The artist who’s worked on Black Panther, Thor: Ragnarok, and Guardians of the Galaxy tells Gary Evans why Marvel Studios is more than just a job.
Anthony Francisco is trying to find the words to answer this question: beyond top-notch art skills, what does it take to work as a vis-dev artist at Marvel Studios? “Kindness?” the Filipino says. “Kindness is too simple a word… Professionalism? No… respect – a respectful manner? That’s not it.”
Anthony’s worked at Marvel for six years. He designed Okoye, Nakia and the Dora Milaje for Black Panther, Loki for Thor: Ragnarok, and Baby Groot for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Being good at art is important, but not as important as you might imagine. You need to have ideas, but know how to see an idea through. You need to be a skilled designer, but know how to efficiently explain your design decisions. One word neatly sums up this side of the job: “Craftsmanship.”
Craftsmanship alone isn’t enough. A good craftsman will be replaced if they don’t have this other thing, this certain trait, this specific quality: “Personality,” Anthony says, but he’s not happy with that either. “The way you interact? Are you easy to work with? So, people skills, maybe…”
FULLY FORMED WORLDS
As a kid in Quezon City, Anthony would avoid certain streets on the walk home from school because they were known as places where you might find dead bodies. Filipino dictator, Marcos, executed people without trial and dumped corpses where they would be seen. Art became Anthony’s escape.
Esta historia es de la edición May 2019 de ImagineFX.
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Esta historia es de la edición May 2019 de ImagineFX.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
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Jan Wessbecher
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Kyounghwan Kim
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Slawek Fedorczuk
Dominic Carter talks to the concept artist about what keeps him motivated and the advantages of using physical sketchbooks.
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Estrela Lourenço
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Daria Widermanska
Daria, also known as Anako, has been drawing for as long as she can remember. Inspired by Disney and classic anime, she loves creating new characters and often finds that a single sketch can spark a unique story.
Allen Douglas
Allen has been painting professionally since 1994 for the publishing and gaming industries. Inspired by folklore, he distorts the size, relationships and environments of animals, and calls his paintings 'unusual wildlife'.
Thaddeus Robeck
Thaddeus has been drawing from the moment he could hold a pencil, but it was the 2020 lockdowns that gave him the time to focus on honing his skills.
DRAW FASCINATING SYMBOLIC ARTWORK
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First Impressions
The artist talks about his journey into the mythological world