Based in Wolf Studios Wales, Painting Practice is one of the country’s leading design studios, providing multiple services including motion graphics, VFX, animation, concept art and prop design for a multitude of Films and TV shows. The award-winning studio’s latest work His Dark Materials, has received an outpouring of praise for the incredible visuals work that was created for the show. We are happy to say that we have helped to source trainees for Painting Practice in the past who are now working as top professionals in their fields, with some of them still working for the studio to this day.

We are thrilled to announce that Painting Practice have now joined us as a sponsor! We have worked with each other on projects for a number of years but are now so pleased that they have officially joined the Screen Alliance Wales family by becoming one of our official supporters. We spoke with former Studio Manager and current Producer at Painting Practice, Yassmine, about the work the studio carries out and just how vital the services they provide are for the film and TV industry.

Although Painting Practice provide a multitude of services and skills, a major part of their work is problem solving, predominantly in the art design and VFX worlds. At one time, Painting Practice usually have one or two main big projects that they work on (His Dark Materials being their latest of a long line of incredible work) but at the same time, they will be working on other projects that won’t involve as much of the team but will provide a specific skill set – maybe a concept artist or pre-vis work. For instance, whilst a lot of their time was spent working on His Dark Materials, they were also working on Netflix’s Black Mirror. They take into account the needs of each production whilst assessing their availability. They can’t offer all of their time for every single project but always ensure that they bring the finest services to each production they are involved with.

Having their offices situated in Wolf Studios Wales helps the team a lot as they can be more involved physically throughout the filming of a show. When all in one space, it’s easier to be involved with meetings and share ideas with other departments. Decisions are often made very quickly in this industry so this really helps the team as they can be much more involved throughout the entire process.

This area of work is not only for those who are natural artists but for those who work hard at learning a new creative craft and become excellent at what they do. Curiosity is key, always keep looking at what’s around you. The people who have worked in this industry for 20 years and are still the top of their field are the ones who have kept up to date with the ever-changing landscape of tech, trends, and software. This is the same if you want to be a concept artist. There are different styles, different ways of approaching things so you must keep up to date with all the latest trends whilst making sure to try them yourself. Each project demands a different skillset, and many require a totally different approach to creating concept art. Every artist has their own unique style, but you must be able to adapt your creative skills to fit each project – especially somewhere like Painting Practice who have multiple projects ongoing at one point.

You must have a passion for your job as a whole, even when working on projects that don’t specifically utilise the skills that you are best at. As Painting Practice is such a small company, artists work very closely together on each project – it’s a collaborative effort. At the end of each project, there are a multitude of people who have contributed their skills. A 3D artist might pass their work to the concept artist, who passes it to the person heading up the software side. It’s a very collaborative process and involves working with numerous people. Curiosity, passion and having an open mind to the creative process are three vital skills for those looking to work in a company like Painting Practice.

“It’s been really awesome working with Screen Alliance Wales. The amount of support they have given us with finding people, especially when it felt impossible as we are such a small company, has been invaluable. They have also supported us in our relationship with University of South Wales and its thanks to SAW that we have been able to bring people in for work shadowing placements, with some of these people going on to become members of the Painting Practice team and still working here today. SAW have also helped to create a platform to enable studio visits from students, whilst also helping us with visiting universities and colleges ourselves. They have helped us by doing things that we would not have been able to achieve ourselves, due to time constraints. It’s definitely been a great relationship and with the sponsorship now, I think it’s an official, more public way of saying thank you and let’s keep this going into the future”

Thank you to Yassmine for speaking with us about the work that goes on at Painting Practice, and we wish you all a huge welcome to the Screen Alliance Wales family. Your unique skillset is a vital cog within the industry, without which, wonderful worlds and amazing visuals would not be brought to life on our TV screens.

We often advertise roles on our website for Painting Practice, so make sure to keep checking our vacancies page (here) for all the latest jobs on offer. Don’t forget to follow Painting Practice on social media.

Instagram – @painting_practice

Facebook - @TheDigitalArtDepartment

Twitter - @PaintingP

Website - https://paintingpractice.com/