Gobbler - Dreamblade

I have had miniatures on the brain lately. I will attribute some of it to the fact Mansions of Madness, which features a couple of my minis (more on this soon), is finally out in stores. I will also attribute some of it to the fact I am designing some new minis as we speak (more on this not so soon). In truth, I better just attribute all of it to that fact I really like miniatures, especially monster miniatures.

Today, I have for you a super secret, never before shown, unreleased miniature that I designed during the first wave of Dreamblade designs. This was a personal piece that I finished just prior to starting on Dreamblade. I submitted it to my art director and it was accepted and after a few minor tweaks. Two additional views later I had created the turnaround for what I called, the "Gobbler"...

"Gobbler"
© 2005 Wizards of the Coast LLC

This was one of my few post Los Angeles pre gaming industry pieces. I was still working on Bristol board for some of my work and using mechanical pencils. Of course, at the time I was so very proud of it... six years later I cringe a little (a lot) to share it with you, but it is important to show growth and development. Here is the evolution it took, from pencils to digital colors and finally to revised Dreamblade version...

"Gobbler" evolution
© 2005 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Unable to leave things alone, I got out my pencil and paper... Like the Boneblade Serpent I found some time to go back and see how the "Gobbler" would have looked if I had created it today instead of six years ago. I am pretty happy with how it turned out, not sure if it a better design, but I feel confident that it is a better drawing. ...and a lot more horrific.

Gobbler Redux
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

It pained me to no end to never see the "Gobbler" mini released. In time I have learned more about how the industry functions and that sometimes "them's the breaks, kid". Looking back now, I also see how the "Gobbler" would not have been the world altering miniature I thought it could be six years ago.

See you back here on Monday for the start of something fun and neat that I hope we can all learn from! Until then...

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

creatura libri sketchbook now available on Lulu

If you missed the limited first run of my sketchbook, then you are in luck. I am pleased to announce that a general release version of my first sketch book, creatura libri, is now available for sale over at Lulu.com! Head on over there right now to get all your exciting sketchbook action. Featuring 32 pages packed with over 50 of my monster sketches and drawings all in print for the first time! Lots of never released gems as well as my top favorites, all in this one handy book.

creatura libri sketchbook - for your hands to touch and your eyes to see!

RAWR! MONSTERS of every page!
creatura libri is the sketchbook for the definitive monster lover!

From shaggy bear crabs to tentacled mouthers this is the sketchbook for you!
Ask for it by name at Lulu.com, creatura libri!

Don't walk, RUN on over to Lulu.com and order yourself a copy of creatura libri! Don't forget, while there, check out my other book available, Pandas 1-36 - a collection of adorable and feisty panda drawings that I did for my wife. All proceeds from Pandas 1-36 got to charities that help real life pandas!

That is all for an exciting booked filed Wednesday! 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

Fresh from the drawing table... Rust Monster!

I have for you today another drawing that is fresh from the drawing table. This time around it is a Rust Monster! "R" offered me several tempting choices and I had my selection locked until I was talking to my wife. She wondered why I had not picked the Rust Monster. I expressed my feeling that it is a little too iconic and besides, it has a propeller tail I would need to get rid of. She insisted I had to keep the propeller tail, so I got to thinking... what kind of monster has a propeller tail? I present to you my version of a Rust Monster...

Rust Monster
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

What kind of monster has a propeller tail? A constructed monster! I imagined these long forgotten machines of magic and lost knowledge wandered through dungeons and caves looking for precious metals to fuel their arcane workings. Were they merely an ancient form of recycling granted life through magic or the long lost foot soldiers of a long forgotten magical war? We will never know, but it is a good bet a wizard was involved, and you can not trust wizards... just look at that Owlbear! Needless to say, in my version of the Rust Monster the name more describes it's appearance rather then it's actions.

My first 100 original Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual redesigns (A - Z): Aerial Servant, Ankheg, Ant (Giant), Ape (Carnivorous), Ape (Gorilla), Axe Beak, Axe Beak (version 2), Baboon, Badger, Barracuda, Basilisk, Baluchitherium, Bear (Black), Bear (Brown), Bear (Cave), Beaver (Giant), Beetle (Giant) - Bombardier, Beetle (Giant) - Boring, Beetle (Giant) - Fire, Beetle (Giant) - Rhinoceros, Beetle (Giant) - Stag, Beetle (Giant) - Water, Beholder, Black Pudding, Blink Dog, Boar (Giant), Boar (Warthog), Boar (Wild), Brain Mole, Brownie, Bugbear, Buffalo, Bulette, Carrion Crawler, Catoblepas, Cerebral Parasite, Chimera, Cockatrice, Coutal, Crab (Giant), Demon Type III (Glabrezu), Demon (Juiblex), Demon (Manes), Devil (Ice), Dragon (Red), Elemental (Earth), Ettin, Eye of the Deep, Flightless Bird, Frog (Giant), Fungi (Violet), Giant (Hill), Goblin, Golem (Flesh), Hobgoblin, Homunculus, Hydra, Imp, Intellect Devourer, Ixitxachitl, Jackal, Jacklewere, Jaguar, Ki-Rin, Kobold, Lich, Lizard (Giant), Lizardman, Manticore, Mind Flayer, Minotaur, Naga, Neo-Otygugh, Nixie, Ochre Jelly, Ogre, Owlbear, Peryton, Pixie, Purple Worm, Quasit, Ram (Giant), Roper, Rust Monster, Sahuagin, Salamander, Shambling Mound, Treant, Troglodyte, Troll, Umber Hulk, Unicorn, Vampire, Wasp (Giant), Wight, Wyvern, Xorn, Yeti, and Zombie.       
 
That is all for today, 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

New Meeting Notes

Running kind of slow and running kind of late today. I have for the blog today some notes from some recent meetings I have had. As always, before you pass judgment, this is how I take notes in meetings and you should not think I am not paying attention. Active hands means active brain... or something... anyway, on with the monsters...

I for one welcome our new tentacled overlord...
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

He has his eye on you...
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

Make sure you always check the ceiling in your perception checks!
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

New friends.
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

SCUTTLE SCUTTLE SCUTTLE SCUTTLE SCUTTLE
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

That is all or for another exciting week on the blog! See you 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

Funny Things found on the Web - My Life as a Demon

I recently mentioned in my post about blogging and traffic that I use Google Alerts to do daily searches so that I can easily find out if my work or urls are being posted around the net. Recently the searches began turning up a weird image linked to my name and the sale of a particular movie in Europe. That movie is a little opus named The Doorway and the image is the European DVD box art...

HOW SCARY! The DOORWAY! ...and my gigantic looming disembodied demon head.

Back in 2000, one of the first movies I ever worked on was a little Roger Coreman feature called The Doorway. The movie was originally filmed in Ireland in late 1999, but all the FX shots and some new scenes were being filmed in LA in early 2000. They wanted to replace and add some new demons and gore shots and that is where I came in. Because it was a very low budget shoot and because I was around and overly eager, I found myself in the roll of the Mirror Demon!

RAWR! I'm a Mirror Demon! RAWR!
© 2000 Almost Human FX

The Mirror Demon was the first of several monsters and creatures I was able to perform as. It was a blast, even though the shooting of my scenes may have taken three hours tops, and I ended up in the final movie for mere seconds. All in all, it was a fun morning, and then we got Chinese food for lunch! Lets see some more pics of the Mirror Demon...

RAWR! I am badly lit!
Nothing like the clear light of day to make your monster makeup look... like a makeup.

© 2000 Almost Human FX

Not only did I preform the Mirror Demon, but I also designed the makeup and was in charge of sculpting the head piece and horns for the makeup. I also dealt with a lot of the molding and casting of the various elements. Some really fun memories though I also remember making loads of mistakes that could have resulted in whole parts of the makeup needing to be remade. In the end we pulled it off and there were no catastrophes... which was amazing for how green I was at time.

Now for the hardest part... I did mention that I designed the Mirror Demon, so I suppose I should share my designs with you. I did three in total, though we always wanted to do something that was close to the first one. I think production may have actually chosen the second design and we still went with the first... the benefits of low budgets and lack of control. Fresh from 11 years ago I give you my Mirror Demon designs...

It is nice to see that I have improved over the years, it still creeps me out to see things in these that I still do. There is just so much wrong with these drawings... Enjoy!

© 2000 Almost Human FX

These are from my pre-digital days so I had to go find the actual drawings and scan them for the first time to post them here... if you can believe that. What surprised me was just how easily I uncovered them from my achieve of old drawings... but there they were, surrounded by loads of other frighteningly old bad drawings. Live and learn and improve!

I also built a 15th scale miniature of the main house seen in the movie that was burned down for the climax of the movie... but that is another story altogether.

Make sure you run out today and get yourself a copy of The Doorway and have yourself a laugh or two at my expense. The movie does have Roy Scheider in it and there are a couple neat gore effects ...and a few seconds of me!

That is all for another exciting Wednesday, see you back here in two days! Until then...

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

Fresh from the drawing table... Quasit!

I have for you today another drawing that is fresh from the drawing table. This time around it is a Quasit! "Q", like several of the the letters left to go, only has one entry and that is the Quasit. Faced with the Quasit I knew I needed to make the best of it, and that meant TENTACLES. Well, that was just where my explorations led me as I began working on this little guy. I present to you my version of a Quasit...

Quasit
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

The Quasit is a little demon familiar for evil wizards and the like. This took my mind in two directions; the Quasit needed tentacles, LOTS OF THEM, and the Quasit needed to be wearing a snappy little outfit, something akin to a flying monkey (they sure did know how to dress!). Really good minions need to be gross or scary and be well dressed while executing their master's wishes. In all seriousness the Quasit did offer me the chance to just have some fun. Up until now the amount of tentacles has been pretty low (oh, Mind Flayer... maybe next time) this little guy seemed like the perfect candidate. For the record, I now have some really silly reference photos of myself in all sorts of weird crouching subservient poses...

My first 100 original Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual redesigns (A - Z): Aerial Servant, Ankheg, Ant (Giant), Ape (Carnivorous), Ape (Gorilla), Axe Beak, Axe Beak (version 2), Baboon, Badger, Barracuda, Basilisk, Baluchitherium, Bear (Black), Bear (Brown), Bear (Cave), Beaver (Giant), Beetle (Giant) - Bombardier, Beetle (Giant) - Boring, Beetle (Giant) - Fire, Beetle (Giant) - Rhinoceros, Beetle (Giant) - Stag, Beetle (Giant) - Water, Beholder, Black Pudding, Blink Dog, Boar (Giant), Boar (Warthog), Boar (Wild), Brain Mole, Brownie, Bugbear, Buffalo, Bulette, Carrion Crawler, Catoblepas, Cerebral Parasite, Chimera, Cockatrice, Coutal, Crab (Giant), Demon Type III (Glabrezu), Demon (Juiblex), Demon (Manes), Devil (Ice), Dragon (Red), Elemental (Earth), Ettin, Eye of the Deep, Flightless Bird, Frog (Giant), Fungi (Violet), Giant (Hill), Goblin, Golem (Flesh), Hobgoblin, Homunculus, Hydra, Imp, Intellect Devourer, Ixitxachitl, Jackal, Jacklewere, Jaguar, Ki-Rin, Kobold, Lich, Lizard (Giant), Lizardman, Manticore, Mind Flayer, Minotaur, Naga, Neo-Otygugh, Nixie, Ochre Jelly, Ogre, Owlbear, Peryton, Pixie, Purple Worm, Quasit, Ram (Giant), Roper, Rust Monster, Sahuagin, Salamander, Shambling Mound, Treant, Troglodyte, Troll, Umber Hulk, Unicorn, Vampire, Wasp (Giant), Wight, Wyvern, Xorn, Yeti, and Zombie.      

That is all for today, 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

Boneblade Serpent - Dreamblade

It has been some time since I shared a piece here on the blog that I did for the miniatures game, Dreamblade. Today I have one from the very beginning of it all, the Boneblade Serpent. This piece is near and dear to me for several reasons. The Boneblade Serpent was the first piece I did for myself and then submitted as a possible miniature design, the first piece I got to see and touch as a completed miniature and it was the first promotional piece that Wizards of the Coast used for the game. Still to this day this is one of my favorite sculptures and paint jobs of all my pieces I did for Dreamblade. The detail is great and I think the sculptor created a piece that exceeds the designs. Speaking of designs, here is my turnaround for the Boneblade Serpent from all the way back from 2005...

Boneblade Serpent
© 2005 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Before the game was launched there were articles all about the production and design of the miniatures and the Boneblade Serpent got the royal treatment. Needless to say it was incredibly flattering to see one of my pieces getting so much attention and also incredibly embarrassing to have my drawings under the spot light. At the time I was still really self conscious about my abilities and didn't feel like my work was good enough... thankfully those feelings seem to have waned. With many of my early designs I struggled with the feeling that I could have done more or better with them. After all I was still learning a lot with each design and was still in the process of discovering who I was as an artist. To this day I still look at some of these old designs and think, "If only I could have done that now." I finally broke down with the Boneblade Serpent and while I had some down time I made this...

Boneblade Serpent Redux
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

This drawing was much harder to create then I ever thought it would be. I wanted it to stay true to the original but have the sensibilities that I have today. There was moment or two when I was about half way through that I contemplated abandoning the drawing. I stuck with it and learned a thing or two! I am not sure if it is a better design, but maybe it is a better drawing... in some parts... here and there.

That is all for another exciting week on the blog! See you 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