The DOODLES, DESIGNS, and aRT of CHRISTOPHER BURDETT: Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants

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Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Storm Crab - Dungeons & Dragons - Process

Today, I am happy to share the process and steps for one of my contributions to the Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants. I somehow missed sharing this before and thought it was already shared when I recently posted the process for the Fomorian Deep Crawler. So, ignore that I said the Fomorian Deep Crawler was the last one of these for this book; the Storm Crab is the final process post for it. Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants focuses on all things giants, including giant crabs that eat young dragon turtles. Here is the final painting for the Storm Crab about to enjoy a snack.

Storm Crab

Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Emi Tamji

I was asked illustrate the Storm Crab, while there was a concept design for this already I was asked to expand on it and make it more my own. I am always up for designing and painting monsters! The Storm Crab was described as:

This illustration depicts a STORM CRAB. The crab is a monstrously large crustacean capable of hunting dragon turtles. Its carapace is wide, like a crab, but also has a narrow thorax that ends in a STINGER. The crab has three long limbs, and two pairs of pincer claws. One pair is larger than the other, and the smaller pair is closer to its head. The shell is spikey and can have bioluminescent algae growing on it.

The crab is attacking a young DRAGON TURTLE that is about half its size. It holds the dragon turtle in its claws, and it is looking to stab it with its stinger to inject a paralyzing venom.

This all sounds fun to work on, so I got to work on some thumbnails. As with some of the others pieces for this book I was battling a very narrow tall composistional space - something that gave me a certain amount of ttouble. In the end, I think I made them all work. Here are the thumbnails that I submitted.

Storm Crab - Thumbnails

These were well recieved and I was asked to make a small update to option 'B'. Production wanted more dangling creepy legs to be seen below and behind the dragon turtle. Here is the updated thumbnail that I submitted.

Storm Crab - Revised thumbnail

The updated thumbnail was approved without additional notes and revisions. I was now approved to take it to the next process phase. I always create a final traditional drawing for every project to work out the details and to give myself a tangible product from the assignment. Here is the Storm Crab drawing.

Storm Crab

Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants

11 x 14 -Colored pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

Art Director - Emi Tamji

The drawing was approved without comment, and it was time to start on the final painting. Here is the painting of the Storm Crab taking shape.

Storm Crab - Process

While I did not paint this one as quickly as the Fomorian Deep Crawler, I did complete this one in record time. Again, these were very straightforward pieces, and I had worked out all the details ahead of time. The color and deco choices for the turtle are establishedand I was free to make the crab however I choosed. I went with colors and deco that is familair to me and the crabs I have seen in my life. There were no issues and no edits or changes needed for it. Here, again, is the final painting of the Storm Crab.

Storm Crab

Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants

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

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Fomorian Deep Crawler - Dungeons & Dragons - Process

Today, I am happy to share the process and steps for one of my contributions to the Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants. This is the last of four contributions to the book. Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants focuses on all things giants, including misshapen and horrible giants. Here is the final painting for the Fomorian Deep Crawler, a twisted and evil monster that dwells below the ground.

Fomorian Deep Crawler

Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Emi Tamji

I was asked to design and illustrate the Fomorian Deep Crawler after discovering that the original image created for the book was not entirely created by a human and needed to be replaced. I had an EXTREMELY tight turnaround for this one and threw everything I had at it. The Fomorian Deep Crawler was described as:

This illustration depicts a MALE FOMORIAN DEEP CRAWLER. The fomorian has spent his life crawling and has become very adept at moving that way. His limbs are stretched out and sinuous, and he is as flexible as a contortionist. His movement looks unnatural and disturbing. He could have one of his legs swinging over his head and kicking himself forward. There could be curves to his movement mimicking a centipede or serpent.

The fomorian is in a charging pose, rushing towards something or someone offscreen. There is an urgency to his movement, and he has a depraved look in his eyes.

This all sounds like a fun thing to work on - but it would be nice to not have to remake it in a few hours. I knew the body posistion and composistion for this one would be tricky, so I made sure I could provide a few variations to see what would work best. We shot some reference of me doing my best Fomorian Deep Crawler impression and started scribbling. Here are the thumbnails that I submitted.

Fomorian Deep Crawler - Thumbnails

These were well recieved and they chose to move forward with a horizontal composistion, which I was happy with. They wanted to see some of the elements from 'A' and 'B' combined and given a little more twist, which I was more than happy to do. Here is the updated thumbnail that I submitted.

Fomorian Deep Crawler - Revised thumbnail

Fomorian Deep Crawler

Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants

11 x 14 -Colored pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

Art Director - Emi Tamji

The drawing was approved without comment, and it was time to start on the final painting. Here is the painting of the Fomorian Deep Crawler taking shape.

Fomorian Deep Crawler - Process

As I mentioned, I had a VERY short deadline on this one. Basically - get it done as fast as you can. So, when it came to the painting, that is what I did. I think in the end, the painting took less than five hours to complete. I sat down, and I painted it. There was no time to do anything else. In there end there was one revision request, and that was to desatuate the giant a little bit. This was an easy change and with that it was completed. Not bad for less that a days work. Here, again, is the final painting of the Fomorian Deep Crawler.

Fomorian Deep Crawler

Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants

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

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Runic Colossus - Dungeons & Dragons - Process

Today, I am happy to share the process and steps for one of my contributions to the Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants. This is one of four contributions to the book. Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants focuses on all things giants, including giant things that are not living creatures. Here is the final painting for the Runic Colossus, a giant statue that can shoot energy-PEW PEW PEW.

Runic Colossus

Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Emi Tamji

I was asked to design and illustrate the Runic Colossus, a new monster for Dungeons & Dragons. I was provided with the necessary reference, so I jumped right in. The Runic Colossus was described as:

This illustration depicts a RUNIC COLOSSUS. The colossus is an enormous CONSTRUCT made of smooth STONE with mithral or adamantine around the joints and stands at 30 feet (9m) tall. The colossus is modeled after a STORM GIANT. Runes are inscribed along its body (no more than 1 per body part).

The colossus is firing a beam of MAGIC ENERGY at a foe offscreen. This beam could be fired from the chest, hands, or eyes.

This all sounds like a fun thing to work on. While I had some trouble fitting the Gigant into the compositional space, the Runic Colossus was a lot easier to make work in the tall narrow area I needed to work in. We shot some reference of me doing my best Runic Colossus impression and started scribbling. Here are the thumbnails that I submitted.

Runic Colossus- Thumbnails

These were well received, but they were not all the way to where they needed to be. Production liked where 'A' was headed, but they wanted the body twisted a little more and the waist accentuated more to show that this is not a living, breathing giant. I will say that I was pretty excited to do a version of 'B' with that cool frontal helemt plate and the eye beams shooting around, but it was not meant to be. Here is the updated thumbnail that I submitted.

Runic Colossus- Revised thumbnail

The updated thumbnail checked all the boxes and was approved without additional notes and revisions. I was now approved to take it to the next process phase. I always create a final traditional drawing for every project to work out the details and to give myself a tangible product from the assignment. Here is the Runic Colossus drawing.

Runic Colossus

Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants

11 x 14 -Colored pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

Art Director - Emi Tamji

The drawing was approved without comment, and it was time to start on the final painting. Here is the painting of the Runic Colossus taking shape.

Runic Colossus - Process

The painting process was straightforward, and there were no issues. There were no edits or changes requested for the Runic Colossus. Sadly, I have no juicy stories to share about how production wanted major edits or that I had a breakdown halfway through and decided to make this as an etching. I sat down and painted it, and it was done. I will say that I have found I like to paint green leaning rock and stone. I'm not sure why, but I just prefer it a LOT more to a more neutral grey rock or stone. It just spices it up more, and it makes me happy. Here, again, is the final painting of the Runic Colossus.

Runic Colossus

Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants

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, October 2, 2023

Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants - Fomorian Deep Crawler - Dungeons & Dragons

While I have shared work that I created for Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants recently, I have one additional piece to share. Without going into too much detail, the plagiarism algorithm was used on several pieces originally submitted for this book. When that became known as the book was being released, WotC took steps to correct this. To that end, artists were brought in to replace the work that had to be removed. These updated pieces will appear in all reprints of the book and will appear in all digital versions. This was a rush job, to say the least, and I had only a few days to turn this piece around. I will go into more detail later, but for now, here is my version of the Fomorian Deep Crawler for Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants.

Fomorian Deep Crawler

Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Emi Tamji

I will mention now that I never saw the version that I replaced. While I did look at the book at Gen Con, it was only to see how my three pieces printed and to get a photo of them in the book. I had planned to take in the rest of the book once my contributor copies arrived (which has still not happened). I am not sure if I will seek out the original version or not.

As with all my D&D pieces, even though the final is digital, there are original drawings available. These are no exception, and I was pleased with how the drawings from this book turned out. Here is the drawing for the Fomorian Deep Crawler.

Fomorian Deep Crawler

Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants

11 x 14 -Colored pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

Art Director - Emi Tamji

Funny side note: of the four pieces I ultimately created for this book, this drawing is my favorite. Not sure why. I had the least amount of time to work on this one, but somehow, I feel like I spent more time on it and achieved a better end result. I will also mention that these images have been Glazed, so any minor artifacts you might detect are simply there for my artistic protection.

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

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Gigant - Dungeons & Dragons - Process

Today, I am happy to share the process and steps for one of my contributions to the Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants. This is one of three(four) contributions to the book. Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants focuses on all things giants, and that includes things that eat giants and other giant things. Here is the final painting for the Gigant, a giant insect that eats giants.

Gigant

Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants

11 x 14 - Digital

Art Director - Emi Tamji

I was asked to design and illustrate the Gigant, as it was a new monster for Dungeons & Dragons. It is hard to go wrong with a giant insect, so I jumped right in. The Gigant was described as:

This illustration depicts a GIGANT. The gigant is a colossal insectile creature 40-50 feet (12-15m) tall. Its carapace is shiny like a beetle and can have a variety of colors on its shell. The carapace is flexible enough for the gigant to appear upright like a mantis. The gigant has SIX limbs, each ending in three-toed talons. The gigant has a pair of long, jagged
mandibles like a Chilean stag beetle (see reference), and razor-sharp teeth.

The gigant has a MALE HILL GIANT in its grasp and is carrying it off to feed on it in its nest. Its wing carapace is open and its wings are unfurled and beating fast. The hill giant is in pure terror and panic as it can’t get out of the gigant’s grip, and it is high off the ground.

This all sounds like a fun monster to work on. The main hurdle, and the hurdle to most of the pieces I did for this book, was to squeeze one or more giant creatures, doing giant things, being giants, into a relatively thin and tall compositional space. At least with the Gigant, the wings could go beyond the dimensions of the assignment. Here are the thumbnails that I submitted.

Gigant- Thumbnails

These were well received, but they were not all the way to where they needed to be. The giant needed to be tweaked a bit, and there were a couple of small changes asked for the Gigant. Here is the updated thumbnail that I submitted.

Gigant- Revised thumbnail

The updated thumbnail checked all the boxes and was approved without additional notes and revisions. I was now approved to take it to the next phase of the process. I always create a final traditional drawing for every project to work out the details and to give myself a tangible product from the assignment. Here is the Gigant drawing.

Gigant

Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants

11 x 14 -Colored pencil on paper

Original - SOLD

Art Director - Emi Tamji

The drawing was approved without comment, and it was time to start on the final painting. Here is the painting of the Gigant taking shape.

Gigant - Process

The painting process was straightforward, and there were no issues along the way. I was asked after I submitted the final painting to lighten the overall color of the wings and to show some of the back leg and abdomen through the blurred flapping. These were all changes that I could quickly make, so there is no longer a before and after version of the file. I made the changes and doing them left the final file in the final approved state. I might have a jpeg of the original versions in an email, but for all intents and purposes, that earlier version is gone, leaving only this final version. That seems like a lot of words to say they wanted changes, and I just made them without ensuring a version of the first draft survived. Here, again, is the final painting for the Gigant.

Gigant

Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants

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