A successful creature designer for film and games, Brynn Metheney is heading to London to give a talk at Vertex 2024. The new conference is the ultimate event for the CG community, with pro artists from film, games, comics, animation, VFX and more gathering to share their experiences and advice.
Brynn reveals her talk, saying: "I'll be talking about my approach in designing creatures for film and games. I'll discuss how I use reference, think about design in relation to evolution and how I interpret story to help with character development."
I'll be talking about my approach in designing creatures for film and games
Brynn Metheney
The artist has a fantastic portfolio, with monster designs featuring in the hit movie Ghostbusters Afterlife; her clients include A24, HBO, Warner Bros. Pictures, Disney and Wizards of the Coast. She has regularly appeared in our sister magazine ImagineFX over the years, sharing her knowledge of creature concept art and core art techniques.
Brynn currently lives and works in Los Cerrillos, a small ghost town just south of Santa Fe, New Mexico and refers to herself as a 'desert rat'. This environment inspires the artist, which has led to her own book, Barren Lands, a collection of personal stories and art that blends the real and the surreal.
Vertex 2024 is our returning live art event being held at London's Business Design Centre on 19 April. Come and 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 Brynn Metheney Q&A
Brynn Metheney is a successful creature designer for film and games, below she shares a little more of her life and approach to art. Sign up for Vertex 2024 to find more about her workflow in person. Find the current speaker list at the Vertex 2024 website.
Where did you grow up and how has this influenced your art?
"I grew up in the Mojave desert of Southern California and I was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, so I've always been a desert rat. Growing up in the desert, you appreciate just how adaptive lifeforms can be. The animals and plants are their most rugged versions.
"I think being a child, playing around in the cactus and rocks gave me a huge appreciation for wildlife and nature. A lot of that fascination plays into my work today. I love incorporating evolution and history into my work."
How did you get started in art and what keeps you going?
I was given a How to Draw Big Cats book as a child and I was obsessed with the drawings and paintings in that book. I spent hours tracing the images inside until I was able to reproduce them from memory. The learned muscle memory of that gave way to drawing from observation.
"Even as a kid, I liked the challenge in art. I think a lot of my motivation comes from accomplishing technique. I find a lot of joy in learning about anatomy, understanding poses and movement and learning color and light. It's never-ending and I like that I will never master it. It keeps it interesting!"
Is there a piece of art from your portfolio that you really love and why?
I really like the Railroad Ghost that I illustrated for my book, Barren Lands. I wanted to capture something that felt frightening and powerful. I also wanted it to have abstract qualities to it while having hints of familiarity. I don't often illustrate abstract ideas; I am pretty literal, even when I'm expressing an idea. However, I think I was able to accomplish my goals in that piece.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Your dreams will shift and evolve. I think I had a lot of pressure as a young person to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. A lot of us do. I think it's important to embrace change and evolution in ourselves and our work. Sometimes you reach your goal and realize that it's not all there is. You could want to pivot or grow into something related or not related and I think that should be celebrated.
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