Nana Dhebuadze is a freelance concept artist with more than eight years of experience in film and gaming. She specialises in keyframe and environment design and has worked with the likes of Wizards of the Coast, Technicolor, Blur, Axis Studios, Aaron Sims Creative and Ubisoft.
At Vertex 2024, Nana will take us step-by-step through her pipeline for creating keyframes, from the initial idea to the final image, providing valuable insights into her process.
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 Nana Dhebuadze Q&A
Ahead of her talk at Vertex 2024, we caught up with Nana to learn more about her introduction to art in Ukraine, her early influences and what she'll be sharing at the event.
Where did you grow up and how has this influenced your art?
"I grew up in Donbass, Ukraine, where I lived for 18 years. Currently, this territory has been occupied by Russia for 10 years. It was an industrial mining city in Eastern Ukraine. I studied at an art college there. All the students used to go for studies to the central park to catch the beautiful light after noon or make sketches of historical buildings in the city center. I remember once our teacher took us for studies, saying he knew a beautiful location.
"Everyone was surprised when we arrived at a bridge with a view on the factories, pipes with smoke and industrial buildings. Someone asked if it wouldn't be better to go to the park, like all the other students do. To this, our teacher said that art doesn't always have to be beautiful and we can always find aesthetics in what is around us, in what we see every day, and in what we know well. I liked this idea, and it's something I later started using: draw what surrounds me. If it's something grim, then it means finding aesthetics in it."
How did you get started in art and what kept you going?
"When I was about 10 years old, I started taking drawing courses, and that’s when my first love for art began. Then I went to art college and after that, to the Art Academy where I studied fine art. In my last year in the Academy, I remember everyone started talking about CG and concept art. There was no Artstation then, it was DeviantArt.
"I remember being inspired by the works of Jamie Jones and Jama Jurabaev. Then I bought my first tablet and started trying to do Concept Art. I didn’t take any courses, and then weren’t as many courses as now. I just watched videos on YouTube and listened art podcasts. I tried to analyze works which I liked and create something similar to it."
Is there a piece of art from your portfolio that you really love?
"I think this piece. It's quite old, but it's the first one that brought me a little popularity on ArtStation at that time. I remember trying different approaches, this was one of my first experiences with 3D and photobash. Firstly I did a sketch on paper and then tried to repeat this idea in CG."
What advice would you give to your younger self?
"I think doing what you like and what you know well is the main advice. Don't blindly copy someone. For me, individuality is important as an artist."
What will you be talking about at Vertex?
"I'm going to talk about my pipeline for creating keyframes for the film and game industry. We go through all stages, from creating idea to final images."
Find details of more speakers at the Vertex 2024 website.
