Jez Lawan | Visualise Concepts and Inspire

LEECH - Personal Project

In the future, there is a research space station that sends out explorers to discover the unknown depths of the galaxy. The glorious space station falls into despair as an alien parasite is brought back from an expedition and takes over. The remaining survivors now must survive and create a cure to save themselves, or else all hope is lost.

The first project showcased here is my personal project that I did in my final semester. Here I was given the chance to create anything I wanted, so I created a sci-fi themed story. I've always found interest in a certain type of sci-fi genre because of the freedom you get to create something never seen before. I also wanted to try out a different art style here compared to my earlier photo-bashed works to bring some variety to my portfolio.

At this point, I truly began to dwell deeper into not only just the sci-fi genre but as well as the modern and tactical genre. It has to do with how cool weapons and props are, as well as costume and set designs. The slickness and high-tech looking designs are what interest me and I plan to do more of these kinds of stuff in the future.

FEINT - Group Project

In dystopian cyberpunk Hong Kong, people are willing to do anything to make a living. Below the slums lies an illegal underground boxing arena, where the contestants are fitted with high-tech body augmentations. One of the living legends of the arena is Marcus Lee, who one day is assassinated by the boss of the arena for disagreeing with his terms. The story revolves around John Lee, the son of Marcus, avenging his father and surviving the harsh underground world.

Feint is a group project done in my final year. It was something I was looking forward to as it was the first time I worked collaboratively and to be able to see all the member's works unify as one. We worked on different characters, props and environments and worked closely to give each other ideas and critics. One of the major challenges was to make sure the works we created looked like they belong in the same world in terms of the design, level of technology, tone and art style.

Key Arts and Matte Paintings

I love being able to visualize the story of Feint through the key arts I've done. Visual storytelling allows people to feel the mood of the story and to imagine its world. Other than that, I made matte paintings to show the world of Feint. Of course, I had my try at making other kinds of environments ranging from a desert to an interior of an Aztec temple. 

MATEUS - Stylized Concept Art

Mateus is a mischievous boy from Brazil. He plays the Alfaia drum and often performs in festivals. His life was turn upside down as he finds himself trapped in the afterlife called Favela De Cor, meaning 'slums of color. A place where the dead lives and run colorful festivals for all eternity. To get back home, Mateus had to find help from an unlikely little friend named Jaci, the guide of the afterlife.

Now for my stylized concept art project. I had quite some fun on this one, finding ways to make the characters and environment look attractive and colorful. It was also the first time where I went through some processes that I wasn't too familiar with. Regardless, it was an enjoyable project.

Other Early Works

Below are some smaller works/projects I've done earlier in my studies. When I look back at some of them, it shows me how much I've grown as an artist, as well as reminded me of some of the bad times when I started. Never really did art much when I was young other than doodling, so in the beginning my studies were hard. Regardless, these times are still something I hold dearly and it tells my journey during my studies. There are some of my earlier art that I personally like and thought it'd be worth showing you guys.

That wraps up my showcase. I would like to thank you to spend the time to check out my entry! Even if you did spend the time to read what I had to say or if you just to quickly check it out, I'd still appreciate it no matter what. I hope there were pieces that you liked as well as maybe get a little inspired by it. This entry is a great end to one of my chapters in life, now the next thing to do is grow better as an artist and to make a name for myself out there! 

Thank you once again.