Bring A World To Life With Strong Storytelling

Anna Hollinrake guides you through creating bright environments and worlds filled with colour, story and life.

- Anna Hollinrake

I’ve always been fascinated with imagined scenes that leave you with a sense of wonder; wanting to find out more and see what’s just around the corner. Good worldbuilding is all about gathering up enough information for you to discover the story inside a composition, and become immersed in it. Losing yourself in a painting, book, film or game is a magical experience, and something I’m always looking to create in my own work. Hopefully you do, too! When starting a painting, I ask myself questions as to how the world functions, the nature of relationships between characters, and the overall mood and feel that I want to set. This allows me to logically and organically develop the story and design! How does the air taste? What can you hear? How do characters get around? Defining your image with subtle rules gives it a sense of authenticity and life. For this piece I wanted to capture the life of a someone living in a quirky cliff-top home that overlooks misty, expansive plains. I wanted to imbue the environment with a sense of personality, spring freshness, and calm, as well as keeping the visual language cohesive. Through seeing my thought process, I hope this workshop helps you build your own stories in your paintings! 1 Throw down shapes  I gather reference that inspires and interests me, to use as a visual anchor to refer back to during the painting process. I also consider the mood and theme of the scene: I want it to feel fresh and bright, so I throw down shapes using dawn colours like periwinkle blue and pale yellow. This part is always a mess, but it’s worth it!