Burkett, D. Brent

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Burkett, D. Brent

Personal

Male.

Addresses

Home—Springfield, OR.

Career

Painter, video-game artist, and illustrator. Created artwork for games, including Stellar 7, Dynamix, 1990; Nova 9: Return of Gir Draxon, Sierra, 1991; Heart of China, Sierra, 1991; The Adventures of Willy Beamish, Dynamix, 1991; Aces of the Pacific, Dynamix, 1992; Betrayal at Krondor, Sierra, 1993; Aces over Europe, Sierra, 1993; Aces of the Deep, Sierra, 1994; and Command: Aces of the Deep, Sierra, 1995.

Illustrator

Maryl Barker, Gracie, Gracemar Productions (Eugene, OR), 1997.

Maryl Barker, Wild Country Animal Park, Gracemar Productions (Eugene, OR), 1998.

Maryl Barker, My Own Backyard, Gracemar Productions (Eugene, OR), 1999.

Lloyd Alexander, Dream-of-Jade: The Emperor's Cat, Cricket (Chicago, IL), 2005.

Eve Bunting, Reggie, Cricket (Chicago, IL), 2006.

Sidelights

Oregon-based artist D. Brent Burkett is best known for his oil paintings of Willamette Valley. Video game players might recognize his work on computer games from Sierra or Dynamix, including the computer role-playing game Betrayal at Krondor, based on the work of fantasy writer Raymond Feist. Burkett did not begin illustrating for children until 1997, when he was approached by Maryl Barker of GraceMar Productions, who was looking for an illustrator for a series of books about her dog, Gracie. Burkett illustrated three titles for Barker—Gracie, Wild Country Animal Park, and My Own Backyard—all of which feature full-color illustrations in a realistic style. Most of the illustrations feature the large black Labrador/shar-pei star, but some include more imaginative images, such as gophers around a stove, singing as they prepare a morning breakfast.

Burkett is also the illustrator of Dream-of-Jade: The Emperor's Cat, a collection of related short stories by Lloyd Alexander, three of which were originally published in Cricket magazine. Set in a fictional setting reminiscent of ancient China, the satiric tales tell how the cat, Dream-of-Jade, becomes a friend to the emperor. The "finely lined, stylish paintings on marbled yellow backgrounds convey the cultural mystique, invoking both richness and absurdity," wrote Julie Cummins in a Booklist review of Dream-of-Jade. Calling the book "handsome," Miriam Lang Budin noted in School Library Journal that Burkett's "graceful pencil-and-watercolor art … adds atmosphere." The color illustrations "lavishly capture court life in ancient China as well as Dream-of-Jade's feline essence," wrote a contributor to Kirkus Reviews. A Publishers Weekly contributor felt that Burkett "humorously illustrates the havoc" brought about by the emperor allowing the cat to advise him, "and captures the growing love between the wise cat and the perceptive Emperor."

Along with picture books, Burkett has also illustrated a book for beginning readers, creating black-and-white drawings for Eve Bunting's novel Reggie. Kay Weisman, writing in Booklist, noted that the design of the book, as well as the "frequent black-and-white illustrations make for an appealing format," and a Kirkus Reviews contributor complimented Burkett's "rich, atmospheric pen-and-ink illustrations."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 15, 2005, Julie Cummins, review of Dream-of-Jade: The Emperor's Cat, p. 61; October 1, 2006, Kay Weisman, review of Reggie, p. 56.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, January, 2007, Elizabeth Bush, review of Reggie, p. 204.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2005, review of Dream-of-Jade, p. 907; August 1, 2006, review of Reggie, p. 782.

Publishers Weekly, September 5, 2005, review of Dream-of-Jade, p. 62.

School Library Journal, November, 2005, Miriam Lang Budin, review of Dream-of-Jade, p. 82; November, 2006, Debbie Lewis O'Donnell, review of Reggie, p. 86.