The DOODLES, DESIGNS, and aRT of CHRISTOPHER BURDETT: dungeon magazine

Showing posts with label dungeon magazine. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Lowdown in Highport - Process

Clearing the books and settling accounts. I am in one of those gaps where I am doing tons of work but nothing is really getting released. I am super busy with client work so I don't have much time for any personal work. This all means that there is a weird lull for new blog content... SO, I am clearing out stuff that has been sitting in the blog queue for just these kind of moments!

Today I have for you the process that went into the very last piece that I produced for the 4th Edition volume of Dungeon Magazine. Issue 221. While this piece was released at the end of 2013 it is still fresh in my mind... it had a lot of giant insects in it and a SHRIEKER! So that we are all familiar with the piece, here is how it turned out...

Lowdown in Highport - Dungeon Magazine Issue 221

This piece needed to have a lot going on in it, giant centipede, giant ants, a big mechanical fire beetle, and a shrieker. In the game the players most likely will have disturbed the shrieker that would then have riled up the insect monsters. Straight forward, but lots to arrange and deal with. I started with some thumbnails to get things rolling...

Lowdown in Highport - Thumbnails

For me the thumbnails were fine, not great, but fine. Definitely was going to need to work out a lot in the drawing phase of the process. Thankfully, Kate Irwin, my most excellent Art Director on most of my Dungeon (and Dragon) Magazine assignments came back with a great suggestion to make the composition WAY better!

Lowdown in Highport -Thumbnail feedback

She took what I have already going on in thumbnail "C" and gave it a nice S curve and gave the piece a lot more movement and flow. Hands on ADs are great to help push a piece that extra bit. She sent back an updated image with the handy dandy green line and I was good to move onto the next step, DRAWING...

Lowdown in Highport

Dungeon Magazine Issue 221

9 x 12

Pencil on paper

Original for sale over on my web store!
© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

With a much better thumbnail I was able to work up a much better drawing. There was a lot to deal with, but I was able to incorporate it all into one image. For me the piece was about the shrieker, fire beetle, and centipede... the ants could take a kike for all I cared, but they were in the art order.

The drawing was approved without any notes and I was ready to start painting. Here is a look at the painting coming together in twelve handy steps...

Lowdown in Highport - Process progression

There was some tweaks near the end to adjust the form of the fire beetle's head and mandibles, but other then that the piece came together as expected. I was a little concerned that the color and lighting structure might be a little too much... but I think it all worked out in the end. Giant purple fungi in a dark cave lite by a giant mechanical beetle full of fire, just another average day making art. So that you can get a better look at the piece coming together here is another animated progression things I like to make...

Lowdown in Highport - Animated progression thing

Like some weird magic another monster painting comes into being. Here is the final painting again for you viewing pleasure, well over a year from its original release...

Lowdown in Highport - Dungeon Magazine Issue 221

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, June 25, 2014

The Star-Touched Grove - Process

Way back in November of last year I brought you a piece I did for Dungeon Magazine illustrating a tentacled bear and his pet porcupine grub. 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...

The Star-Touched Grove - Dungeon Magazine Issue 219

Stop me if you have heard this before... I started this piece off with some THUMBNAILS. Imagine that! Anyway, the assignment was to depict a druid that had been corrupted by the taint of the far realms and in his bear form (wait for it) HE HAS TENTACLES! The druid also has a couple of little porcupine grub pals and at least one needed to be in there too. I got some of my favorite bear and insect reference together and got to work on some thumbnails...

The Star-Touched Grove - Thumbnails

"B" was the instant favorite and was selected for this assignment. It was time for some drawing... and that was what I did. Here is how the final drawing for this piece turned out as I built up the details and fleshed out the piece...

The Star-Touched Grove - Drawing

The drawing was approved without issue (if I remember correctly) and I was good to go on getting started with the painting. In just 10 easy steps you too can have a tentacle bear... or not. Here is a progression of the image as I painted it...

The Star-Touched Grove - Process steps

This piece was really straight forward. The biggest over all issue was to make sure everything read well since there were two creatures, lots of tentacles, and a tree leaking star juice in the background. I like to crop in really close to my subjects... and this can both help and hinder me, but in the long run I have made it work. As an added bonus, here is an animated version of the painting coming together...

The Star-Touched Grove - Animated progression

The painting was turned in and accepted without revision. Well, there was one note, and that was from Kate, my AD on this piece... she really wanted to see the nose of the bear to be blue to match the tentacles. Unfortunately, she was overruled by other folks at WotC and the nose remained as I had painted it. She sent me a mocked up image with the nose blue and I agreed with her, it would have been fun to see a blue nosed tentacle bear...

If only... the blue nosed tentacle bear...

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...

The Star-Touched Grove - Dungeon Magazine Issue 219

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

Monday, December 30, 2013

Lowdown in Highport - Dungeon Magazine Issue 221

Last post of 2013! What better way to close out the year then with a new piece for Dungeon & Dragons! Today I have for you my contribution to the December issue of Dungeon Magazine - issue 221. It has a couple giant insects in it...

Lowdown in Highport - Dungeon Magazine Issue 221

That crazy mechanical fire beetle has real fire in it for all your real fire needs... While I love me some giant insects, I was really excited in a nerdy gamer artist kinda way to finally be asked to paint a Shrieker... that giant purple mushroom behind the insects. If you get to close to a Shrieker is starts to... well, shriek, which in turn alerts nearby monsters. In this case it seems to riled up a bunch of giant insects... better then a purple worm!

As always, 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!

Looking forward to the next D&D work I get to share with you... but that will have to wait for a little while I think...

That is all for another Monday (and year) 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

Thursday, November 14, 2013

The Star-Touched Grove - Dungeon Magazine Issue 219

I missed my regularly scheduled post yesterday... sorry about that... To make up for it here is a brand new piece I did for Dungeons & Dragons... it is a BEAR with TENTACLES!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Star-Touched Grove - Dungeon Magazine Issue 219

I was asked to design and illustrate a druid, in bear form, that has been corrupted by the Far Realms and his little porcupine grub buddy. Well, let me say that they needed a bear with tentacles and the rest of the details and requirements were unnecessary! This piece appeared last month in the October issue of Dungeon Magazine - issue 219. I look forward to sharing with you the process and steps that went into making this piece. Be sure to look for that on the blog in the coming months!

As always, 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!

That is all for another exciting THURSDAY(?!) 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, July 24, 2013

Lubash the Ogre - Process

Way back in April I brought you Lubash, the wily Ogre, from the updated Village of Hommlet article from the March issue of Dungeon Magazine (issue #212). Looks like it has only taken me till July to share with you the process that went into this piece. To start things off let's have a look at how the final Lubash turned out...

Lubash the Ogre - The Village of Hommlet

Those who are connected with my on Facebook are probably all too familiar with this image since it is my current avatar. I knew from the moment it was done that it was becoming my new avatar... one because I was happy with how it turned out, and two, I had a lot of fun posing for the reference and there is a lot of me in Lubash. Did I say something about reference? Yes I did! Because I shot reference with dramatic lighting first and foremost with this piece. Since it was a monster portrait I knew what I wanted to do and the look I was going for. I shot the reference I knew I needed to make sure this piece hit the mark.

Once the reference was shot I got to work on some thumbnails to flesh out my ideas... I say ideas, but I really had one I REALLY wanted to do...

Lubash the Ogre - Thumbnails

Yeah, option 'A' was the piece I wanted to make... from the moment I got the assignment. Sometimes that happens and when it does it can be hard to get it out of my mind and to work up some other options. Cause you never know, that first awesome idea might just be crap. I had a good feeling that it would not be crap and I had my fingers crossed. Production ended up picking 'A' so it all worked out! With an approved thumbnails it was time to get started on the drawing...

Lubash the Ogre - Drawing

RAWR! Lubash is starting to take shape! I revisited my reference and pulled a lot of myself into the piece and worked up the final drawing. My, that skull tied to his beard is cool... look at all those marks, he must have killed a lot of people and must be a real monstrous ogre. I was so proud of myself for thinking of adding that detail... Only thing is, production didn't really notice it in the thumbnail. It was not until the final drawing that it stood out... and they thought it stood out too much and would be distracting and I was asked to remove it before moving onto the final painting. No worries, that is how it goes sometime. Also, since they didn't use it it is still my idea and I can use it on another project or on one of my own pieces! Now that I had a more or less approved drawing it was time to get to painting...

Lubash the Ogre - Process

I had a very clear idea and some really strong reference to work from so this piece really came together quickly. I may say that a lot it feels... but this one really did just seem to paint itself. After drawing / painting out the beard skull it was smooth sailing to the finish line. I can't say enough about having good reference. It helped this piece SO much. Posing in a strong direct light with a back light showed me everything I need to know to make this piece work. Granted, I was not married to the reference, but having it showed me the path and allowed me to deviate when necessary for the sake of the piece... rather then blindly stumbling down an unknown path trying to figure out what I was doing a long the way. REFERENCE! Use it people! Anyway... Once the piece was finished and turned in I was ask to make a vignette out of it. Apparently making it a vignette at the end reduced a lot of problems faced along the way for production and it was a lot better for them. I was all too happy to make the requested modification and the piece was done.

Here is how the piece finally turned out once vignetted...

Lubash the Ogre - The Village of Hommlet - Final

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

Monday, April 1, 2013

The Village of Hommlet - Lubash the Ogre

The March issue of Dungeon magazine was released at the end of the month. Dungeon #212 features the article adventure, The Village of Hommlet and there was at least one monstrous creature in it. I was asked to create a portrait of the Ogre mercenary, Lubash, and here is how it turned out...

Lubash the Ogre - The Village of Hommlet

Well, that is how it turned out before I made a vignette of it for the article. If you are running the adventure or happen to be looking through Dungeon #212 you will see something that looks more like this...

Lubash the Ogre - The Village of Hommlet (FINAL)

This was a fun one to shoot photo reference for... since I have not been a D&D Ogre yet. They wanted Lubash to have some personality and I was happy to ham it up for the camera doing my best Ogre impersonation under some dramatic lighting. Needless to say this will be my new avatar, been itching for this piece to release so I could use it! And remember kids, it is better to try to get out of the way of an axe and not to stop it with your face... As always, I would like to thank Kate Irwin for involving me on this project and for her art direction!

In the coming weeks I will have for you my concepts, sketches, and the process step by step breakdown for this piece.

That is 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, July 11, 2012

Trobriand's Machinations - Process

Today I have for you another look at my process that went into creating a recent D&D piece. This time around we are looking at the Scaladars for the Trobriand's Machinations article in Dungeon magazine #201.

As mentioned last week I figured I better go ahead and share my remaining process posts before August rolls around when I will be able to share my updated process for working up the under painting. You can always find more detailed explanation of my process on the blog HERE, HERE, and HERE.

As always when working on an illustration with a new creature I have to design I will do several roughs of the creature and several thumbnails of my composition for the illustration. With this Scaladar piece I had to design two new creatures and put them both in a narrow vertical composition. Luckily for me one of them is flying which makes composing them a lot easier. Since space was always a concern I had the composition in mind during the design process for these two mechanical scorpions...

Scaladars - Designs

Scaladars - Thumbnails

When these were all said and done I was leaning toward thumbnail "A" which had Shadowclaw Scaladar "A" and Winged Scaladar "B" in it. When feedback came back to me they concurred with my thoughts on thumbnail "A" but wanted the more naturalistic cavern interior for the background that is in "B". I could totally get behind that decision, with pencil in hand I moved onto the more fleshed out drawing...

Scaladars - Drawing

This piece depicts two new Scaladars, which are large scorpion like constructs created by a mad wizard (all the best stuff is created by mad wizards). One of the new Scaladar was a straight forward flying variety the second, the Shadowclaw, was infused with powers of the Shadowfell and had claws made of shadow like substance. Those shadow claws were my biggest concern with the entire piece. Dark cave + Scaladar made of black metal + claws made of shadows = my brain hurting to make sure it all reads and is clear. I sometimes feel I illustrate a lot of black creatures in black environments... while trying not to make either black. I got to work on the painting and hoped that it did not get out of control on me...

Scaladars - process

And in eight easy steps it is all done... not really... This one took a bit of work and as easy as the Doom Hulk was this one was tough. As I feared those shadow claws gave me fits, but in the end I got them to work out. I had a good track record of late with final paintings until I got to this piece, I actually had to tweak it a tad after turning it in as per some notes from my art director. They were quick for the most part and really pulled the piece together. You can see what I changed in the final tweak in the last step of the above image. A lot of rim lighting going on with multiple light sources... I wonder if I am doing too much of this lately... who knows, but it is sure fun!

Here is the final piece in all its glory and your players now have some new lower level mechanical terrors to deal with...

Scaladars

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

Monday, July 2, 2012

Far Realm Fiends - Process

Today I have for you another look at my process that went into creating a recent D&D piece. This time around we are looking at the Doom Hulk and Geometric Impossibility for the Far Realm Fiends article in Dungeon magazine #201.

I figured I better go ahead and share my remaining process posts before August rolls around when I will be able to share my updated process for working up the under painting. If you are familiar at all with my blog and my process posts this should all be pretty straight forward. You can always find more detailed explanation of my process on the blog HERE, HERE, and HERE. As always when working on an illustration with a new creature I have to design I will do several roughs of the creature and several thumbnails of my composition for the illustration...

Doom Hulk - Roughs

Doom Hulk and Geometric Impossibility - Thumbnails

I was really leaning towards "A" on all accounts and when the feedback came back to me everyone at WoTC was in agreement with me. This is always a huge relief that I am on the same wavelength as my art director and the designers. They don't always go with the ones I hope they well, but all of the roughs and thumbnails are fine with me. NEVER submit anything you do not want to draw and paint, art karma will bite you and the one you didn't want picked will of course be the one picked.

Now that the rough and thumbnail are approved it is time to move forward on the final drawing and get everything fleshed out...

Doom Hulk and Geometric Impossibility - Drawing

The Doom Hulk was described as a massive nightmare brute. It takes on the form of your worse nightmare and proceeds to smash you to death. In its normal form it is said to be a massive humanoid form constructed of black ropey cords.Whatever it is, it is big, brutish, and wants to hit you in the face... a lot. I have a soft spot for this type of monster... as I have mentioned countless times before. The Geometric Impossibility was described as a hallway where the laws of physics have broken down and perspective and normal spacial understanding is gone. That kind of stuff is always fun, you can never be wrong! Now that the drawing was all done and approved it was time to get to painting...

Doom Hulk and Geometric Impossibility - Process

And in six easy steps you have a finished painting... or not... This one came together really fast. I knew what I wanted to do with it when I was working on the thumbnails so a lot of the decisions were taken care of early on. This piece was also about proving something to myself. At some later date I might share more details, but I flubbed on some important work earlier in my career and one of the pieces was similar to this one. It meant a lot to be able to jump into this piece and take care of it without any stress or problems. Always trying to make things right that once went wrong... I am quantum leaping through my own art career... or not...

Here is the final piece in all its glory and your players now have a new terror to look out for at higher levels...

Doom Hulk and Geometric Impossibility

That is 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

Monday, April 30, 2012

Far Realm Fiends

A new article in Dungeon magazine #201, Far Realm Fiends, went up today on the Dungeons & Dragon website and I contributed the art for this article! That's right, even more new D&D monster art coming at your face! Without further blathering, here is the Doom Hulk and Geometric Impossibility trap...

Doom Hulk and Geometric Impossibility

I mentioned at the beginning of the month that April was going to be a busy D&D month for me, and I am glad to see that nothing was delayed. Wrapping things up with some very high level threats! The Doom Hulk is a walking manifestation of your nightmares and is hear to smash your hit points out of you with its meat hooks. The Trap just, you know, wraps time and space... that ole thing. In the coming weeks expect to see a walk through for this piece as well as some thoughts, comments, and observations. Again, I would like to thank Kate Irwin for involving me on this project and for making my job easy with her art direction!

That is all for another exciting Monday, see you back here on Wednesday for something older that will new to everyone! Until then...

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

Monday, April 23, 2012

Trobriand's Machinations

Late last week a new article in Dungeon magazine #201, Trobriand's Machinations, went up on the Dungeons and Dragon website and I contributed a piece to the article! This is an expansion to the threats that dwell in Undermountain, so goes really well with my last post! Without further blathering, here are some Scaladars...

Scaladars

Scaladars are giant mechanical scorpion-like constructs. With the major exception of the lack of tentacles, these monsters have a lot of the major 'awesome monster' characteristics, so needless to say, they were super fun to work on. When I do a walk through for this piece in the coming weeks I will talk a little more about my influences and real life reference for this piece. Again, I would like to thank Kate Irwin for involving me on this project and for being super helpful in all her art direction!

That is all for another exciting Monday, 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, December 21, 2011

Heart of the Scar - Process

As promised when I first showed of the Heart of the Scar I have for you today a look at the steps that went into the piece. Over the last couple of years I have been able to put together a work flow that has been very successful for me. The work flow plays to my strengths and insures that I am aware and address my weaknesses. If you saw my recent post on the process for the Oasis Beast, then this work flow should look very familiar. Since I was creating a brand new creature and illustrating it I started with some concepts for the creature and thumbnails for the over all illustration. As you will see, I had a fairly set idea of what I wanted to do for the illustration...

Heart of the Scar thumbnails
© 2011 Wizards of the Coast
Not sure if any of these were a stand out favorite of mine. I just knew I wanted to get up close and personal with the monster so you could see all the tentacles and horror. Option 'C' was the winner with production.

Now that I had a monster and a composition I could get started on a final drawing. Looking at the drawing now I am a little shocked how little detail I put into it, especially with it being such a large and prominent piece. I guess I felt confident in the subject matter and forms that I didn't need any thing more complex from the drawing. Of course, it tuned out I was correct... thankfully!

Heart of the Scar drawing

I was working on this piece and the Oasis Beast at the same time. I have a superstition that makes me work on paintings in the order I was assigned them, since the Oasis Beast was first on the list I finished it first followed by the Heart of the Scar. I usually prefer to work on larger more complex paintings first, but my silly superstition wouldn't allow it. When I did get started on the painting I was a little surprised with how quickly it went...

After an undetermined amount of time I had a finished monster ready to devour unsuspecting players. As I have mentioned previously, I really need to keep track of how much time goes into a painting one of these days. As per my work flow, I put the piece away for a few days to have a look at it with fresh eyes, made some changes and turned it in with my fingers crossed that I had not taken stupid pills when working on it. Thankfully I had not and the piece was approved without revisions!

This piece is my first cover and to make it even better it is for Dungeons and Dragons. I could not be happier and it was a real treat to work on! To wrap up the post, here is the piece on the cover...

Dungeon Issue #197

Another monster to add to the monster zoo in my head. If you have any questions regarding the steps I take or the process in which I work, please feel free to ask!

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

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

Monday, December 5, 2011

Heart of the Scar - Dungeon Issue #197

Dungeon magazine issue #197 is out and I am on the cover! This is my first cover and I can not be happier that it is for Dungeons and Dragons. The piece depicts the harrowing finale of the Chaos Scar adventure, Heart of the Scar. I was tasked with designing and illustrating a horror from beyond time and space, a terrifying mass of tentacles and eyes, and if there is one thing I feel confident about, it is tentacles! On with the monster...

Heart of the Scar - Shoth-Goragg

I was working on this piece at the same time I was working on the Oasis Beast. Back to back design and illustration of new D&D monsters, I was not complaining! This is one of those surreal moments when reading the art order that I realize that all my hard work to convey to my clients the type of work I want to make has paid off. You need a tentacled horror from beyond time and space surrounded by a hole in the very fabric of reality? Yeah, I got you covered! There is always a certain amount of worry and/or stress that goes into any of my paintings as I plan it out and take it from the under painting to the finished piece making sure I don't miss anything. With this painting there was none of that stress and worry and that was pretty special. This is how the piece looks on the cover...

Dungeon Issue #197

In the near future I will bring you some of the process work that went into making this piece. Again, a huge thanks to Kate Irwin for getting me involved with this assignment! It was right up my alley and I had a ton of fun!

That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog, see you 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, November 16, 2011

Terrors of the Silt Sea - Process

Before I left for Illuxcon I shared with you the Oasis Beast that I did for the Dungeon Magazine article, Terrors of the Silt Sea. I promised that I would share with you some of the work that went into this piece once I was back and settled and that day has come! I was working on the Oasis Beast and another D&D piece at the same time and both required me to design a brand new monster and compose it in an illustration. To save time with feedback and approvals I went ahead and did some concept designs and some thumbnail compositions using my favorite concept...

Oasis Beast thumbnails
© 2011 Wizards of the Coast
The monster says RAWR!I was on the fence between 'B' and 'C' and so was production. The decision to go with 'C' was made and I moved forward.

I had an overall idea of what I wanted to do with the piece so before I did the thumbnails I went outside in my armor and had the wife take some photos of me reacting to a horrifying monster. I used my three favorite poses for the thumbnails and thankfully my favorite was in the option selected. I moved forward with the final drawing. As I have mentioned innumerable times before, the drawing phase is my favorite part of the whole process. I always wish I had a little more time to spend working up the drawing. Working out issues and fleshing out the design I completed the final drawing and submitted it...

Oasis Beast drawing
© 2011 Wizards of the Coast
The Oasis Beast has all the teeth in Athas. There are now no more teeth for the other monsters to have.

Once approved it is now time to paint! Again, I had previously put some thought into what I wanted to do with the color before beginning so I knew where I wanted to go with the piece. There is always an ebb and flow to a painting and things don't always end up where I thought they would when I begin, but that is usually for the best. Here is a process progression of the painting. One of these days I will be more vigilant to document the 'magic' that happens between image 2 and 3 when it goes from the under painting to a more finished painting. In the meantime...

After a period of time greater then an hour and less then four weeks I finish the painting. I must really keep better notes on the time spent on a painting so I give people a definite number when they ask. In most of my work there is a cool down time I build into my personal deadline so that I can finish the painting and put it away for several days to a week so that I can get a fresh look at it before turning it in. I usually catch little things that need tweaking and sometimes I will catch that big glaring issue I missed earlier because I was too close and too familiar to the piece. Thankfully I seem to hit the nail on the head every step of the way with this piece and when I turned in the final it was approved right away...

Another monster to add to the monster zoo in my head. If you have any questions regarding the steps I take or the process in which I work, please feel free to ask!

That is all for today, 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