The DOODLES, DESIGNS, and aRT of CHRISTOPHER BURDETT

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Burning of Lake-Town #2 - Process

Back in August I shared with you the pieces that I completed for the LoTR Battle of Lake-Town Gen Con 2012 expansion. Today, I have for you the process breakdown for the second of those Smaug pieces. Let's start off with having a look at the finish piece before jumping into the process...

The Burning of Lake-Town #2 (Smaug the Magnificent)

Since I went into so much detail and back story about this project in the first process post I am going to assume you are familiar with the main points and address the parts that are unique to this piece. This second piece needed to depict a "Fear Attack", the horrifying and impressive monster that is Smaug. I instantly thought of a nice worm's eye view looking up at Smaug being big and scary with the lighting silhouetting the head with glowing eyes and mouth. Which is what I was trying to covey in the thumbnail I submitted...

The Burning of Lake-Town #2 - thumbnail

The thumbnail was approved and I moved forward with the drawing. As I mentioned previously, this project was under a really tight deadline and time was of the essence. I was rushing things where ever I could and once of the places, at least for this piece was the drawing. Rushing the early stages is something I have warned about many times here on the blog and here I was making the mistake I have warned against. This is how that rushed drawing turned out...

The Burning of Lake-Town #2 - drawing

While the drawing was approved when it came tome to actually work on the painting I realized that my haste had resulted in a less then ideal starting point. Some of the anatomy was a bit of wonky and the over all piece lacked symmetry and things were misaligned. The other issue was that after completing the first of these new Smaug pieces I had made some modifications and improvements to make the over all design and look of Smaug more interesting. Before moving forward with this painting I needed to fix the mess my haste had created and I needed to make sure the dragon was depicted identically across the three pieces. Thankfully, fixing the drawing was a relatively straight forward and easy process...

The Burning of Lake-Town #2 - revised drawing

Now that the drawing was squared away I was all set to move forward with the painting. Even though I was still getting comfortable with my new technique this piece came together quickly and easily once the drawing was fixed. Here is a break down of the painting process...

The Burning of Lake-Town #2 - process

The piece was approved without revisions. I think I am can say without a doubt that the piece was well received because not only was it used for the intended card but the art was reused for the cover card of the entire set! Here is how the card and the cover card turned out, you can see how the cropping changed from my version to the version used...

One last look at my final version. I always find it interesting how I and other react differently to a piece. I always have a favorite when doing a series of paintings all at the same time. This is not my favorite, but it is obviously liked by the folks at FFG. As time passes, this piece is growing on me. I think that some of the goofs with the drawing started me off on the wrong foot with it. Oh well, looking at the final painting you would never know any of that...

The Burning of Lake-Town #2 (Smaug the Magnificent)

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, October 8, 2012

My life as a crappy artist - Sahrvin Demon variants #2

Back in July I shared with you my work on the Sahrvin Demon for the Angel series. I mentioned that I had originally created several designs mostly for myself since I was not on the design team for the initial push for this demon. Those designs were eventually submitted to production but were all rejected. Last week I share the first of those reject design, I have a second one for you today.

For my second concept of the Sahrvin Demons I went with something a little more straight forward with a big toothy growler. I always have like big bulky creatures and I tried time and again to get more made and in following with most of my attempts it was rejected. I thought it would be cool to have all the dangling waddles and armored plates hanging and shaking... but those sorts of things were frowned upon a lot of the time. Throwing in an impractical mouth also is a sure fire way for the design to never get any further then my pencil...

RAWR! I am yet another rejected design...

Of the three variant designs that I produced for the Sahrvin Demon I think this is my least favorite. There really nothing really wrong with it per say, just that it is really straight forward and old. The forms are a little uninspired and could have used a little more texture and detail overall. But it is what it is... I had some free time in the last couple months to revisit my original designs and I came up with something newer...

Taking a second unused Sahrvin Demon concepts back!

Since the original design was my least favorite I think this redesign is also my least favorite of the three. If they didn't like the first they certainly would not be digging this new version. Pretty sure the actor would not have been able to talk in my original makeup and I imagine that any actor taking in this new version would sound like they are talking into a tin can... in another room... in a thunderstorm... in the house next door. My goal with this design was to take my original and just make it more interesting and fleshed out. I think I at least accomplished that much. I feel it will be more successful in producing a satisfying, "RAWR!"

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

Friday, October 5, 2012

Fresh from the drawing table... Devil (Ice Devil)!

I have for you another drawing that is fresh from the drawing table. This time around it is a devil, and more specifically an Ice Devil! I have mentioned before how "D" will be keeping me busy for a long time to come with all the devils, demons, dinosaurs and dragons. First up for the devil category is the Ice Devil, a particular favorite of mine. Hard to top the horror of a giant evil insect devil from the icy planes of Hell. I present to you my version of an Ice Devil...

Ice Devil

I have been holding onto some photos I took of a cicada adult molting from its nymph stage. They are amazing, wonderful, alien, and horrifying images. I was thrilled to be there to see it happen and to be able to get some images of it. I have been waiting for the right monster to use those images on and when I decided to do the Ice Devil, I knew I had found the right monster. I have always found the cicada a fascinating insect, from its size, the fact that it does now pose a threat when handling it, and their super cool nymph shell they leave all over the place. But enough about cicada... I think... Big giant evil insect horror from Hell... and it has a spear. Looks like I gave it the ability to fly too, if it was not already a handful to deal with.

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 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, October 3, 2012

600th post on the blog!

Post number 600! Every time I hit one of these big numbers I am a little dumbstruck. Each time I find it hard to believe that I actually made it this far. And each time I find myself saying the same trite repetitive things... I think... No matter if I am or not, it is the way I feel.

As always, thanks to each and every one of you who follows, lurks, and otherwise finds themselves on the blog. I have said it before and will continue to say it, I would not be able to keep doing all this with out you all stopping by, commenting, and otherwise following the blog.

This is the time I hint about things to come and stuff in the works... but unfortunately this time around a lot of what I have in the works is so far out from being released I can't even hint at what it is. Suffice to say that I have some super fun stuff waiting in the wings to share with you all in the future! I can mention that I am trying my hand at real paint again. This is for a personal project and I was able to get over a super scary early stage last night... so I am a little more confident in mentioning the whole thing. It could still all crash and burn on me... but I am trying to stay positive... for now. I do have this nice image of my palette...

Giving this another try... will see how it goes...

Still putting one foot in front of the other while I make my way through this crazy thing called art. Maybe it will all make sense in the end. Even if it doesn't, I sure have had a lot of fun drawing monsters, and maybe that it has to be able. Speaking of monsters, here are some recent meeting notes monsters. Idle hands find their way to drawing monsters... RAWR!

Derp monster bids a heart felt farewell! ....DERP!

Again, many thanks to all of you for hanging around while I yammer into the internet with my parade of monsters. At this point, I guess I better keep it going, 1000 post seems like it will be here before I know it!

That is all for another exciting day 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, October 1, 2012

My life as a crappy artist - Sahrvin Demon variants #1

Back in July I shared with you my work on the Sahrvin Demon for the Angel series. I mentioned that I had originally created several designs mostly for myself since I was not on the design team for the initial push for this demon. Those designs were eventually submitted to production but were all rejected. Today I have for you one of the designs that I liked the idea of a lot.

Even though the Sahrvin Demons were desert demons I imagined them maybe not so suited for such a rugged environment. What if they were a little squishy and had to wear protective gear? What if the part that was not covered was a little more suited for the desert climate? What if a demon had to wear a super cool zip up the front suit that had goggles built into the front so that there could be a super cool reveal of the demon? What if indeed...

RAWR! I was unwanted and deemed unpractical...

As I mentioned, I really liked the idea of this design and thought it made for something a little more interesting. At the time I might not have been able to express those ideas well... what with the weird higher left shoulder area... the weird lean of everything to the left... and general muddy darkness to everything. I had some free time in the last couple months to revisit my original designs and I came up with something newer...

Taking one of the unused Sahrvin Demon concepts back!

The big complaint that always seemed to comeback to us is that the demon needed to be able to talk... that the actors needed to be able to speak in the makeups. Talking is over rated... they are demons, it is all about the RAWR. With this newer version I went with a more usable mouth and gill like squishy stuff on the sides rather than the original horror show of a 'mouth' area in front there. Tried to make the wardrobe a lot more interesting and believable with this new version as well. I am really happy with how this new version turned out, I find it pleasing as an image and design.

That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog, see you back here for an exciting 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, September 28, 2012

Oppan Yongary Style...

I have lost all control of the monsters I draw... or pop culture is running a muck through the monster center of my brain... No matter what it is, I have drawn something very silly this week and now I am sharing it with you...

You can learn more about Yongary on the interwebs. If you haven't heard of Gangnam Style... well, not sure if you really need my help to find out what it is...

For the record if there was an elevator big enough I would have drawn something even sillier...

I think that is just about enough for this 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, September 26, 2012

Slaves of the Oba - Process

Back in August I shared with a recent Dungeons & Dragon piece that I appeared in Dragon magazine #414, Slaves of the Oba. Today, I have for you a look at the process that went into the giant wolf creature who is about to rip apart a poor farmer. Let's start off with having a look at the finished piece before jumping into the process...

Slaves of the Oba

Since this piece centered around a new monster that I needed to design before I illustrated it I started off with some rough creature concepts. The creature was described as being a large wolf like creature that had skin and fur only covering some of the glowing elemental / spectral / spirit monster below. This got me thinking about how much should be covered and what parts should be exposed. I created three roughs of the creature from more wolf to wolf man. I was really leaning towards option "B" and it turns out that so was production...

Slaves of the Oba - Concept Roughs

Thumbnails followed the concepts. I did these all at the same time and before sending anything to my AD... but since I was already leaning toward concept "B" I used that is all my thumbnails. The piece was described as having the creature just about to attack a village farmer at the edge of a forest. I instantly saw it being the creature looming over figure just moments before the poor villager was ripped limb from limb. I worked up three compositions, at the time I was really wanting to do option "B", but production picked "A". Production always has final say and I also defer to their wishes and as always it was the better choice...

Slaves of the Oba - Thumbnails

With monster concept and thumbnail approved I moved with the more finished drawing, not much more to say about that...

Slaves of the Oba - Drawing

Time to jump back just a little bit... Before I started the concepts or thumbnails I shot some reference photos of my friend Nicholas Rich in a bunch of poses of him reacting to a large unseen monster. I have mentioned MANY times here on the blog the importance of reference and I am going to do it again... REFERENCE REFERENCE REFERENCE!!! Nike was dropping off after we had attended a life drawing session. The whole time I was life drawing I was thinking about monster composition and working out in my head some options and angels. In the spur of the moment I asked Nick if he wanted to be about to die horribly in a painting and he was game. The street light was the perfect analog for a large glowing monster - even though it was the the wrong color light - and it all came together quickly and easily. If not for Nick I am confident this piece would not have turned out as well as it did. I would not have gotten as good or interesting of reference if I had to recreate what was naturally happening at that moment. All the visual information I needed to make the image and the figure more believable and interesting was all right there. Thanks, Nick!

Reference! Thanks, Nick!

Concepts, thumbnails, drawing, and reference all taken care of, time for the painting. Last week I talked at length about my new technique for building up my under painting. I used the same method on this piece as well. Since I had worked everything out very well in preproduction and since I had such helpful reference, this piece really came together quickly and easily. No horror stories or wrong turns (those stories are for another day). Here is an over view of the painting coming together from drawing to final...

Slaves of the Oba - Process

Everything finished up I sent the piece off to my AD and it was approved without any changes, which is always the best news I can ever hear on anything I create. Being able to hit the mark on the first pass is a very real goal for me on each and every painting I create and thankfully I am still achieving this goal many more times then I am not. Here is the final piece one more time...

Slaves of the Oba

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