mannequins (an oldie) & dirty production art. Update 11-30-04

[Jason Manley]

I did this a long time ago....the client simply asked for a moody department store storage room that utilized a limited number of props...not a creative idea...but this is what I came up with at the time. Mannequins were easy for them to do because they could just chop down some character models. ...production art style.




J

[DRESDEN]

Hey Jason, haven't seen you in a while. I really like the atmosphere.

[foster]

jason, sweet pea! perhaps old, but i have not seen it, plus it is just darn good!

the color and lighting are perfect to my tastes, and you managed to pull off a composition with dead space in the middle but it does not become, well, dead. this is do to your smarts in handling scale and value, you pull the eye where you want. oh yea and of course masterful use of color. if i saw things that i thought should be change i would tell ya. but all i want to see are some details!

[Jason Manley]

thanks dresden

mr foster...how you are sweetly missed. I cant wait to shake your hand again and see you painting at the workshop. I shall take many notes.

Thanks for the words. Time has always kept me out of details but it can become a weakness of sorts. I just completed perhaps my most detailed painting...a collab with noxizmad for a big client. Sadly, it wont be released for at least a couple years. grrrrr.....


J

[RAMÓN]

I love the Painting. I really wish you'd post more often, but then again (my guess is) you must be having very little time to do personal art.

[Red_Rook]

hah, nice work man, i remember you talking about that one acctually, really well done :)

[bhuddistmonk]

this is great! POST MORE!

[Jens]

very nice atmosphere like in all of your stuff, but when are you going to post something new, or something you did in your spare time.

[Denart]

you dang master of lights

[Jason Manley]

new work wont be releasted for 3 years at least. It is with the many of the biggest clients in games though...so what will be released will at least be cool stuff!

spare time? lol...never heard of him. I run two companies right now. I haven't had a spare moment to paint in months and months. I try to put in at least 30 hours concept time on the clock per week. I wish it were more. Fortunately, I am have enjoyed building Massive Black and Conceptart.org as much as I would have if I had been painting. What I have been doing feeds about 20 artists right now on a daily basis and as many as 40 at times. Seeing their growth keeps me pushing too. Being in the middle of a move to San Fran doesnt help things...but when people see who I've put together in one room at our studio there I think they will understand my sacrefice. And Coro knows...what I have done this past two years has been a sacrefice...my personal time to paint...my overtime to paint...traded to build CA and MB into what they are today. Thankfully, the guys are all appreciative. Otherwise, I'd have gone nuts by now.

Hopefully I will squeeze in some time soon.


J

[Jason Manley]

Here are a couple little things...some interiors for Acclaim's 100 Bullets title before that studio went under. This is real quick stuff just to give an idea of placement, texture, and lighting for the level designers. Fine art it is not. :)

The first is the old boxing gym and a quick shot of the girls bedroom above it. As art, it is pretty cheap and dirty....but it got the point across to the designers and environment peeps so I guess I did my job.

I had a couple years while MB was getting set up where I worked on a few lower budget titles. Under-staffed and over-scheduled is how I looked at it at the time. There is definitely an art to getting a game done on the cheap nowadays. Fortunately the projects MB works on are all high budget AAA titles and I am back to being able to spend some time on the idea development side.

http://www.massiveblack.com/doodle/jungle%20gym%20interior%20sketch.JPG

http://www.massiveblack.com/doodle/snows%20room%20with%20text.JPG


Here are a couple shots of an ocean front mansion from the same game. The character was to be a scarface al pacino kind of guy with a bit more class. They did not have time to make original art textures for the estate so I came up with the idea of him being a collector of large and small vintage erotica and nudes. (ie public domain photos which could be used as textures for no cost). As I said, there is an art to making games on the cheap. Creative free solutions that fit the gameworld are not always easy to come by. In the image of the foyer I collaged a few elements together and mirrored it. There is no way the level team would have had time to build out an asymmetrical stair case. By mirroring it, I saved both myself and them some time. Production art...nothing more.


http://www.massiveblack.com/doodle/carter_estate_foyer_concept.JPG

http://www.massiveblack.com/doodle/carters_greatroom.JPG

These are done to help flush out idea, match the gameplay block-in by the designers, and define over all style as well as lighting and content suggestion. On a larger budget title after these kind of sketches were met over, the concept artist would have an opportunity to go back in and refine them. Not all studios have that luxury. So, I did them very small and did as much as I could to get the point across.

[I.was.ink]

Hey Jason, did you forget to put the pictures up with your last post cuz I dont see them? :(

[Jason Manley]

ink are you coming to the workshop?

[Darrell Bowman]

They make good models cause they dont move.
:)
great stuff jason as always.

[I.was.ink]

Ahh the pictures are up. sweetness!

and to answer your question....YES IM GOING! :bounce:
Paypal doesnt like me so I'll be sending the check to you tomorrow.

yippeee!

[Jason Manley]

Ahh the pictures are up. sweetness!

and to answer your question....YES IM GOING! :bounce:

yippeee!


we were sending tony and guido over to pay you a visit if you didnt. :P

youll have a blast...i promise.


j

[bRyaN]

That's pretty sweet you go to work on 100 Bullets...
It's my favorite(and only comic) i buy...Damn shame it was cancelled...

[Jaku]

<3 You make it look easy.

I can´t wait to hear what you have to say in San Fran

[Jason Manley]

yeah...vulgar and fascinating writing going on...rich character stuff with that comic. It really deserves a proper doing game wise.

[IanE]

Awesome art works, Jason. Doing someting original while using the simplest of logic is hard to do, you seem to have a nack for it. Lucky dog.

You did an great job capturing the mood in all the of the pictures, just great.

[|NTeRN]

sweet stuff Jason,

i havent seen a whole lot of your artwork before so its awesome to see your stuff. <3 cant wait to meet up with ya again at SF.

p.s. MORE <3 <3

[Jason Manley]

this is an environ concept from The Red Star video game adaptation from the famous comic book series. The universe is sort of an epic soviet sci fi with a bit of magic/tech and a post apocolyptic russian flavor. This is one of the dwellings. You know the people are desperate if they are living in an abandoned chemical train car. :) The only instructions I had was to show what it was like living in the destroyed city of nokgorka. desperation was the first word that came in my mind. They simply used this quick painting as a springboard to what the rest of the level might look like...color...lighting...amount of dirty snow...mood...as well as a hint on how to put in some new content not found in the comic.


J

[strych9ine]

Ahhhh real nice... the mood you've set in these pieces is fantastic.

[bRyaN]

yo Jason..seriously bro..you worked on some cool shit on the low...
100 Bullets Red Star, Vampire the Masquerade....

Crazy!!!

[Jason Manley]

thanks man....red star was the fun one out of that batch....bullets was too early to tell....vamp is out and ive played it. while it has it's plusses, i feel like they took out some of the cool stuff I did....like i filled an art gallery with original pieces of art...a ton of moody speed paintings....but when i went in the art gallery it was empty....they must have tried to conserve texture space or something....or maybe the gallery opens up later....i dunno...but at that point i stopped playing it. hl2 was more polished. so i am playing that now. nivbed made a cool piece in vamp though...i saw his big painting hanging in the asylum...a bar. cool stuff indeed. but as far as taking stuff out...even the mannequin room is gone...replaced by a big sink with blood in it. lol


j

[Madman!]

This thread doesnt have 5 stars because......? I always get excited to see your art mr green.

I have some unrelated questions I was hoping you could answer.

1. Is Massive black site going to update soon the news still says 10.23.03 or does the news/images from here cross over to there?

2. A long time ago there was a thread talking about portfolios and the what a person should have in one. I've searched and searched and I can't remember if it was here or at sijun, but I'm postive you made a reply or were the person that wrote out a huge list with multiple paragraphs of like each pieces needed for a portfolio. Do you remember this thread?

well hope you can reply if not its cool the art is more than enough.

[James Kei]

These are great Jason.
I really like the atmosphere in the last one..
You should post more often! ;)

[Jason Manley]

There will be a huge update to the mb site within a few days.

I remember a couple threads like that. It has been so long that the search button is probably the only way to find it. Do advanced searches.

Im going to cover all that stuff at the workshop again too. For those of you who want those thoughts from the companies discussing exactly that in panel form, perhaps someone will be kind enough to take good notes. I am sure someone will. I'll ask the crowd to take notes if they are wanting this information. People took lots of notes last time.

.................................................. ..


Thanks for the words, you guys are too nice in here.


J


This thread doesnt have 5 stars because......? I always get excited to see your art mr green.

I have some unrelated questions I was hoping you could answer.

1. Is Massive black site going to update soon the news still says 10.23.03 or does the news/images from here cross over to there?

2. A long time ago there was a thread talking about portfolios and the what a person should have in one. I've searched and searched and I can't remember if it was here or at sijun, but I'm postive you made a reply or were the person that wrote out a huge list with multiple paragraphs of like each pieces needed for a portfolio. Do you remember this thread?

well hope you can reply if not its cool the art is more than enough.

[Darrell Bowman]

Beside having a crystal ball and great luck some basics apply.
The world is run by economics and that food, cars and liquer.
so u have mcdonalds and general motors plus coors light.
same with the gaming world you have ur monsters or pvp.
character design plus skinning. you have ur enviroments maps
plus coding c++.
So then it like reading alot of jobs even if ur not suited now
you might think about it down the road.
Plus u have humans.. kids put a kid with a monster friend or foe.
Think of that monster in a enviroment. were is he what time of day
what his gifts abilities.
Look at games maybe bad ones make drawing or suggestions.
also clients have needs ie i need a character designer well it
no good going in if ur a mapper.
show of anatomy show of perspective and ur painting ability.
maybe ten to fifteen pieces.
maybe not all characters cause then it might say u not rounded
u dont understand the enviroments ur characters in.
so if they need a mapper and they cant find one u may become one
quick.
alot of guys are busy in meetings during the day so call before they
leave for home at 5pm and also by friday there more relaxed maybe
if they dont have to work all weekend.
maybe start with smaller companies maybe blizzards full of guys wanting to work there for free.
also it not always i wish i could work for blizzard make every thing u create
should be good and then people say man i wish i worked for ur company.
do ur best even if it a smaller company make like ur stuff cool even for
a small mod.
beside the beauty shots of character poses and making games look great
just do ur best sometimes they rather train u then have u locked in.
so dont be scared just hussle and call around u have ur fifften drawings
and painting then all of a sudden u get replies and after interviews someone
may call u back. in the mean time keep working on another portifilo sample.

[NoUseFrAName]

awesome. Finally getting to see some of your work. Your words, and your drive for awesomeness have always been inspiring....but now some art!
I mean I've seen some other stuff of yours...but not enough.
'bout time I say!

thanks a bunch. I can see how it'd be exactly what a modeller/level builder would need. A good reminder how to keep in mind that you should go for what best caters to the needs of the people you're doing the art for.

-Rob

[Darrell Bowman]

Since im a rendering artist
most of my work will be in the "sketch sections" of this forum.
i mostly in pre production end of the business.
workin with art directors on concepts drawings.
then the art director goes into a meeting pretends he drew it.
lol
glad i could be of some little help.

[Darrell Bowman]

One thing i saw the other day that i liked was a woman
illustrator had bought hundreds of toys for models she was
putting them in poses and takeing snap shots.
ie like matrix creatures or spawn character then she
light the toys and pose them.
some of u know all this.
she not coping the toys but she got a new pose for a new creature.

[Madman!]

Hey thanks for the reply Jason can't wait to see whats added to MB. I did use the advance search and I can't seem to find it..but yeah if you could get people to take notes that would awesome because I'm dying to go to the workshop but I just can't. I'm basicly just looking for a checklist of what's needed...2 enviroments...3 guesture pages..etc.

One more quick question hope you don't mind. Does that screensaver on the flash goodies page work? I just click and click and nothing happens.

[steak-tron]

awesome pics <3

I really enjoy those last 3, the rusted-decaying metal feel comes across really well with the abstract shapes. It's always cool when someone can do that without having to put in tons of detail.

- staircase pic is a beauty.

[WillSchnevel]

gnarly stuff! I like the redstar one a lot.

[bRyaN]

That's bugged out dude...and a bummer...
It must be exhilarating to see shit your worked on in a game, and a downer when stuff you thought was gnarly, taken out...

For the record...talkin to you in Austin has really inspired me bro..from the life experiences to what drives you...has helped me make a plan for my own life...

i appreicate it...more than you know...

thanks man....red star was the fun one out of that batch....bullets was too early to tell....vamp is out and ive played it. while it has it's plusses, i feel like they took out some of the cool stuff I did....like i filled an art gallery with original pieces of art...a ton of moody speed paintings....but when i went in the art gallery it was empty....they must have tried to conserve texture space or something....or maybe the gallery opens up later....i dunno...but at that point i stopped playing it. hl2 was more polished. so i am playing that now. nivbed made a cool piece in vamp though...i saw his big painting hanging in the asylum...a bar. cool stuff indeed. but as far as taking stuff out...even the mannequin room is gone...replaced by a big sink with blood in it. lol


j

[Red_Rook]

o very nice work, i especially like the reflection in the parket floor of the mansion. Also the redstar one is just so damn cool :)

[Layil]

Thank you for posting these Jason- Its valuable for us to see that not all concept work is 100 percent slick from the beginning, and sometimes not even touched up later on in the process. takes some of the scaryness out of it.. ;) Im digging the environments, and your throught processes behind them. I can definately see how creative thinking is a valuable skill in designing.

Its great to see you posting. i wish youd do it more but i understand youre time is compromised with other things.... and do know that we ARE forever grateful for what youve built. i really look forward to seeing you in san fran. We have more ceilings to examine. ;)

[Jason Manley]

thanks layil...thanks everyone for the kind words. fine art it is not...but it is still fun to design stuff.

i was doing about three of these a day and did quite a few of them as well as a ton of paintovers on the screenshots for the games to show them how to adjust lighting, textures, content, and mood.

see ya at the workshop!!

j

[jetpack42]

hey jason, thanks for posting some of your stuff....been interested in seeing your more recent work. long overdue, man!

:hatsoff:

[Blackhawk]

Very cool Jason, I've always liked your environment work. Did you have any advice on how to construct scenese like these? How did you learn how to do these, and how did you put them together? What is your process you go through when designing these and putting them together?

[Riddick]

There is something very melancholic in your work.
But really nice!
Greats lights and sens of detail.