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Monster Mash: The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia

Who doesn’t love monsters? I’ve spent my career as a writer exploring the otherworldly and fantastical, but I don’t have the artistic skills to illustrate my creations. Instead, I’ve lived vicariously through my friend Christopher Burdett, a premier talent in all things monstrous. I’m proud and honored to put a spotlight on his latest achievement, a magnum opus of creature design and world building—The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia.

I first met Chris in the early 2000s while visiting Los Angeles to report on a charity event for the show Angel. He was part of the teams that designed and created creatures for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly, including one of my all-time favorites—the Beast. It was surreal to observe him and others at the workshop breathing life into the monsters I’d watched each week. But, more importantly, the kindness that he and his wife showed me (a complete stranger) was a rare gift. When I moved to LA to pursue screenwriting, they were there for me when I didn’t know a soul. Having that personal and creative companionship was invaluable.

Over the years, I’ve followed Chris’ career and ascension to living his best life. From special makeup effects to sculpture to painting (and even puppeteering), he has done it all. Since 2005, he’s worked in tabletop gaming, trading cards, and miniatures where his art has been featured in mega franchises like Magic the Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, and many Star Wars games. Despite this impressive body of work, Chris truly shines in his creator-owned material. The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia is a passion project whose origins date back to 1998. For the past five years, Chris put all of his spare creative energy into completing the first in a series of books about the Bazaar: Monsters and Merchants. After a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign, it was finally ready to be shared with the world.

Set on the planet Kiervis, The Grand Bazaar is a “nexus of culture and trade” created by an ancient being known as Ethra VanDalia. The city-sized market is a melting pot of cultures, races, and organizations from all over Kiervis and beyond, many of which rival Ethra’s power. A growing authority called Shaper has supported the Bazaar with biomechanical tools, but their true motives may not be so altruistic. The Construct Guild seeks to free people from the limitations of flesh, while the Impure Husk is dedicated to uncovering all the Bazaar’s truths. And deep below the Bazzar, a malevolent force known only as the Entity threatens to corrupt all that Ethra has built.

Monsters and Merchants is far more than a simple A-Z compendium. I expected top-tier artwork but was blown away by the depth of Chris’ unique storytelling. Presented as Ethra’s gathered research, the book explores the Bazaar and its inhabitants through contrasting points of view that weave together an ambitious history and mythology. Each entry gives the reader a portion of the truth with writings from: Agatha Luculent Habile of the Impure Husk who details the form and habits of creatures; Reginald Blatherskite, a storied researcher with a passion for knowledge matched only by that for the Bazaar’s decadent offerings; and Ethra themselves, whose insights often reveal truth behind fiction. Other entries, such as children’s rhymes and notes from Argus the Skeptic, round out the experience. Who or what is the Gray Wanderer? Why should you never stick your hand in a Shaper Cleaner? What is the Nimsbane Curse, and what are the effects of eating Grynk meat? And gods help you if you try to haggle with a Kiplorbic Animal Dealer. Monsters and Merchants covers all this and so much more.

Having only known Chris as an artist, I was surprised to learn that writing was always in his skillset, despite struggling with dyslexia. Advances in technology, especially spellcheck, helped him adapt and overcome the challenges of his youth. The Grand Bazaar was his chance to finally flex those writing muscles on a larger scale. “I think most people were expecting an art book or bestiary. But I had the stories within me, some have been there for twenty-two years, and they were desperate to get out.”

While some of his stories had been gestating for years, others evolved over the course of the project. “Ethra has been with me for over twenty-two years and has grown and changed over the years to be who they are today. Shaper came into being as I worked on the book. Who they are in the story and the role they play in the Grand Bazaar developed as I worked on the book. I am not sure Shaper was ever meant to be as important as they are, but that is the thing about Shaper, they are always the center of attention.”

The quality of Chris’ work is apparent as soon as you hold Monsters and Merchants in your hand. The 246-page book is 9×12 with a faux leather cover featuring gold foil, and a ribbon to hold your place between the immaculate pages. The artwork bears a distinct, almost monochromatic style created with colored pencil, acrylic paint, and ink. The monsters are each impressive in their own right, but the dizzying amount of detail comprising the Bazaar map and larger scenes is next level. The painstaking process behind the creation of each piece is a testament to his commitment:

“I start on tan BFK Rives paper. I used to use it for printmaking and use it now because it is thick, is good with dry and wet media, and can take a beating. I then create the line work with black colored pencil. This is followed by a black colored pencil render pass. This takes the longest, and I create all the forms and establish the lighting by creating all the shadows. I then do a white colored pencil render pass. I put in all the light, highlights, and finish the rendering of the forms. Now I go in with white acrylic paint. I do a lot of washes with the paint to knock back the backgrounds, establish depth, and help direct the eye of the viewer by adjusting contrast within the image. I will also go in with straight paint for flames, light sources, highlights, and anything else that needs to bright white. Finally I use black ink. I did a lot of washes to unify the shadows and to also adjust the contrast of the overall piece. While the colored pencil is not water soluble, it can be blended a little with water and I will do very light washes of black ink or just water to smooth areas of the image and create different textures on the surface.”

Where does the inspiration for his art come from? Often the most unlikely of places, as is the case for one of his favorite pieces, Hollow Alley: “Hollow Alley came from discovering a toad sitting in a drainage hole while walking one morning. The idea for the piece, the story behind it, and what I wanted the final art to look like all instant came into my mind when I saw that toad.”

But getting the stories and art on paper is only one step of the process. Completing a book of any kind is daunting, and Chris embraced the challenge. “I received an amazing piece of advice nine years ago when I attended my first Illustration Master Class. Making a book is impossible. It simply can’t be done. BUT, you can make an outline, you can work on thumbnails, you can create an illustration, and you can write a few paragraphs. Those things, you can do. If you do enough of those things, eventually, you will have created a book. This is exactly how I approached the creation of this book, and it seems to have worked out.”

The collaborative experience also presents one of the great challenges for a creator: relinquishing control. “I am accustomed to doing every last part of the art that I make, but I needed an editor, a layout artist with an amazing knowledge of type, people who could create gaming stats for my monsters, a publisher to run the Kickstarter and oversee the actual manufacturing of the book, and complete product fulfillment. I could not have done it alone.”The end result speaks for itself: Monsters and Merchants is a masterwork, the brainchild of a man wholly dedicated to his craft. The book can be purchased here, so be sure to grab your copy before they sell out. Also available are enamel pins, a stat book for bringing the monsters to your tabletop games, and even a coloring book. But this is only the beginning for The Grand Bazaar. In his newsletter, Chris recently revealed that he has begun work on additional books. Book Two: The Complete Circle will be an ancient tale of adventure and the early years of the Bazaar as translated by Reginald. Book Three: In The Black picks up where Monsters and Merchants left off. What will become of Ethra, Shaper, and the Entity?

“The most enjoyable part of any project, more so with this one, is putting my signature on a finished piece of art and then seeing it printed in a book.”

I say this without exaggeration—The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia has rejuvenated my creative light in a time when the world seems at its darkest. There’s nothing more inspiring than seeing the culmination of someone’s dedication, passion, and skill. We all have a Grand Bazaar within. Put in the work, believe in yourself, and share your talent with the world.

To quote Chris’ traditional sign off, “RAWR!”