An Interview with Concept Artist Johnson Ting: From Kuching to Gaming Destiny.

Hi! My name is Johnson Ting.  I’m a concept artist who creates concept art for games and films worldwide. Concept artist is an old term that comes from early filmmaking - when filmmakers had an idea, people like me would help visualize them. So that's what a concept artist does - help people to visualise their ideas.

In 2020 I opened my own studio that does concept art for games, called Bear Down Studios. We are based in Kuala Lumpur, but create work for brands all over the world. It’s a full-service studio where we have provided concept art support for games such as Destiny 2, Valorant, Halo, Call of Duty, Marathon and more.

I’m from East Malaysia. Born in Johor, raised in Kuching. It definitely can be hard to get out of this region.

I spent my childhood being in an 'ulu' place and being poor. We were a not a rich family, and suffered some business challenges. That’s why we moved from Johor to Kuching.

When I grew up I wasn’t great at studying, but I could always draw. Since I was a kid I knew I wanted to draw. And my parents? They knew I wouldn’t be an engineer or a doctor.

My family became first challenge. They didn't come from money, so understandably, they were hoping the next generation would go into a lucrative career - to live a better life.

It took a long time to persuade them, but I went on to study art. And I went to KL to go to the ONE Academy. My Dad only had enough savings for the first semester, but he did it. It meant a lot that despite everything, he supported me as best he could.

I managed to put myself through college through a combination of freelancing via my online platform and working part-time at 7-11. Which is where I caught my first opportunity. My professor spotted me working, and noted that I was drawing commissions during my shift. He realised how hard I was working and got me an interview at studio where I got to experience what it was like to be a concept artist.

Once I graduated, it was again a challenge to find a concept artist job. I set my sights on Passion Republic and was determined to get a job there. I emailed over and over, but they said they were not hiring. I convinced the owner for a meetup, and we ended up talking for 3-4 hours and we realised we had a shared goal to improve the Malaysia game industry. He offered me a chance.

When I was 7-8 years old we had an old computer at home. Whenever I had time I would use it to play games. I remember very vividly playing Halo. Master Chief because my hero. Everything about him was just cool.

One day I was looking for PC wallpapers and I searched for Halo. I saw this black and white pencil sketch of Master Chief and it was such an impactful moment for me.  I realised it came from the Bungie and I had no idea why it would exist. It was that moment I realised that you can draw for games!

I discovered it was done by an artist called Shiek Wang, who was working for Bungie at the time. I saw him, and realised that is who I wanted to be. I want to make and draw for games, too.

From that point on, my path was set. I knew I wanted to be an artist. And even in primary school, I was doing commissions for  50c for a drawing!

I love games and drawing so  much - this is the perfect career.

It is quite a crazy story actually. One day I was playing Destiny with my friend, until i received an email from Bungie asking if i’d like to work on Destiny. When I saw that email I went a little crazy. Imagine playing the game while being asked to work on it! How is this even possible?

Of course I said yes.

But it goes even further than that. I had been working on concept art for the game for almost 2 years. And then one day I received  an email with feedback on some work I had done and I found out it came from Shiek Wang.  I couldn't help myself - I emailed back to ask if this is THE Shiek Wang. He said yes.

I immediately gave him a call and told him my story - how I was in this field because of the concept art he draw for Halo almost 30 years ago. He said he felt very honoured. It is an incredible feeling to be able to work with the person who inspired you when you started.

Similar experiences happened a number of times. For example my brother and I used to play Mortal Kombat 4, and Jax was my favourite character. I ended up designing Jaxx in Mortal Kombat 10.

This is why I am in games. And why I love gaming culture. I get to relive my childhood memories, and be part of creating new memories.

This is why I am devoted into contributing my part to the next generation. Whenever I can, I will share my experiences with people. And try to do my best to give hope to new talent entering this field that this is a rewarding career.

Because if I had stopped back then, I wouldn’t be where I am at today.

Anime is a huge source of inspiration for me. Evangelion is my favourite. As well as  Gundam and Ghost in a Shell. These 3 were my biggest inspirations.

If not gaming, I am watching movies. Whichever era they are in, I enjoy them. When I watch movies like that, and I watch anime, I wonder why can’t we combine these two worlds together?

Bladerunner and Ghost in the Shell are similar but a bit different? It intrigues me to find out the differences.

Why do Western robots look different from Asian robots? That is an inspiration - I want to be the one in-between. To merge western and eastern cultures.

Most importantly, don't base on one source of inspiration.

There are a lot of artists I like - traditional 18th and 19th century artists,  Davinci and to modern artists as well.

It is hard, but it isn’t as hard as anyone thinks to get into the industry. Always remember that it is a passion driven industry

You don’t have to be a gamer to work in the field, or on a franchise. But you must have a passion for gaming.

It's a field where people work on things they love. They might not all be gamers, but they are all inspired by games.

Follow your passion, and no matter what people say, every career is a viable career. As long as you strive in what you do best, you will success in your own way.

Don’t base your success on other people’s opinion. Don’t let others tell you what will succeed and not. Don’t waste your energy arguing, spend it working.

And have a bigger goal. Along the way, I proved people wrong, but it wasn’t my goal. My goal was to make games and to grow the Malaysian game industry.

Johnson Ting a AAA concept artist, and Founder of Bear Down Studios based in KL, Malaysia.

Subscribe to his socials:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnsonting/?hl=en
Youtube: www.youtube.com/johnsonting
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/johnsontingart

Find his work here:
https://www.artstation.com/johnsonting