NEW Eidolon Miniature

Today, I am pleased to share a new miniature based on an illustration I did for Dungeons & Dragons back in 2018. While the mighty Eidolon has received two miniatures to date, this is the first to include the shattered brazier in my painting. To start things off, here is my illustration of the Eidolon.

Eidolon

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

The Eidolon is a spirit or undead force that inhabits inanimate objects, such as a giant statute that was originally depicted on the original D&D Player's Handbook cover. While the statue on the cover of the PH has been a known image for decades, it was such an honor to design and illustrate it, standing up and getting ready to make the player's day a whole lot more interesting. Here is the new Eidolon miniature in all its glory.

The new Eidolon is larger than its predecessor.

 

Oh! But that is not all. They also made an official miniature depicting the statue from the cover of the Player's Handbook. It is cool to see this original version as a miniature after all these years.

Player's Handbook Cover Statue in plastic form!

Finally, all the different versions of this statue and the Eidolon.

They turned out beautifully!

That is 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

NEW Hydroloth Miniature

I am always surprised with a Dungeons & Dragons monsters recieves a new miniature when one was released for it reletively recently. Mind you, I am not complaining. I love seeing minis based on my work, I am just surpeised. For clarity, when I say new, I mean October of 2023 - I am still a little behind on things and having to Shade and Glaze everything does slow me down. This time around the Hydroloth that I redesigned and illustrated for Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes has recieveda new prepainted 3D miniature. The first Hydroloth mini based on my work was released in 2022. To start things off, here is my painting of the Hydroloth.

Hydroloth

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

While the first mini had a unique pose, this new version is based directly on my painintg with the crouch and out stretched clawed hand. I think it looks great and is a more faithful interupitation of my work in plastic. Both are great, but I am definitely in love with this new version. Here is a look at the new mini.

The NEW Hydroloth miniature for all your new Hydroloth miniature needs.

Lastly, here again is the original Hydroloth miniature from two years ago so that you can compare the two minis and the illustration. I will have some more new minis for you in the coming weeks.

The original Hydroloth miniature from 2022.

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

Hydroloth Miniature

Today, I have for you a miniature based on one of my illustrations. I redesigned and painted the Hydroloth for Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes was released in 2018, so I had assumed at this point that the Hydroloth was not getting a miniature. I love that I was proven wrong, and I only needed to be patient, and it would eventually show up. To start things off, here is my painting of the Hydroloth.

Hydroloth

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

The Hydroloth miniature turned out great! If I still had time to run games, I would most certainly be using this monster the first chance I could. It is a great size, has a great pose, and has a presence on the battle mat. One of those reveals that I hope would bring dread to the table - "OH NO! What is THAT!?!". Here are some images of the miniature so that you can compare it to my illustration.

The Hydrolothr miniature for all your Hydroloth miniature needs

 

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

Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures - Eidolon

I don't get into gaming stores as often as I used to, and the past fifteen months certainly haven't helped. Now that things are beginning to improve, I recently once again found myself in a gaming store. As I was taking in the many delights and noticing how many products I contributed to, I came across something that caught my attention. It was a new to me miniature that was based on my Eidolon from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. You might be aware that the Eidolon has already been made into a miniature, but this one is a little different. To start things off, here is the illustration for the Eidolon.

Eidolon

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

I am often out of the loop on what is actively happening in the tabletop gaming world as my head is down working. I was slightly aware of the unpainted series of D&D miniatures, Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures, but I haven't looked too closely into them. Much to my surprise, while standing in the gaming store recently, I was surprised to see the Eidolon. I, of course, had to pick one up. Here is the unpainted Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures release of the Eidolon.

 

Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures - Eidolon

I thought something was a little off when I first looked at this mini. Maybe the detail was a little crisper; perhaps they changed the height, whatever it was, I couldn't put my finger on it at first. Eventually, I realized that the pose is flipped from the pre-painted version and my illustration. The eyes are consistent, but everything else is inverted. I like this aspect a lot. It gives you a different version of the same miniature, so there can be some variation at the table if there is more than one in a gaming session. I will need to pay a little more attention to the Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures line to see what else might be out there. Lastly, here is the pre-painted miniature of the Eidolon for comparison.

 

Eidolon Pre-painted Miniature

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

Sibriex Miniature

Today, I have for you an outstanding miniature based on one of my illustrations. I redesigned and painted the Sibriex for Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes in 2018 and have had my fingers crossed that it would get a miniature ever since. There have been plenty of homemade miniatures based on this massive demon over the past three years, but the official mini has finally been released. I will be honest; the wait has been well worth it. To start things off, here is my painting of Sibriex.

Sibriex

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

For some time, I had been under the misconception that WotC would not make a miniature of all of their monsters. For some reason, I assumed the giant or extremely complex beasts would be passed over. Time and again, miniatures based on my oversized and intricate illustrations have been made, so I knew it was only a matter of time before the Sibriex would see the light of day. WotC and Wizkids spared no experience or detail and made an absolutely massive and disturbingly accurate Sibriex. I could not be happier with how it turned out, and I am somewhat shocked with how much it looks like my illustration made flesh. On top of that, they had to create the design in the round, and after looking at what they came up with, I don't think I would have done anything differently. Here is a look at the Sibriex miniature.

The Sibriex miniature in all its glory and its gooey dipping horror.

 

A special thanks need to go out to Kate Irwin for making sure I got a copy of this miniature. I usually acquire my own miniatures, but this one has been hard to find on the secondary market. Not to mention it is a rather expensive mini on the said secondary market. Thanks, Kate!

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

D&D Monster Cards - Epic Monsters - Return of the Kraken, Morkoth, Sibriex, and Hellfire Engine

Within the past two to three years, give or take, a D&D Monster Card deck was released for Epic Monsters. Included in this deck are four of the monsters that I painted for various Dungeons & Dragons books. With the Epic Monsters Deck's release, my Kraken, Morkoth, Sibriex, and Hellfire Engine, get their own cards. This is the last such deck of monster cards I am aware of. Only time will tell if there will be more. Here is a look at the deck box and the cards.

 

 

Epic Monsters Deck

 

 

Kraken

 

Morkoth

 

 

Sibriex

 

 

Hellfire Engine

 

The Kraken and the Morkoth have been made into miniatures. The Sibriex miniature should be released sometime this month. I am still awaiting the Hellfire Engine to become an official miniature. Here again, is the final art that I created of these three monsters.

 

 

Kraken

5th Edition Monster Manual

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Daniel Gelon

© 2014 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

 

Morkoth

Volo's Guide to Monsters

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

 

Sibriex

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

Hellfire Engine

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 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

Pipyap's Guide to All of the Nine Hells - Return of the Hellfire Engine

While this is likely not the first time something like this has happened with my art, it is the first I have noticed and tracked down. Through WotC, art from Dungeons & Dragons can be licensed for use by game designers creating third part D&D compatible products. This book, Pipyap's Guide to All of the Nine Hells, from 2019, popped up on my radar a few months ago, and I decided to hunt down a copy to see how my art was used. At first, I thought I had been credited by mistake, but I eventually located my Hellfire Engine hanging out on a page. It's a fun book, though I was surprised to see that it was printed on matte paper. I am sure that is because of the cost and for the look of the book. I mean, my book is printed on matte paper for esthetics. Here is a look at Pipyap's Guide to All of the Nine Hells and the Hellfire Engine.

 

Pipyap's Guide to All of the Nine Hells.

 

The Hellfire Engine in all its glory on matte paper, once again, the photo does not do the printing of the book justice.

I am surprised how much this piece had gotten around. I mentioned when I posted the process for this piece that I felt uncertain about my designs for it, but it ended up being well received by production. Funny how some of these things work out. Here again, is the final art that I created for the Hellfire Engine.

Hellfire Engine

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

That's all for another exciting week on the blog. See you back here on Monday for one more post of 2020. Until then...

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

D&D Monster Cards - Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes - Return of the Hydroloth, Sacred Statue, and Choker

Within the past two years, give or take, a D&D Monster Card deck was released for Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Included in this deck are three of the monsters that I painted for Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Where are the rest, you ask? That is a story or another day. As I have mentioned countless times, being in a book is fantastic, but there is just something extra special about having my work as a miniature or a card. While my first introduced to D&D through books, I once played countless hours of card and miniature games. Maybe that is where this comes from? With the release of Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes Monster Deck, my Hydroloth, Sacred Statue (Eidolon), and Choker ger their own cards. Here is a look at the deck box and the cards.

 

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes Monster Deck

 

 

Hydroloth

 

 

Sacred Statue (Eidolon)

 

Choker

Of these there monsters, all but the Hydroloth has been made into a miniature. In my book, that is not too shabby, and it is always fun to see my monsters make the rounds. Here again, is the final art that I created of these three monsters.

 

Hydroloth 

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes 

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin 

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

 

Eidolon

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin 

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

 

Choker

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin 

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

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

Hydroloth - Dungeons & Dragons - Process

For you today is the process and steps that went into the frog monster, Hydroloth. The Hydroloth appears in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, and I first shared it with you in June of 2018. It has taken a little time to finally make it back for its process post, but better late than never. For those that do not recall, the Hydroloth is a froggy demon monster that has been part of the Dungeons & Dragons mythos for some time. As part of Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, the Hydroloth made its 5th Edition debut and received a bit of a redesign and a fresh coat of paint. While some of the redesign work was done before accepting the assignment, as you will see below, I got to push it a little further. To start things off, here is my final painting for the Hydroloth.

Hydroloth

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

This Hydroloth process post marks the completion of my process posts for my work on Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes was an enjoyable assignment, and the kind I look forward to when D&D assignments come my way. To start things off, I gathered some extremely unflattering reference photos of myself living my best demon frog monster life. From the offset, I began pushing this monster's anatomy a little to make it more of a physical threat. If I recall correctly, some of the concept work for this monster was a bit frumpy. Please understand, the work was top-notch and fantastic, but the monster came off, to me, as a little nonthreatening. I attempted in my reference and thumbnails to give it a bit more menace, both potential and real. This monster needed a little more 'RAWR.' To that end, I played around with the size and position of the head, began enlarging the mouth, and make it a little more muscular. Here are how the thumbnails turned out. 

 

Hydroloth - Thumbnails

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

I must have been onto something because I was asked to revise thumbanil 'A' and make the Hydroloth even more menising. The Hydroloth has traditionally had blunt frog fingers and toes, which continued to the concept work I was given. Production requested that the Hydroloth receive some proper claws on its fingers and toes, make sure the eyes were fixed on the viewer, and to provide it with a lot of sharp teeth, bumps and spikes, and texture. I was happy to do all of the above. Here is the updated thumbnail I submitted. 

 

 

Hydroloth - Revised thumbnail

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

This revised thumbnail was approved without further comments. I was ready to move onto the final drawing—the drawing portion of the assignment continues to be my favorite part of the entire assignment. Recently, I have made time to get more out of this part of my workflow. While I can't share anything now, hopefully, in the not too distant future, I can share those drawings with you. For now, here is the final drawing for the Hydroloth.

 

Hydroloth

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

With an approved drawing and a clear path to completion, it was time to start painting. As with nearly all of these isolated monsters, it is a painless and straightforward process to create the final painting. Yes, there are exceptions to this, but for the most part, I enjoy the speed and ease associated with this type of assignment. Also, this type of work is guaranteed to be focused entirely on the monster. I came here for the monsters, and isolated monster paintings do not let me down. All that said, here is an animated look at the Hydroloth painting coming together.

 

Hydroloth - Process

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

If you have watched several of these, you will see that I have a set production process. I have a preset collection of layers and styles that I drop into all of my files as I begin the painting. I talked a bit about this in 2013 when I answered questions about my file setup. This previous post should address any questions about my layers. Here again, is the Hydroloth final painting in all its froggy goodness.

 

Hydroloth

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes 

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

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

Choker Miniature

Today I have for you another miniature that has been based on my work. I illustrated the Choker for Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, and it was the first of the paintings that I did for the book. Fun fact, I always... always complete pieces in the order I receive them. Just something I have always done, and it is a way not to pick favorites, burn out too soon, or leave the 'hard' ones to last. Since assignments from WotC all have art order numbers associated with them, I just do the lowest number to the highest number. For Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, the Choker had the lowest number. But I digress... The Choker is one of those classic D&D monsters that most players are familiar with. I was asked to give it a new spin and add some classic horror monster vibes to it. Production was happy with what I did, and it looks like it led to a miniature. Here is my painting for the Choker.

Choker

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

The Chocker is not a big monster, so the miniature is quite tiny. Never the less it is faithful to my painting and the pose, even though for molding and structural integrity, the right foot needed to be set to the ground. Seeing my work in plastic never gets old, and I always eagerly away seeing the selection on miniatures for each new set released. While it is not the same as actively designing them, it is nice to still have a roll in their creation. Here is the miniature for the Choker.

Choker Miniature

 

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

Eidolon - Dungeons & Dragons - Process

Today I have for you a monster that was released just over two years ago, the Eidolon. This iconic animated statue was part of my work on Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. I am sure there are few within the D&D community that is unfamiliar with the cover of the original Player's Handbook that featured the aftermath of a battle involving Lizardmen. The backdrop of this cover is a giant statue with gem eyes, and a pair of adventures are removing the gems. For this assignment, I was asked to depict that statue, having decided it was tired of losing its eyes and stood up. What a perfect D&D assignment! Before I get too far ahead of myself, here is the final painting for the Eidolon.

Eidolon

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Starting things off, I did a photo shoot where I made my best impression of an animated statue in my underwear. You will have to use your imagination on this one. Most of my reference photos will never see the light of day. Maybe in the far future, I will put out a retrospective, and I will include all my super silly selfies. Who knows. Anyway, I did the photo shoot, and I got to work on some thumbnails. Here are the thumbnails that I submitted for the Eidolon.

Eidolon - Thumbnails

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Sometimes with thumbnails, I see more there than the client sees. They are roughs that will lead to a more fleshed out drawing. It is only natural that production needs to know what they are getting into and request updated thumbnails. In this case, they needed to make sure they were getting a big rocky animated statue and not a Mexican wrestler. Totally understandable, and now that I look back at the thumbnails, I can totally see it. They liked where 'B' was going and asked that I made it a bit squatter and less human and make sure I bulk it up and make it more rock-like. I updated the thumbnail and resubmitted it.

Eidolon - Revised thumbnail

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

This new version was accepted and approved. There was one final note as I moved into the drawing. Production asked that I smash up the brazier a bit as if it was dropped as the statue stood up. Simple enough and adds so much to the narrative of the piece. Here is the final drawing that I submitted.

Eidolon

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Art Director - Kate Irwin

Original - SOLD

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Before I share the process that went into making this piece, I wanted to share the first version of this painting that I submitted. It is directly based on the drawing and depicts the statue having a long flowing loincloth. Once the final painting was submitted, there was some concern that a link between the crotch and the fire would be drawn by people looking at the image. Specifically, they wanted to avoid anyone using the phrase "fire crotch" in regards to this illustration. Fair enough, and as a professional, I made the change. It required minimal editing on my part since I am working digitally. Sadly, in the end, there have people still making the "fire crotch" comment to me and about the painting believing they are funny.  Here is the original version of the Eidolon.

Eidolon - Original version

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

The painting of this piece was very straight forward, even including the change to the loincloth. Due to the way I structure my Photoshop file, the final silhouette of the figure will be present throughout the animated process. It would actually take a bit of work to revert it to the original version then show the full extent of the edits. Just note that most of the final steps of the painting only involve the loincloth, fire, and leg area. This was when I was editing the image. Here is the animated process of the Eidolon painting.

Eidolon - Process

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

For those interested, I recently shared the miniature that was based on this painting. Lastly, I will leave you once again with my final painting for the Eidolon. Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes was a great project to work on, and I was able to make so many fun monsters.

Eidolon

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

That's 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