Never Shared - Coils of Madness Packaging

Recently while doing some cleaning and organizing, I came across some card packs that I had completely forgotten about.  Not only were they forgotten, after a quick search, I realized I never shared them. These card packs have been tucked away for seven years, and now they are finally getting a little attention here on the blog. Way back in 2012, I worked on the Legend of the Five Rings expansion, Coils of Madness. One of the main pieces I produced for that set was the great mad dragon P'an Ku. The set was eventually released in 2013, and my P'an Ku art was heavily used on the card packaging as well as the card box. I feel like this may have been lost on me at the time because this is something that does not happen with my art with any frequency. Here is a look at the packaging for Coils of Madness.

P'an Ku snapping at you from the front of the packs.

P'an Ku wraps around to the back.

P'an Ku is the featured art on the top of the card box as well.

For an eight year old painting, I still really like this piece. Sure, there are things I would do differently now, but for card art, it still looks great, and I love I doubled down on yellow and made this piece so warm. I really thought this piece was going to be huge for me. I made a ton of prints and playmats of this image, and I just had a feeling this piece was going to sell really well for me. That is not how it ended up working out. When the playmats eventually sold out about five years ago, I never had them reprinted. The prints sold very slowly from the beginning, and I was finally rid of the last ones in February at Pensacon when the last one sold from my deep, deep discount bin. Not the fate I had envisioned for P'an Ku, but that is how it is sometimes. This piece seemed to tick all the boxes for a fan favorite, but the fans were never there. Goes to show that you can never honestly know what will be successful and what will not. Here is the final art for P'an Ku's Madness, as well as the card it appears on. 

P’an Ku's Madness

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

P’an Ku's Madness in handy card form.

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

Aftermath - Natsumi - Process

Back in December I shared with you my contribution to the Legend of the Five Rings expansion, Aftermath. One of the cards that I had in that set was the mighty water elemental dragon thing... Natsumi. Today I have for you the process that went into making this piece. So that we are all on the same page here is how the final Natsumi turned out...

Natsumi

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

As I mentioned with the process post for Hida Kaiji this piece and Kaiji just didn't turn out as I had intended. While this piece did hit the mark more so then Kaiji, it just was not the piece I had originally wanted. This was by my doing and by my hand and should in no way reflex upon the client or art director.

Natsumi needed to be a water elemental of a dragon, flowing in and out of the water... becoming water and becoming solid again. I worked up a thumbnail that I hope captured that look and feel...

Natsumi - Thumbnail

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

The thumbnail hit the mark and I was given the go ahead to move on the final drawing. I got my water elemental dragon drawing on and this is what came of my efforts...

Natsumi - Drawing

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

As mentioned, I had wanted this to be in acrylic... but it just was not meant to be. Here is how the digital version came about. In just 12 easy steps a dragon painting can come together...

Natsumi - Process steps

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

Since this piece turned out better then Kaiji (to my eyes) I don't feel as "bad" about it. Maybe it is because it is a dragon... or a monster focused piece, but this one is less painful to revisit. Here is an animated gif to better show how this piece came together and took shape...

Natsumi - Process progression animation

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

As I have said many times, live and learn and walk away. Again, here is how the final Natsumi turned out as well as the final production card...

Natsumi

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

 

Natsumi in handy dandy card form

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

Aftermath - Hida Kaiji - Process

Back in December I shared with you my contribution to the Legend of the Five Rings expansion, Aftermath. One of the cards that I had in that set was the experienced version of the Crab Clan mutant, Hida Kaiji. Today I have for you the process that went into making this new experienced version of that big ole lovable mutant. So that we are all on the same page here is how the final Hida Kaiji turned out...

Hida Kaiji (experienced)

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

To be honest with you, I am not happy with how this piece turned out. This has NOTHING to do with the client, art director, or assignment... all with me. I had planned to paint both pieces for Aftermath traditionally, which obviously did not happen. After realizing it was not going to happen and that I needed to abandon my failed traditional pieces I was just off my game. As far as I am aware after taking with my AD on this after the fact they were happy with my Aftermath pieces... but that didn't change the fact that I was not. I had wanted to do so much more with these... and failed. So they were completed digitally and I never was able to get my head in a good place to feel like they were finished or successful. I think that Natsumi turned out more successful... but it was a water dragon... harder to mess up.

Getting things started as always was a thumbnail. Hida Kaiji needed to be towering over a bunch of Phoenix Clan monks smashing into them as they feebly breathed fire onto him.  I knew what I wanted to do with this piece immediately and jumped into collecting reference. I worked out all the elements and figures and came up with this...

Hida Kaiji - Thumbnail

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

The thumbnail was approved without correction and I moved forward to the drawing. Everything was still progression on track and I was still eager to get these worked up in paint. Here is how the final drawing turned out...

Hida Kaiji - Drawing

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

The drawing was approved and I got my board prepped and I was ready to start painting in acrylic... and it all went horribly horribly wrong. This piece had all that fire I was unprepared for and the Natsumi had all that water. Curses to the fire and water! The details of my traditional failure are many and complex... but in the end the paintings just were not working out or coming together at all into something usable and I needed to abandon both pieces. I had to switch to doing them digitally before I ran out of time on the deadline. Back in my comfort zone I got to work on the digital version of Hida Kaiji but fought it the entire time...

Hida Kaiji - Process steps

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

There is just so much that I wanted to do with this piece and none of seemed to happen. I still did my best to turn in a good product and meet my commitment to the client.  Like I said, I believe they were happy with the product, though I was not. Live and learn. Here is an animated gif of the Hida Kaiji coming together...

Hida Kaiji - Process progression animation

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

Sometime you just have to walk away from a piece. Not every piece can be successful no matter how much you try to make it work. Do the best you can and hope to do better the next time. Here again is how the final piece turned out as well as the final production card...

Hida Kaiji (experienced)

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

Hida Kaiji (experienced) in handy card form

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

Yozo's Inspiration - L5R Process

Last November I shared with my L5R Promo Card, Yozo's Inspiration. Just your everyday ordinary comet dragon... Today I have for you the steps and process that went into this golden dragon of inspiration and cometity goodness. Just so that everyone is on the same page, here is how the final Yozo turned out...

Yozo's Inspiration

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

Thumbnails come first (as ALWAYS). The one real direction with this piece, besides to make sure it looked like the established Yozo design, was to make it feel like the dragon is transforming from a comet or is in someway a comet. I didn't really have any idea just how I was going to pull that off going into this assignment, but I figured I would work it all out by the end. For the thumbnails I was aiming for a coiling streaming form for the dragon as it trailed off behind the focal point of the head. Here are how the two thumbnails for this piece turned out...

Yozo's Inspiration - Thumbnails

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

Looking back at this now, "B" is just a confusing mess. I put both forelimbs behind the first bend in the body and that just makes the whole thing look and feel weird. This may have played a big role in why option "A" was picked... or the fact that option "A" is just a whole lot better over all and helps tell the story of the character.  Now that the a thumbnail has been selected, time for the drawing...

Yozo's Inspiration - Drawing

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

Coiling snaky eastern dragon? Yeah, I will draw that stuff ALL day long. So many scales though! The drawing came together without issue and was approved. Time for painting!

Yozo's Inspiration - Process Steps

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

As I was working up the value under painting in the third step above I began messing around with the idea of streaking color and light straight back from the dragon. Anywhere that there would be shadow there instead would be the tail of a comet, or the appearance of a comet. The day is saved and a design choice was made to give the client the intended look for this dragon. It will still be recognizable as Yozo and a dragon but have the feel of a comet. I don't like to leave such large important aspects of a painting to "happy accidents", but sometime I get the best results from doing just that. Please keep in mind, these types of "happy accidents" come after years and years of working EVERYTHING out before hand and really putting the time and energy into a piece to make sure it is all worked out and planned for. That time has given me a tool box of solutions and design choices to work from and play with in these less structured moments. I do not advise going into your first assignments with a client on a wing and a prayer without a plan of action or intended outcome. Save that stuff for assignment #30.

Again, here is how the final Yozo turned out and how it ended up looking on the final promotional card...

Yozo's Inspiration

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

Yozo in handy dandy card form!

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

Aftermath - L5R

Aftermath, the newest expansion for Legend of the Five Rings, is now out and that means I can share with you some new monsters. A short time ago I shared with you the wily Nastsumi when it was previewed in the run up to this set's release. Natsumi was not my only piece that I created for this set, I also got to revisit an old friend, the might Hida Kaiji! I first designed and illustrated Hida Kaiji for the Seed of Decay expansion. Despite rumors to the contrary, Hida Kaiji appears to be alive and well and is now EXPERIENCED. Here is how the paintings turned out...

Hida Kaiji (experienced)

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

Natsumi

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

I was repeatedly told of Hida Kaiji's demise at Gen Con this year and actually got to meet the player who dispatched him. Looks like the player did not do a good enough job! They say kill it with fire... only it looks like fire is of no concern to Hida Kaiji. So far I have been seeing some happy Crab Clan players online with the announcement of the new Hida Kaiji card.

I had originally planned to do these pieces traditionally... but after starting them and seeing all that fire and all that water... well, I was foiled again. They ended up digital and I was a little disappointed that my original plans for these pieces didn't pan out. This unexpected switch to digital media resulted in a great deal of malice directed towards the finished paintings. A year later... my feelings have eased a bit and I can see them for what they are.

Here is how both pieces turned out in card form... OH! If you were curious, there is also a nice and shiny foil version of the Hida Kaiji out there too...

Hida Kaiji in handy dandy card form!

Natsumi in handy dandy card form!

These two pieces also mark the last of my outstanding L5R work. Due to my very busy schedule for the majority of 2013 I have not been able to work on anything new for L5R. Hopefully I will have time in my schedule to return to the world of L5R in the not too distant future. If I do, you will hear about it first here on the blog! RAWR!

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

Yozo's Inspiration - L5R Promo Card

Over a year ago while I was working on the Coils of Madness expansion for the Legend of the Five Rings was was not only working on the great mad dragon P'an Ku. I was actually working on two dragons for the Coils of Madness set... but along the way one of those dragons lost its way and never made it to the set. I am happy to say that the long lost dragon, Yozo, has surfaced as a promo card...

Yozo's Inspiration

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

WHOOOOSH! Dragon comet on a collision course. With how much I REALLY liked my P'an Ku piece I am glad that there was some time in between the release of Yozo. He may have been a little over shadowed by P'an Ku... of course he still may be... I am still really happy with how P'an Ku turned out. Not sure how and when this card can be acquired, but I am going to keep an ear to the ground in am attempt to get myself one (or 10). An image of the card has also surfaced...

Yozo in handy dandy card form!

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

Natsumi - Aftermath preview

Aftermath, the newest expansion for Legend of the Five Rings, will soon be upon us. In the lead up to the release I am happy to say one of my cards in the set has been previewed! The wild and wet Natsumi appears! I was tasked with creating this dragon like water elemental as it flowed in and out of the river taking form and liquifying. Here is how Natsumi turned out...

Natsumi

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

Not only was the art spoiled, but the final card with shown off too! It looks like I am giving some monster love to the Phoenix Clan now. I hope it will add to the success of the clan! Here is how the art looks on the card...

Natsumi in handy dandy card form!

I hope to be able to share some more from Aftermath in the near future as the release of the set nears. For now I will leave you just Natsumi... RAWR!

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

P'an Ku's Madness - Process

With Gen Con next week I am busy getting all my art ducks in art duck rows... which can be hard with all the waddling and quacking. But more on all this soon, in the meantime, I have for you the process that went into a recent dragon piece that is getting a lot of attention... P'an Ku and his MADNESS. I produced this piece for the Legend of the Five Ring expansion, Coils of Madness. So that we are all on the same page, here is how the final P'an Ku turned out...

P’an Ku's Madness

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

When I was assigned this piece I was told that this character is kind of a big deal and that this expansion revolves around him... and that the art I produce just may be used in marketing and packaging... NO PRESSURE though. Good thing I knew all I really needed to worry about was making a kick butt dragon and since Eastern dragons have the proper number of limbs and no wings I knew I was golden. As with all my work the thumbnails started things off...

P’an Ku's Madness - Thumbnails

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

I really knew what I wanted to do with this piece and I worked it all out in my first thumbnail. For better of worse. I have talked about this elsewhere here on the blog, and I don't really encourage it, but sometime you get the best idea right away and you need to run with it. I think in reality that the BEST idea comes from effort and work to distill and work through the bad ideas to get at the heart of the piece. ...or you just really know what a big crazy coiling dragon needs to look like and you work it all out on the first pass. I didn't just want to submit a single thumbnail so I worked up a second that I thought would be just as interesting, one where the dragon is coiling around crazy rock formation. For the life of me as I look back at my own thumbnail I can not really tell what is going on in it. His head is kinda just floating off... Glad option "A" was picked! Next stop, Drawing Town, population 1...

P’an Ku's Madness - Drawing

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

This is one of those drawings that is a treat to work on. The only real concern is getting all the scales right. Which I more or less kind of managed to do. Hard to go wrong with a big twisty dragon drawing. It just drips with 'RAWR'. Now that I have a drawing and it is approved it is time to get started on the painting...

P’an Ku's Madness - Process

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

Again, this piece kind of created itself, I just had to put the time into it to make sure it reached the finish line. I knew what I wanted to do with it and what it would time to get there. From the thumbnails I am often thinking about color and focal point for the piece. I was told this dragon is more associated with the color green in the art order, so I looked to actual representations of green Eastern dragons when preparing to start on this piece. So in eight easy steps the piece came together... or not really. It takes a lot of time and work... but it does get easier over time and the hard parts are easier to work through. Fun fact, once I got started in the actual painting layer (image step 6 above) I got it into my head that I had drawn the scales on the arm coming at the view backwards. That I drew then pointing in the wrong direction and proceeded to paint over my under painting correcting this error... which of course was WRONG. I was busy painting the scales in the wrong direction. Luckily I came to my senses before things got too crazy and I get my head back in the game and remembered I had draw everything correctly the first time.

I was really happy with how the piece turned out on the final production card. It looks really good in person. I am also looking forward to seeing it in person elsewhere at Gen Con next week. I have on good authority there may be a sharp looking poster with a certain dragon on it... more on this soon hopefully! For your viewing pleasure, here is the final card for P'an Ku's Madness...

P’an Ku's Madness in handy card form!

Those of you familiar with the blog will remember this from last week but it is relevant here too. I revisited the drawing of P'an Ku and worked it up on toned paper to take with me to Gen Con. I will have the P'an Ku black and white drawing, prints, and some other surprises with me at Gen Con, but I thought this finished drawing would be a real nice piece to make and have there with me.

Dragon Madness (P'an Ku revisited)

  12 x 16 - pencil on paper

P'an Ku © 2013 AEG

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

Did somebody say toned paper DRAGON?!

The toned paper monsters keep coming as Gen Con gets closer and closer! Today I have for you a mad dragon. I originally created this dragon piece for the Legend of the Five Rings card game. I was really happy with how it turned out and it has been really well received by people so I thought I would revisit it. After some tweaks to the original sketch I set about doing a large version of it on toned paper and here is how it turned out...

Dragon Madness (P'an Ku revisited)

  12 x 16

colored pencil on toned paper

P'an Ku © 2013 AEG

Everybody just loves dragons and I more then happy to oblige. So far this is the largest toned paper piece I have done... though I have plans to work a bit bigger very soon. I have to say I am really happy with how this is all progressing. It is just too much fun to work on the toned paper. To be honest I am having some trouble going back to the white paper I am have been drawing on for years. Not sure what that is about... but I better shake it off soon because I need to start making some NEW drawings and not just going back to stuff I have already completed. But for now... I am having a lot of fun! More of these VERY SOON!


For those attending Gen Con you will have a chance to see the Dragon Madness (P'an Ku revisited) in person and even buy it and take him home with you! Give the Dragon Madness (P'an Ku revisited) a good home!

That is all for another exciting week on the blog, see you back here on Monday for a brand new monster! Until then...

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

P’an Ku - Coils of Madness announcement

On April 1st the internet is a tricky place to navigate. When I saw that AEG had announced their next expansion to the Legend of the Five Rings CCG, Coils of Madness, I knew it was no joke. Last year I was asked to update the art for the great mad dragon, P'an Ku and I am happy to see it was used as part of the launch art for announcing the expansion. Here is how P'an Ku turned out...

P’an Ku

© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

This was an incredibly fun piece to work on and I am thrilled to be able to share it with you now. I have to admit, I REALLY enjoy drawing and painting dragons that are more in line with the traditional Asian esthetic. I have another piece in the set... but that will have to wait till the set is released. I am on good authority that P'an Ku is going to get some face time in the marketing of the set... which is pretty exciting! P'an Ku has already appeared over the on the L5R website... and is judging you...

P'an Ku sees you surfing the web... and disapproves of your internet search history...

Expect a lot more about P'an Ku and my other piece in the set as we get closer to the release date of the set! RAWR!

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

Mumoku no Oni - Process

Earlier this month I shared my new Legends of the Five Rings CCG monster, the mighty Mumoku no Oni, today I have for you the steps that went into making this creature. Here is the how the Mumoku no Oni turned out...

Mumoku no Oni
© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

When tasked with designing a monster fit to destroy an entire province you gotta go big or go home. Admittedly, I immediately started thinking about dinosaurs and the big man himself, Godzilla. L5R is set in a fictions place similar to medieval Japan... how can I NOT think of Godzilla? The key is then to not make a Godzilla, but to think about the idea of Godzilla and dinosaurs and make something bases on those ideas and feelings. With this in mind I got to work on some thumbnails...
 

Mumoku no Oni - Thumbnails
© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

To be honest I felt like I was all over the place on these. (A) was a little too much dinosaur and the angle was a little too straight on. (B) was getting weird but the angle was better. (C) ...well, it did get my 'RAWR!' of approval in the thumbnail... so I guess I was liking where it was headed at the time. Sometimes I will nail the idea on the very first thumbnail and the the rest are just spinning my wheels. Then there are the times I have a couple bad ideas in me that I have to get out of the way to get to the winning thumbnail. It turned out to be a case of the latter this time around. Production picked (C) and gave me the thumbs up to move onto the drawing...

Mumoku no Oni - Drawing
© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

When working on the drawing I looked mostly at the dinosaur Ankylosaurus for general mass and anatomy but for the spirit of the beast I thought about my memories of Godzilla's monster pal, Anguirus. I did NOT look at any images of Anguirus while working on the drawing to prevent too much influence and bleed over. I wanted to harness my feelings about Kaiju and create something new for L5R without pulling too much from actual Kaiju. This is why I looked mostly at Ankylosaurus to influence the major forms in the drawing. 

The drawing was quickly approved and I was able to move forward onto the actual painting. Here is how the painting progressed...
 

Mumoku no Oni - Process progression
© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

When preparing to paint I looked at a lot of skinks and lizards to base the coloration of Mumoku no Oni. I wanted to do something bold with the head and I knew the tongue needed to be unique. There are some great lizards out there with blue tongues and there are awesome red headed skinks. The world around us is an amazing and complex thing and all the problems we are looking to solve have been worked out several times already by mother nature. While there are many unbelievable things in nature with a wide spectrum of unexpected shapes, sizes, and colors of things, looking at reference insures we choose a BETTER red for the head and not a random one from the color wheel or paint tube. Look twice, paint once!

As you can see above, in just six easy steps I finished the painting... Okay, not really, but it should give you a feel for the progression. It did come together very quickly and except for the removal of the long vertical spike directly behind the beast's head the piece is unchanged from start to finish.  Again, here is how the final piece turned out...
 

Mumoku no Oni
© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

I also was able to get a better image of the card so you can see how it looks in handheld version...
 

Mumoku no Oni in handy card form
© 2013 Alderac Entertainment Group

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