Vertex 2024: learn how to build worlds in concept art with Anna Hollinrake

Anna Hollinrake is an award-winning art director and game developer. Co-founder and creative director of the indie studio Electric Saint, she previously worked as art lead on Fall Guys at Mediatonic and as art director on the BBC's Love Monster. At Vertex 2024, she'll aim to break down mental barriers around environment concept art and help new artists confront the trepidation that a blank sheet can generate.

Vertex 2024 is our live art event at London's Business Design Centre on 19 April. Join us to learn from professional artists working in film, games and VFX, including speakers from Pixar, nDreams and Maxon. Tickets for Vertex 2024 are on sale now.

Vertex speaker Anna Hollinrake Q&A

Anna has created art for both indie projects and much loved IPs such as Adventure Time and Magic: The Gathering. She is also an active mentor, teacher, and speaker within the UK games industry, and she has contributed tutorials and insights here on Creative Bloq (see our interview with her about how she set up Electric Saint with  Pavle Mihajlovi?). We caught up with her to learn more about her influences as what we can expect from her talk at Vertex 2024.

Where did you grow up and how has this influenced your art?

"I grew up in Folkestone, on the south east coast of the UK, and places of watery transit and years of weathering have influenced my work heavily without me ever entirely realising it. Where there are steps down to the water, coated in algae, the castoffs of practical human activity - that's where the interest is.

"I'm always searching for tiny stories in that way. Folkestone was used extensively for military deployment in WWI, and there's still remnants of infrastructure from it. I love abandoned in-between places - harbours, train stations - and the promise and memory depicted in those spaces, especially when they've been repurposed in interesting ways."

How did you get started in art and what keeps you going?

"I loved technology first and art afterward. I was always creative and constantly made things, but once I got hooked on The Computer and the promise of creating anything I wanted, I quickly found online art communities and the delight of tinkering with art programs. I initially began digitally painting in Paint Shop Pro 9, following 'how to draw a dragon eye' tutorials from deviantART, and slowly began to realise that I could have a career out of concept art and illustration.

"Nowadays I'm much more interested in developing my practice traditionally as it forces me to be more thoughtful about the artistic choices I'm making, and I prefer to spend less of my time on screens! It's funny how my motivators have inverted, but there's nothing like a beautiful landscape or a nuance in colour to get me excited to paint."

Is there a piece of art from your portfolio that you really love?

"When painting, there's usually a larger overworld I have in mind that an image contributes to - and if there isn't, I often find a way to tie it into one anyway. I love to create things that are part of something bigger - I'm not particularly interested in making pretty art solely for the sake of having something nice to look at.

"That being said, I am very proud of the one-off painting from 2019 called 'Just Crashing', which had a small story within it and a warm, bright morning mood that people resonated with. It was a technical challenge that I got some wonderful feedback for from a friend, and it felt like a change of tone in my work that was a little fresher. I'm a big believer in liking your work from a long time ago, and I still stand by that five year old painting as one of my best!"

What advice would you give to your younger self?

"Be more present in your work and don't just mindlessly paint. Analyse what you are doing and internalise lessons instead of making the same mistakes. Go out more. Work traditionally, with oils - they aren't as complicated as you think they are. Don't be so scared of travelling. Get tested for ADHD."

What will you be talking about at Vertex?

"I will be talking about environment concept art, and breaking down those mental barriers that a lot of newer artists can have when it comes to creating backgrounds and environments. It’s something that a lot of artists, myself included, have had to wrestle with when developing their art practice for professional work, as the ‘safe zone’ is most commonly character illustration.

"We don’t have the same innate knowledge of a bridge or a building that we do with the human body, and so the blank sheet of paper effect is often much more pronounced. I’m going to be talking about ways to reduce that feeling, and worldbuilding within those spaces too."

Find details of more speakers at the Vertex 2024 website.

Also see Anna's tutorial on how to give new life to old reference drawings.