D&D Monster Cards - Epic Monsters - Return of the Kraken, Morkoth, Sibriex, and Hellfire Engine

Within the past two to three years, give or take, a D&D Monster Card deck was released for Epic Monsters. Included in this deck are four of the monsters that I painted for various Dungeons & Dragons books. With the Epic Monsters Deck's release, my Kraken, Morkoth, Sibriex, and Hellfire Engine, get their own cards. This is the last such deck of monster cards I am aware of. Only time will tell if there will be more. Here is a look at the deck box and the cards.

 

 

Epic Monsters Deck

 

 

Kraken

 

Morkoth

 

 

Sibriex

 

 

Hellfire Engine

 

The Kraken and the Morkoth have been made into miniatures. The Sibriex miniature should be released sometime this month. I am still awaiting the Hellfire Engine to become an official miniature. Here again, is the final art that I created of these three monsters.

 

 

Kraken

5th Edition Monster Manual

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Daniel Gelon

© 2014 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

 

Morkoth

Volo's Guide to Monsters

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

 

Sibriex

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

 

Hellfire Engine

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC

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

Morkoth Miniature

Today I have for you another miniature that has been based on my work. I illustrated the Morkoth for Volo's Guide to Monsters. For whatever reason, I never imagined that the Morkoth would receive a miniature. It's kinda weird, it's an underwater monster, and for some reason, I thought it was a massive creature. I was wrong on all of those. It took a while for the official miniature to come out, but it finally did. In the gap between when Volo's came out and when the miniature came out, not only did one person make a custom miniature, but two people made a custom miniature. Granted, there very well are MANY others who did the same, but these are the two I know about. To start things off, here is my painting for the Morkoth.

Morkoth

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

As I have said, I imagined the Morkoth being a huge monster. When we get the art assignments, the size is often included, but as I am working on these, they usually take on a size of there own in my head. When the book comes out, I can go and look at their size, but by that time, I have already established my own size for them, and I am resistant to change it. My headcanon for the monsters I design or illustrate doesn't affect anyone. When the official miniature comes out, my perception of the monsters is usually brought into line with the actual monster as it exists in D&D. But for me, the Morkoth is still a gigantic underwater beast. Here are some images of the official D&D Morkoth miniature. 

Morkoth Miniature

 

That's all for another exciting week on the blog, see you back here next week. Until then...

 

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

Morkoth Miniature by Timmy Gansereit - UPDATE!

I have been talking a lot about the Morkoth and handmade miniatures lately. Last week I shared with you the miniature made by Drew Nosotti and back in August I shared the miniature made by Timmy Gansereit. This post is a little overdue, but after the campaign was completed and the monsters all vanquished Timmy contacted me and offered to send me his Mortkoth miniature. I was honored and humbled to say the least. I was thrilled that Timmy wanted me to have his creation and jumped at the opportunity. Timmy's Mortkoth now lives in my office with the rest of my monsters and miniatures and it is a prized addition! A HUGE THANKS goes out to Timmy for his amazing work and his generosity. Here are some images of the Morkoth hanging out in my office...

Custom Morkoth miniature by Timmy Gansereit

That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog. With Thanksgiving on Thursday I will most likely see you back here next week! Until then...

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

Handmade Morkoth Miniature by Drew Nosotti

Recently it came to my attention that a second person has made a really cool handmade miniature based off my Morkoth illustration from Volo's Guide to Monsters. As with the previous miniature it was posted in a Facebook group. With my love of miniature it is so exciting to see people taking my work and being inspired enough to create their own miniatures. To start things off, here is a look at my illustration of the Morkoth...

Morkoth

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

I love that the Morkoth seems to be a monster that demands a miniature and people are stepping up to make their own. Drew Nosotti has given me permission to share his photos of his Morkoth miniature and I think it is just wonderful. Drew did a really great job and I think it is extremely faithful to the illustration. This continues to be the kind of thing that gets me excited about working in the gaming industry, people making their own stuff based on the worlds that you help create. Enough of my talking, here is Drew Nosotti's Morkoth miniature...

Morkoth Miniature by Drew Nosotti

Images used with permission of Drew Nosotti

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

Handmade Morkoth Miniature by Timmy Gansereit

Last week it was brought to my attention by a friend that someone had made a really cool handmade miniature based off my Morkoth illustration from Volo's Guide to Monsters. It was posted in a Facebook group and after a little hunting I was able to track it down. I LOVE miniatures and whenever I get to design them or something I have designed gets turned into a miniature I am SUPER excited. To start things off, here is a look at my illustration of the Morkoth...

Morkoth

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

The Morkoth, like the Kraken, is one of those monsters you never expect to see as a miniature and you would be wrong. Timmy Gansereit has given me permission to share the photos he posted on Facebook of his Morkoth miniature and I think it is just fantastic. Timmy did a great job and I think it is extremely faithful to the illustration. I just wish I could see it first hand. This is the kind of things that gets me excited about working in the gaming industry, people making their own stuff based on the worlds that you help create. Enough of my talking, here is Timmy Gansereit's Morkoth miniature...

Morkoth Miniature by Timmy Gansereit

Images used with permission of Timmy Gansereit

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

Morkoth - Volo's Guide to Monsters - Process

The monsters are in charge of the blog, and they have decided to share with you the process and steps that went into making the five paintings that I contributed to the Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Volo's Guide to Monsters. I hope you enjoy it!

Today is the Morkoth. The Morkoth is one of those crazy first edition monsters that always intrigued me as a kid. Why did this monster exist? Why was this monster in the game? What series of horrible decisions in the game led your characters to come face to face with a Morkoth? While I never got answers to these questions, in the fullness of time I got to illustrate one for D&D! Here is how the final Morkoth turned out...

Morkoth

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

I was given new concept art for the Morkoth when I received the assignment, so the hard work of breathing new life into a 40-year-old monster was already taken care of. I was able to focus on making it look cool and to create the art that will represent this crazy monster for a new generation. No pressure. Here are the thumbnails for the Morkoth...

Morkoth - Thumbnails

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Option B was the winner this time around, and I was given the go-ahead to work on the final drawing. While these pieces are all isolated figures, I was asked to add a vignette of water around the Morkoth so that it was clear that it is aquatic and not flying. Here is the final drawing for the Morkoth...

Morkoth

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Art Director - Kate Irwin

Original - SOLD

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Around the time Volo's Guide to Monsters came out there was an article in Dragon magazine about the new and updated monsters in the book. One of them covered was the Morkoth, and there was a fun little info graphic featuring my art. While I was credited as the artist for all of the art, I was not responsible for the new concept work featured in the graphic. Not sure who is, but it was not me. Here is that info graphic...

Dragon Magazine graphic about the Morkoth

The drawing was approved, and I was given the go-ahead to start the painting. With all of these Volo pieces, the painting went quickly, smoothly, and there were no issues or concerns. Which is always nice. I just got to sit back and have fun making pretty monsters. Being an isolated figure helps out a lot too. Here is the paint work for this piece coming together...

Morkoth - Process steps

To better show how the painting developed, here is an animated progression of it taking shape...

Morkoth - Animated process

While there is a fair bit of pushing and pulling of form and value the painting was extremely straight forward. I get into a zen state when working on isolated figures as I work the large forms and then lay in all the detail work. I just want to make a really pretty monster for these types of pieces, and hopefully, I did. Here again, is how the final painting turned out...

Morkoth

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

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

Volo's Guide to Monsters - Dungeons & Dragons - Part 2

Today I have the remaining two pieces that made up my contribution to Volo's Guide to Monsters, the newest gaming supplement to Dungeons & Dragons. If you missed the first three, I shared them on Monday. Here are my remaining illustrations from Volo's: the Morkoth and the Yuan-Ti Broodguard...

Morkoth

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

I think the Morkoth might be my second favorite piece from the book. How can you go wrong with all those tentacles and that nasty beaked face? The Morkoth got a visual update for the book, and I was thrilled to be tasked with taking the new concept work and turning it into a finished illustration. I love that the Morkoth collects things and carries it around on their backs. One of the bits of Morkoth treasure depicted in the concept art was a chair, I thought that was hilarious and such a great idea, so I had to be sure to include a chair on the back on my Morkoth (top left corner).

Yuan-Ti Broodguard

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

The Yuan-Ti Broodguard was an interesting one, it needed to be lithe and lanky. I have mentioned a dozen plus times here on the blog, I prefer big and beefy monsters. This does not mean that I was not happy to take on the Broodguard, it just means I had to fight some of my natural tendencies. I thought giving it some dramatic up lighting would work well for this one. Give it an additional layer of interest. Hopefully, it worked.

Below are the drawings that went into these illustrations. Since I was working on five pieces and I didn't think I had the time needed to do these traditionally the painting are digital. It would have been nice to have paintings of all of these, but the final pieces did end up way better by me doing them digitally. At least there are the drawings, get them while you can, they are going fast...

Morkoth

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Art Director - Kate Irwin

Original - SOLD

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Yuan-Ti Broodguard

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Art Director - Kate Irwin

Original - SOLD

© 2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC

That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here on Monday, tomorrow is a Holiday, and the blog will be resting 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