Marvel artist Mel delivers masterclass

Concept artist Mel Cummings delivered a masterclass to students at Coleg Llandrillo.

Mel is a freelance artist working on TV and video games, focusing on creating vehicle, props and mechanical designs.

She has worked on games such as Marvel's Secret Invasion, Battlefield Mobile, Apex and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.

Mel recently visited Coleg Llandrillo’s Rhos-on-Sea campus, where she gave a presentation to Games Development and Art and Design learners.

She said afterwards: “Being able to share my journey into my job as a concept artist with the students at Coleg Llandrillo was an absolute joy.

“We did a masterclass session following the talk where I helped the students understand the importance of paying attention to shape design when generating ideas. Each student demonstrated so much creativity as they designed some characters, props and environments based on fairy tales.

“They were met with some challenges as they took themselves out of their comfort zone, but they should each be proud of what they achieved and I hope it encourages them to keep pursuing their career goals.

“In order to create a rich and diverse game industry, it is vital that the next generation of game developers are equipped with the skills, knowledge and resources to reach their aspirations regardless of their gender, ethnicity or socio-economic status.

“Since 2020, I have mentored, lectured and given talks with this value as my focus. This has allowed me to encourage, empower and educate others with the hopes that it will support them in being one step closer to achieving their dreams of working in games.”

Mel worked for TT Games as a quality assurance tester before progressing into concept art. She is a visiting lecturer at Leeds Arts University, and regularly gives careers talks and concept art masterclasses at schools and colleges across the UK. You can learn more about Mel's work on her website artofmel.com.

Games Development student Tesni Evans said: “I learnt a lot from the talk and the lesson Mel gave us that I will definitely be using in my concept art in the future.

“It was really useful learning her process as a professional in the industry and how she manages time and workload.”

James Huang, also studying Games Development, said: “Some of the points brought up were really helpful, and I'll definitely apply some of the techniques demonstrated into my own workflow.”

Do you want to work in the gaming industry? For more on Grŵp Llandrillo Menai’s courses in Computing, Digital Technologies and Games Development, click here