Wales’ folklore and legends brought to life by digital artist

Stephen Price

A young artist from north Wales is flying the flag for Wales with his breathtaking digital artwork featuring figures from Welsh history and legend – and fighting the tide of poor AI art in the process.

Aled Thompson is a Welsh illustrator based in Llanberis. He has been working professionally as a storyboard artist for a company that provides artwork services for movies, games, and advertising worldwide since 2021.

But in his personal time, Aled has been working on developing his own personal style of illustrating, experimenting and researching to find new and exciting ways of expressing his creative language and the results couldn’t be better.

Through Aled’s work, both personal and professional, he’s been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to develop skills in working with photo manipulation, animation and 3d modelling, as well as the opportunity to work with artists from across the creative field.

Ysbrydoliaeth (Inspiration)

Welsh is Aled’s first language and he has deep roots here. Much of his personal work is inspired by Wales, from the beautiful landscapes, our rich and ancient history and legends, and from so many inspiring Welsh figures.

In the future, he’s hoping to spend more time illustrating all the treasures that Wales has to offer, and looks forward to sharing that beauty with the rest of the world.

Aled said: “Art was always my favourite subject in school and I decided to pursue it in higher education where I embraced digital art and found the versatility of the medium really allowed me to explore various styles and develop my own artistic language.”

“It was when I left Wales for university and was looking for that connection to back home that I began exploring Welsh myths and history for my artwork and that’s when I began to appreciate how significant they are to our Welsh identity, having such unique stories we can claim as our own and informs us of where we came from, and I really wanted to share that with a wider audience through my art.”

Changing landscape

Aled has been on the frontline of changes to his industry, seeing first hand how much artificial intelligence (AI) has impacted his industry, and the jobs it’s taken with it, and he’s determined to keep fighting the fight for the merit of digital art.

He shared: “I’ve encountered some big changes in my life since my first feature last year. With AI changing the landscape of the creative industry it creates a difficult environment for artists where it’s no longer viable for many studios to keep us on full time.

“This was the push I needed to embark on a freelance career as an illustrator, where I can take my future into my own hands and carve a path in the creative world with my own personal artistic brand.”

He added: “I’ve been working as a freelance illustrator since April and it’s really freed me up to take on some exciting new projects, work more closely with other creatives, build my own portfolio website (https://www.aledthompson.com), and most importantly gives me the time and energy to dedicate myself to my own artwork and the subjects that I’m passionate about, especially Wales.”

After seeing his works go viral online, he said: “I think there are various factors that encourage virality and a large portion is getting lucky with timing and the algorithm, getting shares by larger accounts helps you reach a wider audience and then having a certain quality in your artwork that encourages them to share it.

He added: “We’re lucky to be living in Wales as I’ve found that this is a community that’s always looking to lift up and celebrate our artists from across the creative landscape.

“There’s so much from our culture, history and landscape to draw inspiration from and so many accomplished Welsh artists to follow in the footsteps of, I think that younger artists are in a good place to start a career in the creative industry.”

Mabinogi

Like many artists before him, the Mabinogi has proven to be an endless inspiration. He told Nation.Cymru: “I’ve been spending a lot more time exploring Wales’ mythology, especially all the weird and wonderful mythical creatures found across Wales, there’s so much to explore that I find it difficult to focus on one subject before I find myself drawn to another.

“More recently I have been exploring the fascinating figures in the Mabinogion which has presented new challenges as I’m less used to drawing people but I feel that’s how I develop as an artist.”

Wales’ beauty is also another key driver for him – an endless desire to hold on to the beauty of a location, so many of which we have right on our doorsteps.

He shared: I’d say a big part of my creative process is taking inspiration from the environment around me.

“I like to take inspiration from all the complexity of the natural world and bring that into photoshop where I simplify into distinct shapes that I can layer on top of each other to create an image, almost like building a collage in the digital space as much as it is drawing, and then I also look at the natural world around me for colour inspirations and how I can use it to capture a certain mood or atmosphere I want in that piece.

“I find every illustration presents a different challenge, and finding a creative solution to those challenges is the most fulfilling part of creating art.”

With his talent, and it being early days for him as a freelancer, Aled added: “Wales has a thriving creative industry and now that I’m working as a freelance illustrator I’m looking for opportunities to work with Welsh communities and businesses to help grow the industry and connect with creative people across Wales to help grow that industry.

“I’d love to travel across Wales to fully explore the depth, diversity and beauty that the country has to offer and then bring that into my own work, and I’m also thinking about taking on a bigger project that ties together my Welsh mythology and landscapes into a series.”

And until that point, we can all enjoy his unique, arresting artwork from the comfort of our screens along with him.

You can view more of Aled’s work on his Instagram or his inprnt profile or visit his website for more information.