The DOODLES, DESIGNS, and aRT of CHRISTOPHER BURDETT: monster

Showing posts with label monster. Show all posts

Monday, August 25, 2025

A Second Look at Older Work - Zambit

This is one of the images I had originally prepped for my series of posts that focused on revisiting old, but favorite, monsters that I have done over the past twenty years of my career. While this one was meant to be posted before June, here we are in August, and he has finally made it to the blog again.

Today, I have another of several pieces I did for a game that was never completed. As mentioned previously, I originally painted these in 2010, the project never saw completion, and my work was shelved due to NDAs. In 2015, I received permission to share my work on the game as long as I didn't talk about the specifics of the project. That was the only time I shared this work. I always liked the work I did for the game, and they always had a soft spot in my art heart for them, well, most of them. The images created would have been used as hero art for various monsters encountered in the game. I loved the photo studio quality to them, and I played around with the lighting as well.

Wandering Eye

5.35 x 7 - Digital

As a side note, you can see more about this monster here on the blog. I do love a reptilian monster, and this one was a lot of fun. I was given a lot of room to have fun with its gear and weapons. Likely, I could draw and paint lizard dude all day. This still remains a favorite of mine for a lot of reasons.

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 23, 2025

Nefarious Criminal Despot - The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia

I am thrilled to share another new piece from The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia! This illustration is for Book Two: The Completed Circle and is the next character piece in the book, the Nefarious Criminal Despot. And now the villain presents himself, or more to the point, the hero(s) must seek out the being known in whispers as the Basilisk to retrieve something dear to them(him). This is a character I created some time ago, and I have been waiting to introduce them to the Grand Bazaar. Whielding powerful mathematics and magicks, the Basilisk is to be feared, but he is not without his place within the Grand Bazaar. If you find yourself in the Warren, it is best to keep your head down and not draw the attention or ire of this criminal mastermind.

Nefarious Criminal Despot
The Grand Bazaar of Ethra Dalia - The Completed Circle
11 x 14 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper

Original - Contact me if interested
© 2025 Christopher Burdett

Nefarious Criminal Despot - Drawing

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper
© 2025 Christopher Burdett

Here is a look at the sketch and tonal study for the Nefarious Criminal Despot to show where it began.

Nefarious Criminal Despot- Sketch

Digital

Nefarious Criminal Despot - Tonal study

Digital

As a bonus, I have some images of the rendering process of this piece so that you can get a better idea of it taking shape.

Nefarious Criminal Despot - Process

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, June 23, 2025

Twenty Years Later - Two Decades of Making Monsters for Wizards of the Coast

Twenty years ago yesterday, I received my first assignment to work with Wizards of the Coast (WotC) to design monsters for a new miniature game they were developing. I had met the art director a year earlier at San Diego Comic Con and had a great portfolio review. I kept in touch over that year as my life completely changed. We would leave LA for a fresh start back in Florida with a better job and 99% less abuse and harassment in the workplace. In June of 2005, when the email arrived inquiring about my availability I jumped at it and tried not to look back.

While the miniature game, Dreamblade, only lasted a few years, twenty years later, I am still making monsters for WotC. Not as many as I once did, but WotC is now my only client in the gaming industry that I still take work from. I never expected this to last twenty years, and I certainly didn't expect the journey that I have had with them. But I guess I am still doing something right if they want me to make monsters for them.

Various Dungeons & Dragons monsters produced for interior book art

Over the years, there have been some really amazing highs and some lows (in some ways, I likely learned a heck of a lot more from the lows than the highs). I have always focused on monsters, but I have designed monsters, armor, miniatures, and more. I have illustrated cards, magazines, books, and covers. Most of my work has been on Dungeons & Dragons, but my work can be seen in Dreamblade, Kaijudo, several projects I can't talk about, and, of course, Magic the Gathering. Overall, they have been the best client to work with, and I have met a lot of really amazing people because of our working relationship.

I have worked with some of the best art directors in the business, and through them, I have learned a great deal about being objective with my work and understanding that revisions are all part of the process. I know I will forget some people, but working with Kate, Jon, Dawn, Emi, Stacy, Jeremy, Peter, Cynthia, Taylor, Forrest, Zack, and plenty more has been truly wonderful. I have seen people come, and I have had to see them leave. Every assignment has been an adventure, and you never know what is going to arrive in the assignment email. Sometimes it would be a little scary, but most of the time it was the start of an exciting project.

Various Dungeons & Dragons illustrations produced for interior magazine art

I have some really exciting work waiting to be released. Work I have waited twenty years to make. I can't say more, but hopefully later this year, or early next year, I will be sharing it with you here. This coming work is in many ways a full circle moment for me and a wonderful way to acknowledge two decades of making game art. i do hope to find a way to make more art like this in the future.

About ten years ago, I started hearing from people that they had enjoyed my work since childhood. It always made me feel weird, because that just didn't seem possible. But there is no escaping that reality now. I now have fans who are younger than my career. I do not know what is next with me and WotC, but I will keep making monsters for them as long as they will let me and as long as it fits into my schedule. The Grand Bazaar has priority now, but I always find it hard to tell WotC no. So, a MASSIVE thanks to all my art directors and fans for being a part of this adventure! It has been a crazy ride.

Various Magic the Gathering illustrations produced for card art

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

Friday, June 20, 2025

A Second Look at Older Work - Wandering Eye

This month marks twenty years for me in the gaming industry, and this is also my twenty-sixth year as a working artist. I have made a lot of work over these years, and as I focus on larger projects with multi-year timelines, it is hard to keep this blog updated regularly. I have kept this thing going since 2009, and I would like for it to continue. To that end, I thought I would look back at works I particularly liked, enjoyed making, or seemed to have fallen through the cracks and went unnoticed.

Wandering Eye

5.35 x 7 - Digital

As a side note, you can see more about this monster here on the blog. I always enjoy the weird ones, and this checks all the boxes. While I was asked to stick to certain physical characteristics, I was free to have a little more fun with this one. And for your knowledge, the source material for this one some from long before an animated movie about monsters.

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, June 18, 2025

A Second Look at Older Work - Giant Scorpion

Today, I have another of several pieces I did for a game that was never completed. As mentioned previously, I originally painted these in 2010, the project never saw completion, and my work was shelved due to NDAs. In 2015, I received permission to share the work I did on the game as long as I didn't talk about the specifics of the project. That was the only time I shared this work. I always liked the work I did for the game, and they always had a soft spot in my art heart for them, well, most of them. The images created would have been used as hero art for various monsters encountered in the game. I loved the photo studio quality to them, and I played around with the lighting as well.

Giant Scorpion

5.35 x 7 - Digital

As a side note, you can see more about this monster here on the blog. Another fun one where I could just make a fun monster and enjoy the painting process. I like insect monsters right behind reptile monsters, so I was right at home on this one. This is still very much a favorite of mine and not the only scorpion monster that I have created over the years.

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, June 16, 2025

Hauteur Girasol Administrator - The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia

I am thrilled to share another new piece from The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia! This illustration is for Book Two: The Completed Circle and is the next character piece in the book, the Hauteur Girasol Administrator. One of the issues with retranslating a story written thousands of years in the past is that the original writings are incomplete. While I will go into more of this in the book, suffice it to say there are some holes in the story. One of the isolated sections involves a female Girasol that has come to the rescue of the heroes and has slaughtered a group of Gallionic Gallowglass that were asailing the stories' band of heroes. You may remember the Girosal from the first book when their species was nearing its end, but here, they are at their prime and a rising presence on the planet. I look forward to writing and sharing more about them. I present to you the Hauteur Girasol Administrator - and oh so many dispatched Gallionic Gallowglass.

Hauteur Girasol Administrator
The Grand Bazaar of Ethra Dalia - The Completed Circle
11 x 14 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper

Original - Contact me if interested
© 2025 Christopher Burdett

Hauteur Girasol Administrator - Drawing

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper
© 2025 Christopher Burdett

As much as I enjoy the large environmental pieces (just see last week!), it is nice to return to a smaller image for this piece. Due to time and production delays beyond my control, I have made the call to make the pieces in the book smaller than initially planned. This will greatly speed things up and result in more pieces from the book being at better price points. A win/win. Here is a look at the sketch and tonal study for the Hauteur Girasol Administrator to show where it began.

Hauteur Girasol Administrator - Sketch

Digital

Hauteur Girasol Administrator - Tonal study

Digital

As a bonus, I have some images of the rendering process of this piece so that you can get a better idea of it taking shape.

Hauteur Girasol Administrator - Process

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, June 11, 2025

Battle on the Airship - The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia

I am thrilled to share another new piece from The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia! This illustration is for Book Two: The Completed Circle and is the next chapter plate in the book, the Battle on the Airship. The heroes find themselves pursued aloft by a determined regiment of Gallionic Gallowglass that hopes to bring the heroes' airship down. Or possibly not, as the new translation points to other events entirely. What is important is how courageous and stalwart the farmhand is and how he is ready for a pitched battle with highly trained and equipped warriors. I present to you the Battle on the Airship.

Battle on the Airship
The Grand Bazaar of Ethra Dalia - The Completed Circle
13 x 17 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper

Battle on the Airship - Drawing

This illustration was meant to be smaller to save time and speed up production on the next book, but as all of the heroes are included, two airships, a regiment of dark warriors, and the skyline of the Grand Bazaar below, it needed to be larger in the end. I could have easily done this at 16x20, but in the end, I went with 13x17. Here is a look at the sketch and tonal study for the Battle on the Airship to show where it began.

Battle on the Airship- Sketch

Digital

Battle on the Airship- Tonal study

Digital

I try to share my reference as much as possible, but usually, the photos I use are not for public viewing. While I have no photo reference of me acting out all of the character, I do have a rare thumbnail that I created to explain the piece to my wife so that we could get the images I needed for this piece. As you can see, there is a straight line from this thumbnail to the final illustration.