Stinging Lionfish - Magic: the Gathering - Process

I have for you today the process and steps that went into my Stinging Lionfish painting that was for the Magic the Gathering set, Theros Beyond Death. Of the three pieces created for this set, I believe this was the fan-favorite. My fish painting for Magic seems to be some of my most popular creations for the game. I am not sure why, but they seem to be the ones that receive the most fan love. Hopefully, this trend will continue. Here is how the final painting for the Stinging Lionfish turned out.

 

Stinging Lionfish

Magic the Gathering - Theros Beyond Death 

14 x 10.2 - Digital 

PRINTS available at OMA! 

All of my Magic the Gathering Artist Proofs!  

Art Director - Dawn Murin 

© 2020 Wizards of the Coast

 

The assignment called for an enchanted fantastical lionfish. For me, this felt like a straightforward painting. In my part of the world, the lionfish is a dangerous and destructive invasive species, and I have encountered them in the wild several times. I pulled from my personal reference photos that I took to begin my work on some thumbnails. The card focuses on this individual monster, so it was all about creating an interesting composition while featuring the fish. Here are the thumbnails that I submitted.

 

 

Stinging Lionfish - Thumbnails

© 2020 Wizards of the Coast

 

Thumbnail 'D' was selected, but I was asked to make the fins look and feel more like the fish in thumbnail 'A.' Personally, I still lean towards option 'A' as my preferred thumbnail, but that was not meant to be. I updated option 'D' to address the revision notes and submitted an updated thumbnail.

 

Stinging Lionfish - Updated thumbnails

 © 2020 Wizards of the Coast

 

This new thumbnail was approved without any further comments, and I was ready to create the final drawing. As stated before, I was too busy when I worked on this piece to create the drawing and the tonal study. So this drawing ended up being the only traditional original for the assignment. And when it came time to paint, I had to work out the values on the fly. Here is the final drawing for the Stinging Lionfish.

Stinging Lionfish

Magic the Gathering - Theros Beyond Death

14 x 11 - Pencil of paper

Original - SOLD
 © 2020 Wizards of the Coast

 

The drawing was approved, and it was time to paint! As previously mentioned, this felt like it would be a straightforward assignment, and it was for the most part. You will notice that the patterning evolved while I was working on it. The original plan for the fish's markings felt off to me as I was painting, and I updated them as I worked. They soon felt more fitting with the animal and the world it lived in. Here is the Stinging Lionfish taking shape.

 

 

Stinging Lionfish - Process

 © 2020 Wizards of the Coast

 

I believe that I was asked to increase the amount of enchanted starfield on the fish after I originally submitted it. Due to how I work that evidence to show just how much I increased the amount has been lost. All I have is a vague memory of adding more, and that updated didn't take long or require much effort. When it was all said and done the fish was approved and I moved onto the next assignment. Here again is the final painting for the Stinging Lionfish and the final production card. 

 

 

Stinging Lionfish

 PRINTS available at OMA! 

All of my Magic the Gathering Artist Proofs!

 © 2020 Wizards of the Coast 

Stinging Lionfish 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

Stinging Lionfish - Magic: the Gathering - Theros Beyond Death

I am pleased to share with you the first of my cards that will be part of the newest Magic the Gathering set, Theros Beyond Death. I was thrilled to return to the world of Theros for many reasons, the foremost being that my first Magic cards appeared in the original release of Theros. It was great working with Dawn Murin on these, and I happy to finally be able to share them with you. First up in the Stinging Lionfish. It instantly received a lot of attention the moment it was spoiled.

Stinging Lionfish

Magic the Gathering - Theros Beyond Death

14 x 10.2 - Digital 

PRINTS available at OMA!

Art Director - Dawn Murin
 © 2020 Wizards of the Coast

As I mentioned when I shared my Egg Token from Commander 2019, my schedule is currently too full to allow me to do the entire prep work for these. This means I only had time for the pencil drawing and not the tonal study. I had to work that out as I painted, which has resulted in some frustration with the paintings. Here is the drawing  Stinging Lionfish.

Stinging Lionfish - Drawing

Magic the Gathering - Theros Beyond Death

14 x 11 - Digital

Original - SOLD
 © 2020 Wizards of the Coast

Stinging Lionfish in handy dandy card form.

I will be posting more cards as they are spoiled, and in time I will share with you the process and steps that went into making these.

That is all for another exciting day on the blog, see you back here tomorrow! Until then...

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

Getting ready for Illuxcon - Gill-Man

With Illuxcon right around the corner I am hurriedly getting ready for my time in the weekend Salon. My preparations include getting a couple of new personal pieces completed just in time to make their debut at Illuxcon! The second of these new pieces is my take on the Gill-Man...

Gill-Man

5.5 x 6 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Christopher Burdett

I found the frame for this piece before I began it. I knew I wanted to make something that would find a good home in this frame and the Gill-Man seemed like a good fit. Here is how the piece looks in its new frame home... 

Gill-Man

All framed up

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Christopher Burdett

As with all my paintings there is a drawing for it as well. I will be bringing the drawing with me to Illuxcon as well for those who like drawings more then paintings...

Gill-Man - Drawing

9 x 12 - Pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Christopher Burdett

As an added bonus, here are several images I took during the creation of this piece. It came together without a lot of drama and now is ready to go to a forever home. RAWR!

Gill-Man - Process progression

© 2015 Christopher Burdett

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

Ancient Carp - Dragons of Tarkir - PROCESS

Last week I shared with the good folks over on Original Magic Art some thoughts and process that went into producing the Ancient Carp card from Magic the Gathering, Dragons of Tarkir.  I shared with them some aspects I do not usually address here on my own blog, so I recommend heading on over there to have a look. Today I have for you the process for the Ancient Carp as I usually share it on my blog. Between this post and the one over on Original Magic Art you should get a pretty good idea of the creation of this piece. To start things off, here is how the final art for Ancient Carp turned out...

"Ancient Carp"

Magic the Gathering: Dragons of Tarkir

12 x 8.7 - Digital

PRINTS available at OMA!

ARTIST PROOFS available over on my web store! 

© 2015 Wizards of the Coast

I got things started off with some thumbnails, as always. The description indicated that the fish was swimming under the boat but I really wanted more of an interaction between the two. I provided a bunch of options, but I secretly wanted to move forward with option "C". To tell you the truth I would have been happy with any of these, I think they could have all been successful pieces, I think "C" would be (and was) a MORE successful piece. Here are how the thumbnails turned out...

Ancient Carp - Thumbnails

© 2015 Wizards of the Coast

In addition to the thumbnails I also worked up some color / pattern concepts and provided an image of how I envisioned the carp over all. Again, I would be happy with any of these, but was hoping for something a bit more colorful and interesting and not just a solid gold carp (as was indicated in the original description). Here are how the concepts turned out...

Ancient Carp - Body / Color Concepts

© 2015 Wizards of the Coast

As you know by now option "C" was the winner. As far as the color / pattern concepts go I was instructed to go with something between option "A" and "B". Now that I had a direction and plan of action it was time to gear up and move this piece forward. I go to work on the drawings...

"Ancient Carp"

Magic the Gathering: Dragons of Tarkir

12 x 9 - Colored pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Wizards of the Coast

Drawing this carp was a lot of fun to saw the least. Could have done it all day actually. Carp have a lot of the things I like to draw... scales, fins, tendrils... you know, the fun stuff. The initial drawing was approved and I was ready to move forward on the tonal study and the painting.

"Ancient Carp"

Magic the Gathering: Dragons of Tarkir

14 x 11 - Colored pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Wizards of the Coast

I am really happy with how the tonal study for this piece turned out and I think it is one of my more successful drawings of the last year. It was also nice and big and it went to a good home in the fullness of time. With all my ducks in a row it was time to paint.

While I had a game plan, paintings do not always go according to plan. This is just one of those paintings. It felt like it was always one step ahead of me trying to out race me to a disastrous conclusion. It was my own fault, I laid down those initial colors and battled them til the very end. At least I think I learned a thing or two... hopefully. In just 16 easy steps I steered this painting around and around until I finally ended up with something successful. Though I didn't know it at the time I completed it. Here is a look at the painting coming together...

Ancient Carp - Process progression

© 2015 Wizards of the Coast

Here is another look at the painting coming together in a handy dandy animated progression so that the progression my be clearer to see as I worked up and edited the image during painting...

 Ancient Carp - Animated process progression

© 2015 Wizards of the Coast

And with that another painting is completed! I really didn't know when I was done with this piece if it was any good. I was too close and fought with it for too long to get it over the finish line. These things happen. The out pouring of interest in this piece once it was released showed me that I had made a successful piece... which was unexpected and super awesome. Glad to know I struck a nerve with this one. Again, here is the finished Ancient Carp painting and the corresponding card from Magic the Gathering...

"Ancient Carp"

Magic the Gathering: Dragons of Tarkir

12 x 8.7 - Digital

PRINTS available at OMA!

ARTIST PROOFS available over on my web store!  

© 2015 Wizards of the Coast

Ancient Carp in handy dandy card form

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

Toned Paper Ancient Carp / Dragons of Tarkir Prerelease Weekend

It is going to be a Magic filled weekend for me and many other folks this weekend. The Dragons of Tarkir Prerelease events start up at midnight tonight and I have a very long day ahead of me.

Today on the blog I thought I would share the toned drawing study I did for the Ancient Carp. While it is now in a new home where I am sure it will be love and appreciated I was really happy with it and a little sad to see it go. My monsters need to go out into the world to live and grow, so it is for the best. Here is out the Ancient Carp toned drawing turned out...

"Ancient Carp"

Magic the Gathering: Dragons of Tarkir

14 x 11

Colored pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

© 2015 Wizards of the Coast

In preparation of the Prerelease this weekend I have had my new Magic prints made and they are all ready to make their debut tonight. Fear naught, they will be up on my store first thing next week!

Prints are all ready for the numbers... scribble scribble scribble
PRINTS available at OMA!

Ancient Carp with sequential numbering action!

Just look at those numbers! Increasing by one from one print to the next!

As mentioned on Wednesday, if you are in the Tallahassee area this weekend I hope to see you out at Gamescape. You can get all the details about the Prerelease events and when I will be attending over on Gamescape's Dragons of Tarkir Prerelease Facebook event page. If you aim for midnight Friday and 5:00pm on Saturday it will be a good bet that you will run into me. Just look for the banner with Yoda on it!

Come see me at Gamescape above the AMC theater in the Tallahassee Mall! RAWR!

That is all for another Magic filled 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

Magic the Gathering - Dragons of Tarkir - Ancient Carp

On Friday my second piece was spoiled from the newest expansion of Magic the Gathering, Dragons of Tarkir! This piece was super fun because I was asked to design and illustrate a giant koi monster. Here is the final version of the mighty Ancient Carp...

"Ancient Carp"

Magic the Gathering: Dragons of Tarkir

12 x 8.7 - Digital

PRINTS available at OMA!

© 2015 Wizards of the Coast

I saw a lot of really positive responses to this piece the moment it was spoiled and that was really exciting. I had not expected this piece to resonate with some many. These pieces are created in such a vacuum and nearly a year will go by before anyone will ever see it, so sometimes the initial impact of the piece gets lost for me. You could say this piece made a big splash! Here is how the final card turned out in low resolution goodness...

Ancient Carp in handy dandy card form

A big thanks to Dawn Murin for the assignment and great art direction on this piece! I will have more to share about this in the coming weeks with the process and related aspects.

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