. Here is my new website!

christopherburdett.com

That's 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

I Came Here to Art

I had several ideas for today's blog post. There was a recap of IX Online so far, a look at some reused Dungeons & Dragons art, an update to my book production, or a look at a new Monte Cook book with some resued monsters in it. I had options to choose from, but when I got here to write about one of these topics, I was left without words. There is much happening in the world, and as much as I have tried to prevent it, it has bled over into my thoughts. Of course, how could it not? We continue to live under the specter of a pandemic that has gone all put unchallenged in this country. There is social and civil unrest. And the presidential election is tomorrow. I am not here to talk about political leanings, if you know me, you know where I stand, and if you read my book, you can probably figure it out as well. I don't have answers, and I don't know what the next few days, weeks, and months have in store for us as Americans or the world. There is a lot to be nervous about and to be afraid of. BUT I have done my part. I have done my civic duty. I have contributed to candidates at the state (including outside my home state) and national levels because that is what I can do. I am getting too old to fight in the streets, but I can fight with my wallet. 

As with much of the human experience, it is a group effort. We are all in this together, and we must work as a team to survive. Though I am not sure how many remember this fact anymore. I have faith that as a whole, we can find a way through this, but this is not the beginning of the end. This is the end of the beginning. We have a lot of work to do, no matter the outcome. I just hope that we have the strength, the perseverance, and the intelligence to do what must be done. Only time will tell.

So that I am not leaving you without any art, here is a bookplate that recently went out in the mail with a deluxe edition of  The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia. If you want one of your own, you can get them on my store.

 

New bookplate for a deluxe edition of The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia

That's all for another exciting Monday on the blog. I hope to be back with some art 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