The DOODLES, DESIGNS, and aRT of CHRISTOPHER BURDETT: Taylor Ingvarsson

Showing posts with label Taylor Ingvarsson. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Hunter in the Night: Star Wars LCG - Process

Way back in 2016, a card that I painted in 2015 was released in the Star Wars LCG expansion, Meditation, and Mastery. Jump ahead to 2020, and I now have the time and energy to look back at this piece and talk about what went into making it. This assignment for Hunter in the Night was to depict a scared Chadra-Fan fleeing from a cloaked figure on the moonlit streets of Mos Eisley or some other city on Tatooine. Since this was an objective card, the final image would be a long narrow sliver of a scene. I have painted one of those before, and since that one was digital, it was not an issue. Since I was painting this one traditionally, I didn't want to paint a strangely sized painting that would be hard to frame and scan. I reached out to production to check that it would not be an issue if I painted the image to the dimensions I wanted, as long as everything they needed was within the cropping area that would be on the card. In the scheme of things, as long as the client is getting what they need and want, the actual size and area of the painting really does not matter, but it is good to have open communication so that they are not surprised at the end. First, here is the final full version of Hunter in the Night.

Hunter in the Night

Star Wars LCG - Meditation and Mastery

11 x 14 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Art Director - Taylor Ingvarsson

Original available on my store!

I, of course, started things off with a reference shoot and thumbnails. This was an enjoyable piece since I could dig deep into my collection of Episode One toys and use several Star Wars Micro Machines pieces as environmental references. Star Wars toys turned into a Star Wars painting for the Star Wars card game. Here are the thumbnails that I submitted for this assignment.

Hunter in the Night - Thumbnails

While we are on the subject of reference and photoshoots, here are some of the images that I took and made to use in the creation of this painting. This first image is of the Star Wars playset I used as a reference for the nameless city on Tatooine depicted in the painting (it is TOTALLY not Mos Eisley, *wink wink*). These playsets were invaluable since they are based directly on the background seen in Episode One, and they help address perspective and lighting. I took many of these images with several playsets and merged them together for the final reference collages.

Hunter in the Night - Reference image

Speaking of reference collages, here are the three final reference images used to create the thumbnails and eventually, the drawing and painting. These are a combination of still from Star Wars, playset images, photos of myself acting out the aliens, and action figure reference. I created something like this for nearly all of my Star Wars assignments, and to one degree or another, I use this technique for all of my work. At this point in my career, since I have done so much of this, I often work up the ideas and forms while I freehand the thumbnails from my head. The environmental pieces for The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia were all created from scribbling and sketching in my head. This is only possible after years of working with loads of reference and observing the world around us.

Hunter in the Night - Reference collage

After the thumbnails were completed and submitted, production selected option 'C' without any notes. This meant I was ready to flesh out the final drawing based on the selected thumbnail. I add details, make adjustments, and get the image to where it needs to be so that I can paint it. Here is the final drawing for Hunter in the Night.

Hunter in the Night

Star Wars LCG - Meditation and Mastery

17 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Art Director - Taylor Ingvarsson

Original available on the store!

The drawing was approved without notes, and it was time to start painting. Here is an animated process for this painting coming together. While it was a straightforward piece, some was pushing and pulling along the way to hit the right tone and to get the color where it needed to be for a night scene.

Hunter in the Night - Process

The painting was approved, and another one was wrapped up. I submitted two versions of the file to the client; one was the image at full size, and the second of the cropped version for the card. I believe that I could have simply submitted the cropped version, but I was being generous and allowed them access to the entire painting that I painted. Here again, is the whole painting for Hunter in the Night.

Hunter in the Night

11 x 14 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Original available on my store!

As you can see, the final crop for the card omits much of the painting. While I could have painted what you see on the card, I didn't want to create an image with these dimensions, and some of my favorite aspects of the painting are not visible on the card.

Hunter in the Night with intense cropping action in handy dandy card form

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

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Egg Token - MtG - Commander 2019: Process

At the very end of 2018, I produced one card for the Magic the Gathering set, Commander 2019. The card was the Egg Token set in the realm of Ixalan. I never worked on Ixalan, but I guess this now counts. This was my first token and something a little different from what I usually do. It is always fun to have the opportunity to work on Magic the Gathering and to see my work printed on cards all around the world. My schedule sometimes does not allow me to work on the game, but when it does, I enjoy the adventure. Here is the final painting for the Egg Token.

Egg Token

Magic the Gathering - Commander 2019

12 x 8.7- Digital

PRINTS available at OMA!

ARTIST PROOFS available over on my web store!

Art Director - Taylor Ingvarsson
© 2019 Wizards of the Coast

There was plenty of reference to look to for what Ixalan needs to look like, though this is a rather intimate view of that world. I looked at some different animal eggs and got to work on some thumbnails. The assignment was to depict a dinosaur egg that had a slight glow to it, sitting in a nest surrounded by the thick jungles of Ixalan. It seemed straight forward enough. Here are the thumbnails I produced for the Egg.

Egg Token - Thumbnails

Digital
© 2019 Wizards of the Coast

As it would out, I was sent the incorrect templates for the current token layout. This meant that all of my thumbnails were wrong and needed to be scrapped. That said, production liked where option "A" was headed and asked that I use it in combination with the correct template and see what happens. There were some things going on in the other thumbnails that I really preferred, but that is how things go sometimes. Never send in a thumbnail that you do not what to end up using. Here is the updated thumbnail that I submitted.

Egg Token - Updated thumbnail

Digital
© 2019 Wizards of the Coast

This updated thumbnail was approved and approved, and I was given the go-ahead to do my favorite step, the drawing. Due to my work on the Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia, I was unable to allow the time to create the line drawing as well as the value study. Never enough time in the day sometimes and something has to give. Now that I am not doing the value study for these cards, I realize how useful they are. Here is the final version of the drawing.

Egg Token Drawing

Magic the Gathering - Commander 2019

11 x 14 - Pencil on Paper

Original - SOLD
© 2019 Wizards of the Coast

Please note that the plant in the lower-left corner is merely a plant. It is nothing noteworthy at all. When this card was released, there were some people insistent that this plant was, in fact, a black lotus. It is clearly not, and I am not nearly that clever when it comes to hiding Easter Eggs in my Magic work. I have hidden plenty in my Star Wars work, and I am extremely well versed with D&D, and I think I do plenty of world-building there, but with Magic, I don't try to play around. Also, this particular bit of foliage is blue in the final and not black. I needed something other than more green and something cool in color for the corner. No matter what you think you see, it is just a plant. I have spoken.

As far as the drawing goes, I was asked to make sure that the egg was not so busy with its pattern and to do something more striaghtforward so that it stands out against all the plants and nest. Here is an animated process of the painting coming together.

Egg Token - Animated process

This process includes both the original version of the cards as well as the revised final version. When I submitted the card, I had given the egg a bit more glow than production had wanted as well as removing the tiny skull. As I was working on this piece, I felt the skull was not working. It was an odd little piece of clutter. Yes, it is there for scale, but it just seemed, to me at least, that it was not working. So I added a new layer and painted over it. This is one of the good things about working digitally, that skull was still there to bring back to the forefront. Also, adjusting the glow, at the end of the day, was not a herculean effort either. There was a little painting needed, but the layer setup allowed me to get in there and worry over the affected areas directly. Here is a comparison of the original and final versions of the Egg Token.

Egg Token - Original and final comparison

To be honest, I still feel this piece is just a little off. I can't put my finger on it, but I feel like I could make it better. That is sometimes the way it is with a painting. Here again, is the final version of the Egg Token in all its eggy glory and well as the final production card that completely obscures the supposed black lotus. WHICH IT IS NOT.

Egg Token

Egg Token in handy dandy card form

That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here on Firday! 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 20, 2019

Egg Token - MtG - Commander 2019

I have been so focused on my book that many things are slipping by my attention. One of these things is that I had a new Magic the Gathering card resent released. In Commander 2019, I had the opportunity to paint the Egg Token. This is as close as I got to the Ixalan set as I got, but it still counts in my book. This one was a little stressful to work on, not only had it been a while since working on Magic I was (and still am) hard at work on my book when the assignment arrived. In the end, the card was approved, and the cards that followed this one were a lot more successful. Here is my Egg Token.

Egg Token

Magic the Gathering - Commander 2019

12 x 8.7- Digital

PRINTS available at OMA!

ARTIST PROOFS available over on my web store!

Art Director - Taylor Ingvarsson
© 2019 Wizards of the Coast

Since I was jumping back and forth from this piece and my book, I had to make certain sacrifices to get all the work completed. One of the things that had to go was the toned paper value study for this piece. Typically I produce a line drawing and a toned value study for each of my Magic pieces. There was not enough time to squeeze one more drawing onto my table, and so I had to let it go. This means there is only one original drawing for this piece, and here it is.

Egg Token Drawing

Magic the Gathering - Commander 2019

11 x 14 - Pencil on Paper

Original - SOLD
© 2019 Wizards of the Coast

I am also not planning on making prints for this card either. I am not sure if there will be any demand, and I am moving away from making prints of client work anyway as I focus on my book. Also, I am unsure if and when I will see any artist proofs for these. These token cards are actually double-sided with other tokens, which is new to me. Here is how the printed version of the Egg Token turned out.

Egg Token in handy dandy card form

I hope to have time in the near future after the book is off my plate to talk more about this piece and share the painting process. There were a lot of ups and down with it as I worked on it.

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, October 4, 2017

Fortified Holding Cells - Star Wars: Ancient Rivals - Process

Today I have the steps and process that went into my Fortified Holding Cells card for the Ancient Rivals expansion of the Star Wars LCG. I first announced this piece about a year ago, and it is well past the appropriate time to share the process. Here is how the final Fortified Holding Cells painting turned out...

Fortified Holding Cells

Star Wars LCG - Ancient Rivals

11 x 14 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Art Director - Taylor Ingvarsson

Original available over on my web store

This was my first opportunity to work on a Talz, so I was pretty excited about that. Anytime I get to work on an original Star Wars alien or sneak one into the background, I am happy. As with all my work, I started things off with some thumbnails...

Fortified Holding Cells - Thumbnails

While option 'A' was the winner, I was asked to flip the piece horizontally. It apparently fit the card template with all its chrome better flipped. With a click of a button, the thumbnail was flipped and approved, and I would get started on the finalized drawing.

Fortified Holding Cells

Star Wars LCG - Ancient Rivals

17 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Art Director - Taylor Ingvarsson

Original available over on my web store

This was a really straightforward piece. I had lots of reference, I knew what needed to be done, and there wasn't any huge unknowns or crazy aspects to this piece. It came together quickly, and it was just a matter of being in my chair working on getting it done. Here is a look at the painting coming together in 14 steps. As with all my paintings, I work back to front, touching the entire painting as I go.

Fortified Holding Cells - Process steps

While I really like this piece, I am still concerned it looks too static and motionless. The other thumbnails always read better to me and conveyed more motion. For reference, I pounded on a wall while being photographed to get some good images of the desired action. I picked the ones that I felt worked best for action for the composition and worked in the limitations of the template. Looking back now, maybe the other two have more action? Or maybe not. Hindsight is not always 20/20. The splatter of blood adds a lot of movement, which is a plus.

Here is an animated process progression of the painting coming together so that you can better see the change from step to step. There is always a certain level of color and clarity issues when I take images of my paintings with my phone. But I don't think it distracts enough to get the point across.

Fortified Holding Cells - Animated progression

There were no notes of changes after the painting was turned in, which is always lovely. Here again, is the finished painting as well as how it looks on the production card it was made for...

Fortified Holding Cells

Star Wars LCG - Ancient Rivals

11 x 14 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Art Director - Taylor Ingvarsson

Original available over on my web store

Fortified Holding Cells 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

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Chewbacca - 2016 Store Championship Kit - Process

Today I have for you the process and steps that went into my Chewbacca painting that was created for the 2016 Store Championship Kit of the Star Wars LCG. I first shared this piece with you last November of 2016, and I painted it in August of 2015. Here is how the final painting turned out...

Chewbacca
Star Wars LCG - 2016 Store Championship Kit
11 x 14 - Acrylic and pencil on board
Art Director - Taylor Ingvarsson
Original - SOLD
© 2016 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

This was my second Chewbacca assignment in the same year, and I had learned a lot from the first one. Approaching this second painting, I wanted the likeness to be better, and I wanted the overall feel to be more Star Wars-y. The latter was definitely helped by the fact the piece needed to depict a moment from Return of the Jedi that happened just off-screen. The assignment called for the depiction of Chewbacca tossing the AT-ST driver out of the cockpit as Chewies Ewok friends prepare to go after the remaining driver inside the walker. Seems pretty straightforward and fun! As I did my research of this scene in the Return of the Jedi, I noticed several details I never really gave any attention to before. One, even though Chewbacca and the two Ewoks swing over to the AT-ST on a vine together you never see them on the top of the AT-ST while Chewbacca is opening the hatch and reaching in and two, the Ewoks weapons change from the moments before they swing over to the AT-ST and the scenes where they are attacking the driver inside the AT-ST. Funny what you notice once you watch a single scene over and over and over and...

Once I reviewed my film reference, I shot some photo reference using myself for all four characters and got to work on some thumbnails. Here's how those thumbnails turned out...

Chewbacca - Thumbnails
© 2016 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

Option "A" was the winner, and I was given the go-ahead to move forward on the final drawing, granted that I add little more bleed. No matter how much bleed I put on this piece I am always asked to add more. Here is how the final drawing turned out...

Chewbacca
Star Wars LCG - 2016 Store Championship Kit
14 x 17 - Pencil on paper
Art Director - Taylor Ingvarsson
© 2016 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

The drawing was approved without comment, and it was now time to get to work on the final painting. This painting, except for one part, was straightforward and really fun to work one. The one part that was rather difficult and caused a lot of problems was Chewbacca. The background and the AT-ST were a lot of fun to work on, and the rest came together with little effort. Unfortunately, Chewbacca made up for all that easy painting with a lot of stress and hard work. Here is the painting taking shape, it should be obvious where things go wrong once I get to painting Chewie...

As you can clearly see, Chewbacca got really beefy and weird, and his face went into some really weird directions before I had to step back and paint it out and start over. Not sure how is body mass got all bulky and out of shape, but it happened gradually, and then it was just all wrong. His face may have been off since the beginning, but along the way, it got way worse. As I have said many times before here on the blog, you need to step back, look at your work objectively (which can be really really hard), and correct the things that need correcting. It should not be up to your art director to tell you to fix all the things that are not working or that are at 75%. You need to be able to look at your work and be able to go back in and address things if they have gone wrong or are not working. Part of the job. Here is an animated process of the painting coming together so that you can better see the edits to Chewie that I did...

While I was working on fixing Chewbacca's face, I made an image file using all my reference to compare it to my painting to figure out what was not working and how to get it to be more of a likeness to Chewbacca. Always interesting how subtle moments and slight changes to proportions can make or break a likeness. This took a bit of work and a lot of studying to get it across the finish line. Even though the viewer might never know about the trails and tribulations that go into some of these paintings, hopefully, the hard work pays off in the end. Here is a real glimpse behind the curtain at what goes on to make my paintings...

Getting the face correct

I happened to take a photo of my work space as I was fixing Chewbacca. The controlled chaos that is where I paint...

Work space while working on Chewbacca circa August 2015

Once again, here is the final painting as well as the final production card...

Chewbacca
11 x 14 - Acrylic and pencil on board
Original - SOLD
© 2016 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

Chewbacca in handy dandy card form

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

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Concussion Rifle - Star Wars: Galactic Ambitions - Process

Today I have the steps and process that went into my Concussion Rifle card for the Galactic Ambitions expansion of the Star Wars LCG. I first announced this piece over a year ago, and it is well past the appropriate time to share the process. Sometimes there just is not enough time, and sometimes things slip through the cracks. Here is how the final Concussion Rifle painting turned out...

Concussion Rifle

Star Wars LCG - Galactic Ambitions

14 x 11 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Art Director - Taylor Ingvarsson

Original - NFS

This was originally my one and only assignment for Galactic Ambitions, and it received my entire focus at the time I was working on it. The 4-LOM assignment came later. I started this piece off, as I do every assignment, with a reference shoot and thumbnails. Here are how the thumbnails turned out...

Concussion Rifle - Thumbnails

I really liked all of these thumbnails. I still do. I would really like to still go back and draw each of these thumbnails into a finalized drawing. The Besalisk are a fun species, and I find so much room for personality in their faces and anatomy. As you can tell by the final painting, option "B" was the winner, and it was just as good as any for me at the time. Hindsight obviously shows that "B" is the overall best pick for the assignment, the card, and the limited narrative of the piece.

Speaking of reference... I shared one of these at the time I first shared the card, but here are the other two reference composites that I used when working out the thumbnails. Nothing like making yourself out to be another monster...

Concussion Rifle reference

Photos by Achsa Nute

With reference and an approved thumbnail, is was, of course time to get started on the final drawing. A short time of scribbling and drawing later, you get your very own finalized drawing...

Concussion Rifle

Star Wars LCG - Galactic Ambitions

17 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Art Director - Taylor Ingvarsson

Original for sale over on my web store!

There were no notes or issues with the drawing, and I was given the go-ahead to get started on the final painting. The only real art direction for this piece came with the art order; it needed to be a Besalisk holding the concussion rifle, the rifle was the focus, and it takes place outside. I think I nailed those points. In just 12 easy steps, I had myself a painting. Or not... All things considered, this one did move along rather quickly. The environment was particularly fun. I wanted to do something with a lot of green and bendy trees. Here is the painting coming together...

Concussion Rifle - Process steps

With every painting, I try to do something different. I might want to do something with the color palette, the equipment, and gear, maybe something with the detail levels, or even hide something in plain sight to see if anyone notices. No matter what it is, I try to make each piece enjoyable on several levels. This one is no different. I made it fun, and I hope that reads in the final painting. Here is an animated progression of the painting so you can better see the steps in the process...

Concussion Rifle - Animated progression

There were no notes of changes after the painting was turned in, and this has been a favorite of mine since I completed it. This is not always the case with my work, but that is how it is sometimes. Here again, is the finished painting as well as how it looks on the production card it was made for...

Concussion Rifle

Star Wars LCG - Galactic Ambitions

14 x 11 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Art Director - Taylor Ingvarsson

Concussion Rifle 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