My Favourite Game James Gilleard

The illustrator and animator on creating his distinctive vector art and the merits of playing meditative games

You need only admire a few pieces of James Gilleard’s artwork to establish a familiarity with his style. His work is found in magazines and websites, and even on the cover of a limited-edition Hellboy Blu-ray. Here, Gilleard reveals how games have played a role in his art.

Did videogames play a part in your desire to become an artist?

The Sega Saturn was my first console, and the art that was on-screen was inspiring. I can remember doing a picture of Tomb Raider when I was in Year 9. So there was definitely a crossover.

To what extent has your style been influenced by videogames?

I’ve always had this in the back of my head, to draw in vector, the geometric style. I really think that comes from the first Tomb Raider, again. The first few games were built on blocks, with fairly low-res textures on top. There’s a picture of a mountain that I did; I was thinking of Tomb Raider while I was doing that.

How do you create your pieces?