Fast Forward Four and a Half Years - The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia

The last post here was on May 1st, 2015. Things went quiet here as we all went our separate ways as life took us in different directions. Not sure why, but I visited here today and realized how long it has been and what the last post was. It was a post by me, and I shared some toned paper drawings from a personal project I was slowly working on. Jump ahead to October 2019, and I have completed writing and illustrating my first book of monsters and stories.

The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia is a collection of stories, research, documents, and anecdotes about the citizens that live and work in the Grand Bazaar. This is the first book in a series with the next two books already in the early stages of production. The first book, Monsters and Merchants, is completely written and illustrated. The content has been handed over to the artist that will be laying the book out for me. Once completed, in very early 2020, I will be looking to crowdfunding to cover production costs. I am really excited about this project! I have a lot of surprises in store for this project and the future. I can not wait to share them with everyone.

I am tooting my own horn a bit, but I wanted to point out how making things takes time. I first envisioned this world 21 years ago. I made my first attempt to revisit it 11 years ago, and I started working on this project 5-6 years ago with much of the heavy lifting of work happening over the last 3 years. Your vision takes time. It is not a race. Do not beat yourself up if things don't immediately take shape. I have waited 21 years to see this come together, I am sure you can make something a little quicker than that!

If you would like to see more from my book, I have a mailing list, a dedicated blog, and I have EVERYTHING posted over on my regular blog. Below is a sample of what I have been creating. 

 The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia

Book 1 - Monsters and Merchants

The Grand Map of the Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia
30 x 20 - Pencil, acrylic paint, and ink on paper
Original - Currently not available 
© 2019 Christopher Burdett

Hollow Alley
16 x 20 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper
Original - Currently not available
© 2018 Christopher Burdett

Keeper of the Clocks
16 x 20 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper
Original - Currently not available
© 2018 Christopher Burdett

The Grand Bazaar
16 x 20 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper
Original - Currently not available
© 2018 Christopher Burdett

The Seated Dead
16 x 20 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic paint on paper
Original - Currently not available
© 2018 Christopher Burdett

Ethra VanDalia  
11 x 14 - Pencil on paper
Original - Currently not available
 © 2017 Christopher Burdett

Kiplorbic Animal Dealer
11 x 14 - Pencil on paper
Original - Currently not available 
© 2017 Christopher Burdett

Quincaillerie
11 x 14 - Pencil on paper
Original - Currently not available
© 2017 Christopher Burdett

Saint Marque
11 x 14 - Pencil on paper
Original - Currently not available 
© 2017 Christopher Burdett

Woven Shaper
11 x 14 - Pencil on paper
Original - Currently not available
© 2018 Christopher Burdett

All images are © 2019, Christopher Burdett

Toned Paper Monsters

I did a series of monster drawings on toned paper starting last year. While I have not worked on any recently I am planning on beginning on some more very soon. These are all part of a personal project that I am sloooooooowly working on. Hopefully there will be more to share about this soon!

Gray Wanderer

9 x 12

Pencil on paper
© 2014 Christopher Burdett

Original - SOLD 

 

Corrupted Knight

9 x 12

Pencil on paper
© 2014 Christopher Burdett

Original - SOLD 

 

Smokestack

9 x 12

Pencil on paper
© 2014 Christopher Burdett

Original for sale over on my web store!

Belled Kreep

11 x 14

Pencil on paper
© 2014 Christopher Burdett

Original - Currently not for sale 

 

Aberrant Stilter

11 x 14

Pencil on paper
© 2014 Christopher Burdett

Original - Currently not for sale

Thrice

11 x 14

Pencil on paper
© 2015 Christopher Burdett

Original - Currently not for sale

All images are © 2015 Christopher burdett

 RAWR!

Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Monster Redesigns and Illustrations

Late in 2013 I was part of the design team that tackled the monsters for 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons. Needless to say that for me this was a dream job and was pretty much perfectly suited for me. I got to redesign and reimagine a bunch of D&D monsters and then illustrate several of them for the new Monster Manual that came out last year. Starting things off, here are the my monster illustrations that appeared in the 5E Monster Manual...

Aarakocra - Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual

© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

Ankheg - Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual

© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

Fire Snake - Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual

© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

Kraken - Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual

© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

Salamander - Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual

© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

 Here are all the final designs that I created as part of the design process for the monsters. A lot of work went unseen to end up with these new versions. I shared some of this design work over on my own blog, but it would be just too much to post again here. ...and frankly, the final designs are much nicer to look at...

All images are © 2014 Wizards of the Coast

 RAWR!

Kaijudo - Gone but not forgotten...

2014 saw the release of my first, and last, Kaijudo cards because in 2014 the game was cancelled. I joined the Kaijudo team a little later then some, but before it was all over I had a chance to work on some really fun pieces. It was a huge blast to work on such a colorful and less realistic universe.

I was sad to see Kaijudo go and I am sure I was not the only one. Thankfully before the end I was able to create five pieces for the game. Of those five, three saw print, one was released digitally, and the last was never released but I was given permission to share it. Here are my contribution to Kaijudo...

"Virulent Worm" - Kaijudo - Eye of the Storm

© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

"Rock Bite" - Kaijudo - Unreleased

© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

"Decay" - Kaijudo - Vortex

© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

"Lava Burst" - Kaijudo - Vortex

© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

"Overshields" - Kaijudo - Vortex

© 2014 Wizards of the Coast

RAWR!

D&D Dungeon Master's Screen

Last year when WotC approached me to illustrate the Dungeon Master's Screen, I was in disbelief, and double checked the recipient address to make sure they hadn't accidentally sent an email that was meant for someone else. Once I realized that, yes, they did actually want me for this assignment I jumped up and down and squealed. Then I peed my pants a little bit.

It is the largest and most time consuming (digital) piece I've ever done, about 45 days. Due to advertising needs, I had to do the image in layers, each character, environmental element, and effect had to be on a separate layer. It also had to read as four separate panels, integrated into a single wide horizontal foldable format. In the end it was around 20 layers (and I painted on the wrong layer at least a dozen times throughout the process).

Thumbnails

Grayscale
They liked thumbnail #1, and we collectively decided to flip the image so it read from left to right. I also wanted to increase the size of the dragon so it's wings spread across all four panels.

Color Process
A number of elements were revised, mostly the Kobolds surrounding the adventure party. I painted those changes in color instead of my usual grayscale to color method.

Final Color

individual Panel Details

all images © Wizards of the Coast