The DOODLES, DESIGNS, and aRT of CHRISTOPHER BURDETT

Monday, April 11, 2022

The Last of the Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia Bookplate Drawings

After selling out of all available Deluxe versions of The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia at Pensacon in February, I knew that I needed to get to work completing the remaining bookplate drawings. In addition to the Hardcover, D&D stats guide, coloring book, and an exclusive clamshell case, the deluxe version of my book come with a bookplate that is signed, stamped, and numbered (only 100 of them) and features an original drawing. Creating 100 of these has been a lot of work and one that I didn't fully anticipate to be as time-consuming as it ended up being. Thankfully, after one final push, they are all not completed. That means the last 21 available deluxe versions of my book are ready to go to forever homes! Here are some images of the remaining bookplates.

21 bookplates awaiting their stamps

Currently Available Grand Bazaar Originals and Books

Drawn, signed, stamped, labeled, and numbered!

Currently Available Grand Bazaar Originals and Books

Here are a few close-up images of the bookplates. These are fun to work on, but when I need to get through more than twenty, it can become a chore - but one I will gladly do again with each book I complete.

Monsters and beings come in all sizes and shapes in the Grand Bazaar.

Currently Available Grand Bazaar Originals and Books

That's all for another exciting Monday on the blog. See you back here next time! Until then...

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

Friday, April 8, 2022

Unspeakable Horror Miniature

Today, I have for you a miniature based on one of my illustrations. I designed and painted the Unspeakable Horror for Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft and have patiently waited for its miniature to be released. I didn't know if it would become a miniature, but with my recent track record of nearly all my pieces becoming minis, I knew it only had to be a matter of time. I didn't have to wait long, and the wait was richly rewarded. To start things off, here is my painting of Unspeakable Horror.

Unspeakable Horror

Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

I am over the moon with how the Unspeakable Horror turned out. I thought the Carrion Stalker mini was great, but it is dwarfed in many ways, but this massive and ornate miniature. The miniatures released for D&D seem to get better and better as the years tick by. To be honest, I never imagined that such detailed and accurate minis would be coming out only months after the book with the art is published. My photos do not do it justice, but here is the miniature for the Unspeakable Horror.

The Unspeakable Horror miniature for all your Unspeakable Horror miniature needs

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

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Star Spawn Mangler - Dungeons & Dragons - Process

Today, I am happy to share the process and steps for one of my contributions to the Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse. This second contribution is the Star Spawn Mangler. The Star Spawn are established monsters, but I was asked to give them a little bit of a new polish and a little bit of new life. Here is the final painting for the Star Spawn Mangler.

Star Spawn Mangler

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Emi Tanji

While these are established monsters, and I was asked to update them, there was still a bit of direction from production and a lot to work with. It was described as:

"It has a bipedal, vaguely humanoid body and an elongated blueish-purple torso that resembles a CENTIPEDE. From its shoulders it has six clawed arms instead of two. Its figure appears emaciated. Its face has humanoid features, but it is narrow, giving it an aerodynamic feel.

The star pawn is in a hunched posture, appearing shorter than it really is. It looks like its coiled, ready to lunge at an offscreen target."

You had me at centipede! I do love a good insect or reptilian monster. It was time for some thumbnails, so I made my best Star Spawn Mangler impression, and my wife took lots of images of me. I knew what it needed to look like. The photoshoot allowed me to work out the physicality of the monster and figure out how it acted and took up space. Here are the thumbnails that I submitted.

Star Spawn Mangler - Thumbnails

Not sure I had a favorite with these thumbnails. They all have the potential to be cool monsters. There is something about the arms in 'B' that I still like. I imagined them pinwheeling through the air as they slashed at the players. Needless to say that 'A' was the winner, though I was asked to make some changes. Production preferred the nose slits on the other thumbnails, and they wanted the arms to be a bit thinner. I made the requested modifications and submitted a revised thumbnail.

Star Spawn Mangler - Revised thumbnail

So close. The revised thumbnail still wasn't perfect. Production asked that the monster didn't skip leg day and bulk out its lower appendages. It may be thin, but it can run and jump if called for. Here is the updated revised thumbnail.

Star Spawn Mangler - Even more, revised thumbnail

The third time is the charm! This updated revised version hit the mark and was accepted. It was now time to move closer to the painting. I always do a final traditional drawing for every project to work out the details and to give myself a tangible product from the assignment. Here are the two stages of the Star Spawn Mangler drawing, the mid-stage line art, and the final rendered drawing.

Star Spawn Mangler - Line art

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

11 x 14 - Digital

Star Spawn Mangler

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

Art Director - Emi Tanji

With an approved drawing, it was time to start painting. This was another of those paintings that, in my head, should go quickly and be relatively painless. I was a little concerned about my color choices. While I was mindful of what I was asked to do, I also wanted to have some fun and do something interesting. In the end, I did all of the above. Here is the painting for Star Spawn Mangler taking shape.

Star Spawn Mangler - Process

I typically look to nature when selecting colors for a piece. Even when you want to make something acid blue, there is plenty to look at when searching for reference. One of the significant issues I had to overcome, and in some ways, I am still working on it, is the battle with local color. Even if something is BLUE... it is not really, or at least not completely blue. The world is full of color, and those colors are constantly interacting with each other as light bounces, reflects, and is absorbed by objects. It might be a blue monster, but I am adding green, purples, reds, and more to make it more complex and visually interesting. I make sure the hands, belly, and face have contrast and interest. Does it make a difference? Maybe, or maybe not. I know I have a more enjoyable artistic experience when I do this. My art directors are generally happy too. I have so much more to learn about color. That is why I live in a world of blacks and whites in my work. Here again, is the final painting for the Star Spawn Mangler.

Star Spawn Mangler

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

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

Monday, April 4, 2022

Breaching Hippocamp Paint Alter

Due to my schedule and workload, I generally do not take on private commissions and only offer black and white ink and marker drawings on the back of Magic the Gathering's artist proofs. That said, occasionally, I find myself taking on a piece I would not otherwise accept. The first person to my table at Pensacon asked if I would do a paint alter extension of the Breaching Hippocamp Magic the Gathering card. This is something I no longer offer, but as they were first to my table, agreed to the price, and were fine with me doing it after the convention, I found myself with a paint alter needing to be done. It didn't hurt that this was the second card I painted for MtG, so it has a special meaning for me. Here is the altered card.

Breaching Hippocamp Paint Alter

I have not traditionally painted anything since September 2016. Yes, that long. That was the completion date of the final Star Wars painting that I took on. Since then, I have been working digitally for any client work I accept. My books, which take up nearly all my time, are limited to black and white colored pencil, black ink, and white acrylic paint. Yes, I am still using white paint, but this was more involved than that. In fact, I was a little nervous about taking this on since it has been so long since I painted anything with actual paint. I was worried about something that I didn't need to worry about. I was amazed at how it all came back to me, even after a nearly six-year gap. I will be honest, one of my artist faults, if you want to call it that, is that I am not great at generating color from thin air. I look at a lot of color reference, and I have a workflow both digitally and traditionally that generates a color mess on the canvas that I can then respond to and work on top of. Even though I can not pull colors quickly or easily from the ether, I can match what I see and work with and from the color on a surface. In other words, it takes me a lot of work to (digitally) paint that sky initially, but I can quickly match it with paint and extend it. I am also not a big fan of working as small as the MtG cards are, but I find a way to make it work. In the end, I am thrilled with how the card turned out, and it almost - ALMOST, makes me want to do more. Here is the Breaching Hippocamp card before I got to work.

The card, before altering it - shows how much I extended the image.

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, April 1, 2022

Carrion Stalker Miniature

Today, I have for you a miniature based on one of my illustrations. I designed and painted the Carrion Stalker for Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft and have patiently waited for its miniature to be released. I didn't know if it would become a miniature, but with my recent track record of nearly all my pieces becoming minis, I knew it only had to be a matter of time. I didn't have to wait long, and the wait was richly rewarded. To start things off, here is my painting of Carrion Stalker.

Carrion Stalker

Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

I was very pleased with the work that I did on Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, and I hoped that the miniatures would be fitting of the work done on the paintings. It is easy to say that I was thrilled with how the miniatures turned out, and they are incredibly detailed and faithful to my paintings. While this is a tiny mini, it is full of color and detail - much more than I had ever imagined they would put into it. Here is the miniature for the Carrion Stalker.

The Carrion Stalker miniature for all your Carrion Stalker miniature needs

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

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Star Spawn Seer - Dungeons & Dragons - Process

Today, I am happy to share the process and steps for one of my contributions to the Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse. This first contribution is the Star Spawn Seer. The Star Spawn are established monsters, but I was asked to give them a little bit of a new polish and a little bit of new life. Here is the final painting for the Star Spawn Seer.

Star Spawn Seer

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Emi Tanji

While these are established monsters, and I was asked to update them, there was still a bit of direction from production and a lot to work with. It was described as:

"This creature’s roughly humanoid appearance is a thin disguise that obscures its otherworldly horror. In this shot, the seer is making a grand gesture, leading a sermon promising a great beyond to an offscreen audience.

The seer’s body appears as a MALE HUMAN covered in tumorous skin growths with that raise the skin in strange whorls reminiscent of BRAIN WRINKLES. Inky tentacles and eyes made of star stuff appear to be poking out from the shadows between the wrinkles. Its figure is bloated, like a drowned body, and its hands are large and webbed.

The seer is wearing an open purple robe fit for a noble or high priest. It is holding a STAFF that appears to be a blend of flesh, bone, and chrome."

That is a lot to play with and to make a fun monster. It was time for some thumbnails, so I made my best Star Spawn Seer impression, and my wife took lots of images of me. I knew what it needed to look like. The photoshoot allowed me to work out the physicality of the monster and figure out how it acted and took up space. Here are the thumbnails that I submitted.

Star Spawn Seer - Thumbnails

There was something about each one that I liked, so no matter the end result, I would be happy to move forward with any of them. It turns out that 'B' was the winner, but production wanted to adjust the staff, so it showed off more. I was told that the staff designs were well received, which is always nice to hear. I made the requested modifications and submitted a revised thumbnail.

Star Spawn Seer - Revised thumbnail

This revised version hit the mark and was accepted. It was now time to move closer to the painting. I always do a final traditional drawing for every project to work out the details and to give myself a tangible product from the assignment. Here are the two stages of the Star Spawn Seer drawing, the mid-stage line art and the final rendered drawing.

Star Spawn Seer - Line art

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

11 x 14 - Digital

Star Spawn Seer

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

11 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

Art Director - Emi Tanji

The drawing was approved without comment, and it was time to start painting. This was one of those paintings that, in my head, should go quickly and be (hopefully) relatively painless, but you never know. A lot of the color choices were made for me, and I had excellent lighting reference, so it was a matter of sitting down and getting to work. Which I did. And it would turn out to be a straightforward process. Here is the painting for Star Spawn Seer taking shape.

Star Spawn Seer - Process

With many of these monster paintings, the hard work is done in the design and drawing phases of the assignment. Doing the photoshoot, creating the thumbnails, addressing any feedback, and creating the drawing(s) are the points that I need to spend a lot of time and brain energy on making things and being creative. Not that this doesn't happen when I paint, but it often doesn't. There are happy accidents and things that need to be fixed or corrected, but at the end of the day, the painting stage is sitting in the chair and working on it until it is done. Thankfully, after all these years, knowing when it is done has gotten easier. Yes, I still have to think and work very hard to make a finished painting, but if I did my job correctly, most of the heavy lifting has already been done, and it is not time to simply 'make it in color now.' Here again, is the final painting for the Star Spawn Seer.

Star Spawn Seer

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

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

Monday, March 28, 2022

Hidden in Plain Sight - Star Wars Easter Eggs

Now that my 50 days of Star Wars posts have ended on social media, it is time to talk about the little narrative and Easter eggs that I dropped into some of my work done on the games. While there are nods, winks, and other personal things in many pieces, these five works are all directly tied together. To be more accurate, the first three are part of a narrative while the other two point to them. Please understand that initially, my art director was aware and onboard and even helped out with clearing things and giving me the first approval. After that, I had fun and made sure I didn't do anything that would ruffle feathers or cause issues. So, to get things started, here are the images we will be talking about.

These three are from the card game center around the events at a specific bar on Nal Hutta, or is it on Coruscant? These pieces are A Droids Task, Armed to the Teeth, and Arcona Rumor Monger.

These two pieces, one from the RPG and one from Imperial Assault, point to the others directly. As I have said, there are others that I have put things in for my amusment, but these are interconnected. These pieces are Heated Tempers and Outer Rim Smuggler.

Now for the fun stuff. While these three were created in a different order, this is how I envisioned the series of events. We are not talking about a massive complete story, just little hints of something happening if you know where to look.

If you look at the pad that the Rodian is giving IG-88, it has some Aurebesh (the Star Wars written language) on the screen. It reads Rik's. And yes, that is a nod to Casablanca. IG-88 is being tasked to go to Rik's for something... I wonder what? I wonder why? Let's continue...

We are now outside a place called Rik's. The sign also reads 'live music food drinks' and looks like a popular place to go. That Rodian doesn't look too happy about the Besalisk with all those guns. I imagine the sight of IG-88 will do that to you. Perhaps this individual has a bounty on their head, and they thought the IG unit was there for them. I don't believe that the mission was to go after a random Besalisk; maybe there is more to it. Let's continue...

Once inside Rik's, we weave through the dark warren of hallways and rooms until we find the target! It looks like IG was sent to meet up with an Arconan that has some information that needs to be transferred directly. It must be sensitive for all parties to want to do this in person. You can see a sign for Rik's on the wall in the background, and the Arcoan has a pad listing Rik's.

Nothing profound, but a little fun for me when working on these pieces. It gave me the chance to work on a narrative that is mine that could fit within the work I was doing for others. This also allowed me to work on non-linear storytelling that I seem to enjoy and that can be read in The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia. Let us continue...

While this piece is not directly related, it takes place (for me) on Nal Hutta, and there is a lot written on the walls and columns that connect back. I was asked to blur the text in the final version, I got word that Disney was cracking down on people putting naughty things in Aurebesh in licenced works. I wasn't doing anything nefarious, but I complied and blurred things digitally. If you ever see the original painting you will be able to read it all much more clearly. If you look closely, you will be able to find Rik's mentioned several times, as well as "Down with the Empire," "Hunt or be hunted," and "Yavin 4 was an inside job." It is a bit of world-building and some fun.

Lastly, you will see a bumper sticker for Rik's on the engine housing of this A-Wing. That pilot must really like to hang out there. One last little tip of the hat to the above pieces. There are plenty of other things I could share, but after a point, I think there will be diminishing returns. If you have a chance, give my Star Wars pieces another look and see you can find anything hidden in plain sight.

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