Beastly Footman - Trail and Errors

I am a little shocked that I have not posted a Beastly study in about a year. If you missed any of my previous Beastly creatures you can see them here: Beastly Caster, Beastly Fighter, Beastly Archer, Beastly Scribe, Beastly Pirate, Beastly Rider, Beastly Mercenary, Beastly Thug, Beastly Rifleman, and Beastly Swordsman.

This time around I wanted to try out some new media combinations and experiment a little. In the end, it was all a wash and I retired (destroyed) the final product for the good of mankind. As before, I am working from reference while modifying it into a more monstrous nature. The first stage of the experiment started easy enough with colored pencil on toned paper...

Beastly Footman - Stage 1

Colored pencil on paper

9 x 12

© 2014 Christopher Burdett

Nothing new here. I have been doing a lot of toned paper drawings the last couple years and I have really been enjoying it. What could I do to take what I am already doing a little further? Could I push it? Stage 2 introduced white acrylic paint and black ink...

Beastly Footman - Stage 2

Colored pencil, acrylic paint, and ink on paper

9 x 12

© 2014 Christopher Burdett

The whites and more white and the blacks are darker. All good in my book. I was really liking where this was going. Back going back in with a brush I could really add some fine detail and make sure highlights popped and the dark areas were dark enough. I felt that the forms in this stage 2 version were really nice. BUT, could I push it further? Was there more I could do? Stage 3 introduced more paint and ink as well as marker and a different colored pencil...

Beastly Footman - Stage 3

Colored pencil, acrylic paint, ink, and marker on paper

9 x 12

© 2014 Christopher Burdett

Aaaaaaaaaaand... too much. Maybe if I had not introduced the earth tone pencil... maybe if I had stopped at stage 2... maybe... blah blah blah. Live and learn, trial and error. MEH... what can I say, if I had not tried I would not have known. Sometimes what you are already doing IS working just fine. Not much else to say about this, but I HIGHLY recommend trying out new things as often as possible, it is the only way to really grow and develop.

As an added bonus, here is a bunch of images of the original drawing that went into making stage 1 so you can get a feel for how the drawing came together and took shape...

Beastly Footman - Process steps for stage 1

All image of course © 2014 Christopher Burdett

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

Beastly Swordsman

My studies continue and this time it is a raccoon dog with a sword! You might remember my related posts about the Beastly Caster, Beastly Fighter, Beastly Archer, Beastly Scribe, Beastly Pirate, Beastly Rider, Beastly Mercenary, Beastly Thug, and Beastly Rifleman. I am trying to make the most of my personal drawing time by incorporating more reference to hopefully improve my overall drawing skills. So today on the blog I have for you the tenth of my studies...

Beastly Swordsman

© 2013 Christopher Burdett

A friend posted some really amazing images from a martial art demonstration recently and they all instantly caught my attention and imagination. I knew I needed to do some drawings from them and this is the first of them. ...and that is about it! RAWR!

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

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

Beastly Rifleman

My studies continue and this time it is a dog with a gun! You might remember my related posts about the Beastly Caster, Beastly Fighter, Beastly Archer, Beastly Scribe, Beastly Pirate, Beastly Rider, Beastly Mercenary, and Beastly Thug. I am trying to make the most of my personal drawing time by incorporating more reference to hopefully improve my overall drawing skills. So today on the blog I have for you the ninth of my studies...

Beastly Rifleman

© 2013 Christopher Burdett

History + monster = Beastly Rifleman... There are many historical sites in Florida, and one just so happens to be on the other side of my town. I was touring the site with visiting family a little while back and I made sure to take lots and lots of photos of the reenactors in period dress. A pair of gentlemen giving a rifle demonstration really caught me eye and imagination and this is the first piece based off them. If the indication was any example of the functionality of the period firearms I would take my chances with a bow and arrow. Really interesting and informative! HISTORY!

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

Beastly Thug

My studies continue and this time it is an Echidna with a dagger! You might remember my related posts about the Beastly Caster, Beastly Fighter, Beastly Archer, Beastly Scribe, Beastly Pirate, Beastly Rider, and Beastly Mercenary. I am trying to make the most of my personal drawing time by incorporating more reference to hopefully improve my overall drawing skills. So today on the blog I have for you the eighth of my studies...

 Beastly Thug

© 2013 Christopher Burdett

I have been carrying around a picture of a baby echidna in my resource folder for awhile and I have been wanting to do something fun with it.  The stars aligned and this happened. Look out! He is going to shank you with his dagger. Turning a cute little baby echidna into a blood thirsty knife wielding brute seem TOTALLY a natural and logical direction to take this piece. My work schedule for the last couple months has been very full so I have not had much free time to draw for myself. When I was able to make some time for this piece it came together very quickly. It might not be apparent but I was trying some different mark making out on this piece just to see that results they offered. Use reference, try something new, and be happy with the results, pretty sure I covered all the bases on this one. Not sure I can add much more this drawing... except echidnas are neat and have some really unexpected anatomy...

That's all for another exciting week on the blog, see you back here on Monday for some new work! Until then...

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

Beastly Mercenary

My studies continue and this time it is a turtle with an axe! You might remember my recent posts about the Beastly Caster, Beastly Fighter, Beastly Archer, Beastly Scribe, Beastly Pirate, and Beastly Rider. I am trying to make the most of my personal drawing time by incorporating more reference to hopefully improve my overall drawing skills. So today on the blog I have for you the seventh of my studies...

 Beastly Mercenary

© 2012 Christopher Burdett

In my talk at Illuxcon I briefly touched on the subject of abstraction. Namely my frustration with my classmates in college who woke up one morning at the age of 22 and decided they were abstract expressionist painters. What are you abstracting? You don't know how to draw or paint, so how can you possibly be abstracting from anything? This line of discussion went along with Jon pointing out that mistakes and short comings in your work are not a STYLE. Explaining away by anatomy or perspective as you STYLE is NOT acceptable or any kind of justification. Bad anatomy is BAD ANATOMY.

This all leads back to this drawing. I lead toward big hulking humanoid forms. I just like them. Big upper body, long arms and most of the time short legs. If given half a chance I will push my humanoid monsters into this general body structure. ...This STYLIZATION of the human form. When doing thing with something that is human, for me at least it is a very fine line of where it works and where it does not. For monsters, I find that window of what works if a lot bigger, BUT it is not without boarders. An aspect of these studies to to feel out what works for my monsters, and what sort of results are created when you push or pull anatomy in different ways. Are the long arms too long or not long enough? What if they were a LOT longer? What if the legs were a LOT shorter? Does it matter that it is reptilian versus mammalian or avian? All things to take into account and to think about and to experiment with.

I am also continuing to look at and to work with different combinations of layers of attire and armor. What works and what looks good to create a believable and interesting collection of forms and shapes of armor and costuming. The abstraction of armor is as difficult a challenge as abstracting anatomy, but that discussion will have to wait for another day when I feel a little more comfortable with my own skill set.

That is all for another exciting week on the blog! Until then...

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

Beastly Rider

My studies continue and this time it is a monster riding a monster! You might remember my recent posts about the Beastly Caster, Beastly Fighter, Beastly Archer, Beastly Scribe, and Beastly Pirate. I am trying to make the most of my personal drawing time by incorporating more reference to hopefully improve my overall drawing skills. So today on the blog I have for you the sixth of my studies...

Beastly Rider

© 2012 Christopher Burdett

Not really sure how or why my archers keep ending up birds, but here is another avian archer, this time around it is a mounted warrior. I have been wanting to do some rider / beast drawings for awhile now and this beastly project seemed like a good opportunity to do so. For a first attempt I am satisfied with how it turned out, though I think I have some more work ahead of me until I am completely confident with the rider / beast combo. It is delicate balance with the proportions and size of the beast compared to the rider. There is a great deal of difficulty to get a horse and rider the right sizes in illustration work and once you begin to make up animals and riders it can just be adding to the difficulty. I have seen plenty of people riding horses in person and half of them didn't look correct and they were right in front of me, so I am all too familiar with the complexity of convincingly illustrating it. Hopefully this marks the first of my steps in getting my head around the rider and beast.

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

Beastly Pirate

My studies continue and this time it is a rhinoceros pirate! You might remember my recent posts about the Beastly Caster, Beastly Fighter, Beastly Archer, and Beastly Scribe, I am trying to make the most of my personal drawing time by incorporating more reference to hopefully improve my overall drawing skills. So today on the blog I have for you the fifth of my studies...

Beastly Pirate

© 2012 Christopher Burdett

I will admit, compared to the rest the Beastly Pirate is a more static pose. I blame the static pose of the reference and my zeal to draw a rhino pirate. ...casue it is a PIRATE and a RHINO! The rest of the Beastly characters have to convince the Beastly Pirate to give them safe passage aboard his ship so they can get to their next adventure. Not sure how the silly the rest of my Beastly studies are, but I feel this one is just a little silly... maybe too silly. Oh well... it was fun and came together really quickly. I need to find some time to do more of these studies, as of late my time has been stretched rather thin.

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

Beastly Scribe

My studies continue and this time it is a pig with a pen! You might remember my recent posts about the Beastly Caster, Beastly Fighter, and Beastly Archer, I am trying to make the most of my personal drawing time by incorporating more reference to hopefully improve my overall drawing skills. So today on the blog I have for you the fourth of my studies...

   Beastly Scribe
© 2012 Christopher Burdett

To date I think this one is my favorite. I had been really wanting to use this particular figure reference though I didn't know what type of animal I wanted to incorporate. When I was sketching it out I landed on a pig like critter and the piece really came together. Added most of the gear and accessories to this one, the majority of the reference was in the cloak and folds in the cloth elements. I also really liked the idea of doing one of these that was not necessarily a fighter/warrior type design. Dragging along and trying to keep a live the wise and all knowing Scribe that will get you past the traps and into a hidden dungeon seemed like a fun addition to the group.

That is all for another exciting day 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

Beastly Archer

My studies continue and this time it is a bird with a bow! You might remember my recent posts about the Beastly Caster and Beastly Fighter, I am trying to make the most of my personal drawing time by incorporating more reference to hopefully improve my overall drawing skills. So today on the blog I have for you the third of my studies...

 Beastly Archer
© 2012 Christopher Burdett

This time around I leaned the most on the figure and costume reference with the animal elements coming mostly from my memory. While I am working from the reference I always prefer to switch up, add do, and embellish what is there to make it feel more intertwined into the world view I have in my head. Hopefully my creatures and characters are beginning to feel like they are all coming from a similar place or the same world...

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

Beastly Fighter

My studies continue and this time it is an alligator wielding a sword! You might remember my recent post about the Beastly Caster, I am trying to make the most of my personal drawing time by incorporating more reference to hopefully improve my overall drawing skills. This time around the study had figure and animal reference. So today on the blog I have for you the second of my studies...

Beastly Fighter
© 2012 Christopher Burdett

It is not uncommon to come across alligator heads for sale at Florida tourist traps. I had always wanted one but for one reason or another I have never owned one. My wife corrected this last year and I was very overdue in drawing it. This critter obviously gave me the opportunity.

I will say again, you NEED to be using reference, especially if you are starting out or you are wanting to move your work to the next level. The reference does not draw your drawing for you and you can use the reference incorrectly. This does not change the fact that you are doing yourself a great disservice by not making the most of the world around you to influence your work. People go about using reference in many ways and you need to find the way that works best for you and stick with it! The only person you are hurting by not using all the resources available to you... is you.

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

Beastly Caster

I have been trying to make the most out of the time I have to draw for myself lately. Some of this involves seeking out new and interesting reference and doing studies from that reference. The goal is to get my head around and to come up with more interesting and dynamic poses for my humanoid monsters. They all can't just stand around looking awesome! To that end I have for you today the first of these studies...

Beastly Caster
© 2012 Christopher Burdett

Hopefully, while I am having fun doing these something is sinking in so that I can recall this some of this later. Of course when I look at this drawing all I see is him wiggling his fingers and imagine him screaming, "PEW PEW PEW!"

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