Exclusive: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Concept Artist Jerad S. Marantz Spills Secrets of Working with Marvel

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) concept art by Jerad S. Marantz

Check out my interview with Guardians of the Galaxy concept artist Jerad S. Marantz!

Recently, movie goers were surprised when theaters started playing Rise of the Guardians instead of Guardians of the Galaxy. On Twitter they said people were crying. Why? Because, as wonderful as Rise of the Guardians probably is, it doesn't hold a candle to the blockbuster hit. This week I've featured a bunch of interviews with concept artists that worked on the film and the latest one to talk with me is my buddy Jerad Marantz.

Jerad S. Marantz is a professional concept artist who's worked on big budget films like Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), I Am Legend (2007) and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Click on the images to enlarge.



Maurice Mitchell: I've always wondered what it was like working with the in-house Marvel design team. What was it like working on Guardians of the Galaxy?
JM: Guardians of the Galaxy was a phenomenal project to work on. For this show I was working in-house over at Marvel Studios. The artists over there are easily some of the best in the industry and working with them was incredibly exciting and humbling at the same time. Charlie Wen, Ryan Meinerding, Anthony Francisco, Josh Herman, Kevin Chen, Andy Park, Jackson Sze, Rodney Fuentebella, Rob Mckinnon, Andrew Kim, and Justin Sweet were the artists that I had the pleasure of working with. During my time there, I was able to learn something from each of them. I feel like I came out of that studio a better artist.

I was art directed by Charlie Wen. I got all of my feedback from him. He was a joy to work with. I have no idea how he was able to direct so many artists and contribute so much to the show at the same time.

I spent the majority of my time on the Sakaraan Soldiers design for the film. The wonderful thing about working in that studio is that everybody gets a chance to work on characters. Regardless of how big the role of the character is everybody gets a stab at it. I was fortunate enough to get the soldiers because the director responded mostly to my artwork. There were a ton of great designs for these characters done by other artists that can be seen in the book. A concept that my friend Anthony Francisco did was one of my favorites.


MM: Was there a design that stands out as challenging in your mind?
Doing the soldiers was a big challenge. It was a practical costume that had to fit many extras. It took me months of revisions with Charlie and the costume designer Alexandra Byrne, to finally get it right. I was really impressed with how they looked on screen.

I did have the opportunity to do a few designs for the other characters in the film but, because I was so focused on the Sakaaran soldiers, the other concepts where just first passes.


MM: What was the most enjoyable design that you worked on for this film?
The most fun I had on the project, aside from the soldiers, was designing background aliens for the many scenes in the film. It was a great chance to just go wild and I can't remember the last time I had that much fun on a project.





See more of Jerad S. Marantz' inspiring blog at jeradsmarantz.blogspot.com. Besides being an artist, Jerad is also a teacher. So, if you're a fan of concept art, then make sure you check out Jerad's "Alien Rock Grubber" tutorial at The Gnomon Workshop. Come back next week for an exclusive insider interview about making the tutorial!

Click on the links if you want to see more of Jerad S. Marantz' work or Guardians of the Galaxy artwork on my blog.

What do you think of the concept art? If you've seen Guardians of the Galaxy what do you think of the ?

Official Guardians of the Galaxy Summary
From Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, comes a new team--the Guardians of the Galaxy. An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits--Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon; Groot, a tree-like humanoid; the deadly and enigmatic Gamora; and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand--with the galaxy's fate in the balance.
Directed by James Gunn
Production Design by Charles Wood
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio del Toro, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close
Release date: August 1, 2014 (USA)
© Copyright 2014 Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. All rights reserved

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