Illustration

Illustration work

Dinosaur Park Set design/storyboards

Ant Mercer Illustration, Storyboards , ,

DIno Park Ad & Creative

Often in my role as a storyboard artist I can work on a project and never hear of it again – projects get cancelled, clients decide to use another concept – many reasons.

But I thought I’d show an advert by one of my clients, NeamTV, for the VTech playset “Toot Toot Friends.” It’s got my dabs all over it.

First of all, I was hired to create the back drop of the set. Here’s a few images from the set of my artwork, printed IRL at huge size.

*Set photography courtesy of NeamTV.
*Set photography courtesy of NeamTV.
*Set photography courtesy of NeamTV.

In addition, I was asked to storyboard this advert:

…and here’s the final broadcast advert.

Harryhausen

Ant Mercer Drawing, Illustration , , , , ,

HarryHausen.

 

Ray Harryhausen’s films left a deep impression on me as a child—those Sunday mornings watching Jason and the Argonauts, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, or Clash of the Titans became formative visual experiences.

 

The creatures, movement, and atmosphere still sit somewhere near the core of how I imagine and make images.

 

This series began during the lockdown, with a drawing of Calibos from Clash of the Titans. Since then, I’ve returned to Harryhausen’s world again and again, building a loose collection of drawings and paintings that pay tribute to his iconic stop-motion creations. The project is ongoing—I’ll add to it each time a new figure or moment insists on being drawn.

 

Classic Computers

Ant Mercer Illustration, Previsualisation , , , , ,

Functional Modelling

BBCMicro & Acorn Electron.

This project features 3D models of two iconic machines from the early days of home computing: the BBC Micro and the Acorn Electron.

Originally created for the book Acorn – A World in Pixels (published by Idesine), the models were developed using detailed photographic references, original manuals, and archival technical drawings to ensure accuracy and fidelity.

The models were built, textured, and rendered in Blender, and were first used to produce both wireframe illustrations and realistic renders for the extended second edition of the book. 

Acorn – A World in Pixels 

Published by IDESINE: £34.99

Order HERE

In addition to the main machines, I also modelled a Cub monitor to accompany the set.

This model is currently available via Superhive (formally BlenderMarket,) with the Acorn Electron model to follow.. 

 

 

All assets are available for personal or professional use with appropriate credit (& $9.)

VirtualBeeb project.

Since then, they’ve taken on a life of their own—most notably as part of virtual.bbcmic.ro, an ambitious project developed by Dominic Pajak to recreate a working BBC Micro computer entirely in the browser. 

The models were adapted and integrated to support a fully interactive user experience, allowing visitors to explore and use the virtual machine in real time. It’s a great example of how technically accurate assets can extend beyond static images and become part of a dynamic digital tool.

Virtualbeeb – beta 0.01 

An interactive 3D model of the BBC Micro (1981). Choose from 100s of games and experience the sights and sounds of the original hardware. Retrocomputing for the metaverse! 

Created by Dominic Pajak. Emulator: Matt Godbolt, Shaders: Paul Malin, Models: Ant Mercer 
Click here

“Ye Olde New England” Concept paintings.

Ant Mercer Illustration, Storyboards

Ye Olde New England.

This series of concept paintings was created to support a pitch deck for an animated project set in a post-apocalyptic, fantasy-driven world. The work focuses on key moments from the script—capturing characters, environments, and fragments of story around a mad king and the fractured realm he rules.

The brief called for expressive scene-setting to help visualise the world during early development. I produced a mixture of character illustrations, background paintings, and atmospheric scenes, designed to give a strong sense of tone and possibility without locking the narrative into a fixed visual style.