Road to Avengers: Infinity War with Marvel Studios
Gnomon is joining forces with Marvel Studios on May 10 to present the Road to Avengers: Infinity War event. The ultimate artist panel will assemble at the Gnomon campus in Hollywood to discuss the various character designs spanning from Avengers: Age of Ultron through to Black Panther and how they culminate in the latest blockbuster, Avengers: Infinity War.
Led by the Head of Visual Development Ryan Meinerding, Marvel Studio’s Visual Development team was responsible for designing the characters, costumes, props, and the overall visual look of the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Joining Ryan at the Gnomon Stage will be Marvel Studios’ Visual Development Supervisor and Illustrator Andy Park, plus illustrators Charlie Wen, Jackson Sze, Anthony Francisco, Rodney Fuentebella, and Phil Saunders, and modeler and Gnomon alum Josh Herman.
In celebration of the Road to Avengers: Infinity War book release, the event will explore early designs, show numerous character iterations and key-frame illustrations, and explain how the Visual Development team works to help the directors and the studio visualize the look and feel of each film. The artists will also examine how 3D tools were critical in creating characters and assets during the pivotal concept design phase of the moviemaking process.
The event is free and attendance is RSVP only, with tickets and seating offered on a first-come-first-served basis. Due to the anticipated popularity of this event, we advise arriving in good time to avoid disappointment. This exclusive event will not be streaming live or available as a recording. Books will not be for sale, but attendees are welcome to bring books with them to be signed after the end of the event.
Avengers: Infinity War opens at theaters in the US on April 27, 2018.
Schedule
7:30 PM – 9:30 PM: The Art of Black Panther: An Evening with Marvel Studios
9:30 PM – 10:00 PM: Audience Questions
Do you love movies and VFX? Are you curious about careers in digital production for entertainment? Our next Open House will delve into the career opportunities available in the industry and talk through the educational options at Gnomon School. Plus, we’ll give you a guided tour of the campus in Hollywood!
Guest Speakers
Head of Visual Development
Ryan Meinerding has been active as a concept artist and illustrator since 2005. Early in his career, his work earned a rave of attention that was typically reserved for industry veterans. After completing his degree in industrial design from Notre Dame, he transitioned to Hollywood and worked on 2008’s Outlander. He was hired at Marvel Studios for Iron Man, and after leaving briefly to do concept work on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Watchmen, has been full-time ever since. Ryan served as Visual Development Co-Supervisor on Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Avengers. He was promoted to Head of Visual Development for Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War. He is currently working on Avengers: Untitled and the untitled Spider-Man sequel – and still loving every minute!
Follow Ryan Meinerding on Instagram: @ryan_meinerding_art
Visual Development Supervisor
Visual Development Supervisor Andy Park began his career as a comic book artist illustrating titles such as Tomb Raider, Excalibur, and Uncanny X-Men for Marvel, DC, and Image Comics, among others. After a decade in the comic book industry, he made a career switch and began working as a concept artist in video games; he was one of the leading artists designing worlds and fantastical characters/creatures for the God of Warfranchise. Andy joined the Visual Development Department at Marvel Studios in 2010 as a visual development concept artist, designing characters and keyframe illustrations for Marvel’s The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Thor: The Dark World, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, and Captain America: Civil War. He is now Visual Development Supervisor and has led the department on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Ant-Man & the Wasp, and is working on Captain Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Follow Andy Park on Instagram: @andyparkart
Former Co-Head of Visual Development
Charlie Wen has pioneered visual development and visual storytelling for top-grossing Hollywood films, triple-A games, and animation over two decades and has extensive creative leadership in story, character, and world-building. He founded and was Director of Visual Development at Sony PlayStation (SCEA) on God of War 1 & 2, and designed Kratos – one of the most iconic characters in video game history. He later moved on to concept, production design, and to write for CG-animated features such as Gatchamanand Thundercats, and soon expanded to concept design for live-action films including Warcraft, Akira, and SuckerPunch. In 2009, he joined Marvel Studios, where he co-founded/co-headed Marvel’s Visual Development department. His films include Marvel's The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Ant-Man. Charlie later spearheaded a future division of League of Legendsby Riot Games, and in 2016 he co-founded Imaginarium of Technology in partnership with MIT and Harvard. In the same year, he also founded TenSky Entertainment.
Follow Charlie Wen on Facebook: @charlie.wen1
Senior Concept Illustrator
Jackson Sze has worked in advertising, video games, television, and film for top studios including Lucasfilm Animation and Sony Computer Entertainment of America. He is a founding member of the BATTLEMiLK series of art books and is currently a Senior Concept Illustrator at Marvel Studios working in the Visual Development department. His credits include Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Little Prince, Marvel’s Avengersmovies, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 & Vol. 2, Ant-Man, Dr. Strange, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, and the upcoming Antman & The Wasp and Captain Marvel. He has also, in the past, taught at Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood.
Follow Jackson Sze on Instagram: @jwsze
Senior Concept Illustrator
Rodney Fuentebella was born in the Philippines and raised in San Francisco. He has worked on various projects for Electronic Arts, Atari, Rhythm and Hues, DreamWorks Animation, WIRED magazine, as well as various other entertainment and commercial projects. In film, he worked as a concept artist at Rhythm and Hues before joining the Visual Development team at Marvel Studios. Rodney has created key art illustrations and character designs for Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel’s The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and upcoming MCU films and projects.
Follow Rodney Fuentebella on Instagram: @rodneyimages
Senior Concept Illustrator
Anthony Francisco worked on multiple film and game projects before moving into movie concept art for VFX houses such as Stan Winston Studios, Rick Baker, ADI, Harlow FX, and Illusion Industries. Anthony created art for Superman Returns, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Men in Black 2, Spider-Man, The Passion of the Christ, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and The Chronicles of Riddick, among others. He worked as a concept artist at NCsoft Santa Monica on Guild Wars and Tabula Rasa, and at Offset Software as Lead Concept Artist. In 2010, he worked at Rhythm and Hues on The Hunger Games, R.I.P.D., and Seventh Son, and is currently based in Burbank where he works on the Visual Development team at Marvel Studios. He also illustrates for Magic: The Gathering and has previously taught at Gnomon.
Follow Anthony Francisco on Instagram: @anthony_francisco_art
Modeler
Josh began his career working in practical effects at Legacy Effects working on movies like Real Steel, The Amazing Spiderman, Total Recall, and The Avengers. He left Legacy to try his hand at video games and worked for Naughty Dog on Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception, but soon found himself drawn back to movies when he joined Marvel Studios to work on titles including Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and Vol. 2, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man: Homecoming. In 2016, Josh returned to games as Character Art Director for Cloud Imperium Games where he currently oversees the character and character concept teams on Star Citizen and Squadron 42.
Follow Josh Herman on Instagram: @droidsforsale
Illustrator
Phil Saunders has been contributing character, vehicle, environment, and prop designs to feature films from nearly every major studio since 2001. His involvement with Marvel Studios began with the first Iron Man film, and has continued through almost every Marvel production that has featured the popular character. For the decade prior to his work in film, he was the creative director for computer game developer Presto Studios, an automotive designer for Nissan Design International, and a freelance designer of location-based entertainment.
Follow Phil Saunders on Facebook: @SaundersCreative
