Meet Meghana Reddy | Lead 2D/3D Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Meghana Reddy and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Meghana, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Growing up, I was the kid who doodled in my notebooks while class was on. There were not many design/arts related subjects where I studied so I took up art classes after school. It was the only creative outlet I had at that time, and it paved the way for all that I do today. My dad was my inspiration. He had the most insatiable curiosity for art, especially when it came to filmmaking and special effects. He would always watch a film from an artist’s perspective and would get inquisitive about the making. He was all about the ‘detail’. His obsession fueled my pursuit of art and design. We watched every animated film we could, and I slowly started to wonder about every question he had, as I grew older.

Fast forward to a few years and it was in college that I finally got into the fundamentals of design. I learnt everything from the history of animation, fine arts, design, packaging, printing and filmmaking to learning how to create stunning visuals using various design software such as Photoshop, Illustrator and 3D Studio Max. It took me a while to figure out these applications. But once I tapped into this world of digital art and design, it turned into an endless creative journey. Suddenly I had access to an infinite blank canvas in my head which I could color with my imagination and bring new worlds to life. Since then, art has become my addiction and my curiosity to learn everything we can do with it, both digitally and traditionally, has grown by the day.

I always looked at art as a hobby but the moment I decided that I wanted to pursue my career in art and in the creative industry was when I first laid my eyes on Peter Jacksons ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. For me, that was filmmaking at its best. I was in awe by the visuals and the concepts and dug a bit deeper on the making of all the 3 films after I had watched them. That was when I came across the brilliant Alan Lee.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
The moment I decided that I wanted to pursue my career in art and in the creative industry is when I first laid my eyes on Peter Jacksons ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. For me, that was filmmaking at its best. I was in awe by the visuals and the concepts and dug a bit deeper on the making of all the 3 films after I had watched them. That was when I came across the brilliant Alan Lee.

Alan Lee was the main Illustrator and Concept Artist for the quintessential British fantasy ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy written by J.R.R. Tolkien. His style of art is often described as a combination of realistic and romantic. He was heavily influenced by the works of Arthur Rackham and Charles Robinson, who have played important roles in his studies and direction. Alan Lee’s medium was watercolor in a classically romantic style.

Although Alan Lee and I share two different styles of art, his process, his use of color, his characterizations, his compositions and his storytelling has always inspired me. Apart from Lee, I have admired the works of H.R. Giger, Feng Zhu, John Eaves, Ralph McQuarrie, Cedric Gibbons and many more. Watching these artists showcase their brilliant work on big platforms inspires me to do the same with my work.

I started my professional career in 2014. I worked in an advertising studio called Rubecon Communications, based in Chennai, India. I started off as an illustrator and worked there for almost 3 years. I had great mentors in Rubecon and I learnt everything I needed to know before heading off to do my Masters in Animation at Savannah College of Art and Design. After graduating in 2018, I worked for an animation studio based in Atlanta, called Primal Screen, where I got work on a ton of projects from 2D to 3D and that really helped me expand my knowledge in the animation world.

During my experience as an Artist, I realized that every artist has a unique sense of style. When I found mine, I wanted to challenge myself more to sort of adapt to any style that was given to me. The goal behind this was to try and collaborate with as many people in the industry around the world.

Later, I wanted to tap into the 3D world a little bit more and I started familiarizing myself with softwares like, Autodesk Maya, 3D Studio Max, Zbrush, Cinema 4D and Unreal. I was astonished with how much one could create with these softwares. Being a 2D Artist for many years, the 3D world was very new yet very exciting to me, and there were endless ideas and concepts to innovate.

I strive to create work that is unconventional, unique and fresh. So I tried my hands at mixing 2D and 3D. A good example of this is the recent Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse film that came out. Absolutely gorgeous visuals. You don’t see many animated films with a unique sense of style.

After Primal Screen, I worked with two other animation studios, both based in Los Angeles, called Titmouse and the other, ShadowMachine. At Titmouse, I had the honor of working on season 2 of Bless the Harts as a 2D Background and Prop Artist. This series is currently streaming on HULU and FOX. AT ShadowMachine, I had the opportunity to collaborate with the writers of a new animated series for Amazon Prime.

Working with multiple studios and all the top professionals gave me a huge exposure in the creative industry, it is definitely a challenging and a highly competitive industry but I cannot imagine myself in any other field of work.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Atlanta has become my second home. Being an immigrant from India, I personally thought it would be challenging to find good Indian restaurants in and around the town, but boy did Atlanta surprise me! I would definitely take my friends to my favorite Indian restaurants, they are all pretty amazing. I love kayaking at Lake Lanier on Sunday mornings. I love the coffee shops in Alpharetta, like Valor, Crazy Love Coffee, to name a few.

I think Alpharetta definitely has some really cool spots, the stretch at canton street has a ton of restaurants, bars, breweries and coffee shops. It’s a peacefully neighborhood, which is one of the reasons I love going there over the weekends. There are also some good dinner spots at Avalon, particularly Café Intermezzo and Rumi’s Kitchen would definitely be my go-to’s.

The parks around Alpharetta are really refreshing, they have some beautiful hiking trails.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
A big big massive shoutout to my mom and my dad. Their love, support, patience and encouragement brought me to where I am today, and I know I have miles to go. My mom and dad are both very creative people and it’s because of the exposure they gave me into the art world at a very young age that helped me gravitate towards the creative industry.

Website: www.meghanareddy.net

Instagram: @meg__reddy

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghana-reddy7/