Welcome to My Studio

The cat is out of the bag after this past weekend, so I would like to formally share a look at my studio. Over the past six months, we finally made a dream a reality. This is something we had talked about for seventeen years, but it took COVID, lockdown, and finally working entirely remotely. Something needed to happen because working from the kitchen table had finally gotten old after two years. Not to mention I needed a better-dedicated space to make my art. 

The last six months had a lot of ups and downs when it came to getting the studio finished, but in the end, it all turned out better than I had hoped. For those wondering, we did hire people to do the work since this was all out of our skill sets. There were a lot of plates to keep spinning in all of this as we were working to have the studio completed before I had to have my office at the day job emptied. Management was super supportive and accommodating as they gave me as much extra time to get my personal items packed and moved. That move was in September, and since then, I have been working on getting things fully set up, moved in, unpacked, and back to work. It was easy to get settled into the day job work, but to start making art again took a little bit of adjusting. I am glad to say I am adjusted, and art is being made in the studio! That is enough talk about the studio; here are some images of it.

The left side of the studio is where the work takes place.

The right side of the studio is for display and storage.

The ceiling remains open giving vertical space, access to some additional storage, and a nice space to hang some ships. More will be added in the fullness of time.

 

There had been some concern about where my action figures would go. Well, that has been taken care of.

 

Here are two images that should give a better impression of the entire space.

Lastly, next to my drawing table are two shelves that contain everything I have worked on for the gaming industry and beyond. Just a few items over the past seventeen-plus years.

Here are some additional images of the studio taking shape, including these first images of what it looked like before the work began. The space had been hit by termites a while back, and we had been treating it since. 

This space had the potential; we needed only to unlock it.

Jump ahead to after a lot of work has been done. The moment the walls were up, the space began to change. The space also felt bigger once the walls were in.

I tried not to look at the progress at the end of each day, but it was hard to resist as things took shape.

After months of work, the space was ready to move into. After all that work by others, it was time for me to start my work. It was more involved and took longer than I expected, but it is the way of these things. Here was the space right before I moved everything in. I had moved some of my contributor copies out, but there was still much to do. 

White walls and plenty of space, soon I will fill it with things that please me.

It has already proven to be a great space to work in, and was something I did not know I was missing. I now have a private space to think, read, make art, and work. I look forward to making a lot of art here.

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

Working Conditions

Where, how, and under what conditions I work have been mentioned a time or two, but I wanted to circle back around to this topic again since I have been doing a lot of atypical work lately. That atypical work is, of course, all the writing I have been doing on The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia.

When I am drawing, painting, or visually designing, I must have some sort of exterior stimulus to keep the distracting bits of my brain occupied. This consists of listening to music, podcasts, a television program, or movie. If it is a podcast I can be something new to me, but if it is any of the other options I must love it, and I must know it like the back of my hand. Otherwise, it will become an instant distraction. At my drawing table, I will usually have my phone off to one side with the media playing on it. Headphones or earbuds are a must. At my computer, I will have media playing on the computer or again on my phone, which will be directly under my Cintiq. In both situations, my phone is close another for me to glance at without it becoming a distraction. I have worked this way for many years, and I find it beneficial to my productivity.

When I am writing, I have learned I need the complete opposite. If I am working up one of these blog posts, I need to have all of the media silenced so that I can focus on writing. My need for silence when I am working on the book has increased to the point I need to wear earplugs as I am writing. I must block out any and all audio distractions so that I can completely concentrate on the writing. I am not sure why this is the case, I am simply glad to have discovered this that this works best for me. It is rather funny that I will be working in a completely empty house with no ambient sound, and I will still need to put in earplugs. As long as it ensures I make it to the end of the book, I am happy to wear them.

What are your working conditions? What do you need to do or not do while you are working? Leave them in the comments! 

That's all for another exciting week on the blog. With a hurricane approaching, I am not sure what next week will be like yet, but hopefully, I will be back here on Wednesday after the holiday weekend. Until then...

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

The CRUNCH!

Since Gen Con my schedule has slowly been getting more and more full. I was planning for things to really shift into high gear this very week. Unexpectedly, things got going weeks ago and I am already in the thick of things... with more and more coming very. Why am I telling you all this? Good question...

This blog is a real labor of love for me and I have been keeping it going with posts three times a week since 2009. For the next three months... at least through mid/late December, if something is going to have to give in my schedule it will unfortunately will have to be this blog. I do not plan to interrupt my blog posting routine, but I just want to let you all know that if things get really crazy in the coming weeks you might notice some disruptions. I have plenty of content prepped for posts and I have new work about to drop any day now, so it will ultimately be down to having the time to get something onto the blog.

Lots of really really exciting things on the horizon and I am already looking forward to 2014 and what I will have to share with you! In the short term, if you notice any disruptions in the blog, please remember it is only temporary and that things will be back to normal soon enough! For now, I will leave you with an edited view of some of the things going on in my studio space over the weekend...

CRUNCH TIME... or the very full plate...

That is all for anther 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