AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR!

[Kernie]

To everyone who's been waiting so patiently (and some of you not-so-patiently), I'm extremely happy (and relieved) to finally have this to share...

[attachment=40278:avengers...atermark.jpg]
[Sorry for the checkerboard watermarks, just trying to prevent dishonest folks from re-using these for their own nefarious purposes]

Rather than using the WIP thread to get feedback, I decided to wait and post something that was nearly complete. I had a very specific vision for this cover and wanted to try to see it through without second-guessing everything with WIP suggestions. Instead, I'm using WIP to show off some of the techniques that I ended up using.

With 28 characters (all of whom appear in the film in major roles, cameos, or post-credit scenes), this design was a hell of a Rubix cube that not only required recoloring every single character (more on that in a bit), but also had to adhere to a number of self-imposed rules that I set...

Here are some of the rules that I tried to follow when arranging all of the characters...

- The leads of the respective franchises (Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Star-Lord, Spider-Man, Black Panther, Dr. Strange) should be as close to center as possible
- Masked characters should be wearing masks (Iron Man, Spider-Man, War Machine, Black Panther). Exceptions for Star-Lord (only uses occasionally) and Cap (never wears mask in movie)
- Characters with the ability to fly should be flying (leaving room on ground for non-flying characters)
- The Guardians of the Galaxy should be separated to create a sense of "crossover" with the regular Avengers
- Iron Man and War Machine should be separated (similar armor designs)
- Black Panther characters should be separated (again, for the purposes of "crossover")
- Dr. Strange and Scarlet Witch should be separated (magic users)
- Vision and Scarlet Witch should be separated (couple) and placement should be symmetrical
- Hulk and Gamora should be separated (green skin)
- Iron Man, Spider-Man, Scarlet Witch, and Okoye should be separated (red color)
- Falcon and War Machine placement should be separated and symmetrical (Gray armored sidekicks with flying ability)
- Avoid putting too many characters with similar color schemes next to each other so that blobs of "red" or "green" don't start to appear

Not only was following these guidelines extremely difficult, but then it was a challenge to find the right type of images that would best represent each character and work together to create the ultimate hero "group shot." Creating a scene in which all characters are believably inhabiting the same physical space was very tough, as opposed to a montage style where size and position are far more flexible.

Once I found the right images, the original coloring of most characters simply wouldn't work, so I recolored every character using Gradient Maps down to the smallest details. Here are just a few samples of the recoloring work (again, sorry for the watermarks).
[attachment=40271:wip_capt..._america.jpg]
[attachment=40272:wip_winter_soldier.jpg]
[attachment=40273:wip_scar...h_vision.jpg]
[attachment=40274:wip_wong_shuri.jpg]
[attachment=40275:wip_loki.jpg]

The other challenge was making this cover into an appropriate companion piece for my previous Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron designs. I think this makes a very nice triptych! (I'm already sweating at the notion of doing this all again for Avengers 4)
[attachment=40276:avengers_trilogy.jpg]

And for everyone screaming, "Where's THANOS?! He's essentially the main character!!" Yes, yes, I know... but the movie is called "Avengers" and I wanted the cover to be the Avengers (and allies). Rest assured, Thanos, the Black Order, the Outriders, and Chitauri will hopefully all appear on the back cover somehow... but I haven't gotten that far yet.

I also intend for this keyart to be used in my Shield Archive template, my MCU template, and of course, my Comic Book Collection template (in fact, I intend to rework the previous Avengers covers in my Comic Collection template to make all three films a bit more consistent).

Alright, I think I've rambled on about my design for long enough. My apologies, but many, many hours went into this, so I have a lot to say.

I'm not saying it's perfect, but I'm supremely proud of my work on this one. I hope this design was worth the wait (and I hope everyone understands why it took so long). Thanks for your interest!

[VincentLupo]

Phenomenal work! Well worth the wait. Can't wait to see what you do for the back.

I really wish I was as good at articulating thoughts like Curt below.

[ctaulbee]

I'm at a loss for words (Baz will have a comment on that I'm sure) it's more than just impressive, more like a revelation.

I'm always in awe at the level of detail you bring to your works, this is kind of a showcase of all that you do and do so well.

I was expecting it to be similar to the previous covers but you have really made something special here, not just with this one which is exceptional but the whole set is amazing.

The titles are awesome of course and everything else is spot on IMHO, I just love the harmony of it all.

Reading your post was a joy, I really like the detailed explanations you give for why you do things and the images too that illustrate your words.

I know that takes a fair amount of time and effort to do, so I want to acknowledge that and thank you for the time you spent doing the whole presentation and know it was not wasted, not on me at least.

I know the rest will be just as exciting as this, that is what makes the wait worth it in the end.

[Darksaber]

Really amazed at the extent you've gone to, the recolouring is exceptional

I'm in awe

[JollyRoger]

This is why people simply love your work, Andrew.
Such attention to detail! Wow! I really enjoyed the 'before' and 'after' shots of the characters; really goes to show the amount of work that went into this - and this BEFORE you even began the big puzzle of putting all the characters into the same scene. Amazing.

You, Sir, is an exceptional artist! My hat's off to you!

[cas]

holy sh1t that look amazing out Phenomenal work! wowowwo wowwowowowowowow

[bazzah]

QUOTE (ctaulbee @ Nov 10 2018, 03:36 AM) I'm at a loss for words (Baz will have a comment on that I'm sure)

Yes, I do. You typed 192 words after that statement And you are never lost for words.... ever.

But, back to the cover. Wow. This is how you do it I can personally appreciate the time it must have taken to build this masterpiece, as I too coloured and detailed each character. And there are a lot! But this just puts my effort to shame!! It really is amazing work, for so many different reasons And I loved reading your explanation for all of the individual details. It sounds like you spent as much time thinking on the design, as you did creating it. I can already see this being COTY 2018.

[garsted]

Words cannot describe how great this cover is!

[Jazzy]

Wow! Just Wow!

[Kernie]

Thank you very much to everyone who left a comment above! I can't express how much it means to me to read such wonderful compliments! I'm so glad that you like the design... it certainly took me long enough to get around to it and I'm glad it appears to have been worth the wait. It's a huge burst of encouragement to keep going and start on the back design for the villains!

Thanks again!