The Art of John Montenegro

"Mortal Kombat: Arcade Kollection" UI Work

2011-10-12T22:35:00.000-04:00

Mortal Kombat: Arcade Kollection was announced weeks ago which finally stirred me to put these up. Oh and also the fact that I played Mortal Kombat (9) over the weekend. Can we say 4player grind-house fight splatter?

In anycase, these are UI screens and elements I got to create while working with Other Ocean Interactive in association with NetherRealm Studios and WB. They are a great loss for me in the sense that none of the following screens (save for the Friendly Kombat screen) will be seen in the actual DLC game itself. The scope of our project was changed and thus the demand and need for the UI did as well. Regardless I am very proud of these and feel like the crucible of what I've learned, and what makes me the UI Artist I am today, is from the experience of working on this game and its UI.

Some of it was upres work but I did get to redesign new screens and some brand spanking new UI elements based off the feedback of NetherRealm,WB and some initial style mockups sent in pre-production.

Geomon UI

2011-09-14T22:51:00.000-04:00

I was fortunate enough to be contacted by an amazing company out in Palo Alto,California last year. They had somehow stumbled across some illustrations I had done for a playable card game akin to "Magic: The Gathering". Loki Studios surprised me and asked me to come on board freelance wise. Soon I found my niche once again designing UI and for their flagship game GEOMON. An ambitious game that is trying to snatch the title of "Pokemon of the Mobile Realm".

Here are some UI designs I did for them along with a banner I designed.

I enjoy working with them so much that I hope we continue our relationship far into the future.

UI Artist for Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition!

2011-05-26T20:05:00.000-04:00

Wow its been awhile since I last posted. Anyhow here are some screens and other examples of UI I did while working on SMB2 for OtherOcean. Some of the GUI stuff was straight up upres-ing work but I did get to actually design some UI elements from scratch. Which is always satisfying! I must say I really enjoyed the direction we took with the UI on this project. Cute little game and a pleasure to work on.

UI Artist for Nihao Kai-Lan: Super Happy Day!

2011-05-24T15:50:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately I joined this project late in the game. It was a fun, educational, whimsical and fresh style that I got to work with on Nihao Kai-Lan. The project was almost out by the time I switched gears so I only had the opportunity to create some cute in-game icons and items. The items were meant to describe certain actions that could be taken in-game or were necessary to progress the storyline.

All in all it was fun to create these as I could explore a style that was different from my preferred aesthetic. This was bubbly, saturated, casual and kid-friendly! No grunge textures please!

Dream Savior UI Screens

2011-05-02T19:36:00.005-04:00

I've had a creative surge lately and I wanted to focus on something I have never done before with DREAM SAVIOR ie. my pet project. So I decided to create high fidelity mock UI Screens for the RPG.

For now all I have up is the "Start Screen" and some "Main Menu" transition screens but, eventually as I finish them, I'll edit this post and add the newer screens.

My concept for Dream Savior's UI was to use minimal elements (simple/clean) but to make the elements that are present abit ornate and elaborate. Light and airy was the vision. As well, I wanted to maintain Dream Savior's signature color scheme which evolved naturally into this desaturated pink and grey.

The "D" in dream savior will have character illustrations scroll and loop from left to right. If you noticed the border of the "D" is glass-like while the inner portion is pinkish and so tints any characters under it. Menu items consecutively fade in from right while glitter with a bloom effect appear drifting from the right during an items over state.

I tried to keep Xbox TCR naming conventions in mind (from what I could remember anyways) however I only eyeballed a safezone margin.

BONUS: And just for fun here's a wallpaper I designed based on the work I've done so far.

Grahamsoft - UI Design

2010-11-28T23:36:00.000-05:00

UI and button designs I did for a client in New York (GRSoft) 2 years ago. The designs were based on the clients wishes to have them in a style similar to the visuals in Royksopp's "Remind Me" music video.

Check out the inspiration here: Royksopp: Remind Me

I also did more then just UI work with them as Lead 2D Artist and my work ranged from the more UI heavy orientated stuff to designing avatars, environments, graphic design such as ad banners and font creation.

CSI: Unsolved for Nintendo DS

2010-11-26T21:07:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone, check out this cutscene that I worked on from the just released CSI:Unsolved for DS. It was great working on stuff aside from UI for a change. Ahhhh, how refreshing layout and character illustrations can be!

Yet it was challenging considering the DS's resolution and trying to make sure all the artistry is read and not lost where it needs to be clear. Mind you, luckily, we didn't need to be as tight on the painting of these as they were eventually shrunk down to 256 x 192.

In the above cutscene I did the art assets, animation and timing up until the part where the popstar exits behind the curtain. The rest is by a co-worker but I do pick up the scene again when it does the closeup flashes of her dead body. Enjoy!

Hey and I also did these illustrations and cutscenes as well!

Nuclear Perfection

2009-10-21T14:19:00.009-04:00

A character sheet I did after being inspired by some concept art created by Mary Blair for Disney's Imagineer ride "Its A Small World". I was never too good with titles so I took the idea of combining the phrases "Nuclear Family" and "Picture Perfect" and this is the mish-mash I got. Go figure.

Princess Bobby

2009-07-20T18:15:00.014-04:00

This is 1 of the 2 characters going to be featured (eventually) in a collab that Rob and I are working on... if and when we ever actually finish it.

In the collab painting Bobby and his older sister are playing a game of "Save The Princess!" but Bobby's older sister refuses to be The Princess and insists on being The Knight. Bobby not so reluctantly obliges and climbs up to their treehouse (now a tower) and beckons his Sis to save him. A humorous piece about the lighter side of childhood.

Jay Pavel

2009-07-08T01:59:00.015-04:00

An American Secret Agent specializing in stealth and assassination. Jay Pavel is known for his covert prowess and ruthlessness in achieving mission success. You wouldn't think that this laid-back guitarist by day could be a dangerous opponent by night.

This is a work in progress and I'm going to post another view of him shortly as soon as I finish it. I was so happy with the result that I just had to post something for now.

Avontide

2009-07-01T14:09:00.016-04:00

Dawn approaches over a secluded utopian city in a long forgotten continent. Adventurers arrive by airship at the fabled city in awe of its architecture and the spherical sculpture that encases the city's central park.

The four towers of Avontide representing the four corners of the world each have a statue of a saint. It is said each saint is meant to look over their own towers as guardians to the citizens within.

Holy Kamisato

2009-07-01T13:58:00.008-04:00

Have you ever had a time when you were out not even expecting anything eventful to happen that day and then a chance meeting? In a bustling crowd someone out of the corner of your eyes catches your attention, your eyes meet...only for a millisecond but it feels like an eternity. That's what I was trying to capture with this piece.

Tranquil Moment

2009-06-30T16:43:00.010-04:00

Above the clouds a renegade boosts through the sky on his aerial attack vehicle the SAVII. He suddenly notices a flock of birds to his right and unintentionally forgets about the battle he is soon going to join in the air. A tranquil moment before he heads off to a war that he may never return from.

Huminah Animation - Boccadoro Restaurant

2009-06-30T16:09:00.014-04:00

Currently I'm doing freelance BG painting work with Huminah Huminah Animation out in Halifax for their online Flash Game titled (for now anyways) "Wisegal". Its sort of a mystery murder game somewhat akin to Clue but more like Ravenhearst. In it you explore different locales that contain hidden objects (think Where's Waldo) and you search them out and use them as evidence in your case-file later. This is the work I did pre-hidden object embedded of course. Pretty interesting stuff!

If you'd like you can visit Huminah's blogspot as well.

March Entertainment - Dex Hamilton

2009-06-30T15:42:00.018-04:00

What happens when an evil insectoid alien named Cirrus is out to conquer the galaxy using his genetically altered insect swarms? You call Dex Hamilton of course! Alien Entomologist! Whats an entomologist let alone an alien entomologist? Its a guy who likes alien bugs. Dex travels the galaxy studying all forms of alien insectoids.

I worked on Season 1 of the Dex Hamilton series as an Assistant Background Key Colorist and here some of my personal favorites that I painted (minus the screen illustration as that was a special fx) courtesy of March Entertainment.

If you have time check out the Dex Hamilton website and check out the Manual for more info on the series. Its actually a very insightful read and the Game is pretty sweet as well!

More Old-School Character Design

2009-06-30T15:24:00.011-04:00

I'd like someday to repaint these and finish off the rest of the concept art and more specifically the character designs that go along with these 3 year old designs.

I did these for my own project that I had in mind: a team based fighting game based around rival spy organizations. The main antagonist team being the Bardel Team consisting of 5 villains (whom you see here except the guy in the denim vest outfit Fullproof...I just added him so you could see their heights in relation to the main hero).

In the 1st image from left to right you see...

Bree: A young girl whose been brainwashed and is being used by the organization for her powerful kinetic abilities. She no longer sees herself as a child and has little to no emotion. Her symbol is the chess piece "QUEEN".

Bardel: The mastermind behind all the badness going on Bardel uses orbital style robots along with his own superior fighting abilities to defeat his enemies. His orbitals can fire, deflect attacks and distract opponents. His symbol is the chess piece "KING"

Ryan: Bardel's right-hand man a silent but lethal thug who loves to ride motorcycles and specializes in wrestling techniques. His symbol is the chess piece "ROOK".

The 2nd image is a height comparison sheet and that's all for now!

Weapon Concepts

2009-06-30T14:46:00.009-04:00

Wow so this is my 1st post back since scraping all of my older portfolio post stuff and I must say its alittle strange being back. Did alittle reworking but in the end I ending up just changing up a couple of my older work displaying them in a new fresh and simple style.

This piece is actually one of those "way-back play-back" sort of pieces but I thought I'd go ahead and post it up anyways. You don't know where you're going if you don't know where you've come from right?

Anyways these are weapon concepts I came up with about 3 years ago for my "Dream Savior" RPG that I eventually want to pitch. Since its an RPG the weapons are fantasy based although with the gun I was aiming for a more plausible design. Its an armor-plated gun whose design is loosely based off an ancient armored fish called a "dunkleosteus".

The wands I designed quickly showcasing the different wands available to a certain character in the series. My favorite happens to be the one with the owl on it and yes the owl is alive!

CURRENTLY RENOVATING

2009-06-16T22:14:00.007-04:00

PLEASE EXCUSE MY CURRENT APPEARANCE.

Beach Studio - "Crozonia" Comic

2008-10-26T23:57:00.015-04:00

Like the title said I worked as a freelance Colorist with Beach Studios in Toronto on Issue #2 of "Crozonia" about 2 years ago. Crozonia is about a war raging deep beneath the seas between 2 factions.

The creator and lead artist Jim Su is a very moderate and humble guy for such a talented person. A pleasure to work with. We met while he was promoting the artbook containing his work done on YTV's REBOOT.

Beach Studios also handles the StormHawks Comic based off the show which was actually done by Nerdcorps. Another Canadian-based company (Whoo hoo!).

By the way check out the Crozonia comic here: Crozonia