The DOODLES, DESIGNS, and aRT of CHRISTOPHER BURDETT: Between the Shadows

Showing posts with label Between the Shadows. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Knobby White Spider - Process - Star Wars: Between the Shadows

Today I have for you another process post for a "recent" Star Wars piece. This time around is the piece, Knobby White Spider, from Star Wars: Between the Shadows! I first shared these pieces in February, so here is how the final Knobby White Spider turned out...

Knobby White Spider

Star Wars: Between the Shadows

10 x 8.4 - Digital

The Knobby White Spider appears in the concept work and expanded stories relating to The Empire Strikes Back. While it looks like a massive spider creature it is in fact a plant. The Knobby White Spider is the juvenile state of the gnarltree and wanders around Dagobah eating things before it plants itself to grow into a tree. FUN! Since this piece takes place on Dagobah my thumbnails were really loose and messy, it is a swamp after all. Here are how the thumbnails turned out...

Knobby White Spider - Thumbnails

I really wanted to link this piece to Yoda or the events that took place in The Empire Strikes Back. As you can see my thumbnails included Luke's crashed X-Wing, Yoda's Hut, and even Yoda himself. I was informed that any card with Yoda, no matter how unrelated or minimized becomes by default a Yoda card. I REALLY wanted to have something Yoda in this card... but it just was not going to be happening. That left option 'A' with Luke's crashed X-Wing. One the plus side this is the first X-Wing I have been asked to depict, albeit in a rather minimized state. Now that I have an approved thumbnail it was time to work up the finalized drawing...

Knobby White Spider

12 x 9 - Pencil on paper

Original for sale over on my web store!

Now that I was working on the final drawing it was time to flesh out my portrayal of the swamps of Dagobah and draw all the details. Scribble scribble scribble... Really wanted to capture a moment in the typical say of a Knobby White Spider that just so happens to be walking past a crashed star ship. The drawing was approved and it was time to work on the painting. In the typical easy twelve steps that all my paintings take the piece came together... or not... Here is a look at the process of the painting...

Knobby White Spider - Progress progression

A big issue of this piece was to get a good separation of the background and the monster. There was a lot of push and pull on this to make sure the background, while complicated, fell away and the spider stood out. I also edited the the configuration of the back legs near the end of the painting. I felt the anatomy was off and didn't look right. While it may have be totally okay, I wanted to tweak it to make it better. I also narrowed the body mass a bit a the painting went along. To better show all of these changes in the painting, here is an animated progression of the painting...

Knobby White Spider - Animated Progress thingy

Once again here is the final painting for Knobby White Spider as well as the final production card that appears in the game. I am also including the card mod I did at Gen Con this year. I was asked to make the Knobby White Spider a little more snooty and pompous. It was really fun to do...

Knobby White Spider

10 x 8.4 - Digital

Knobby White Spider in handy dandy card form

Customized Knobby White Spider at Gen Con becomes the Snobby White Spider... 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

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Armed to the Teeth - Process - Star Wars: Between the Shadows

Today I have for you another process post for a "recent" Star Wars piece. This time around is the piece, Armed to the Teeth, from Star Wars: Between the Shadows! I first shared these pieces in February, so here is how the final Armed to the Teeth turned out...

Armed to the Teeth

Star Wars: Between the Shadows

10.3 x 8.6 - Digital

This piece sounded like it was going to be a lot of fun from the moment I received the assignment. Who doesn't like a four armed blaster wielding Besalisk that came here to chew bubble gum and tear the place up... and he is all out of bubble gum. I was playing around with some ideas of how I wanted to work this piece up so I got to work of some thumbnails...

Armed to the Teeth - Thumbnails

I have mentioned it before but I do not often post examples, but I like to physically work out my compositions in a reference photo shoot at the beginning of an assignment. I will do the same with miniatures, toys, action figures, etc. I like to play with real object in a three dimensional space. I am also working with my wife to get the best images I can. She is always behind the camera when I am the subject and she gives me directions to get the best shots and posses. We trouble shoot, improvise, and discover happy accidents along the way that lead to unexpected and often more successful solutions. I use to work up my ideas on paper and then do the photo shot and it often limited my options or turned out to be impossible to replicate physically. By starting from a photo shot I begin with an idea in my head, a feeling, a mood and we act out the illustration. I can then take all the photos and mix and match to work up ideas that work best for the assignment. All too often I end up with something much better by playing with the photo assets to create my images. My wife is always getting me to adjust my posses so that they read better on camera and better illustrate the action or movement I am aiming for. I could not do it without her. Here is the photo reference that went into the winning thumbnail...

RAWR! The use of reference makes things better.
Photos by Achsa Nute

No that I had a selected thumbnail, option "B", it was time for the final drawing. At the time I think I liked all the thumbnails more or less equally and had even been leaning more toward options "A" or "C". Looking back now it is more then obvious that "B" is the best choice. Thanks, Zoe! Here is how the final drawing turned out...

Armed to the Teeth

Between the Shadows - SWLCG

12 x 9 - Pencil on paper

Original for sale over on my web store!
© 2015 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

The drawing was approved and it was time for the painting. The only issue going into this piece was that we (the AD and I) knew that the chrome of the card would be over his top right hand and gun. The rest of the image was otherwise working so well we decided to move ahead and make a great image even though the finished product would be just a little bit less great... but it still is great and this is still one of my favorite SW card piece. Besalisk are just too much fun! That said... you can have yourself a Besalisk painting in just twelve easy steps... or not...

Armed to the Teeth - Process steps

I do need to get around to talking about what that reacquiring sign / text is in the background of so many of my Star Wars paintings. ...but it will have to wait for another day. This was a really straight forward painting. I had great reference thanks to my wife to work from and the subject matter is super fun. The hardest part was working up a better building facade in the background and to do the text. Something I have been working to improve, and I have definitely had to since switching to traditional paint, is to make sure my backgrounds and architecture are looked down before going into paint. They can sink a painting if they are sloppy and out of perspective. Here is a handy dandy animated progression of the painting coming together. It should give you a better idea of the steps that went into making this piece...

Armed to the Teeth - Animated process progression

I shared with once before in regards to a Rodian I painted, but it was always meant to be shared a part of this process post. WAY back in 2004 / 2005 when I was trying to get in the doors of Wizards of the Coast I was very eager to work on Dungeons & Dragons and Star Wars. Here is a piece done for my portfolio and submitted to WotC in the hopes of getting some Star Wars work. That work never came with WotC, for obvious reasons... just look at it... The work did eventually come from FFG after many years of growth and hard work Let us gaze upon the sad little Rodian...

Rodian

(or "PLEASE PLEASE GIVE ME STAR WARS WORK!!!!")

"Portfolio" piece sent to Wizards of the Coast from very early 2005

While the issues of this piece are many there are a couple of okay bits, but the okay bits certainly do not make up for the rest of it. Real quick: Sloppy background, awkward weird drapery, anatomy issues, anatomy symmetry issues, local color issues, black shadows everywhere, simplistic blaster effect, not a dynamic pose, no narrative, using reference for some parts and not for other that makes really awkward juxtapositions of rendering quality, etc. Anyway... the long and short of it being inexperience. Jump ahead nine years after a bit of work and experience...

2005 vs 2014

"Portfolio" Star Wars work and licensed Star Wars assignment

...or in other word, the difference of nine years and MANY MANY hours of work and experience

You can't have piece like Armed to the Teeth without a ton of sad Rodians. You need to make fifty sad Rodians for every Armed to the Teeth you hope to make. Just the way it is.

Once again here is the final painting for Armed to the Teeth as well as the final production card that appears in the game...

Armed to the Teeth

Star Wars: Between the Shadows

10.3 x 8.6 - Digital

Armed to the Teeth 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

Friday, February 6, 2015

Exploring Froz / The Hunters - Star Wars - Process

On Monday and Wednesday I shared with you new work from the recently released deluxe expansion to the Star Wars card game, Between the Shadows. Today I have for you the third and final piece I have in the set, The Hunters. If The Hunters looks familiar that is because it is a return appearance of a piece I created for Edge of the Empire - Suns of Fortune, Exploring Froz, which I shared a year ago. Wait, it has been a year already?! Boy am I late in posting this process post! So that we are all familiar with Exploring Froz and The Hunters here is what the final piece looks like...

Exploring Froz

Edge of the Empire - Suns of Fortune

12 x 14 - Digital

Here is how the this piece was repurposed for The Hunters. It looks like the good folks at FFG had to do some cloning to fill out the right side of the card a little. I would have been happy to handle it if I was asked, but it looks good enough to me.

The Hunters (Exploring Froz) in handy dandy card form

Now for the process for this piece! As always, things started with some thumbnails to work out the over all composition and layout. Since this piece was for a book there needed to be a huge amount of bleed on two of the sides. If you look closely you will be black lines running through the piece, these were to make sure I worked in the live area and to show my Art Director as well. FOLLOW THOSE TEMPLATES! This piece was to depict a pair of explorers and their droid as they investigated the ruins of the planet Froz. Before the Deathstar the Empire would just level the surface with Star Destroyer orbital bombardment. Here are how the thumbnails turned out...

Exploring Froz - Thumbanils

Option "C" was the winner. I liked the overwhelmed expression of the Trandoshan in "A" but I guess that was not what production was looking for. With a thumbnail selected it was time to get started on the final drawing...

Exploring Froz

Edge of the Empire - Suns of Fortune

9 x 12 - Pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

The drawing was approved and it was time to get started on the painting. In just twelve steps I created a finished painting... or not. This one was straight forward, but required some edits and revisions along the way. There was some persistent issues with the elbow of that darn Trandoshan. Well, that Trandoshan was all kinds of problems since in the end I have to increase his over all size once the final was reviewed. Your favorites always turn against you. Here is the painting taking shape...

Exploring Froz - Process steps

Not all of the edits came from production. While I was working on this piece I revisited the head scales of the Trandoshan as well as added a more complicated rebreather. The original rebreather was more inline with what you see the Jedi use in The Phantom Menace, but spiced up. While painting I wasn't sure it read well or seemed enough for the situation that the characters were in. I added the additional plate over the Trandohan's nose for added protection and visual effect.

So that you can get a better feel for the piece coming together and the edits that took place on this piece here is another of those handy dandy animated gif thingy...

Exploring Froz - Animated progression thing

This concludes the process that went into creating Exploring Froz / The Hunters. This is not the last for this piece though, I have already seen a glimpse of this piece making an appearance in an upcoming supplement for Imperial Assault. Which is kinda cool. This will be my second piece that has shown up in the Star Wars RPG, card game, and board game. Here again is how the final piece turned out...

Exploring Froz

Edge of the Empire - Suns of Fortune

12 x 14 - Digital

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

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Knobby White Spider - Star Wars: Between the Shadows

On Monday I shared with you the first of my contributions to Between the Shadows, the newest deluxe expansion to the Star Wars card game. Today brings the second new contribution to this set and it is a little more monstrous. The giant Knobby White Spider of Dagobah is here to keep an eye on Yoda and Luke...

Knobby White Spider

Star Wars: Between the Shadows

10 x 8.4 - Digital

I think is my first piece to directly be set during the Empire Strikes Back... because I put Luke's crashed X-Wing in the background. There was that Icetromper on Hoth a while back, but there is no direct tie in to the movie. I think most of my Star Wars work has been taking part in the Expanded Universe or in Return of the Jedi, so it was nice to do something from ESB. This was a weird one to work on but I will share some of that when the process post goes up in the coming weeks. Here is a look at how the final card turned out...

Knobby White Spider in handy dandy card form

This piece was not my last digitally painted Star Wars piece (that would be my work on Stay on Target) but this is the last digitally painted Star Wars piece to be released. From this point forward, unless otherwise mentioned, my Star Wars work is traditionally painted. For me, this is kind of crazy to think about. Got some interesting stuff on the horizon.

I will be bringing you one more piece from Between the Shadows on Friday, but this is a piece that has already been used elsewhere. I will be sharing the process that went into that piece to make it a more interesting post.

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

Monday, February 2, 2015

Armed to the Teeth - Star Wars: Between the Shadows

Starting off a week of new Star Wars work! All of the new work was created for the newly released expansion to the Star Wars card game, Between the Shadows. I worked on this deluxe expansion last January and the set contains one of my favorite pieced created for the game, Armed to the Teeth, as well the last of my digitally painted Star Wars pieces. I present to you, Armed to the Teeth...

Armed to the Teeth

Star Wars: Between the Shadows

10.3 x 8.6 - Digital

What is better then a Besalisk wielding four blasters in a painting? How about a Besalisk, Rodian, obese Gungan, Bith, Twi'lek, Quarren, and Pa'lowick all in one painting! Of course for most of those species you only get a peek and they are cropped in the final card. I know they are there! I dug into my reference figures and pretty much randomly pulled out the aliens that ended up in the background. I will most likely have more to share about this piece when I share the process in the coming months. That bar sure has seen a lot of action... more on that another day real soon. Here is a look at how the final card turned out...

Armed to the Teeth in handy dandy card form

As an added bonus, just for you all since I like you so much, here is a look at some of the photo reference that went into the making of this piece. RAWR! I am all the monsters...

But a glimpse of the reference fun that happened for Armed to the Teeth
Photos by Achsa Nute

That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog, see you back here on Wednesday for more Star Wars fun! Until then...

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