My game concepts

[Jason Merck]

I just wanted to post some concept work and get some feedback. This work is from Spectrum 14, Suffering 2, Spy Hunter 3, and a work in progress character.

Jason Merck

[Clandestine_IX]

Very nice work up here! I really like your environment work especially.

[Teeth]

Wow! I love the color in your environment drawings. Very nice. I hope to see you post more.

[HULKFish]

EXCELLENTE! Especially the first three... Those woods are exceptionally creepy! Looks like a scene out of The Blair Witch 2!

LOVE the contrast on the first, along with the textures and overall design... That 3rd one too!

[Nicolas Chapuis]

the environments are amazing like someoneelse has already pointed out
maybe you have some pointers for the way you do them???
because I have the biggest problems with painting bgs

[red republik]

i love the mood of the paintings. you can feel the drama in the air. amazing work! can we see some sketches?

[Blue Disciple]

Fantastic!! Number two is infinitely cool. The photos of trees that you based your paintings over made my eyes pop... I thought I was looking at a photo for a split second, until I saw your little man (he's too dark against the light).

Number four is also PRO. Just PRO.

Quick crit: Picture 1 may need some help on her left leg. Something about the foreshortening and the position looks wrong, but it could be just me.

[andyhunt]

WOW. Just wow! The illustration from Spectrum is beautiful, and I love the sense of dread in the forest image. These are all wonderfully developed. I can't wait to see more!

[Unbreakable]

Nice to see some of your work after hearing so much about you!!! Saw some of those in the Art of Midway book. Really like how painterly this are and the use of textures. Keep'em comin'

[Rhythmus]

Everything looks great, can't think of one darned critique.
I love the character WIP, I get a very Mignola-esque feeling from it.

[Jason Borne]

Wow. Sometimes I forget how good some people are around here. Beautiful work!

[Kirtz]

Jason
The forest pic and the industrial interior with the crevice are great. My only critique on the crevice piece would be that the crevice itself could use some darkest darks. It's closer to the viewer than the door and the stairs with the railings but doesn't have as much contrast. Maybe you did this so the viewer wouldn't look in the crack first and rather at the stairs. But if you color pick the open door color at the top of the stairs and use it to add some details in the middle and left parts of the crevice you'll add a lot of depth and also keep that shadowed crevice area from being too flat looking because the rest of the painting is fantastic. That'll take you like 5 minutes to fix if you feel like it ;)

Also, that guy with gun could use some more definition in his hands. I can't tell if they are hands or gloves.
Look at the face, there's a lot of detail there, but none in the hands. This is concept art, so you need to draw it out. Maybe he's got scars on his hands too, who knows, but they're definitely ambiguous hand/gloves.

The hand on the background figure of the gun guy's pic is just lazy too. It doesn't need to have high contrast, but if you fix all the hands in that piece it will be much more solid.

-Jon

[Blue Disciple]

Jason
The forest pic and the industrial interior with the crevice are great. My only critique on the crevice piece would be that the crevice itself could use some darkest darks. It's closer to the viewer than the door and the stairs with the railings but doesn't have as much contrast. Maybe you did this so the viewer wouldn't look in the crack first and rather at the stairs. But if you color pick the open door color at the top of the stairs and use it to add some details in the middle and left parts of the crevice you'll add a lot of depth and also keep that shadowed crevice area from being too flat looking because the rest of the painting is fantastic. That'll take you like 5 minutes to fix if you feel like it ;)
-Jon

Can't say I agree with Kirtz on this one. Great just like it is. It reads brilliantly and more dark in the very corner there would throw off the balance of the picture, IMO. The light reads first, then the stairs, then the door and the crack sort of come out at once. I think it couldn't be better (except given more time to render the chunky concrete and whatnot, but that's not what's important). The illusion of your environments being vividly surreal is very much a success and these exact environment renders will likely land you a job as a concept artist for most any game company (provided that can afford full-time artists of your type).

[HunterKiller_]

As already mentioned, your environments are stunning!
There's a realistic quality to them and they're just dripping with mood.
Fantastic.

[Ben_Olson]

Hi Jason!

Long time no see! Great to see you posting on here! I miss working with you.

I'm moving to Dallas this month. We should get a brewski some time.

-Ben

[El Jeremie]

Ouch, your environment are very good, and the last one is very good : your very good

[Arteater]

Amazing work, flawless technique.

[Rod28Pereira]

Great stuff man, the first one is very cool.
Do you work inside of some Studio or you work as freelancer?

Keep Posting man.

Cheers.

Rod.

[satish]

Excellent works.

[Jason Snair]

Love that first one. Love them all, but that first one...I just can't keep from staring at it. Just so many great little details in the costume. And the faint red/orange light on the rock near her feet is just perfect.

[Jason Merck]

Hey, thanks everyone for such positive feedback and constructive criticism.

Red: I'll through some old weapon sketches up in the next post and I'll see if I can put together a sketchbook thread in the near future.

Blue: thanks for the crit. You're absolutely right about her legs. I struggled for hours with her anatomy all the way up through her torso. I'll see if I can get some photo ref and fix the proportions.

Rhythmus: Thanks bro. I'm a huge fan of Mignola's work. I'm glad you can see his influence in my painting.

Kirtz: Great critism! The Crevasse image had an orangish light source down in the crack. It drew my eye to much so I painted it out but didn't get the values quite right ( I'll fix that today). No excuses for the hands either. I'll fix those too.

Blue: Yeah you're right I was trying to lead the viewers eye subtly up to the door. I'll try an add some value/contrast to the crevasse without screwing up the visual flow.

Hey Ben, what's up man? It has been long time. It's good to hear you're moving down. It'll be great to have you at the Dallas sketch group and hell yeah let's get a beer when you get here.

Rod28Pereira: I work in-house for Ensemble Studios on the Halo Wars project.

[Jason Merck]

Here's a few more concepts. The first 2 are from long dead proto type game pitches. Then more Spy Hunter and Suffering stuff. The Gunz and the Truck are from the really early days on Team Fortress 2 (I did the drawing of the truck at Valve and the painting after I left). The Last 2 images are environment walk through concepts for Spy Hunter 3.

I hope you enjoy them and please give me any critiques you have.

Jason

[Thujon]

!!! That is soo awesome!!!

Gimmi your hands!!!!!

[Titan]

Nice Stuff Man!!...its been cool getting to work with you here at ES..although I havent had opportunity to talk to you much..but your skills are really impressive!

[-kube-]

Awesome post! I’m glad to see you put your stuff up here. And congrats on getting into Spectrum!

-kube-

[Blue Disciple]

Ryan Church just called. He wants his god-like skill back.

Nothing to say regarding your latest efforts, at least: nothing negative. A bit looser, but that's fine, especially when considering speed. I still can't wrap my mind around you being so good at environments. It's beyond me. It's beyond many of us. It's a gift, bro. Use the hell out of it!!

[Idiot Apathy]

horeechit! amazing stuff!
Would love to see some progress shots if you have them!

[tatyana]

Oh dude your amazing!!
those artwork are really awesome!!!
I love the first artwork...

[towy]

wow Impressive environments, 5 stars!

[Coleb]

Wow - what painting!

Speaking of that 2nd guy - if you´re going to do something about the hands, to my eye the tattoo is floating a little and the left lapel could use some definition. But his face is amazing - I´d love to know how you do that.

Really inspiring work. Thank you!

[El Jeremie]

Mamameya, I won't have enough vocabulary to compliment you.
the amored car is really good

[red republik]

you have a great portfolio going. very inspirational stuff!

[andon hristov]

this story board is awesome wish i could draw like you

[SEVANS]

Some very cool stuff. Have to say that the environment with the rocks and creek is my favourite - just fantastic.

[Rice and eggs]

Merck, Merck, Merck... it's about time you posted. Stuff looks great and I'm glad that you finally got off of yer ass and figured out how to use the Intraweb! All the stuff looks top notch! Good job dude.

-b

[badmonur]

I want to BEEEE you!
Great work man great work indeed. I love your enviroments

[vigostar]

That first one is gem. Fantastic works. Look forward to seeing more.

[JellevdVegt]

inspiring, very very inspiring

[CHARLES CARVALHO]

Wow!
Your work is really good! Congratulations... That motivates!
Takes care!

[JIVA*SOUL]

z000 is fantastic.

I love your edge contrasts and textures.
Can you post more like this?

[slooie]

amazing stuff. wow , your skill is what i strive for

[Jason Merck]

Wow, thanks again everybody for all the complements.

Titan, Kube, Red and Rice: Thanks fellas, It's really nice working with you guys.

Blue: Man, those are really kind words! Thanks bro. I do love painting environments. I think I could paint rusty metal, cracked concrete and tree branches every day and never get tired of them.

Idiot Apathy: I'll see if I can dig up some progress shots and post them soon.

Coleb: Thanks for the crit. Good stuff man! I'll get some form painted into the tattoo and check out the lapel.

JIVA*SOUL: Yeah man, I gotta run right now but I'll post some more concepts this evening (right after the Cowboys game).

Cheers everyone. Talk to you soon.
Jason

[Blue Disciple]

I look forward to viewing more of your work. I think I speak for everyone when I say: get a website and a blog. I know I'd certainly bookmark it. To save you from more polite, individual responses (that, I'm sure, everyone really appreciates), I'll only post in this thread if I see something that I don't agree with.

Fat chance of that.

I used to live in Dallas. No matter how bad they fail, I can't help but wish the Cowboys luck. And they've been doing okay recently, so here's hoping!

[Jason Merck]

Here's a couple from Halo Wars (not my favorites but about the only images I can show from my current game)...and a couple more from my Midway days.

[Coinpurse]

these are all rad,
love the outdoor enviros +5

[Jeffsimpson]

WOW! amazing.

[AztcFireFlower]

Very cool characters! First image is a grand painting.
Great character design for the The Spy Hunter. Excellent face.
Weapon designs...cooooool......
All your environments are sweet, but...This is Awesome!!!
http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=264769&stc=1&d=1198387766

[guterrez]

very beautifull stuff man, the color scheme and the rendering are top notch
the environments are really cool but the first character is my favorite so far, cool style
cheers,
Mathias

[Radio24]

wha.
..let me learn how to speak again - i think my jaw passed the point of no return. too much to see. no use to try to speak, constant visual orgasm

[Darkstar81]

wow great stuff,but everyone already said that.I hope to see some new game coming from you and inspired by all that.

[Silveraxe]

Amazing pieces! I love your color palettes, very colorful, yet subtle.
Lovely compositions, I especially like the small thumbnails on the first page.

[墨心决]

Dark
GOOD
I Like

[Jason Merck]

Here's three more. The first two are from doomed proto-types but the last one is an unfinished personal piece. I think I like the Dracula looking dude but I'm not sure. He's halfway between stylized and realistic and I've gotten mixed reviews from my friends. Thoughts?

Cheers everybody.
Jason

[Majora]

nice work :)

[soheil]

Great coloring man!!!!!!!!!!

[Crazydude]

i love that underwater painting with the shark there and you have really got that magic in it and i love it:teeth:! i just wanna do something like that artwork too!;)hm but i was wondering who is your favorit artist that givs you the insperation to do the same thing as i want to do when i see your work? ps i hope you understand the question my english is not the best:P cheers!

[sabin boykinov]

wow!! keep posting man,
I like all you environment stuff,Dracula character also.
I wish you much luck!

[Unbreakable]

Awesome stuff dude you deserve all five of those stars. I like the dracula dude except for the forehead seems a bit to big. Maybe? Great work!!!

[ik0r]

This is amazing. Sadly I'm not on your level so I can't critique, but this is amazing.

[Coinpurse]

lol, i'd like to tap that last dudes forehead for some reason or another :D
Digging that underwater scene with the shark!

[BSpark]

Awesome work per usual my friend, really glad to see you posting and showing all this bueatifull work so that everyone else can enjoy. Added all this to my inspirational folder, and waiting to add some more:)

Bspark
www.bbriley.com

[Psychotrope]

I want that beard. Wannntttt it. He's just that cool.

The guns and robot at the end make my heart melt too- even if the robot is unfinished. Amazingnesss abounds.

[Vinnieart]

I can't wait to see more of your work. I'm floored my the level of detail you have

[petey]

Hey Jason,

Really nice work man. Nice and loose. Keep it up,

Pete

[Secret Sun]

Loving it! That first costume is to die for!

[Jason Merck]

Hey Everybody,

Sorry for the slow response I've been really busy the last few weeks. Anyway thanks for all the comments.

Hey CrazyDude, thanks man that's a really nice compliment. For inspiration I look at this forum a lot. So many super talented people. But most of my inspiration comes from the old masters like: Sargent, Weeks, Beksinski, Farzetta. Check out the Orientalist movement and www.artrenewal.org. I also look at early 20th century Black and white photography.

unbreakable and Coinpurse: Yeah the forehead:( I've tried a few things to tone it down like making it smaller or putting hair in front of it but it don't work. When I shrink the forehead it makes the lower part of face look to long.

Here a few more.

Cheers,
Jason

[daroz]

great stuff man ! :O

[g@b]

Really inspiring stuff.
I really like the first environment in your second post.
I have to agree with Idiot Apathy, I'd love to see some progress shots!

[PuppyKitten]

Seeing stuff like this makes me want to draw the crap out of some environments. Very inspirational!

[TheFinalSon]

Awesome stuff, especially love the second one, the moody river scene, the weapons and the greenscale little urban enviros!

[destinyapocalypse]

wow great jobs i like 007 prototype s soldiers they are cool take care


my works:::::>>>http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=87447

[Chris Noeth]

I really love your concepts... especially your use of colors!

Keep up the fantastic work.

Best,

Chris

[JustinBeckett]

ummm, wow!

~JB

[Miles_]

Shiiiit man. Intense environments, how you acheive such realism is beyond me, how long do these badboys take?

[Maizani]

nice work, the angel is my favorite, good use of believable detail of armor and equipment. I like the environment shots, better than what I could do. the guy with the gun, his hands look a bit clayish, also his two faces look exactly the same and this sort of ruins the effect, makes him look like an action figure in a box. needs clearer rendering overall imo.
the environment thumbs are great, enviro is definately your strong point
cheers

[Nightblue]

Wow, Jason! You finally posted here :)

Thanks for being swell at sketch groups. Please do drop by my sketchbook (link in my sig) when you have time. I'm looking forward to see more of your work!

[Crazydude]

thx for the link dude;) and what a awsome update as allways and the robot woaw! :teeth:

[Kian]

Hey Jason. Brilliant work and great range.
:yayca: