The State of the Bazaar - January 2026

2026 has begun, whether we want it to or not, and I have a major update from the Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia. If you are part of my mailing list, you already know what I am about to share. At the end of 2025, I officially completed the main art phase of the next book, The Completed Circle. And, as of January first, I have begun writing the book. I can say, as of today, it is all going very well. There is much to do, and in time, I will be creating more art for the book, as that is always the way of these things. But a significant milestone has been reached, and the book is actively taking shape. I will have the two final chapter plates to share with you in the coming weeks. For now, here is a look at the production board as it currently stands.

The current state of production in the Grand Bazaar.

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

Revisiting the Monsters - Bugbear

While I plan to update you all with things on Monday, and why I am so busy, and why I am sharing even more older work. Let's just say, for now, that I am really, really busy.

In 2010, sixteen years ago now, I began a personal project to redesign most, if not all, of the monsters in the original Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. That original MM had a profound effect on me and led me to eventually work on the game. While I was already working on the game when I began this project, it did prove useful as I have redesigned many D&D monsters in my career on the game. In the end, I completed over 100 drawings for the project and even had a gallery show featuring the work. 

I thought it would be nice to look back at some of my favorites, and to start things off, I am sharing the very first one that I completed, the Bugbear. Enjoy!

Bugbear redesign (2010)
© 2010/2026 Christopher Burdett 

Two years later, in 2012, I shared the painted version of this drawing. I was making my transition from digital to traditional, and this was one of the first pieces I used to practice and learn what I was doing. I still very much enjoy how this turned out.

Bugbear
© 2012/2026 Christopher Burdett 

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

Gen Con 2026 Announcement!

I am thrilled to announce that I will be returning to Gen Con in 2026! I will see you Indianapolis for the best four days in gaming July 30 - August 2, 2026. Gen Con is one of my main events of the year and has been for over a decade. It is a lot of work, and now that I know I am in the show, planning begins NOW.

Gen Con calls and we will answer that call.

My Gen Con booth in 2024.

No picture from 2025 as we had to cancel last minute. 

 

That is all for another 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

A Second Look at Older Work - The Termite Head

And then it was 2026. This is going to be a very busy year for me, and because of this fact, I will likely be pulling back a bit from the blog. I will be sharing things from the past, keeping you updated as I can on what is keeping me so busy (more on that REALLY soon), and still doing my best to share my journey as an artist. But know that if things go quiet here, it is because a LOT of exciting things are happening behind the scenes.

Today, I am sharing a miniature design that I did for the now long-dead miniatures game, Dreamblade. Dreamblade will always be near and dear to me, as it was the first game I ever worked on and one of the times I felt most free as an artist working in the gaming industry. This is the "Termite Head" design for an unproduced set of the game.

Unreleased Termite Head - © 2006 Wizards of the Coast

Termite Head turnaround - © 2006 Wizards of the Coast 

This was a one and done design for this particular assignment. I did one drawing, they loved it, and did the turnaround, and it was done. Always nice when that happens. But again, the feet, why are they so small? Why did I draw such small feet on things twenty years ago?

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