Showing posts with label Fire Snake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fire Snake. Show all posts

Friday, August 15, 2025

A NEW Fire Snake Miniature

I have a recently released miniature based on my designs and illustrations that has already been turned into a miniature. This time around, the miniature getting an update in the Fire Snake. I redesigned and illustrated the Fire Snake for its Monster Manual appearance for the launch of 5th Edition. To start things off, here is my illustration of the Fire Snake.

Fire Snake
Dungeons & Dragons - 5th Edition Monster Manual 
8x11 - Digital
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

It has been ten years since there was a Fire Snake miniature released, and I never imagined that it would get another version, let alone one that matches my original painting, in addition to being a vast improvement to the overall quality of the piece. The Fire Snake is a juvenile Salamander (which I also designed and illustrated), and I had a ton of fun working on its design and painting, so it is so cool to see it return. Here is a look at the new mini.

Fire Snake
Underdark Expeditions

Lastly, here is an image of the original Fire Snake mini to see how it has changed in the last ten years.

Fire Snake
Icon of the Realms: Elemental Evil Miniatures

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

Friday, December 16, 2022

D&D Starter Set: Dragons of Stromwreck Isle - The Return of the Kobold Sorcerer and Fire Snake

It recently came to my attention that the newest Starter Set for Dungeons & Dragons, Dragons of Stormwreck Isle, features a return of two of my monsters. I try to keep an eye out when there are new D&D releases that I didn't directly work on because you never know when a familiar monster might make an encore appearance. To start things off, here is a look at the front of the box for this new Starter Set.

D&D Starter Set: Dragons of Stromwreck Isle is now available wherever games are sold and even in some big box stores. 

This time, the monsters making a return appearance were the Kobold Sorcerer and the Fire Snake. I like both of these a lot, and it is fun to see that they are getting some additional D&D love. I hope they make the adventure fun for all the players. Here is a look at the final paintings for the Kobold and the Fire Snake.

Kobold Sorcerer
11 x 14 - Digital
Art Director - Emi Tanji
© 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Fire Snake
11 x 14 - Digital
Art Director - Daniel Gelon
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Lastly, here are a pair of images of the pieces printed in the Starter Set. I think they both printed beautifully, even if the photos of the pages don't show it. I hope this particular Kobold gets its own miniature one day. The Fire Snake already has, but I would love to see how the fire dragon spell would look as transparent plastic in miniature. One can hope...

Kobold Sorcerer and Fire Snake for all your Kobold Sorcerer and Fire Snake needs!

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

Friday, March 26, 2021

My Dad's Monster Manual - The Return of the Ankheg, Kraken, and Fire Snake

I would like to share something that I find very interesting and fun. It is a third-party Dungeons & Dragons book that uses licensed art, of which some of mine is included. While that is enough to warrant a blog post, the concept around the book itself is highly creative. My Dad's Monster Manual is a collection of monsters that most players should be more than familiar with, but in this case, they have all be reenvisioned and given new names, backstories, stats, and abilities. The author of the book had his father guess what each monster in the official monster manual was called and what it does, and from there, these new versions were created. I think this is a super fun idea and gives Dungeon Masters the opportunity to spice up their games and keep their players guessing. If you have a chance, you should check this book out. Here is a look at the book.

 
My Dad's Monster Manual

This book is full of monster art that appears in the fifth edition Monster Manual. Included are three of my pieces, the Ankheg, Kraken, and Fire Snake. I love how these creatures were given a fresh spin and fun new names and origins. The entire book has so many fun new ideas and monster potential. Here is a look at my art in the book.



Here again, is my full art for each of these monsters. It is nice to see how they live on and continue to show up and have a life of their own,

Ankheg
5th Edition Monster Manual
11 x 14 - Digital
Art Director - Daniel Gelon
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast LLC
 
Kraken
5th Edition Monster Manual
11 x 14 - Digital
Art Director - Daniel Gelon
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast LLC
 
Fire Snake
5th Edition Monster Manual
11 x 14 - Digital
Art Director - Daniel Gelon
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast LLC

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

Monday, April 27, 2020

D&D Monster Cards Challenge 0-5 - The Return of the Monsters

Back in 2018, a deck of monster cards was released featuring the monsters found in the 5th Edition D&D Monster Manual. That means that a bunch of my monsters got to see use in handy dandy card form. Unlike some other products that saw the reuse of my work, these cards clearly credit me as the artist, which is very much appreacited. I am still very happy with the work I did on the Monster Manual and the concept phase of getting 5th Edition up and going, so it is nice to see this art getting another use. Here is the packing for the cards as well as the cards featuring my art.

D&D Monster Cards Challenge 0-5
 




Definitely some of my favorite monsters and paintings of monsters that I have done for D&D. Here are better images of all the paintings featured on the cards.

Aarakocra
8x11 - Digital
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

Ankheg
8x11 - Digital
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

Fire Snake
8x11 - Digital
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

Salamander
8x11 - Digital
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast
 
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

Monday, March 30, 2015

Icon of the Realms: Elemental Evil Miniatures

Today I am sharing four of the miniatures from the newest expansion to the Icons of the Realms miniatures, Elemental Evil, for 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons. While I was not involved in any way with the creation of the miniatures, they are all based on the monster that I redesigned for 5th Edition D&D. Always thrilling to see something that I had a part in creating turned into a three denominational object in the real world. Here are some images of the miniatures and my designs for comparison. I am really happy with how they all turned out!

Salamander
Icon of the Realms: Elemental Evil Miniatures

My illustration for the Monster Manual and the miniature

It is the little details that really stand out.
The Salamander's crest is made of translucent plastic for a nice glow effect. RAWR!

Fire Snake
Icon of the Realms: Elemental Evil Miniatures

My illustration for the Monster Manual and the miniature

Fire Bat
Note that the bat's skeleton is sculpted in negative on the underside and then painted. IMHO I think that is a great solution to the challenge of the design.
Icon of the Realms: Elemental Evil Miniatures

My concept design and the miniature

Griffon
Icon of the Realms: Elemental Evil Miniatures

My concept design and the miniature

My hat off to all involved in producing these miniatures. They turned out great and I can't wait to see more from this line of miniatures... especially the miniatures based on my 5th Edition monster designs! 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

Friday, September 26, 2014

5th Edition D&D Monster Manual Book Signing

The 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual comes out next week and the good folks at Fallout Comics have invited me out to do a book signing! If you are in the the North Florida / Tallahassee area be sure to come out to Fallout Comics on Saturday October 4th between 12 pm - 3pm @ 1484 Apalachee Pkwy, Tallahassee, Florida 32301 (Facebook event page). I will be signing and sketching in Monster Manuals and will have a whole lot of other surprises!

My illustrations in the 5E D&D Monster Manual
Kraken, Salamander, Fire Snake, Ankheg, and Aarakocra
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

Did I mention surprises? Debuting at the signing will be a new set of limited edition signed and numbered monster prints! These 8.5 x 11 signed prints are numbered and limited to an edition of 50 and feature all five of the monsters that I illustrated for the Monster Manual. They can be purchased individually or as a set at a discount. RAWR!

Here is a look at the limited edition monster prints... for all your monster print needs.

The prints are all numbered and only await my signature when they are purchased. RAWR!

In addition to these new prints I will have with me original drawings and paintings, play mats, sketchbooks, Magic the Gathering prints, Magic the Gathering artist proofs, and more! I will also be signing any other items that I have worked on as well.

I hope to see you at Fallout Comics on Saturday October 4th between the hours of 12pm - 3pm @ 1484 Apalachee Pkwy, Tallahassee, Florida 32301.

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

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

Friday, September 12, 2014

Dungeon & Dragons Monster Manual - Fire Snake

Baby monster!

The Fire Snake is an infant Salamander (coming next week!). Much like most of the monsters I have been sharing I both designed and illustrated it. Fire Snakes are cute little totally harmless ...neutral evil snappy super heated bodied baby monsters determined to kill your hero. Here is my Fire Snake created for the 5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons...

Fire Snake - Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

As I have repeated and repeated... we were asked to create an additional series of detail sketches that would be used in the design of the book. Not all of the drawing got used for all the monsters, but they were part of the process. Here are the details sketches that I created for the Fire Snake...

Fire Snake - Detail Sketches
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

The Fire Snake did not receive any cropping and ended up a solid quarter page monster, but none of the detail sketches made it into the book. Here is a bad photo of the Fire Snake page I managed to take at Gen Con...

 Handy dandy book version of the Fire Snake for all your RPG needs!

I designed the Fire Snake and the Salamander (like I said, next week!) at the same time and for a time they were designed in tandem. I was asked to separate them during the design process and they went off to live their own monstrous lives. I have edited out the Salamander in these to not give out any secrets just yet. I of course started things off with some thumbnail concepts...

Fire Snake - Thumbnails / Concepts
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

There was not a lot of reinventing the wheel with the Fire Snake... it is a crazy snake monster that grows up to be a Salamander. A lot of its character came from what I was doing with the Salamander. Option 'B' was looking good and I worked up a small but more fleshed out version of the Fire Snake. Sadly the Salamander was not working and the two needed to part ways. Here is the first version of the Fire Snake...

Fire Snake and Salamander - Version 01
12 x 9
Pencil on paper
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

Now that is was off on its own the Fire Snake can live large and be in charge. Not much changed from the first version except for getting rid of the sneer and getting more detail and attention. Here is the final drawing of the Fire Snake concept...

Fire Snake - Version 02
9 x 12
Pencil on paper
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

Now that the Fire Snake is all approved it is time to get some color on it. If you compare the color versions of the final concept and the illustration you will see I enhanced the details and patterns a lot. Next week you will see more of that with the Salamander. The illustration just allowed me to flesh it out so much more... if I had not illustrated the Fire Snake any artist sticking to this final concept would have produced a totally fine result. It was really nice to have the opportunity to flesh this monster out myself. Here is the final concept for the Fire Snake...

Fire Snake - Final Concept
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

A HUGE THANKS to Jon Schindehette for all the monsters and direction during the design phase of 5th Edition (and for including me in the process to begin with!) and to Daniel Gelon for the art direction on the illustration!

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

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