Bloodbound Skeever - Dreamblade

Today I have for you a piece I did for the Dreamblade miniatures game (just how many of these thing did I do?). Here is the Bloodbound Skeever, a rare piece for the forth expansion, Anvilborn. The Skeever are a bird creature designed for the first set, but when I worked on the this one I don't think that first set was even out yet. I had an little bit of an idea of what they looked like but was not positive. I got to work anyway...

Bloodbound Skeever (Version 01)
© 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

I was close but missed a couple of 'little' details... like wings, feathered head and that it needed bird feet. OOPS! But it has big crazy swords, and that is cool, right? So I got to work on the required revisions...

Bloodbound Skeever
© 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

These revisions drove it home and we had ourselves a Bloodbound Skeever. As with a lot of these, I look back at the original and the approved revised version and wonder just what the hell I was thinking. I got to work on the full turnaround...

Bloodbound Skeever
© 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

I always liked the front and back of this guy but apparently I felt the need to phone in the side view. Over the years I have learned to better embrace the side view. I absolutely love doing turnarounds and jump at any opportunity to work on them, but the side view is my least favorite part. I think it is mostly in my head. You can see how the Bloodbound Skeever turned out in it's final production miniature form, HERE.

I will be showing a selection of my work her in Tallahassee starting on April 2nd through April 28th at Bacon & Bakin'. This will include an opening night event as part of April's First Friday on the 2nd in the Railroad Square art park. If you are in the area make sure you stop by. I will have more details next week.

I will have another Mutation Nation submission for you 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

Hulking Brute - Dreamblade

Imagine that, a quick Friday post AND it involves a Dreamblade miniature. What are the odds? Today I bring you the Hulking Brute from the Anvilborn expansion. The art order had me at 'hulking'. I really enjoy big lumbering creatures so I got right to work and submitted this for my first pass...

Hulking Brute (version 1)
© 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

The second after I sent this version off I realized I should have done more with it. I hate the tunnel vision I sometime get on a piece, but that is just one of the reason art directors are so important. Thankfully the AD and I were on the same wave length and he suggested more crazy lumpiness and veins, work to make him more gross. This is something I got completely covered. He also suggested to liven up the club as well as raise it up a bit to help with the molding/casting end of things. Some quick revisions later we had a good looking brute...

Hulking Brute
© 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

This second version hit the mark and I was given the okay to move forward on the rest of the turnaround...

Hulking Brute
© 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

You can see how the Hulking Brute turned out in it's final production miniature form, HERE.

As a reminder, I will be taking part in a charity art auction next week as well as selling (for the first time) some Dreamblade art starting in the next couple days on ebay. I will keep you all up to date and how you can take part in the auctions!

Also, two books from Paizo that I contributed to are hitting shelves as we speak. As soon as I have confirmation that they are out I will share my work with you! Until then...

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

Freaks and Whispers - Dreamblade

And so we find ourselves at the end... Today I have the final two designs I did for the unreleased 7th set of Dreamblade. I present to you the Two-Faced Freak and the Whisper of Truth. The Freak was to be an uncommon Madness piece and (you guessed it!) part of the Janus lineage and the Whisper was a common and part of that thing I am not talking about that was going to be new for set 7.

Unreleased Two-Faced Freak - © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC
This was a fun one to work on, you can never go wrong with tentacles. This was not my first Janus piece. I designed a late addition to the base set that was going to be a Janus Scout, but it was never released. I will NOT be sharing that design, I was never happy with how it turned out and I like it even less now. Looking at the Freak now I should have added more dimension to the tentacles in the side view, but I know at the time I was concerned about getting too crazy with them. This was only a uncommon and I didn't want to make as complex as a rare.

Unreleased Whisper of Truth - © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC
Not much to say about this one save the challenge to make sure all the appropriate areas were covered. It needed to be PG after all. She is the third and final piece I designed for the new game element they were going to introduce to set 7. Now that you have all three, the Whisper, the Executioner and the Damsel you might be able to pick out a visual clue that they all share. It might be hard in some but there is a common visual element to them all. I wonder how it would have been received and how it would have effected the game.

Well, that is it, the end of my secrets for Dreamblade that I can share. I still have art for released pieces that I have never spotlighted that I will be bringing you and I have early versions to several of these set 6 and 7 pieces that I can still share. Actually both of these have interesting first passes that I will able to share later. Until then...

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

Braves and Termites - Dreamblade

Another quick post today. I will be doing a separate post about some other issue later, but for now lets look at some more unreleased Dreamblade art. We are almost at the end of my Set 7 pieces, but fear not, there are still a few left. Today I bring you the Indian Brave and the Termite Head. The Indian Brave was to be a Valor common and the Termite Head a Fear common.

Unreleased Indian Brave - © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC
I thought a lot about my time at Florida State University and their ever present mascot. A friend of mine is a super FSU fan so I was hopping that this piece would make it out so I could give him one. I look back now at my first pass (locked safely away from prying eyes) and shudder. I somehow made him super scrawny, it is rather humorous. That is why we have art directors and do multiple versions of things.

Unreleased Termite Head - © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC
This one was fun and rather straight forward. My first pass had a little hat and the umbrella was a cane. I think it works better as an umbrella, but the hat was nice. I am amazed how people will respond to this piece. I had all of my Dreamblade art in one book at Geek Night and people would flip through dozens and dozens of drawings not saying a word or reacting in any way and get to this one and say out loud, "TERMITE!" or "He has a termite head!"

There was some interest shown (I think over on the Wizards of the Coast Dreamblade forums) to see the first pass I did on one of the pieces I brought you last week, the Executioner. I aim to please... As you can see it is less detailed overall and of course the mask/head is different. The art order called for a LARGE axe. I thought I had obliged, as you can see from the final I had not. When I first did this version I thought to myself that I had gone over the top with the axe...

Unreleased Executioner (version 1) - © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

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

Axes and Damsels - Dreamblade

It is Friday so I must be talking about miniatures, right? Speaking of miniatures, it has been exactly two years (give or take a week or two) since I worked on my last miniatures project and I have been hoping for another one ever since. Though I hate to tip my hat in regards to work, I started up on a miniatures project this week and I am thrilled! It is only a couple of pieces but they should be fun and different. They are for one of my newer clients so I am really looking forward to the project. Don't hold your breath on more details anytime soon, if my experience proves true it will be awhile before the finished products surface.

Today I have two more of the illusive unreleased Dreamblade pieces from set 7. The "Executioner" and "Damsel in Distress". I don't know how much I can say about what made these special, since while I do I have permission to show these pieces not sure I can technically talk about some of the unreleased game dynamics. Lets just say their aspects was not Fear, Madness, Passion, Valor, Anvilborn, or Multi. I did one other piece that is special like these two that you will see in the coming weeks. Maybe you will be able to look at all three and piece together some ideas. Enough riddles, lets get to the designs...

Unreleased Executioner - © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Unreleased Damsel in Distress - © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Both of these were to be commons. While I am extremely happy with how the Damsel turned out I always felt like I missed an opportunity to do something 'more' with the Executioner. My first version (which was rejected) had him wearing a half hood so you could see him yelling. I always liked that visual but apparently the design team didn't. Looking back now, I think I should have made him a lot more massive and bulky and even more detail and gear. I should have given him more blades, a whet stone of some sorts, other terrible objects of pain and torture... maybe a string of ears. Not sure if these would have been fitting to the theme or the character, but would have made it more interesting and expressive. The first pass on the Damsel had less detail which was resolved with this version. Since I do so little pretty and female I was really attached to this piece and was really looking forward to it's release and to have it in my portfolio. It took a little longer then expected but at least I get the later finally.

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

Trojan Horse - Dreamblade

Another crazy week. A small post today due to workload and other things calling for my attention. But don't feel to bad, I bring you today another piece I did for the unreleased 7th set of Dreamblade, the Trojan Horse...

Unreleased Trojan Horse - © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

This was going to be a Valor Uncommon. As you can see it was rather detailed and required a complete 4 view set of turnarounds. There was some concern that it was in fact too detailed and a lot was going to be lost in the sculpture. Looking back now, I have to agree, but that never ended up being an issue. I just hope it was going to have a cool ability fitting with the theme of Trojan Horse. Until next time...

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

Zungar Invasion! - Dreamblade

I hold a special place in my heart for the Zungars of Dreamblade. They were a new race of recurring creatures designed for Dreamblade as a type of alien that lives or manifests in the dreamscape and I got to be the lucky guy to design them. They were described as being put together with the wrong size pieces but yet functioned as a normal living creature, they had the big hair tendrils, eyes on the side of the head and a unique skin texture. With all that in mind I got to work and came up with this:

Ardent Zungar - © 2005 Wizards of the Coast LLC

The Ardent Zungar was the first pass at the Zungars and was approved straight out. I did have to go back and make the pose a little more dynamic but I always liked this first drawing the most and that is why I am not including the turnaround for the Ardent Z. A side not about the weapon, it was described as having this big crude mace. I was still getting my head around the culture and style of the Zungar since I was creating it on the fly with each new miniature I realize after finishing the Zungar Blademaster for Baxar's War that the Ardent's mace was all wrong for what the Zungars were becoming. I submitted a drawing of a replacement mace but production had moved along to far to do anything about it.

Zungar Bodyguard - © 2005 Wizards of the Coast LLC

The Zungar Bodyguard is still one of my favorite miniatures from Dreamblade. The detail is all there, it is big and the paint job is great. I really began fleshing out the culture of the Zungar with this guy. You will notice the "face" on the shield, it will become a recurring theme. I thought of it as a holy symbol or graven image. I imagined the face being a stylized representation of a huge creature that the Zungars worshiped as a god. I even did some drawings of what that creature looked like in hopes of maybe submitting it as a miniature idea, but time was against me and it never happened.

Zungar Blademaster - © 2005 Wizards of the Coast LLC

The smallest of the Zungar miniatures and a useful piece in play in my opinion. You can see some of the shapes and images I established with the bodyguard reappearing.

Zungar Standardbearer - © 2005 Wizards of the Coast LLC

These guys had quite the wingspan. Again, repeating the imagery and forms on the armor and items. Wonder if I should have put something on the back of the banner...

Zungar Shieldsworn - © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

I really like the drawings of the two Zungars I did for Anvilborn. I tried to branch out a little more with the style and feel of the Zungar with this set, didn't want to just keep repeating. Though you will see similar equipment, like the helmet of the Bodyguard, just less fancy since it is a lower ranking Zungar. Also trying to make them a little more Dynamic.

Zungar Envoy - © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Like the Shieldsworn I was really happy with how this drawing turned out. I felt like I did some fun stuff with it's robes and items.

I did not work on any of the Zungars for sets 5 and 6, Night Fusion and Serrated Dawn. Other artists got to add their voices to the look and feel of the Zungar to make them more diverse and varied. But I did get to work on one last Zungar for the unreleased set 7.

Unreleased Zungar Priest - © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

I was really itching to work on another Zungar and when I was assigned this one I went all out. Since it was a priest I really played up the "god face" as well as tie in some elements from the Envoy. I think this is my favorite of my Zungar drawings. I wonder how the mini would have turned out...

That's it for now, I have been itching to share my Zungars for awhile but I was waiting for the right time. You can look forward to more of my set 7 designs to start showing up as well.

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

Unreleased Dreamblade - The rest of Set 6

And then there were three. Here are the final three pieces I designed for Dreamblade set 6, Serrated Dawn. One of these for sure made it into the set, one I am on the fence about and one I am confident did not make it. The Skydancer started a superstition I had about my work that I carried until recently. You might notice that I lean toward monsters and creatures in my work and there is not a lot of pretty, especially women and female forms. Several projects I worked on for Wizards of the Coast gave me the opportunity to work on pieces with women or at least very feminine monsters, this usually marked the end of these projects. No really. I did two female pieces in Serrated Dawn, the female armor I designed for the D&D Character Visualizer and a third project I can't mention on this blog that had a female monster. All of these (as of now) have never seen completion. This trend has since been broken (I think). Anyway... the “Diseased Angel” was described to me as a Valor piece with Fear elements which lends me to think it is the Putrid Princess, but I could be wrong. The rarity matches too, so until I learn otherwise I will stick with my guess. The last of the pieces I designed for Serrated Dawn was a Valor rare simply called "Samurai". Pretty straight forward and would most likely have been a cool miniature if all the details I put into it made their way into the sculpture.

Unreleased Skydancer - © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Unreleased Putrid Princess / “Diseased Angel” - © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Unreleased Samurai - © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Fear not! This is not the end. I have some more surprises and thing to share from my time on Dreamblade. Until then...

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

Unreleased Dreamblade - More from Set 6

Two new Dreamblade pieces that were designed for the unreleased set 6, Serrated Dawn. I had planned to post more today but I am under some fierce deadlines and the WoTC forums are down for an upgrade. The first, Blob with Body, appears to have not made the final cut. It was a common whose aspect was Fear. The second design may or may not be the Zungar Citadel. I have never had a location that I designed not make it into a set so I am fairly confident. The flavor text also adds a lot of credence to it being the Citadel. Just in case I have included the original name. The Citadel was a real pleasure to work on, at the time I designed these I really shied away from environment or architectural design. This allowed me to do both and I was really happy with how it turned out. Yet another design I was really hoping to see as a miniature.

Unreleased Blob with Body - © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Unreleased Zungar Citadel / “Castle on Mesa” © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

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

Unreleased Dreamblade - Lost along the way

Today's look back at unreleased Dreamblade designs features one piece from each of the first four sets. With each of these I eagerly anticipated seeing the final miniature, imagining ahead of time that these would be my favorite above all other (no, really). Looking back now I begin to understand why they may have been dropped.

"Sword in the Stone" was designed for the very first set of Dreamblade. It was described as being an object. Looking back I imagine it was designed in the same vien as the Scarab Warcharm. Not necessarily a creature but would aid in other ways. It's aspect was Valor.
© 2005 Wizards of the Coast LLC

"Bound Rider" was a spec piece I came up with and submitted while working on Baxar's War. It was accepted, but fell through the cracks along the way. No idea what aspect it would or did have. It came to me one night as I was trying to fall asleep, it kept me up for hours as I drew it in my mind. I figured that was a good sign ...not good enough, I guess ;)
© 2005 Wizards of the Coast LLC

"Hairy Monster" was designed for Chrysotic Plague. I really thought it had a fun look and feel and would make a cool miniature. I had hopes it would have ended up being one of the really big minis like some of the pieces in Baxar's War that I designed. It's aspect was Passion.
© 2005 Wizards of the Coast LLC

"Hypnotic Freak" was designed for Anvilborn. Again, I thought this one had a really cool look and feel and would make a great mini. It was unlike many of the others I had designed for the game (to me at least). I really liked the little dangling harlequin that I put on the bottom back of her dress. It's aspect was Madness.
© 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

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

Unreleased Dreamblade - Knights, Flags and Gears

Here are three previously unseen and unreleased Dreamblade miniature designs created for set 6, Serrated Dawn. Since the miniatures often had name changes during production I did my best to figure out if these in fact were slated for release. I am fairly confident that I matched up my designs with the final production names for the first two, Clarion Knight and Flagbearer which left the Gearman either pumped to set 7 or dropped all together. I really was hoping to get a Gearman. I worked with Art Director Peter Whitly on this set and he passed along some of the plans for Gearman's paint work. It was simple, but sounded really cool. All three were aspect Valor.

Unreleased Clarion Knight © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Unreleased Flagbearer © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Unreleased Gearman © 2006 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Unreleased work shown with the permission of Wizards of the Coast

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

More bugs and a fish - Dreamblade

Another look back at some Dreamblade miniature designs. These are from set 4, Anvilborn, which was the first set I had the opportunity to work with the Art Director Peter Whitley. If my memory serves me, I have not shown anyone some of these drawings, you get to be the first!

Today we meet the Omen Locust, Foul Beetle and the Abyssal Predator. That's right, more bugs! As I mentioned before, I have designed a lot of bugs for Dreamblade, but only one fish. Sometimes I hit a home run on the first drawing and sometimes I have to give it a fresh look after receiving notes from the AD. All three of these required some level of revision.

My first passes on these 3 miniatures. I know the Omen Locust is all wrong here.. but it always creeped me out... I imagined it human sized and standing right behind you, clicking it's mandibles.

A couple revision notes later I was on the right track and on my way to approved designs.

Final Omen Locust

Final Foul Beetle

Final Abyssal Predator

I am really happy with how these translated into their final miniature form, sometimes things get lost along the journey into plastic but these held up. Check out their final plastic goodness here: Omen Locust, Foul Beetle, Abyssal Predator.

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

Dreamblade - Totem Lord & Bloodcut Martyr

Due to my current workload I am bringing you another look back at my Dreamblade work. Last time I showed you the first design that I had approved so this week I present 2 of the last of my designs that were approved and made it though production. These were for the 5th released set, Night Fusion. I designed a third piece for this set but as far as I can tell it was pumped to what would have been the sixth set. The miniature's stats for this sixth set were released on the Dreamblade forums. No visual representations were never shown for this uncompleted set so I will never be 100% positive of what would have been. I worked with Art Director Peter Whitley on this final sets of Dreamblade. Without further delay I present the Totem Lord (one of favorites) and the Bloodcut Martyr.

My first pass on both designs, the Totem needed to be more 'alive' and the Martyr less 'Zungar' and more like an animal

Final Totem Lord turnaround - WATCH OUT! That beaver has a STICK!

Final Bloodcut Martyr turnaround - You have to be careful with a pangolin, they will crawl you.

Final production miniatures for both pieces

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

Dreamblade - Blight Rat

I am in the middle of a few different projects and don't have anything new I can post today. In light of that I am featuring a look back at one of the pieces I designed for the game Dreamblade as well as a tiny look into my office.

I began working on Dreamblade nearly 4 years ago (how time flies) and worked on it for about a year and a half. Dreamblade was one of the most rewarding projects I have ever worked on. Not only did I have the assignment to create monster after monster, but I found myself working on a project with many of the artist that I look up to. I also worked with two very talented and experienced Art Directors that made sure I never settled and always went to that next level, Stacy Longstreet and Peter Whitely. I consider myself extremely fortunate and honored to have found myself on such a project surrounded by so many skilled and experienced artist. ...and did I mention I had to design monsters?!

First, lets take a look at my shrine to Dreamblade. This is a custom shelf I build to hold one of every produced Dreamblade miniature. It has a mirrored back to add to the 'awesomeness' factor. It was build and hung so that it could still be visible when the door to my office is open and closed.


Now for the Blight Rat. The Bight Rat was the first of my Dreamblade designs to be approved, so it is fitting to have it the first here. The design went through 2 different versions and one revision before reaching the final design. It still is one of my favorite pieces.

The evolution of the Blight Rat

Final 3 view turn around with final miniature

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