MICHAEL KUTSCHE

Thor - Initial Frost Giant Concept

2011-07-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

Early Frost Giant concept art for "Thor", directed by Kenneth Branagh. The image shows what kind of scale for the giants I originally had in mind. The Thor costume in this piece is based on the Esad Ribic version.

Thor -Bull Frost Giant Concept

2011-06-26T14:12:00.000-07:00

Bull Frost Giant concept art for "Thor", directed by Kenneth Branagh.
Designed to give some serious headbutts!
Didn't have a long lifespan in the movie though - his face had an encounter with Thor's Hammer.

Thor - Frost Giants Concept

2011-06-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

Frost Giants concept art for "Thor", directed by Kenneth Branagh. This one is to explore a range of body types. Since they come from a dying world, I wanted to incorporate these signs of destitution while still keeping a feel of innate strength.

Thor - Arrival in Jotunheim

2011-06-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

Original concept art for "Thor", directed by Kenneth Branagh. This one is a key frame that shows the arrival of Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three in Jotunheim. My focus here was on the scale, lighting and overall atmosphere.

Thor - Odin Costume Design

2011-06-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

Costume design for "Thor", directed by Kenneth Branagh. This one is a concept for Odin's casual dress, I'm happy how it got translated into the real costume for the film.

Thor - Destroyer's Vault

2011-05-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

Original concept art for "Thor", directed by Kenneth Branagh.
This is one of the key frames I did, showing Thor and Odin while they discover what's left of the Frost Giants who attempted to steal the Casket of Ancient Winters.

Thor - Frost Giant Concept 2

2011-05-26T17:32:00.000-07:00

Frost Giant concept art for "Thor", directed by Kenneth Branagh.
A big thanks goes to Craig Kyle, Producer at Marvel Studios, for the collaboration on the giants.

Thor - Frost Giant Concept Art

2011-05-19T14:15:00.000-07:00

Frost Giant concept art for "Thor", directed by Kenneth Branagh.
The focus while designing these guys was on the character.

Thor - King Laufey

2011-05-16T15:46:00.000-07:00

King Laufey concept art for "Thor", directed by Kenneth Branagh.

The challenge for designing the Frost Giants was to give them a fierce appearance while still evoking a feel of an intelligent, sophisticated race; instead of ending up with a bunch of strong but dumb brutes or the typical movie monsters.

Thor - Odin and Sleipnir

2011-05-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

Concept art for "Thor": Odin on Sleipnir, his eight legged horse.

The Art of Thor Book Signing/Panel

2011-05-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

With the movie successfully released, I wanted to announce the upcoming artist panel and book signing at Gallery Nucleus.
I will be present together with my fellow artists who worked on "Thor":

Charlie Wen
Ryan Meinerding
Vance Kovacs

The Art of Thor is a nice collectible for all the peeps interested in how the visual style for the film was created.
It's 240 pages showcasing a great deal of the concept art for the film and comes in a slipcase with a nice spot varnish printing. If you don't get your hands on a signed copy at Nucleus, order here: link

Looking forward to seeing you at Nucleus!

http://www.gallerynucleus.com/event/312

The Golem

2010-09-08T17:28:00.000-07:00

This is a piece I did for the "Transmission: Experience" exhibition in Singapore:
http://www.transmission.com.sg/experience.html
It's kind of a new, rather abstract approach for me so I'm really curious what you guys think about it.
I felt the urge to break out of my daily routine, which is designing movie characters in full detail and life likeness.
I wanted to create some sort of stage with "props" and "actors" that relate to each other in an incomprehensible way, seeming to tell a story, but leaving the puzzle unfinished.
This one is digital, but I'm planning on a series of large oil painted canvases to explore and advance this direction.

Alice in Wonderland - Jabberwocky

2010-05-07T11:01:00.000-07:00

Final design of the Jabberwocky for Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland".
I was imagining him a little less shiny than he ended up in the film.

CGSociety Feature

2010-04-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

Very detailed interview on CGSociety. Big thanks to Paul Hellard and Barbara Robertson!
http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=5599

Alice in Wonderland: A Visual Companion

2010-03-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

A sneak peek at "Alice in Wonderland: A Visual Companion".
Big thanks to Holly Kempf and Mark Salisbury for putting together such a nice book.
There's a lot of interesting stuff in there, the art behind the movie as well as behind the scenes photos. Order here: http://www.amazon.de/Disney-Wonderland-Companion-Featuring-directed/dp/1423128877

Initial Caterpillar Concept

2010-03-08T15:30:00.000-08:00

This is the actual drawing which got me the gig on "Alice".
At the time I did it, I wasn't even aware what movie and director it was for.
A couple of illustrators had been requested by Sony to participate in a pitch, and it turned out that Bobby Chiu, Kei Acedera and myself were hand picked by Tim Burton after Sony showed him the drawings.

Interview on LA Times blog

2010-02-25T15:41:00.000-08:00

Did an interview for Hero Complex about my work on "Alice in Wonderland", check it out!

Thanks to Gerrick Kennedy for putting it together so nicely!

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2010/02/alice-in-wonderland-character-designer-is-a-cinderella-story.html

Alice in Wonderland

2010-02-02T10:05:00.000-08:00

In 2008 I had the opportunity to do a lot of the character designs for "Alice in Wonderland
I was very lucky to meet Tim Burton as well as Ken Ralston from Sony Imageworks, I've been working directly at the film set in Plymouth and later on at the set in LA, it's been a great time working for one of my favourite directors.
Seeing Johnny Depp's performance was also mindblowing, he's amazingly talented.

Below are some images that have just been released officialy.
You can find the full article on this site, as well as 3 concept art pieces for the environments: http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/06/21/first-look-tim-burtons-trippy-new-alice-in-wonderland/
I will show you the huge pile of the other character designs I did after the film's release in 2010.

Here's a photo of Johnny Depp in the Mad Hatter costume as well as two of the very early Hatter concepts I did: