The DOODLES, DESIGNS, and aRT of CHRISTOPHER BURDETT

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Infected By Art Volume 9 Selected Work

I am happy to announce that I have had a piece selected for inclusion in Infected By Art Volume 9. I really love IBA, and it is a real honor to be included with so many other great artist and their work. You can see a full list of the art included in IBA 8 over on their website. As I said, lots of great work! As far as my work, Vexed Beanmonger, from the upcoming The Grand Bazaar of Ethra Dalia - In the Black, was selected.

Vexed Beanmonger

The Grand Bazaar of Ethra Dalia - In the Black
11 x 14 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper
Original - Available
© 2020 Christopher Burdett

You can never know what will or will not make it into a juried event, and it is always interesting to see what does make it through the selection process. While I like this piece a lot, I was a little surprised that it beat out pieces such as the Articulate Polyplot or my Magic the Gathering work. I then remembered that this was the first piece that I could complete after the COVID19 pandemic began. I think it is only fitting that this particulate piece was selected. It is the work that got me back to the drawing table and able to make art again.

If you are curious, here is everything that I submitted for consideration in IBA 9. Congrats to everyone that made it in, and a huge thanks to the jury and to Bill Cox for all his work in making IBA a reality. I can't wait to see the completed book first hand!

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

Friday, January 15, 2021

Lizardfolk Miniature - The End of a 25 Year Journey

I have something special for you today. It is not every post that I can share the end of a twenty-five-year journey. Before I get ahead of myself, the main reason this post exists is that a miniature has been made that is based on the Lizardfolk painting I produced for the Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Volo's Guide to Monsters. While you may be familiar with this piece, from the first time I posted it or the process of its creation that I posted, let's begin with looking at the final painting.

Lizardfolk

Dungeons & Dragons - Volo's Guide to Monsters

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

This is still one of my favorite pieces that I painted for this book, and upon its completion, I was told that it was highly likely that it would eventually become a miniature. I was told that production was excited about it becoming a miniature, which meant it was possibly going to happen. Over the past few years, I was patient. I continuously checked the galleries of every released set of miniatures, and finally, after five years of waiting, my Lizardfolk is now a miniature. Here is the miniature in all its plastic glory.

Lizardfolk Miniature

Lizardfolk Miniature Turnaround

Why is this so special, or should I say more special than any other time one of my pieces or designs becomes a miniature? Well, that is where twenty-five years comes in and my love for reptilian monsters. From the space lizard Bossk from Star Wars, the Lizardmen from Dungeons & Dragons, or the snakes I had as pets as a child, my formative years were filled with reptiles. To this day, I would rather paint and draw scaly creatures over all others, even insects, which is saying a lot.

While I was aware of Dungeons & Dragons from its early days, I didn't start playing it until Second Edition. A group of people I had considered friends were playing, and I was eventually brought into the game. None of the payer races or types really struck a chord with me, but by chance, I was shown more options with the Complete Book of Humanoids, and that changed everything. I played frog creatures, dinosaur creatures, but first and foremost, I played a Lizardman by the name of Targus.

Through Targus, I went on many adventures and annoyed my fellow players to no end. I played Targus as an innocent alien, a being ignorant to the world of man and elf. He didn't really understand shops, buying things, and money. He didn't understand cooking food and why everyone else didn't begin feasting once an animal or man was slain. I played Targus the way I thought a Lizardman would around a group of elves, dwarves, and men. I had fun, and eventually, I was pressured to roll up a dwarf. I made sure they wished for Targus's return.

Naturally, I drew most of my characters back then. I depicted Targus twice on paper, once as a freshly found warrior of the swamp and later as a more mature team member. I always preferred my first version of Targus. In 1996 Targus was born, and in 2016 when I was asked to depict the new playable Lizardfolk, I was so excited. It meant I could now shape how people saw their liard character, and I could paint Targus as I thought he would be today. A span of twenty years separates them, but to me, they are one and the same. I simply did a lot of practicing in between.

There are back again - The first twenty years.

And now, another five years have passed, and my painting is now a miniature, completing the journey. It was the miniatures that were my gateway into the game. Now that Targus is a miniature my game, my character has become part of everyone else's game. I couldn't be happier with the miniature either. From the gourd bottle, hooks, and fish on his belt to the armor and weapons, this miniature is incredibly faithful. The open mouth is a nice change, and due to molding and assembly, I assumed the second sword would be removed.

The final five years of the journey.

The life of an artist is a funny thing and strange as well. You never know what the next assignment will be or where it will take you, or where you can take it. Twenty-five years ago, I would never imagine in my wildest dreams that a D&D character I rolled up would eventually be in a book or become a miniature. While it is in no way official, know that when you see the Lizardfolk miniature, that is it really Targus, and he is ready for adventure!

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

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Rancor - Star Wars - Process

Five years ago to the day, I worked on a Rancor painting for the Jabba' Realm expansion to Imperial Assault. Today, I am sharing with you the process and steps that went into making that painting. It is a little hard to believe that I made this painting five years ago, that it has sat in my blog queue folder all this time and all that I have done in these past five years. It feels like yesterday, and it feels like twenty years ago. To start things off, here is the final painting for the Rancor.

Rancor

Imperial Assault - Jabba's Realm Expansion

11 x 14 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Art Director - Deb Freytag

Original - SOLD

This was the second time I was asked to paint a Rancor for the Fantasy Flight Star Wars games. This time the Rancor needed to be depicted living its best life on its homeworld of Dathomir. That meant lots of red and lots of RAWRs. I have been more than acquainted with the Rancor since the summer of 1983, and it is a real treat to paint this particular Star Wars monster.

While I talk a lot about my process, always beginning reference, I am not able to share that reference. Much of it is pictures of me in my underwear, and no one needs to see that. When it comes to my work on Star Wars, I can employ my extensive collection of Star Wars toys to carry the bulk of the heavy lifting. It is not every project that you can open a box and have instant perfect reference for an assignment. While I have an idea for compositions and images in my head, when I use the toys as reference I can build little dioramas to better work things out, or I can position the figures into dozens of poses and arrangement as quickly as needed. Here is a look at some of the many photos that I used for reference for this painting.

Rancor Reference

With the reference collected, I can begin on thumbnails. I look at all my options, see what which are speaking to me, determine which work best for the assignment, and decide which I would like to actually paint. Typically, there are three to four winners, and they move onto becoming thumbnails. While some of the references is used nearly as is, some will be combined with other elements, edited, or in some way changed to make it work better. You must be aware that the reference is not perfect. While something looks correct in the real world, once it becomes a drawing or painting, it can begin to look awkward or wrong. Here are the four thumbnails that I submitted for this assignment.

Rancor Thumbnails

Option 'D' was selected, but I was asked to make some changes. For one, the planets/moons in the sky were too large and too dominant and they needed to be made smaller. The other issue was that the figure was crowding the chrome of the card that it was eventually going to be on. One of the problems with most of my work on the Star Wars properties was that I wanted all of my paintings to be up close and in the art's action. Most of the Star Wars games had many borders, numbers, information, and elements that cut into the art or overlapped it. This meant that there needed to be a lot of padding, especially at the top of the image, for the card's chrome to overlay. This meant that many of my thumbnails were updated to pull back from the subject matter and add a lot of padding around the figures. Here is my updated thumbnail, and you can see how much more room there is now around the Rancor.

Revised Rancor Thumbnail

This updated thumbnail was approved without further With an approved thumbnail, it was time to work on the final drawing that would be the blueprint for my painting. As mentioned many many times before, this is my favorite part of the process, and it often feels like the part I have the least time for. I have done things differently in my process over the past year to change that a little. But that is for another day and another assignment.

Rancor

Imperial Assault - Jabba's Realm Expansion

17 x 14 - Pencil on paper

Art Director - Deb Freytag

Original - SOLD

The drawing was approved without comment, and that meant it was time to start my painting. By this point, I had produced several traditional paintings for Star Wars, and some of the fear had begun to ease when beginning one of these pieces. I was still somewhat worried that I would ruin it all, but I was experienced enough to know what to do if I did ruin it. Here is a look at the process of the Rancor painting coming together from thumbnail to final approved painting.

Rancor Process

I got the painting to the point that I thought was done. It felt like it hit all the marks and with knowing how the painting would be used and printed, I figured I had all my bases covered. Here is the first version of the Rancor painting that I turned in.

Rancor Version 1

I don't remember any comments about the Rancor itself, and I don't see any difference in the painting - though I likely touched it all again, production wanted more done to the foreground and background. They wanted more pop, more detail, and they wanted it all to have more more more. I did as they asked because I am a professional, and you meet the requests of the client. I went back to the painting and pushed and pulled the background more. I added a lot more to the foreground and middle ground. For the most part, I just touched everything in the painting one more time to give it all a little more attention. As mentioned, I am not sure I did much or anything to the Rancor, after all, it is the star of the piece and got a ton of love and attention already. Here again, is the final painting of the Rancor that I submitted and was approved.

Rancor

11 x 14 - Acrylic and pencil on board

Original - SOLD

Now, let us have a look at the final production card that my art appears on. It is a good thing that all that additional work that I did on the card really got to shine in the card and really made a difference to how the art looked. Oh well. It is out of my hands, and I did what I was asked to do.

Rancor card in a handy dandy form

The art was reused in another of FFG's Star Wars games a year or so ago. You see a bit more of the art, but it was printed so very, very small on the card. The extra work goes pretty much unseen here as well.

Rancor reprinted as part of the Out Rim game, making it even smaller.

Do not get me wrong. I did as I was asked, without complaint or concern, and it did result in a visually more complex painting that could be considered better. I only wish that the extra work was visible to those playing the game. Oh well, it is all a little late now!

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, January 11, 2021

2020 - A Year of Holding My Breath

At one time on this blog, I was extremely diligent about posting my 'year in review' commentaries. In some ways, that is how my blog cemented itself in my life and I attracted readers. I shared many thoughts and history regarding my life as an artist as I looked back at 2009 in January of 2010, and I realized I would be writing on this blog for the foreseeable future. Over the years, I have done my best to do these yearly recaps, and I have had varying success. As I have focused on my first book and moved away from client work in the past few years, I have had difficulty writing the recaps. Each year, I felt like I was in the middle of things. It was not yet the right time to share. There were much more important events about to happen. Or I ran out of time, and it was March before I made the time to write, and by then, it was a moot point. Then we come to 2020. 2020 was the big year to look back on. 2020 was the year when it all came together, and I would finally be able to share all of the ups and downs of the past few years of writing and illustrating my first book and how it all paid off at conventions, and I reap the fruits of all my labors. But, in the end, we all know that 2020 had different plans.

It Started With a BANG

The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia

For me, 2020 was firing on all cylinders a year ago. As 2019 came to an end, I was already working on outlines for my following two books. I had sketched out and prepped multiple new illustrations, some of which I have been waiting for years to see realized. My first book was not yet finished, and I had begun work on the following two books. I was energized and excited. At the close of 2019, I had the linework of the first of these new illustrations already completed. I was in a mindset that had me churning out work on my books indifferently, and nothing was standing in my way.

As January 2020 continued, we checked off all the boxes, crossed all the t's, and dotted all the i's as my book neared the Kickstarter launch at the end of February. My editor, Achsa Nute, my designer, Steve Leacock, and my publisher, Jon Schindehette, worked nonstop to get me and the book over the finish line. Looking back at it now, it feels like a dozen years ago, and at best, it is a blur. But it was happening; my book was becoming a reality, and nothing could stop us now!

Pensacon took place at the end of February 2020, and we timed the Kickstarter to launch while I was at the convention so that I could promote it there and make it an active event at the con. My books' proofs arrived at the convention, and I had them on display all weekend. And it went perfectly. I could not have been happier with Pensacon, the Kickstarter launch, and the book's reception. The campaign quickly funded, and since many friends were attending the convention, we celebrated the achievement. I was looking ahead to seeing the book go into production, Gen Con, and eventually Illuxcon. I had a full year ahead of me, and it all centered around my book. But, even at Pensacon, at the very beginning of March, the threat of COVID-19 was already looming heavily.

It All Happened Extremely Quickly at a Snail's Pace

Articulate Polyglot - Drawing

13 x 17 - Pencil on paper
© 2020 Christopher Burdett

After Pensacon, I took a small breather. We had done it; the book was funded, the book was going to happen, and I could finally relax a little. My wife, two close friends, and I took a weekend trip we had planned for a while at the beginning of March. The campaign was still running, but this trip was to celebrate and relax. Little did we know that this would be the last trip, excitement, and personal interaction we would have for the foreseeable future. After we returned home, it happened all at once. The university shifted us to work from home. Equipment was lugged home, and makeshift workstations were set up. In the middle of deadlines and Kickstarter campaigns, it all changed. The new normal was upon us. Almost immediately, we saw the effects of the global pandemic on the Kickstarter campaign. Not that this matters, but the results of the changes in the world's economies, spending habits, fears, and more were clearest in those early days as they affected unnecessary spending. I also have a wife who is an ER nurse, and overnight, she was thrust to the front lines of a global pandemic.

Then It Ended

Elemental Essence Shard

Tasha's Cauldron of Everything

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

I am not sure how it happened or when it happened, but I now know why it happened. Sometime around the end of March, I stopped making art. I think many of us experienced it this year in our own ways. Artist or not, we shut down as we managed the events of the world. People all around were losing their jobs, their incomes, and their lives. I was focused on meeting the needs of the day job and hitting our summer deadlines, and at the end of the day, I had nothing left in me to then work on my books. I came to understand that I had enough energy to manage one job and that I needed to be the one that paid my bills, the one that I was thankful to have still and to be able to accomplish from my home.

As the weeks turned into months, I came to accept that Gen Con and, eventually Illuxcon would not happen at least in the traditional sense. The two events I had been working toward for years, my two biggest conventions of the year, and the events where I would be debuting my book were not happening. To add to it all, I was to be a featured artist at Gen Con, something that I had been chosen for in February. My book was the collimation of twenty-two years of work. It was finally completed. And the events planned out for me to stand before everyone and present the fruits of my efforts were gone. I was not handling this well. I mentally came to terms with it, but emotionally, I was not.

Yes, at some later date, maybe this year, 2021, or 2022, or... we will eventually be all together again at these events, and I will have my book then to show to everyone. But my moment in 2020, like so many other people's moments, is gone. And yes, people are dead, lives ruined, jobs lost, businesses destroyed, but I have worked for over two decades to have my art and my stories combined in my first book and share it with my friends and family. I did everything I was supposed to do. Those who helped me see the book completed did everything they were supposed to do and more. And it wasn't enough.

And this all could have been avoided, or at least significantly reduced. But we lacked the leadership, the adherence to science, and the willingness to sacrifice only a little by wearing a mask, and we may have been able to get this under control by now. Instead, the virus is still rampaging through this country. Hundreds of thousands are dead in this country alone. My wife is in danger every time she goes to work. I am in danger because she is in danger, and we have nothing to show for all these months of working from home, not leaving the house, and not trusting anyone else because, frankly, Americans can't be bothered to help their fellow citizens.

So I spent months not making art, sitting at home, waiting for things to get better because I had no other options.

Making a Change

Vexed Beanmonger

The Grand Bazaar of Ethra Dalia - In the Black
11 x 14 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper
Original - Available

I was aware that I was not making art. That I was losing my momentum, and that time I could be spending making art was passing me by. I want to make it clear that none of the time was wasted. I was doing the best I could and focusing on things that allowed me to get through my days. Yes, that meant, and still means, a good deal of playing Animal Crossing, but these are trying times, and we do the best we can do. I cooked more in 2020 than I think I cooked in all the years of life before 2020. I have spent a great deal of time with my wife. I have realized what I can and cannot live without. While far from perfect, this time has been very rewarding in many ways, but I was bothered by not making art.

I would sit at my drawing table, hoping that the muscle memory would kick in and I would start drawing. I would end up simply sitting and staring at the paper. When the calls for client work came in, I decided to take a single assignment, hoping that a deadline and external pressures would motivate me to work. I got the job done, but it took a great deal of effort and willpower to ensure the assignment was completed. It was not the external jump start I had hoped for, but I was able to accomplish what I had intended. That was at least movement in the right direction.

I realized that I needed to step back, start over, and approach this all anew. Earlier in the year, I worked up two small illustrations as a stepping stone to get into the large pieces I had planned out. A way to warm up since, with the book campaign, conventions, and life before 2020, it had been a while since I worked on large pieces. Those small illustrations had been untouched for months, and I decided it was time to dig one out and see where it would take me. At the time, they were not essential pieces to the books' overall stories, and if things went wrong with them, well, no one needed to know about them. I was able to sit down and start working on one of them. It was extremely slow going at the beginning. I would work only a short time before moving on to something else. But, slowly, over time, the piece began to take shape. Things were finally, maybe, starting to happen again.

The call for more client work came in, and again, I took on an assignment. This time, the client work went much smoother, and the entire time, I kept wishing to be back working on my illustration. I took this as an excellent sign. Once the client job had concluded, I was back to work on my illustration and was finally making good speed with it. In the fullness of time, I completed it. This marked the first time I had completed personal work in months, and aside from the small filler pieces I needed to finish at the beginning of the year for my book, this was the first personal work of 2020. Not that I was fully cured, but something had finally changed. I took on even more client work, and I completed more and more personal work. I was finally, thankfully, beginning to feel like myself again.

Moving Forward

Articulate Polyglot

The Grand Bazaar of Ethra Dalia - In the Black
13 x 17 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper
Original - SOLD

This is all not over yet. We are all still in it, and right now may very well be the worst of it all. There is much happening in the world and this country. One only needs to check the nearest news outlet. But, if we are lucky, things will begin moving in the right direction. It is out of most of our hands, so I am concentrating on what I can control. I am making art again. I am doing what I can do. The coming months will not be easy and may not be better till more can receive the vaccine. I am likely far down the line, even though I share a house with a frontline nurse. Until I am vaccinated, I will probably not feel at ease, but that time will come. Hopefully, there will be a Gen Con, and we can attend. Hopefully, there will be an Illuxcon. These are all still months away, but we said that last year. The effects of COVID-19 will likely take up a minimum of a year and a half, so we still have much ahead of us. All I can do is be patient and make art.

I had hoped that this post would have loads of images of me at conventions with stacks of my books. I had expected to share numbers and statistics of what was selling well and if I had ordered the right amount of books. I had hoped to reflect on how the entire process of finishing a book, taking it to Kickstarter, and seeing it printed by Gen Con and what went well and what didn't. I expected to have many more completed pieces for the following books to share. None of this happened. Life is not predictable. We do not know what tomorrow holds, so we must do the most with today. Plan for tomorrow, but act today. That said, as I finish writing this, I will be heading back to my drawing table to continue working and awaiting a time when I can leave the house.

That's all for another exciting Monday on the blog and a start to my 2021 posts. 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

Thursday, December 31, 2020

Unexpected Last Post of 2020

While I thought I had wrapped up all my posts for 2020 here on the blog, it looks like there was one more. I have mentioned more than once that 2020 was a challenging year for me artistically. While I saw the completion, funding, and publishing of my first illustrated novel in the Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia series, I spent much of the year unable to produce art. It wasn't until the last several months that I could get back to the table and get back to work. I know many of you out there were in the same boat, are still in the same boat, or can relate to this as it pertains to your lives. Needless to say, I think this all is made more manifest by my Instagram top nine for 2020. My posts were way down, my numbers on links and comments on the posts are way down, and the work that was most interacted with was almost exclusively client work, much of which was old reposts, and one piece of my linework colored by Jacob Walker. I am a little surprised that my new personal work is nowhere to be seen here, but there is nothing I can, or care, to do about it. This is in no way something to take personally, and it will affect me in no way moving forward. It is all merely an observation through one lens. Here are my top nine images according to what I posted on Instagram in 2020, and the numbers of interactions they each had.

Top Nine images on Instagram for 2020, what will 2021 hold?

That is all for 2020. See you back here in 2021 in a week or so. Until then...

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

Monday, December 21, 2020

2020 Holiday Card - Seasons Eatings!

2020 has been a unique year, and when it came time for this year's holiday card, I didn't know if I had it in me to make one, let alone come up with an idea. Since it has been a tradition for so long, and it being 2020, it felt like a bad year to skip a card. I decided to do something that would be fun, near and dear to me, and likely well-received. This resulted in a festive alligator with its sack of goodies. Wishing you all the best as 2020 comes to an end, and I hope that 2021 will bring us change. I present you with Season Eatings!

Seasons Eatings! - 2020 Holiday Card

Lastly, here are the card exterior and interior so you can get a feel for what it looks like...

That is all for another exciting year on the blog. See you back here in 2021! Until then...

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

Friday, December 18, 2020

Pipyap's Guide to All of the Nine Hells - Return of the Hellfire Engine

While this is likely not the first time something like this has happened with my art, it is the first I have noticed and tracked down. Through WotC, art from Dungeons & Dragons can be licensed for use by game designers creating third part D&D compatible products. This book, Pipyap's Guide to All of the Nine Hells, from 2019, popped up on my radar a few months ago, and I decided to hunt down a copy to see how my art was used. At first, I thought I had been credited by mistake, but I eventually located my Hellfire Engine hanging out on a page. It's a fun book, though I was surprised to see that it was printed on matte paper. I am sure that is because of the cost and for the look of the book. I mean, my book is printed on matte paper for esthetics. Here is a look at Pipyap's Guide to All of the Nine Hells and the Hellfire Engine.

Pipyap's Guide to All of the Nine Hells.

The Hellfire Engine in all its glory on matte paper, once again, the photo does not do the printing of the book justice.

I am surprised how much this piece had gotten around. I mentioned when I posted the process for this piece that I felt uncertain about my designs for it, but it ended up being well received by production. Funny how some of these things work out. Here again, is the final art that I created for the Hellfire Engine.

Hellfire Engine

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Kate Irwin

That's all for another exciting week on the blog. See you back here on Monday for one more post of 2020. Until then...

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