Bestiary: Lost World - Process

Been talking a lot about Magic the Gathering recently and thought I would switch it up today with some Dungeons & Dragons. Still clearing out my blog queue of items that have been patiently waiting to get posted. Today I have the process that went into designing and making the cover for Dragon Magazine issue 42. I first shared this with you way back in September of 2013... it sure has been waiting awhile to be posted! So that we are all on the same page, here is how the cover for Dragon #42 turned out...

Bestiary: Lost World - Dragon Magazine Issue 427
Digital

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Not only was I tasked with painting the cover, but I was also asked to design three new prehistoric drakes that would be featured on the cover. One was the size of a large dog and was to be used as a hunting pack animal, one was big enough to ride, and one was a massive monster of a creature. Three new monsters mixed in with a hunting party of goblins and hobgoblins, what could possibly go wrong? I got to work on concepts and thumbnails, first on the new monsters concepts and then on the overall composition thumbnails for the illustration. Here are how the monster concepts turned out...

Venomous Urdrake Concepts

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Sabermaw Urdrake Concepts

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Ironclaw Urdrake Concepts

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Now that I had some monster concepts I began working up the thumbnails using my favorite designs. Subtle influence on the art director? Possibly... but Kate has always been an amazing AD and she had her favorite monsters and her preferred thumbnail. Here is how the thumbnails for the illustration turned out...

Bestiary: Lost World - Thumbnails

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Thumbnails turned in and decisions made. A little from column A, B, and C and the monsters and composition is all decided upon. Time for the final drawing and time to work up all the detail and figure out all the vague bit in the thumbnail. Here is how the final drawing turned out...

Bestiary: Lost World - Drawing

11 x 14

Pencil on Paper

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

The drawing was approved and it was time to paint! In just 12 easy steps... yeah, right... This was a cover and it had a ton of stuff going on, so I was a little apprehensive about this one. All in all, much to my surprise, it came together extremely quickly and without any major brain melting moments. Here is the painting coming together in 12 steps...

Bestiary: Lost World - Process steps

To help better illustrate the painting taking shape here is an animated gif of the process. You can see what changed along the way a bit better. Like when I got rid of a huge vine or changed the perspective of the Ironclaw's head. There is the expected pushing and pulling of the environment to get the right focus and contrast. ANIMATED...

Bestiary: Lost World - Process animation thing

The painting was approved without revision and production was happy. All in all, a success in my books. Covers do not come my way often, but when they do, I ponce on them. Here again is the final illustration and how it appeared as the cover (it was also used as the lead graphic for an article of the same name and appears in the magazine without cropping)...

Bestiary: Lost World - Dragon Magazine Issue 427

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Dragon Magazine Issue 427 Cover

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

Ecology of the Neogi - Process

Way back in September of last year I brought you a piece I did for Dragon Magazine illustrating a boy and his dog... actually, it is a Neogi and his Umber Hulk. Two great things that go better together! RAWR! Today, at long last, I have the process and steps that went into this piece. So that we are all on the same page, here is how the final piece turned out...

Ecology of the Neogi - Dragon Magazine Issue 427

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

As per the original description for this piece I was asked to depict a Neogi riding on the shoulders of a Umber Hulk in the pursuit of an escaped human slave. I thought this would be another great opportunity to include my wife in a piece and went about shooting some reference and working up some thumbnails of the slave, backed into a corner in a cavern, cowering in fear of the two monsters. Seemed straight forward enough...

Ecology of the Neogi - Thumbnails version 1

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

The always clear and objective eyes of the art director jumped in at this point. There has always been some issues with the depictions of slaves and slavery and it is always a fine line to walk. Apparently I strayed from that line without realizing it. There was a lot of concern that the intent of the monsters could be misinterpreted and that the slave has begun to distract from the monsters... which after all, are the focus of this piece. I was asked to revise the thumbnails and to minimize or even remove the slave from the composition. Which is what I did...

Ecology of the Neogi - Thumbnails version 2

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Option "B" was starting to move in the right direction finally. When in doubt, remove all those pesky humans! They only get in the way of the more important monsters. There was still some confusion about the Umber Hulk's right arm being up behind the figures. It was not longer clear that they were climbing through the caverns so I was asked to lower the arm. Which is what I did...

Ecology of the Neogi - Thumbnails version 3

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Third times the charm! I now had an approved thumbnail and I could get started on the final drawing. With so many edits, variations, and revisions with the thumbnails it resulted in a very loose and sketch final thumbnail to work with. This can sometimes be very good or very bad. If I am not careful a really loose thumbnail can allow me to introduce unintended errors into the drawing. In these situations I need to be sure to spend the time needed on the drawing to work everything out and make sure all my ducks are in a row and all the elements get the attention they need. Here is how the final drawing turned out...

Ecology of the Neogi - Drawing

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

I spent the time needed and I had an approved drawing. Time to get started on final! In just 12 easy steps you too can have a painting of a Neogi riding an Umber Hulk... or not...

Ecology of the Neogi - Process steps

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

The meat of the painting takes place in the middle set of images. The first four cover the drawing prep and value control and the final four are all the little tweaks and edits and adjustments to make the image look and read well. The biggest issue with this piece was to create a dramatic lighting for the monsters and still hopefully have it believable in a very unbelievable situation. Where is all that pale light coming from inside a deep dark cavern? That is a LOT of glowing mushrooms to produce that much light! ...or could it be... MAGIC?!?! Either way, these monsters really needed some underneath dramatic up lighting to make them appear nice and scary. RAWR! Hopefully it works, reads, and looks good.

As always, this piece turned out as well as it did because of the ever present and helpful art directors at WotC, thanks Kate! Again, here is how the final piece turned out...

Ecology of the Neogi - Dragon Magazine Issue 427

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

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

Ecology of the Neogi

It looks like that I contributed more then the cover to Dragon Magazine issue 427! I had expected this article to appear next month, but it looks like "Ecology of the Neogi" arrived a month early. If this piece looks a little familiar, you are correct! Back in July the good folks over at WotC previewed the drawing of this piece as a teaser of things to come. That time has arrived finally and here is a Neogi riding an umber hulk...

Ecology of the Neogi - Dragon Magazine Issue 427

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

This was my first opportunity to work on a Neogi, but more important to me, my first chance to work on an official D&D umber hulk (RAWR)! For me the umber hulk is one of those super classic monsters and it has captured my imagine from the very beginning. I was happy to paint a spider eel riding an umber hulk any day of the week!

This piece actually has a rich and complex thumbnail / sketch stage that I will be looking forward to sharing with you in the coming weeks. There was originally a third element to this illustration... that in the end became problematic. But more about all this soon!

As always, I would like to thank Kate Irwin for involving me on this project and for her art direction!

That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here on Friday for some more new work! Until then...

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

Bestiary: Lost World - Dragon Magazine Issue 427

After posting my first Magic the Gathering cards on the blog on Monday I was wondering what I was going to do today that could hold up against that news. Well, a quick glance at the Dungeons & Dragons website solved my dilemma... My cover to Dragon Magazine issue 427 is now out! And look, there are LOTS of monsters on it...

Bestiary: Lost World - Dragon Magazine Issue 427

© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Besides being the cover for this month's issue of Dragon, this illustration is also the main piece for the article, Bestiary: Lost World. Not only did I get to paint hobgoblins and goblins but I got to design and illustrate three brand new prehistoric D&D monsters (RAWR)! This was a big piece for me... on many levels and I am very happy with how it turned out. I have produced a lot of single monster pieces over the years and this asked a lot more from me. Here is how the illustration looks cropped down for the cover...

Dragon Magazine Issue 427 Cover

The D&D home page today! RAWR!

I am looking forward to sharing with you the process that went into this piece. I did a bit of design work on the three prehistoric D&D monsters and I have been looking forward to sharing it. The final drawing that I did for this piece was also larger then my usual drawings since there is so much more going on. Hopefully I will have the process post for this piece on the blog in the coming weeks!

I would like to extend a HUGE thanks to Kate Irwin for involving me on this project and for her art direction on this piece! This piece was a big step forward for me and I am glad I have shown her I was ready and prepared for this assignment.

That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here on Friday for some Magic drawings! Until then...

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