Welcome to Aevum: Team of budding Illustrators prepare to introduce you to their new world…

A team of creative students from the University of Northampton have put pen to paper to create a new fantasy world, filled with mysterious characters and monstrous creations, which will be on display to the public this weekend.

On Saturday (7 December) – from 12.30-4.30pm at The Lab in Northampton – the doors will be opened to ‘Art of Aevum’, a new publication which documents a worldbuilding project by Chimera Collective, a group of six second-year illustrators with a shared interest in fantasy: Amber Winthrop, Annie Nguyen, Daniel Jupp, Megan Nightingale, Amber Collinson and Tino Chiringa.

This free event will showcase their publication release and pop-up shop which explores their unique world ruled by a mysterious scientific organisation and monstrous creatures. The students’ works of art will introduce themes relating to the futuristic fantasy genre, providing a journey through the development of a new and vast world with a focus on inking and digital drawings.

Alongside the publication release, Chimera Collective will host a creature drawing workshop during which visitors can try their hand at creating their own monsters through a playful dice-rolling game inspired by Dungeons and Dragons.

“One evening, we met up as a team at home, came together in our living room, and had an evening of brainstorming to create a whole new world,” explains Annie. “The illustrations included within the Art of Aevum book showcase entirely new environments, character and creature designs within our imaginary world.”

“We were initially inspired by the Arcane series on Netflix, an animated steampunk action-adventure television series,” adds Daniel, whose style combines photography and printmaking with traditional illustration. “We used the series to kickstart our creative process and bridged off the series to create the world of Aevum, with its own map and storyline.”

The students joined forces as part of a creative outreach project on their Illustration course at the University of Northampton, challenging them to create, network, promote and engage their work as the first step towards understanding the industry.

Megan, who is an illustrator with a passion for drawing animal and fantasy, explains: “We were really excited to team-up and share our mutual interest in fantasy. We wanted to connect our styles together to create something cohesive which leans into our own strengths and artistic styles.

“Our Illustration course content is broad and allows us to see and experience the whole world of illustration as a potential career. We have been a part of different projects, from book covers and editorials to creating your own group enjoying total creative freedom – it really allows us to connect with other students and learn from each other within a really welcoming, homely study environment.

“We’re really excited to welcome members of the public on Saturday and introduce them to our new world!”

Chimera Collective’s event will take place on Saturday 7 December from 12.30-4.50pm at The Lab in Northampton (95-97 Charles Street, NN1 3BG). The event is free to attend, and copies of their works will be available for sale.

Follow Art of Aevum across social media on Instagram, TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) – @art.of.aevum.

Find out more about studying Illustration at the University of Northampton.