Store Updated with MORE Buffy the Vampire and Angel Concept Art

Following in the footsteps of Friday's post about the addition of my 2024 Grand Bazaar art going onto my store, I am pleased to share that MORE original concept art that I produced for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel is also now available!

If you visited me at any convention in 2024, you had first access to the first two waves of concept art from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel that I have made available to the public. Now that 2025 has begun, I have updated my store with all the remaining art pieces. Now is your chance to own a piece of television history with these one-of-a-kind pieces. If you have any questions, please let me know!

New art and a lot more can be found on my store!

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

Limited Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel Art NOW AVAILABLE!

Before Pensacon, I shared with you that I would be debuting some of my original concept art from working on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel at the convention for the first time ever. The convention has come and gone, and since not all of the pieces sold at Pensacon, I have put those select pieces on my store. I am testing the waters with these to see how they sell and what kind of interest there is in them. I have a lot more, but for now, those pieces are fine in the flat file. All of these shown here are now available on my store.

Available Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel concept art!

Beljxia's Eye Concept

17 x 13 - Gouache, colored pencil, and ink on paper

This is original concept art that I created for the seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I was one of the artists working to design the Beljoxia's Eye creature for episode 11 - Showtime. This image concept was started traditionally and finished digitally due to time constraints.

Background Demon Concept

11 x 14 - Watercolor, colored pencil, and ink on paper

This is original concept art that I created for the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This was part of the work done to design background demon masks that were to be worn by extras and stunt actors.

Background Demon Concept

11 x 14 - Watercolor, colored pencil, and ink on paper

This is original concept art that I created for the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This was part of the work done to design background demon masks that were to be worn by extras and stunt actors.

 

Background Demon Concept

11 x 14 - Colored pencil and pencil on paper 

This is the original concept art that I created for the fifth season of Angel. This was part of the work done to design background demon masks that were to be worn by extras and stunt actors. We were attempting to subtly reuse elements from makeup and masks that we had previously created.

Background Demon Concept

11 x 10 - Colored pencil and pencil on paper 

This is the original concept art that I created for the fifth season of Angel. This was part of the work done to design background demon masks that were to be worn by extras and stunt actors. We were attempting to subtly reuse elements from makeup and masks that we had previously created. 

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

Never Before Seen Art at Pensacon!

UPDATE! ALL AVALABLE PIECES THAT DID NOT SELL ARE NOW ON MY STORE!

As I write this, the good folks behind Pensacon are hard at work to get every last detail finalized for this weekend. This means I do not have final details on everything I wanted to share with you today. That said, I think I have something pretty cool, BUT you will have to come to Pensacon to see it. For the first time ever, I will have some of the original concept art that I created for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel with me for sale at Pensacon!

I would love to share these pieces with you, but for now, they must remain obscured.

If you would like to see what I will have with me, I will see you at Pensacon this coming Friday through Sunday!

In time, I will share all of this art with you, but for now, those attending Pensacon will get to see them first and have the opportunity to purchase them. These are only a few of the works that I did for the shows, and these are pieces I am comfortable with parting with. It is a mix of early and late work and ranges from paint to marker to pencil. These are all definitely part of the Buffy and Angel history. 

Speaking of art, I will be debuting many new art pieces for book two of the Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia. If you are on my mailing list, you have already seen a lot of this new work, but not all of it. If you are attending Pensacon, you will be able to see all of my newest work for the book!

Lastly, the panels are not finalized yet, so I can not share a complete list of my panels, but I can say that I will be on a VERY cool one that I am looking forward to. I will do my best to announce it ahead of time on social media. This is not everything, though, and I have a couple other surprises planned, but I will share them later or after the convention.

That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog. See you back here after Pensacon! Until then...

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

Miracles - Burned Body Concepts Twenty Plus Years Later

While at Pensacon last month, I had the chance to cross paths with an actor I worked with over twenty years ago. One of the first makeup effects projects I worked on in 2002 when I returned to LA was for a show called Miracles. It was short-lived, and I wonder how many people watched it or even remember it, but I do because I worked on it. And when I wanted up to Skeet Ulrich with my DVD set to sign, he remembered it too. When Skeet saw the DVDs, he laughed and said, "Oh man!" We had a little chat and parted ways. Getting the DVDs signed, of course, got me thinking about the work I did on the show, and in particular, the work done for the first episode. To start things off, here is that DVD set all signed and ready for the "shelf of things I worked on".

Miracles - Another project that I worked on and have never watched.

If I remember correctly, Skeet Ulrich played a young priest or similar religious figure that is having a crisis of faith as he investigates, you guessed it, MIRACLES. I have never watched a single episode, so I am going off what I remember from over twenty years ago. For the first episode, I was asked to design a burned body found on a flight. No other damage or casualties, just a lone woman's body that was very, very burned. There is a twist, but I will leave that for those who want to watch the series. My part in all this started with designing the body. Dear Wife got to pose for reference photos on this one. Here are the designs that I produced.

Burned Body Concepts

Digital - 2002

The body is only seen on an autopsy table (if I remember correctly), so the end product was mostly a prop rather than a makeup or prosthetic. But it is still fun to work on something where the constraints of a living human's body does not interfere with making an interesting visual. In addition to the body concepts, I also produced a series of concepts for a healing sequence that was removed during the concept phase of the process. Or maybe it wasn't. I don't really know. I know we didn't make anything practical for this effect, so if it was used, maybe it was digital. This is another reason for me to watch it. Here are the healing concepts that I produced.

Healing Concepts

Digital - 2002

I also was tasked with making some organs, namely a pair of lungs, which you can see in the following photos. These were made by manipulating foam, coating them with an excellent and highly toxic chemical, painting them, and finally sealing them with silicone. I sadly do not have any other photos of the lungs as I was not yet recording everything we did at the shop. But I do have two pictures we took on set, and that will have to suffice. The figure on the right is yours truly as I worked on the set, finalizing the appearance of the body before filming. An extra dressed as a medical examiner stands across from me.

On the set of the first episode of Miracles with the burned body.

As filming progressed, they eventually needed to film the medical examiner cutting on the body with a REAL bone saw. I am sure the extra was a great guy, but he didn't make the body, didn't know what it was made of, or how to work with it. So through a series of events, I found myself in costume on set being filmed cutting on the body for the close-up shots. It was a lot of fun, I got to use a bone saw, and the body was not damaged in the filming process. Again, I sadly have no photos of myself in costume on set or of me working on the body. Hopefully, some of those moments ended up in the episode. And this would be another good reason for me to watch the series. Here is another image of the medical examiner on set with the body, in all its blurry early 2000s digital camera goodness.

Again, on the set of the first episode of Miracles with the burned body.

I did other work for the series, but I am still on the fence if I want to share any of it. I am not sure those designs went anywhere except the circular file as the series ended abruptly. We did some excellent work on the show, but it was not documented well, at least by me, so I do not have any images to share. Maybe another day, I will share some other bits and pieces from Miracles.

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

Interstellar Express Part 8 - Hotshot

Today, I am concluding my posts focused on my work from Interstellar Express, the educational game I art directed and made many assists. This week I am sharing some of the art I created for the stripped-down version of the project. Let's get back to the Interstellar Express Hotshot!

There were concerns that all the aliens, planets, environments, and neat stuff were too much and would distract from the project's purpose. To that end, we made a second version that was extremely limited and focused nearly entirely on the assessments. This called for a new intro screen, UI, and visual elements. Out are the train, planets, environments, interactions, and story. The larger complete version is still happening, but the Hotshot became a priority before 2020. I present you with selected art from Interstellar Express Hotshot.

The new launch screen features a selection of aliens and the Hotshot text I made.

I created a background, UI, and related elements to bring this slimmed-down version to life.

Upon completion, you get an interactive photo booth where you can select backgrounds and aliens to create a photo of some happy aliens.

And that brings us to the end of my work on the Interstellar Express project. It is always a possibility that there will be a need for additional assets in the future, but it has been nearly two years since I created any significant art for this project. Hopefully, it will launch in the not too distant future. When I hear anything about this happening, I will be sure to share it.

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

Interstellar Express Part 7 - Environment Tiles

Today, I am continuing my posts focused on my work from Interstellar Express, the educational game I art directed and made many assists. This week I am sharing the art for the environment tiles I created. Let's get back to the Interstellar Express! 

Interstellar Express space screen

Final art by Lee Bretschneider

One of the features that I was most looking forward to making for the game is the environmental tiles. That said, I am still unsure if any of this work will be in the finished game. These tiles are to be used as part of a mini-game reward at different points in the game or at the end for a final treat. The tiles are meant to be flexible enough to be arranged in any order to create new and unique environments. Aliens will be placed around the scene, and the user will need to find them all. Each environment includes a tile that has no obstacles, one that has short obstacles, one that has tall obstacles, and one that is the space train station. I have arranged the four tiles and then a sample arrangement of a scene. I present you with the art for the environment tiles of Interstellar Express.

The generic alien world with its rolling hills and rocky brush.

The bug world with its mega flora.

The bird world with its towering trees and fields of clouds.

The elemental world with its steam geysers and icy outcroppings.

The lava world would not be complete without lava.

The lost desert world has a few cactuses.

The ocean world with its giant sponges and aquatic plants.

The robot world is a maze of long abandoned machinery.

The shapes world had mostly 90-degree angels and not much depth.

The space dinosaur world has plenty of ancient plants to enjoy while you search for the train stop.

Lastly, the train depot world has a lovely fountain and will likely never be used.

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

Interstellar Express Part 6 - Environment Finals

Today, I am continuing my posts focused on my work from Interstellar Express, the educational game I art directed and made many assists. This week I am sharing the final art for the environments I created. Let's get back to the Interstellar Express! 

Interstellar Express space screen

Final art by Lee Bretschneider

The environment art was some of the most complex elements I created for the game. Each planet has a layered environment that will allow parallax scrolling. There is a background, which is stationary, and a looping middle ground and background. In addition to these three layers, the attraction element will be featured when you reach your final destination. These were a lot of fun and very different from what I usually create, so it was a great opportunity to flex some underused art muscles. I enjoyed making each layer separately and working with all three to push and pull the layers to create depth and visual separation. I plan to share some of the environments in motion, but that is for another post for another project. I present you with the final environment art of Interstellar Express.

 

The generic alien world with and without the attraction.

The bug world with and without the attraction.

 

The bird world with and without the attraction.

As a side note for this one, it was one of the first I finished, and when I had completed them all, I went back and completely reworked it. I had initially made it with white clouds and a blue sky. Once compared to the other, it fell a little flat and was visually similar to the elemental world. Shifting it to more of a sunset color palette made it much more visually exciting and unique when compared to the other planets.

 

The elemental world with and without the attraction.

 

The lava world with and without the attraction.

 

The lost desert world with and without the attraction.

 

The ocean world with and without the attraction.

 

The robot world with and without the attraction.

 

The shapes world with and without the attraction.

 

The space dinosaur world with and without the attraction.

Space dinosaurs are both advance and retro.

 

The train station world. Ultimately, I am unsure how much this will be used or seen in the game. The middle ground was never meant to fully loop.

The train car interior. This section should get a lot of use as it is the background whenever the aliens and universal translator interact with the user. The background outside the windows will be a space field created for a separate game element and will be reused here.

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