Chong Liu by JaamZIN Creative Studio

JaamZIN Creative

CHONG LIU concept artist

Welcome to Chong Liu's online exhibition, a collection of concept art, digital illustrations, and oil paintings created over the past few years. This showcase reflects Chong's journey as a professional concept artist while exploring different art forms beyond the game industry. From imaginative concept designs to richly detailed oil paintings, each piece highlights Chong's dedication to creating art that tells a story. By emphasizing narratives in their work, Chong brings unique characters, worlds, and emotions to life, demonstrating how 2D art can capture powerful moments and engage viewers in meaningful storytelling.

JaamZIN

Can you share your journey into the world of art and design? What inspired you to become a concept artist and illustrator, and how has your career evolved over time?

I began learning painting during my childhood, driven by my dream of becoming an animation director, fueled by my love and passion for anime. However, after entering college, I discovered a deep fascination with concept art and design. This realization led me to shift my focus and dive deeper into the world of concept art, eventually setting my sights on a career in the film or gaming industry as a concept artist. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in China, I moved to the United States in 2018 to pursue higher education and refine my skills further.

launched my first art-related projects during the challenging Covid era in 2020, a time when the industry faced significant impacts, and game and art studios experienced financial difficulties. During this period, I collaborated with indie game and film developers to create conceptual illustrations and designs. By applying my design and art skills, I helped refine and visualize their scripts. I deeply valued this time for the creative freedom it offered, allowing me to craft visually stunning works.

In 2021, I transitioned to full-time roles as a concept artist at several game studios, including Elex Tech, Serenity Forge, and Ubisoft. Despite the demands of full-time work, I continue to create self-expression illustrations in my spare time, embracing them as an additional form of artistic exploration and creativity.

What is a typical day like for you as a concept artist in the game industry? What do you find most exciting or challenging about working in this fast-paced and everevolving field?

Concepting is a part of the game/film production pipeline and requires quick turnarounds and teamwork. For my professional concept design work, I spend a lot of time in meetings and chatting with art directors and team members to receive feedback and brainstorm. Communicating with the team often sparks better ideas and ensures I’m on the right track. For the rest of my day, the goal is to complete design tasks, such as character designs, environment concepts, props, or keyframe illustrations. I always remind myself to follow a reasonable workflow and constantly critique my work to speed up the process. I feel like a concept artist is a balance between thinking rationally like a scholar and being creative as an artist.

If you find handling challenges satisfying, then concept art can be quite exciting, to be honest. There are several exciting moments for me: finally getting permission to post work from a game project after years of waiting due to NDAs, or seeing my conceptual work animated and becoming part of the final game product. The overall creation process is thrilling because everything you’re creating doesn’t exist yet—there are endless possibilities to determine how something will look.

On the other hand, it can also be challenging. Since we’re creating something conceptual and visually innovative, it often means making a first attempt at a specific subject matter. There’s always a chance of failing to meet design goals or ending up with mediocre results, which can be frustrating. Additionally, constant communication and receiving feedback, while essential, can sometimes take up too much time and disrupt the creative mindset.

Storytelling plays a significant role in concept design. How do you incorporate narrative elements into your work, and how does this enhance the emotional impact of your creations?

If we look at the masterpieces of the traditional art era, we can often find narrative elements or storytelling embedded in the scenes, especially in Renaissance oil paintings. Even some modern art pieces, like The Scream or Guernica, carry powerful narratives that convey strong emotions. Storytelling is a cornerstone of concept art because what we’re ultimately doing is telling a story in visual form to engage and convince the viewer.

When creating concept design pieces, I always remind myself to include only the necessary elements in the frame that enhance the narrative aspect. I also strive to incorporate more narrative elements, even in simple objects within the painting. For example, take a lamp on the main character’s table. We can consider its type and appearance: is it retro or modern? Is the color bright or dark? Does it show signs of wear and tear? These details carry narrative elements that help build the character’s personality and background.

All of these narrative elements, whether used directly or indirectly, contribute to making the entire painting or story more convincing and relatable for the audience.

INTERVIEW

Beyond your concept art for games, you also work in oil painting and digital illustration. How do these personal artistic pursuits influence your professional work, and what stories or emotions do you aim to convey through them?

Making personal art, like illustrations and oil paintings, benefits my professional work a lot. The mindset for creating art and doing design work is quite different. Sometimes, after designing for a long time, it’s easy to get stuck in a comfort zone. Doing personal art feels like a breath of fresh air, bringing new energy into the creative world. It allows me to think more wisely and review my design pieces from a different perspective.

The stories and emotions in my artworks are largely inspired by my daily readings and the news. For example, my illustration series The Flower of War, which won a silver award from the Japanese Illustration Association, depicts the journey of a smiling girl living in a war zone. I poured my sympathy into this work after witnessing the misery of people experiencing wars today.

As an artist, what are your thoughts on the integration of AI in the creative process? How do you navigate the balance between embracing innovation and maintaining artistic authenticity?

The development of AI is unstoppable, and it’s already taking over some entry-level jobs in the industry, making it even harder for emerging artists to take their first steps. Whether we like it or not, as artists, we must accept the impact of AI and adapt accordingly.

For me, I’ve tried incorporating AI into my design process, and it has proven to be useful for handling minor tasks. AI can generate ideas I might not have considered otherwise, which can be quite helpful. However, when it comes to complex tasks or client work, AI still falls short. A good design or artwork isn’t something that can simply be generated by inputting prompts into a machine—it’s a culmination of the artist’s aesthetic, experience, and mindset during the creative process. AI can assist, but it cannot fully replicate the creative essence of human artistry.

My suggestion is to use AI tools wisely. They can help resolve repetitive and mundane tasks when creating art. However, never rely on AI-generated images as sources of inspiration. Doing so risks dulling our artistic sensibility and diminishing our ability to observe and interpret the world around us.