My Freelance Concept Artist Journey, Mentorship sessions & Recent projects
BONJOUR FAM!
In recent years, as I embraced the life of a Freelance Concept Artist dedicated to crafting visuals for video games and films, I've been fortunate to collaborate with a diverse range of talented professionals. From AAA Art Directors and Creative Directors to fellow Concept Artists and inspiring creatives, the journey has been nothing short of amazing.
Sometimes just the pipeline of a studio, just being there and working and co-working along, the immense sense of proactive and productive team work was enough to be mind-blown. But I’ll give it a full-stop now, and share a few of the IP’s I’ve been involved with, and which are also the reasons of why I haven’t been posting any work on ArtStation as of late.
By the way, all this client info, testimonials, concept art tutorials, and process breakdowns, can also be found at my web-site, which I launched not long ago: https://www.menogcreative.com/
Ashfall
by NetEase Games
Ashfall, NetEase's upcoming game with a nostalgic nod to the old Fallout Games, offered me a delightful opportunity as my first venture into full-time freelance concept artistry. The collaborative spirit of the NetEase team, their dedication to diverse talent, and the mobile gaming adaptation made this project truly special. There’s a lot to learn from the Chinese market and their approach to the industry, and the way they not only see the missing gaps in the industry trends but are quick to attempt to fill them. I certainly believe they’re going to be big. (bigger than they are now!)
Isn’t this city a beauty? More from Ashfall on their Steam page: here.
And full trailer below.
I had the immense pleasure of designing a few things for it, and the creative freedom they allowed went in turn to allow me to expand the horizons of my process and go deeper into my own skill-sets. Amazing things happen when you platform a place where artists can grow, people can flourish, inner and out of their process. Any pipeline, process or skill, requires a specific ingredient in order to grow positively, I believe we had it in abundance, the joy on making cool stuff, was the engine of growth here.
Arc Raiders
by Embark Studios
Collaborating with Embark Studios was awe-inspiring. Their groundbreaking work with AI set them apart, and being part of their creative process was truly mind-blowing. While I can't share much due to the nature of the work, the experience was humbling, and their elite team, many ex-DICE members, made every second enjoyable.
Making public the statements I’ve shared with them: I don’t want to sound like a fanboy, but the things that they were doing with AI (again), before anyone else was doing it, it was just… mind-blowing. I cannot possibly put the abstract feel of working with them, into words, I loved every second of it, I felt humbled every day.
I’ve made plenty of work for them, unfortunately due to the nature of the work done, I don’t think I’ll be able to share most of it, or any at all, but you never know.
My only criticism would be the Swedish retro-music choice for the trailers. (Kidding! It’s surprisingly catchy when you listen to it for long enough to integrate into you!)
Trailer here.
Expeditions: Rome
with Volta Keywords and THQ Nordic
Another job I’ve had the pleasure to do was to work with the team of Volta and provide a few concept art and illustration services for them. I learned a lot from this project.
Trailer here.
Returnal
by Sony Playstation Housemarque
There were not a lot of projects that surprised me in the end, like this one did. I picked it up at the start of the shift of my career from graphic design to concept artist, and I had a lot to learn still. I provided a few sketches and mostly environment concept art work to pitch visual development of the game to investors. It’s so old (the work), I don’t think I’ll ever share it, and going back to polish it just to publish it, just seems inauthentic in some way.
Maybe I’ll change my mind at some point. But congrats to Housemarque from going to underdog to big player with this PS5 day one release exclusive, and, becoming part of the Sony PlayStation family!
Trailer here.
Battlefield 2042: Season 4
By EA DICE
Watch the trailer here.
A Few IP’s would mark your street-credit in the industry as an artist as much as saying you worked on the Battlefield series does, so I’m really excited to announce I’ve done some work for Season 4 of Battlefield 2042!
I don’t think the work I’ve done will ever see the light of day, and I was kind of emo I had another contract starting when this one expired, I wish I would have stayed longer to help out more with more concept art. But hey.
That is all for now as far as project announcements go. Unfortunately, I cannot share everything that’s been happening, but these are what I can share for now, and that has been super super cool to help out on a range of IP’s.
CG Store Updates & Mentorships!
Before I go, here are a few products I’ve been releasing to the Community Marketplace, in case you’ve missed any.
Concept Artist Mentorship: Upgrade your Foundation:
First things first, I have more available seats for Mentorships. Find out more on my site: https://www.menogcreative.com/mentorships
Lessons include:
Boost Your Artistic Skills: Our membership provides customized coaching sessions, personalized feedback, and targeted assignments, enabling your unique artistic development.
Nurturing Creative Community: Join a supportive environment that encourages artistic freedom and expression. Our patient, understanding, and empathetic approach accelerates the learning process for any skill level.
Empowering Bonus Resources: Unlock a wealth of resources, including tutorials, video content, brushes, and tools. These resources equip you with the necessary knowledge and assets for continuous artistic growth
On ArtStation & Gumroad Marketplace you may find the following new releases:
Medieval Armor photo reference pack, shot at several museums and with carefully designed angles and hand-picked lenses to get the best out of a concept artist photobash and digital art needs for compositing.
Find it here on ArtStation store.
Samurai reference and photography, all around a great package for not only referencing historical accuracy but also using directly in your compositions, whether you’re painting on top, photobashing or photo-manipulating your way around your artwork.
Access it over at the my marketplace.
A Zbrush creature digital sculpture, providing the photoshop and other source files so you can learn, study and analyze from.
Up for grabs over this link.
About the Author:
Miguel Nogueira, a freelance concept artist, design alchemist, and storytelling strategist, has been featured in CG Society Hall of Fame, Behance, Kotaku, and 3DTotal. With experience at NetEase Games, he's available for speaking engagements, sponsorships, and new projects. For business inquiries, reach out to: hello@menogcreative.com