Artists embraced and espoused creative world-building techniques during “The Art of World-Building: Creating immersive Fantasy Realms.” The panel was included in Art Show Programming and held in Hyatt Grand Hall C on Saturday at 1PM. Rachel Rieckerberg moderated the panel, which also included Glenn Paris, Heather Hitchman, Melissa Sue Stanley, and Naomi VanDoren. 

Some artists began their process with a visual image that led to story creation, while others found inspiration in natural settings, including childhood haunts. Stanley developed her imaginary world by building a detailed travel guide step-by-step. 

Studying other artists’ work and determining what is spooky or scary helped Hitchman with choosing methods like dark colors and hard edges to evoke these darker emotions. Using notebooks, gigantic sheets of graph paper, and mind-mapping were recommended for tapping into creative channels. Leaving room for readers to make their own decisions was suggested as well. 

Rieckerberg proposed infusing your work with what you are passionate about. “There is a huge audience for that.”