The DOODLES, DESIGNS, and aRT of CHRISTOPHER BURDETT

Friday, May 16, 2014

Fresh from the drawing table... Aerial Servant!

I have for you another drawing that is fresh from the drawing table. This time around it is an Aerial Servant! Making my way through the remaining "A" monsters. This time around "A" offers up an invisible monsters that likes to carry gold and can be very temperamental... at least those are my takeaways from the Monster Manual description. I present to you my version of an Aerial Servant…

Aerial Servant

Controlled mostly by clerics... invisible... has its strength described in how many gold pieces it can carry... and could potentially go crazy and start attacking everything around it... Where can I get me one?! When I first thought about approaching this one I envisioned something more humanoid that would in fact be not represented on the page. I had actually planned to just draw the attire it wore to carry all the gear and gold for the adventures. Harnesses, straps, and bags floating in midair over an invisible form. ...then the call of the tentacles hit me and I ended up designing a crazy tentacle air beast. It is still good at carrying gold and would be invisible. I might use my floating attire idea for another creature... so no stealing that idea just yet!

One "A" monster remains! See you back here next time as I conclude another letter of the original Monster Manual.

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 for a new traditional painting! Until then...

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

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Beastly Footman - Trail and Errors

I am a little shocked that I have not posted a Beastly study in about a year. If you missed any of my previous Beastly creatures you can see them here: Beastly Caster, Beastly Fighter, Beastly Archer, Beastly Scribe, Beastly Pirate, Beastly Rider, Beastly Mercenary, Beastly Thug, Beastly Rifleman, and Beastly Swordsman.

This time around I wanted to try out some new media combinations and experiment a little. In the end, it was all a wash and I retired (destroyed) the final product for the good of mankind. As before, I am working from reference while modifying it into a more monstrous nature. The first stage of the experiment started easy enough with colored pencil on toned paper...

Beastly Footman - Stage 1

Colored pencil on paper

9 x 12

Nothing new here. I have been doing a lot of toned paper drawings the last couple years and I have really been enjoying it. What could I do to take what I am already doing a little further? Could I push it? Stage 2 introduced white acrylic paint and black ink...

Beastly Footman - Stage 2

Colored pencil, acrylic paint, and ink on paper

9 x 12

The whites and more white and the blacks are darker. All good in my book. I was really liking where this was going. Back going back in with a brush I could really add some fine detail and make sure highlights popped and the dark areas were dark enough. I felt that the forms in this stage 2 version were really nice. BUT, could I push it further? Was there more I could do? Stage 3 introduced more paint and ink as well as marker and a different colored pencil...

Beastly Footman - Stage 3

Colored pencil, acrylic paint, ink, and marker on paper

9 x 12

Aaaaaaaaaaand... too much. Maybe if I had not introduced the earth tone pencil... maybe if I had stopped at stage 2... maybe... blah blah blah. Live and learn, trial and error. MEH... what can I say, if I had not tried I would not have known. Sometimes what you are already doing IS working just fine. Not much else to say about this, but I HIGHLY recommend trying out new things as often as possible, it is the only way to really grow and develop.

As an added bonus, here is a bunch of images of the original drawing that went into making stage 1 so you can get a feel for how the drawing came together and took shape...

Beastly Footman - Process steps for stage 1

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, May 12, 2014

Monster Mess

Playing around with some pencil and paper recently resulted in a mess of a monster. Sometimes you should not cut parts off of a monster... you never know what might grow back. Or maybe this monster was just born or grown this way. Here is how the mess of arms, heads, and tongues turned out...

Monster Mess
9 x 12
Pencil on paper

While I was working on this drawing I uploaded some 16 second videos to videos to my Instagram. While 16 seconds is not a long time you can get a look at my mark making when it comes to building up my forms...

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

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, May 9, 2014

Aftermath - Hida Kaiji - Process

Back in December I shared with you my contribution to the Legend of the Five Rings expansion, Aftermath. One of the cards that I had in that set was the experienced version of the Crab Clan mutant, Hida Kaiji. Today I have for you the process that went into making this new experienced version of that big ole lovable mutant. So that we are all on the same page here is how the final Hida Kaiji turned out...

Hida Kaiji (experienced)

To be honest with you, I am not happy with how this piece turned out. This has NOTHING to do with the client, art director, or assignment... all with me. I had planned to paint both pieces for Aftermath traditionally, which obviously did not happen. After realizing it was not going to happen and that I needed to abandon my failed traditional pieces I was just off my game. As far as I am aware after taking with my AD on this after the fact they were happy with my Aftermath pieces... but that didn't change the fact that I was not. I had wanted to do so much more with these... and failed. So they were completed digitally and I never was able to get my head in a good place to feel like they were finished or successful. I think that Natsumi turned out more successful... but it was a water dragon... harder to mess up.

Getting things started as always was a thumbnail. Hida Kaiji needed to be towering over a bunch of Phoenix Clan monks smashing into them as they feebly breathed fire onto him. I knew what I wanted to do with this piece immediately and jumped into collecting reference. I worked out all the elements and figures and came up with this...

Hida Kaiji - Thumbnail

The thumbnail was approved without correction and I moved forward to the drawing. Everything was still progression on track and I was still eager to get these worked up in paint. Here is how the final drawing turned out...

Hida Kaiji - Drawing

The drawing was approved and I got my board prepped and I was ready to start painting in acrylic... and it all went horribly horribly wrong. This piece had all that fire I was unprepared for and the Natsumi had all that water. Curses to the fire and water! The details of my traditional failure are many and complex... but in the end the paintings just were not working out or coming together at all into something usable and I needed to abandon both pieces. I had to switch to doing them digitally before I ran out of time on the deadline. Back in my comfort zone I got to work on the digital version of Hida Kaiji but fought it the entire time...

Hida Kaiji - Process steps

There is just so much that I wanted to do with this piece and none of seemed to happen. I still did my best to turn in a good product and meet my commitment to the client. Like I said, I believe they were happy with the product, though I was not. Live and learn. Here is an animated gif of the Hida Kaiji coming together...

Hida Kaiji - Process progression animation

Sometime you just have to walk away from a piece. Not every piece can be successful no matter how much you try to make it work. Do the best you can and hope to do better the next time. Here again is how the final piece turned out as well as the final production card...

Hida Kaiji (experienced)

Hida Kaiji (experienced) in handy card form

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, May 7, 2014

Fresh from the drawing table... Axe Beak (version 2)!

I have not done one of these in awhile... not since last year actually (July 8th, 2013 - YIKES, where does the time go?). There are a number of reasons, some of which I am not currently able to share. Let's just say that the energy I put into these posts has been needed elsewhere.

No matter, here we are again and I thought the best way to kick this off was to go back to the beginning. The very beginning! In May 2010 (4 years ago today!) I started posting these and I have been working on them ever since. Even though it was not the first posted, the first D&D monster that I redesigned was the Axe Beak, or Axebird as I called it then. I have never been happy with how that first redesign turned out, so I thought if I was going to start this up again I better go back and set things right. I present to you my updated version of an Axe Beak…

Axe Beak

Of all the redesigns and designs that I have done for this project of mine it was the original Axe Beak that I was never really happy with. The Jaguar might get revisited at some point, but it was the Axe Beak that never worked for me. Here is a side by side comparison of the 2010 and 2014 versions...

Axebird vs. Axe Beak

Wonky weird anatomy issue aside (live and learn) there just was something about this piece that I didn't dig. There was a lot about it I did like, which is why it ended up on the blog and I have kept it around for so long. As the years went by though... it needed to be revisited. At one point I even started on a digital color version of this piece, before the idea of doing the finals traditionally was ever even a thought. This is far from done, but you can see were it was going...

Unfinished (abandoned) digital color version of the Axebird

This Axe Beak has been a stone in my shoe for a while now. I have had a couple failed attempts at revisiting it over the years. The most resent failure was very spectacular. I was over thinking it too much and looking at all the wrong reference and just approaching it all wrong...

Axe Beak FAIL!

YIKES! I can not believe I am sharing that hot mess. We learn from failure, not successes. I got my head in a better place after this and was able to finally move forward in a direction that I delivered me the piece I had been aiming for since 2010. Live and learn, trial and error! Also, not every piece is going to be successful and not every CAN be successful. WOW... that is so bad it is worse then the original...

The plan moving forward is to make a solid push to finish off the letters as I move through the alphabet, so I am going to finish off the remaining "A" monsters. Look for that sooner rather then later, hopefully!

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 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, May 5, 2014

Skarlock Commander - Warmachine - Privateer Press

For today's post I have something all the way from 2011 that is finally out in the world. That something would be none other then the Skarlock Commander which is the second miniature I ever designed for Privateer Press. So those that play Warmachine can now enjoy the mighty Skarlock Commander...

Skarlock Commander (final design)

Skarlock Commander (final pose)

More or less I think this piece weathered the production process fairly intact. There are always the changes that need to occur so that the piece can actually be created. Here is how the final production turned out...

Skarlock Commander final production miniature

(Image courtesy of Privateer Press)

I was working on this piece at the same time I was working on Raluk Moorclaw. As with Raluk, I am not sure I have any great earth shattering story or anecdote to go along with this design. It was just a lot of time and work to get familiar with the project IP and to try to make something very cool. I worked very closely with the Privateer Press Art Director at the time, Chris Walton, and he got me through it all and was a great source of feedback, design notes, and art direction. Though I lack stories I can share with you is a WHOLE ton of concepts, roughs, and monster drawings...

Various Skarlock Commander roughs, concepts, and design evolutions

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, May 2, 2014

Babirusa Pigs for all your Babirusa Pig needs

Still super swamped with too much to get done so I am ending the week with some reference for you and me. I had about 24 spare hours last weekend and that meant a trip to a not so local zoo. Took a ton of photos and I wanted to share some of them with you. Today's selection is the Babirusa Pig! Do yourself a favor and look up what their tusks look like and can do. These specimens did not come equipped with tusks, but they did offer up some great texture and quadruped anatomical reference...

Bonus sleeping otters behind the pig!

While these may not be a fancy and over the top as a Hornbill the Babirusa Pig offers a lot of great reference to learn from. Just looking at these images now I am reminded of how much I have still to learn about animal design and how much my monsters can still improve. That is one of reasons to never stop looking and learning.

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