Showing posts with label Ewok. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ewok. Show all posts

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Forest Awareness - Star Wars - Process

This was suppose to go up yesterday, but I had a day job photo shoot I was on all day and getting this post queued up slipped through the cracks.

In May I first shared with you my Forest Awareness painting for the Star Wars LCG. Today I have for you the process and steps that went into making this painting. This is another older Star Wars piece that was finally released and now I finally am getting around to sharing the process. To start things off, here is how the final painting of Forest Awareness turned out...

Forest Awareness
Star Wars LCG - Press the Attack
14 x 11 - Acrylic and pencil on board
Art Director - Zoe Robinson
© 2016 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

This piece was a straggler that was done shortly after my Ephant Mon and Wicket paintings that I have previously shared. Star Wars cards come out in six pack blocks which are built around a theme, one set per month (give or take) for six months. An entire card block worth of art is commissioned all at once, so art can take a long time to come out.You never know if your card will be in the first pack or the last pack. Then there are times when the details, names, titles, etc change in production and then you never know what is going on. It's fun that way! Like I said, this is another card I did a while back that is just recently getting an official release.

This was an interesting one. The art order was really wide open and simply called for an Ewok doing something smart or knowledgeable in the forest. There were suggestions of the Ewok leading Rebels through the forest, hunting, tracking, etc. I talked a bit with Zoe about the direction to go with this one and we finally both agreed on an Ewok following track. Also, since the art order was open and allowed for it, I suggested that I make the Ewok a named and recognizable Ewok and I got approval to make it Teebo. With all that taken care of it was time to get to work!

Starting things of we have some thumbnails... because that is ALWAYS how I start these things off. I shot some weird selfies of myself crouching in my studio doing my best Ewok impression and then got to work. Here are how the thumbnails turned out...

Forest Awareness - Thumbnails
© 2016 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

Looking at the thumbnails you know that option 'A' was the winning one. I still really like option 'B' and wonder how it would have turned out if we had gone in that direction. I liked the idea that Teebo is sniffing the air and getting his barrings on the animal that he is tracking. Oh well, what could have been. No matter, we have a finiahed painting of 'A' to look at. With a thumbnail approved, it was time to get drawing...

Forest Awareness
Star Wars LCG - Press the Attack
17 x 14 - Pencil on paper
Art Director - Zoe Robinson
© 2016 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

They get no more straight forward than this. Translated the thumbnail into a finished drawing and it was approved. Added lots of details, worked out some stuff and at this point it was just a matter of getting started on the painting. Which I did. Here is the Forest Awareness coming together in 16 easy steps...

Forest Awareness - Process progression
© 2016 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

This one had a little bit of an uncertain start. If you notice I was definitely going in one direction with this piece at the beginning - blue sky, a cool color scheme... and it was just not working. Hard to tell here, but it was really not working for me. It also felt odd, off, and maybe a little to similar to my Wicket piece. I wanted to do something different and something cool. I pushed the sky yellow and warmed a lot of things up and the moment I did this the painting began to come together. After this choice to go yellow the only other hurdle was to get the foot prints to work the way I wanted them to. The foot prints seemed to take way longer then they should of. Oh well... thems the breaks. Here is an animated progression of the painting to better show it coming together...

Forest Awareness - Animated process
© 2016 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

As an added bonus, I happened to have taken a photo of my work space when I was finishing up this painting. Not sure if it will unlock any secrets, but if should give you an idea of how I work... or at least how a worked a couple years ago.

Forest Awareness - Work space
© 2016 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

Here again is the final painting of Forest Awareness and the final production card that it was used on... 
Forest Awareness
Star Wars LCG - Press the Attack
14 x 11 - Acrylic and pencil on board
Art Director - Zoe Robinson
© 2016 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games 
 
Forest Awareness in handy dandy card form

That is all for another exciting Thursday 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 9, 2016

Wicket W. Warrick - Star Wars - Process

In December of last year I first shared with you my Wicker W. Warrick painting for the Star Wars LCG. Today I have for you the process and steps that went into making this piece. The thing about this piece is that it is nearly two years old now. I worked on it at the end of 2014 and now at the end of 2016 I am sharing the process. I have come a long way with my traditional work in this time, so in some ways this is a look back at how I use to paint, and not how I currently paint. To start things off, here is how the final painting of Wicket turned out...

Wicket W. Warrick
Star Wars LCG - Solo's Command
14 x 11 - Acrylic and pencil on board
Art Director - Zoe Robinson
© 2015 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

As always this piece started with some thumbnails. I played around with some image of my action figures and worked on some compositions. There was a very specific moment from Return of the Jedi I was going for, so I focused on trying to capture that moment and the emotional response I had to it. Here are how the thumbnails turned out...

Wicket W. Warrick - Thumbnails
© 2015 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

Obviously, option "C" was the winner. Not sure if could disagree with this now and I certainly did not disagree at the time. "B" may have been interesting to work on, but "C" is clearly the winner of this bunch. Now that I had an approved thumbnail is was time to move forward on the drawing...

Wicket W. Warrick
Star Wars LCG - Solo's Command
17 x 14 - Pencil on paper
Art Director - Zoe Robinson
© 2015 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

The drawing was approved without comment and it was time to get to work on the painting. As I mentioned above I was aiming to capture a very specific mood and moment from Return of the Jedi with this painting. I wanted to represent in my own way the moments leading up to Wicket first meeting Princess Leia. I watched that section of the film and looked at a lot of frames from it to get a feel for the color and lighting of that moment. Hopefully, by the time I was done with my painting I managed to get a little of that on screen magic I was aiming for.

Wicket W. Warrick - Reference

I had a drawing, I had my reference, I had a plan, and I had a painting to make. This one came together fairly quickly and was rather straight forward. There is loads of reference of Wicket out there and I was working from images from the movie for color and mood. It was all a matter of getting the piece made and not making a mess of it. Like I said, this was from two years ago now and I was still (kinda still am) intimidated by the materials and I sometime feel that it could all go horribly wrong in a second. Here is the painting coming together in twelve easy steps...

Wicket W. Warrick - Process Steps
© 2015 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

Here is the painting coming together in a animated format. Thankfully there were no gaffs or errors along the way that need to be addressed and I planned out everything in advance. Not a very exciting story of the process, but sometime that is okay.

Wicket W. Warrick - Animated Process
© 2015 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

I will point out the blood. With all of my Ewok pieces I try to add a bit of blood. Ewoks after all are carnivores and were planning on eating Luke, Han, and Chewie. I see them a competent hunters that take pride and enjoyment in the hunt. It is survival, but it is also something they enjoy doing. There is blood on the top of Wicket's spear and a splatter trail of blood on the log and plants that he is following. Wicket wounded something and now he is closing in on the prey, little does he know he is about to run into a princess.

Here again is the final painting of Wicket and the final production card that it was used on...

Wicket W. Warrick
Star Wars LCG - Solo's Command
14 x 11 - Acrylic and pencil on board
Art Director - Zoe Robinson
© 2015 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

Wicket W. Warrick in handy dandy card form

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 16, 2016

Forest Awareness - Star Wars LCG: Press the Attack

This past week saw the release of Press the Attack, the newest expansion to the Star Wars Card Game, which means I now can share another new piece of Star Wars art. I say new, but I painted this way back in February of 2015 and it is just now being released. Good things come to those that wait? No matter, because the wait for Forest Awareness (featuring Teebo) is now over...

Forest Awareness
Star Wars LCG - Press the Attack
14 x 11 - Acrylic and pencil on board
Art Director - Zoe Robinson
© 2016 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

Forest Awareness
Star Wars LCG - Press the Attack
17 x 14 - Pencil on paper
Art Director - Zoe Robinson
© 2016 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

This piece was rather open ended when it was assigned to me. It called for an Ewok doing something that show it looking proficient in the ways of the forest. Some of the suggestions from production were to have the Ewok leading a Rebel soldier though the forest, an Ewok tracking something, or an Ewok hunting... anything that made the Ewok look like it knows what it is doing. The Ewok choice was also up to me so I of course wanted to pick one of the named Ewoks from Return of the Jedi. Teebo was the first to come to mind since he is a master hunter and tracker. Teebo tracking animal tracks in the forest ended up being the focus of the final piece. And I of course had to put blood on Teebo's club since Ewoks are blood thirsty predators.

I will have more to share with this piece in the near future when I share the process that went into it. For now, here is a look at the printed card...

Forest Awareness in handy dandy card form

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

Monday, December 14, 2015

Wicket W. Warrick - Star Wars LCG: Solo's Command

This is certainly a good week to debut new Star Wars work and that is exactly what I have for you today! A year ago today I was finishing this vary painting and now I can share it with you. I present you my painting (and drawing) for the character card of Wicket W. Warrick...

Wicket W. Warrick
Star Wars LCG - Solo's Command
14 x 11 - Acrylic and pencil on board
Art Director - Zoe Robinson
© 2015 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

Wicket W. Warrick
Star Wars LCG - Solo's Command
17 x 14 - Pencil on paper
Art Director - Zoe Robinson
© 2015 Lucasfilm, Ltd. TM Lucasfilm, Ltd. Under license to Fantasy Flight Games

I was super thrilled when I was asked (MANY thanks, Zoe!) to do the character card for Wicket W. Warrick and I really wanted to capture the moment and feel when he was first appears on screen in Return of the Jedi. I looked at a lot of photos and stills from that moment to base my composition and palette for this painting. Hopefully I am doing that moment justice. I will have more about this piece in the future when I do a process break down. As with all of my Ewok paintings I am including a bit of blood on the weapons, since they are carnivorous hunters in such of meat to eat. I am super happy with how the card printed...

Wicket W. Warrick in handy dandy card form

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

Monday, June 15, 2015

Teebo

YUB NUB! Today I have for you another little Star Wars study of an Ewok. This time around Teebo, the Ewok scout, warrior, and apprentice to Logray, got some attention with the paint. This was the second of two little Ewok studies I planned to do awhile back, the other being Logray. Here is how Teebo turned out...

Teebo
4 x 4 - Acrylic and pencil on board
Original - SOLD
© 2015 Christopher Burdett

Slowly making my way through all the named Ewok from Return of the Jedi. This now makes three Ewok pieces counting my Chief Chirpa from last year, Logray, and now Teebo ...or does it? As mentioned many times before with these smaller painted studies the original drawing was created much larger then the intended painting size. Here is how the drawing for Teebo turned out...

Teebo - Drawing
  9 x 12 - Pencil on paper
Original - Currently not available, contact me if interested
or come see it at Gen Con 2015 (7/30 - 8/2)!
© 2015 Christopher Burdett

I had the presence of mind to remember to take a several photos of this little piece coming together. Not sure how much information they provide, but I am glad I have them for the archive.

All images © 2015 Christopher Burdett

I have a busy June and July ahead of me leading up to Gen Con, so I am not sure how many more personal pieces I will have time for before then. If anything does take shape you can be sure it will show up here on the blog!

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

Monday, April 27, 2015

Logray

YUB NUB! Today I have for you another little Star Wars study of an Ewok. This time around Logray, the Ewok shaman, got some attention with the paint. I have had this one sitting around for awhile waiting to be painted and I finally made the time for it. Here is how Logray turned out...

Logray
4 x 4 - Acrylic on board
Original - SOLD
© 2015 Christopher Burdett

Eventually, if given enough time I may finally paint all the named Ewok from the Return of the Jedi. With Logray finish this makes two Ewok pieces counting my Chief Chirpa from last year. ...or does it? As mentioned many times before with these smaller painted studies the original drawing was created much larger then the intended painting size. Here is how the drawing for Logray turned out...

Logray - Drawing
  9 x 12 - Pencil on paper
Original - Currently not available, contact me if interested
or come see it at Gen Con 2015 (7/30 - 8/2)!
© 2015 Christopher Burdett

I had the presence of mind to remember to take a couple photos of this little piece coming together. Not sure how much information they provide, but I am glad I have them for the archive.

All images © 2015 Christopher Burdett

I am currently trying to clear out the backlog of personal projects that have been sitting around in various states of completion. I have one more little painting that has been sitting around for a LONG time that need to be finished up. Once this last painting is completed I will be able to focus on creating some new personal work. Hopefully this last piece can be completed soon!

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

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Chief Chirpa

YUB NUB! Today I have for you a new traditionally painted Star Wars piece. This time around it is a small portrait of the Ewok, Chief Chirpa. I wanted to work a bit smaller for this one, see how quickly I could finish it and try out some new materials on it. I present you with a very small Chief Chirpa...

"Chief Chirpa"
  4 x 4
acrylic, pencil, and gouache on board
Original - SOLD
© 2014 Christopher Burdett

As with my other Star Wars piece I have been doing for myself the initial drawing is much larger then the final painting... this time even more so. The Chief Chirpa drawing is on 9 x 12 paper. Since I knew it was going to end up so much smaller I decided to work a little looser and quicker on the drawing. Once it was shrunk down to 4 x 4 it really tightened up and was perfect for the painting. Here is how the drawing turned out...

Chief Chirpa - Drawing
9 x 12
Pencil on paper
© 2014 Christopher Burdett

I was working very quickly on this one, but still managed to get some images of it along the way. There is only one gap when I realized I had not taken a photo in a while... but you should still see what I was doing... or not doing. Here is Chirpa coming together in paint form...

All images © 2014 Christopher Burdett

Here is another handy dandy animated gif of all those images so you can look at them all at once...


Chief Chirpa - Process progression

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