Beasts of Flesh and Steel - The Return of Jybril and Rythcallocer

It is inevitable at some point in your career as a tabletop gaming artist that your work will be reprinted and reused by your clients. As evident on this blog, a good deal of my art sees second, third, and even a fourth or five printing on various cards, books, and more. While much of the time, I stumble over the reprints of my work. I am notified by fans, or I am credited on a project on BoardgameGeeks. Occasionally, much to my surprise and delight, the client sends me a copy of the reprinted work. Towards the end of 2020, the good folks at Monte Cook games did just that. While they are known for their sprawling futuristic world of Numenera, they recently created new 5th Edition (Dungeons & Dragons) stats for a book's worth of monsters and released them as Beasts of Flesh and Steel. I could not be more excited to see that two of my monsters, the Jybril and Rythcallocer, made it into the book.

 

Beasts of Flesh and Steel

 

The freaky shark monsters, the Jybril.

 

 

The scuttling favorite of mine, the Rythcallocer.

 

If I still played D&D, I would be instantly pulling from this book to include them in my game and keep my players guessing and afraid. While I support all gaming universes, I learned D&D first, and it will always be my home universe to go to when I think of gaming. So it is exciting to see other games acknowledging the presence that D&D has in the industry and allowing a wider range of players to use their creations in their games. It also means potential new players might now discover and try out Numenera. It was not a random decision to create a D&D stats guide for the Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia. My gaming heart will likely always live in the Realms. Here again, are the final paintings for the Jybril and Rythcallocer.

 

Jybril

12 x 9 - Acrylic and pencil on board

 Original - SOLD

© 2015 Monte Cook

 

 

Rythcallocer

12 x 9 - Acrylic and pencil on board  

Original - SOLD  

© 2015 Monte Cook

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

Numenera Monsters - Process

Last week I shared with you the return of some of the monsters I did for the Numenera RPG. Upon posting these monsters again, I was reminded that I have never shared the process and steps that went into making them. Granted, I do not have a lot to share for these. I was working on all four at once, and I was moving very quickly through them and did not take photos of the paintings taking shape. What I do have are the thumbnails, drawings, and a false start for one of them. Initially, I did not think I had enough time to paint these traditionally and was going to work on them digitally. After starting the first one digitally, however, I quickly lost interest and was not being artistically sated by the experience. I decided to double down, make the time, and do these all traditionally, and boy, was I happy that I did that. While I wish I had photos of these paintings coming together, I am much happier that I made the deadline and that they all turned out how I wanted. 

To start things off, I have all the thumbnails that I did for these. This assignment was a bit different than the usual job. I was asked to just come up with monsters with very little perimeters. I was assigned four monsters, and they just needed to be aquatic and fit with the Numenera look and feel. So, I just sat down and let the monsters take shape. I worked fast and loose on these and just tried to get as many down and then worry about editing and changes later. Here are the twenty final concept thumbnails that I turned in...

 Numernera: Into the Deep - Thumbnails

© 2015 Monte Cook

After turning these in, my feedback was as followed:

"2 (jellyfish with human brain! Yes!)

13 (freaky-deaky sharky kind of thing. love!)

And he could pick his other two favorites. The only one that might not work is 18, because it looks a bit too much like a normal squid"

Can't go wrong with this. After a brief exchange of ideas regarding the final two choices with my art director, the four monsters were selected. 9 and 19 filled the remaining slots, and I was good to work up the final drawings. If you are at all familiar with my work and process that I share here on the blog, you will know that my drawings and thumbnails are almost exact in their silhouette and major forms. The drawings address small issues and tweaks, as well as bring in all the details. I try to nail it in the thumbnails and finalize all the major forms and overall design. I was excited about all of these and was really ready to get started on the final pieces. Here are the final drawings for each of these pieces...

Rythcallocer
Numenera: Into the Deep

14 x 11 - Acrylic and pencil on board 

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Monte Cook

Jybril - Drawing
Numenera: Into the Deep

11 x 14 - Acrylic and pencil on board 

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Monte Cook

Spiny Scishan - Drawing
Numenera: Into the Deep

11 x 14 - Acrylic and pencil on board 

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Monte Cook

Into the Deep Monster #4 - Drawing
Numenera: Into the Deep

11 x 14 - Acrylic and pencil on board 

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Monte Cook

The drawings were approved without comment, and I was ready to start working on the paintings. While I was not necessarily thrilled to be working on these digitally, as I said, I did not think I had another option due to scheduling and deadline conflicts. I sucked it up and started on the first one on the computer...

Into the Deep Monster #4 - False start

Digital - Unfinished

© 2015 Monte Cook

It was like pulling teeth to start on this one. I was apprehensive that this whole assignment would crash and burn because I was fighting the computer the entire time I was working on this. I took a break, really thought long and hard about it, and decided that the best option to move forward was to start over and work on these traditionally. It did mean some frantic hours following this decision because I had to prep the drawings for printing, print the drawings, and mount them on board to start painting the following day. I lost a night worth of work time, but in the end, it all paid off, and I had four real paintings to show for my time and effort. Here are how the final paintings turned out; needless to say, they were all approved without comment...

Jybril
Numenera Ninth World Bestiary 2

12 x 9 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Monte Cook

Rythcallocer
Numenera Ninth World Bestiary 2

12 x 9 - Acrylic and pencil on board 

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Monte Cook

Spiny Scishan
Numenera Ninth World Bestiary 2

12 x 9 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Original - SOLD 

 © 2015 Monte Cook

Into the Deep Monster #4
Numenera: Into the Deep

12 x 9 - Acrylic and pencil on board 

Original - SOLD

 © 2015 Monte Cook

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

Monsters Return for Numenera Ninth World Bestuary 2

Got an unexpected delivery in the mail recently from the good folks over at Monte Cook Games. They released the Numenera Ninth World Bestiary 2, and three of the monsters that I did for Numenera: Into the Deep have returned for an encore appearance in their new bestiary. Always lovely to see my monsters in print, and this is actually my first time to see these particular monsters in print. I still have not seen a copy of Numenera: Into the Deep, which was just as good. I am thrilled with how these pieces have been printed in the book. I still have a certain level of concern with how my paintings, especially the traditional ones, will print, and seeing the final printed product puts all of that concern to rest. Enough chatter, here is the cover of the Numenera Ninth World Bestiary 2...

Numenera Ninth World Bestiary 2

I had three monsters return in the Numenera Ninth World Bestiary 2. While I was initially working on them, they did not have names, so I had no idea what they would eventually become. Neat to see how they finally turned out! I present to you the Jybril, Rythcallocer, and the Spiny Scishan. While most of these have already sold, the Rythcallocer painting and the drawings for the rest are still available! Bring on the monsters...

Jybril - Numenera Ninth World Bestiary 2

Jybril
Numenera Ninth World Bestiary 2

12 x 9 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Monte Cook

Rythcallocer - Numenera Ninth World Bestiary 2

Rythcallocer
Numenera Ninth World Bestiary 2

12 x 9 - Acrylic and pencil on board 

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Monte Cook

Spiny Scishan - Numenera Ninth World Bestiary 2

Spiny Scishan
Numenera Ninth World Bestiary 2

12 x 9 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Monte Cook

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

Numenera: Into the Deep - And then there was one last Kickstarter Monster Preview

A couple of weeks ago, I had one last piece spoiled over on the Numenera: Into the Ninth World Kickstarter! As before ...or before ...or before, this piece is hot off the work station and was completed a short time before Gen Con. This time around, it is a jellyfish with a HUMAN brain... oooo, creepy! It is so new it does not even have a name, so without further ado, here is ANOTHER  Preview Monster...

Into the Deep Kickstarter Monster Preview

Numenera: Into the Deep

12 x 9 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Monte Cook

Here is where it showed up as a preview image for the Kickstarter.

There looks to be a monster deck planned, and some of my monsters where used in the mock-up for the deck for the Kickstarter.

There will be more about this critter and its companions in the fullness of time. What I can say is that this was a really excellent project. There were no art orders, I was just asked to come up with several new monsters, and I was given the room to come up with a bunch of my own creations. Can't go wrong with that!

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

Numenera: Into the Deep - AND another Kickstarter Monster Preview

A couple of weeks ago, I had yet another piece spoiled over on the Numenera: Into the Ninth World Kickstarter! As before ...or before, this piece is hot off the work station and was completed a short time before Gen Con. This time around, it is a toothsome gulper and might be my favorite of the bunch. It is so new it does not even have a name, so without further ado, here is ANOTHER  Preview Monster...

Spiny Scishan

Numenera: Into the Deep

12 x 9 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Monte Cook

Here is where it showed up as a preview image for the Kickstarter.

There will be more about this critter and its companions in the fullness of time. What I can say is that this was a really excellent project. There were no art orders, I was just asked to come up with several new monsters, and I was given the room to come up with a bunch of my own creations. Can't go wrong with that!

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

Numenera: Into the Deep - ANOTHER Kickstarter Monster Preview

A couple of weeks ago, I had ANOTHER piece spoiled over on the Numenera: Into the Ninth World Kickstarter! As before, this piece is hot off the work station and was completed a short time before Gen Con. This particular freaky deeky shark critter was the first of these monsters that I created for Into the Deep. It is so new it does not even have a name, so without further ado, here is ANOTHER  Preview Monster...

Jybril

Numenera: Into the Deep

12 x 9 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Monte Cook

There will be more about this critter and its companions in the fullness of time. What I can say is that this was a really excellent project. There were no art orders, I was just asked to come up with several new monsters, and I was given the room to come up with a bunch of my own creations. Can't go wrong with that!

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

Numenera: Into the Deep - Kickstarter Monster Preview

A week or so ago, I had a piece spoiled over on the Numenera: Into the Ninth World Kickstarter, and I am happy to announce that I am working on the upcoming Numerera book, Into the Deep! This is hot off the work station too. I completed this particular monster just before leaving for Gen Con, and now it is out in the world scuttling around doing monster things. It is so new it does not even have a name, so without further ado, here is Preview Monster...

Rythcallocer

Numenera: Into the Deep

12 x 9 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Monte Cook

There will be more about this critter and its companions in the fullness of time. What I can say is that this was a really excellent project. There were no art orders, I was just asked to come up with several new monsters, and I was given the room to come up with a bunch of my own creations. Can't go wrong with that!

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