Wednesday, December 12, 2012

A Christmas week with Michael Whelan Day Three

"Z-World" courtesy of Michael Whelan. CLICK TO EMBIGGEN
In yesterday's post, I spoke of how Roger Zelazny died never realizing his dream of having a Whelan cover. Well he got his wish posthumously. This is the art piece that Michael got commissioned and finished for Zelazny and it has elements of all his stories (you can see Amber in the distance!). To save money, the publishing companies will have Michael do one painting and divide it up into several books. That's what they did with H.P. Lovecraft, paying Michael for only two huge paintings which I'm sure cost them probably several hundred thousand dollars a few decades ago.  I remember hearing at the time that DAW books blew all of their cover budget and could barely afford the two paintings for all six books. Even back then, Michael was a big deal, and he promised DAW that he'd make some incredible pieces of art that they could then divide up to accomplish their goal.

I have no idea what Michael charges now, but it's probably ten years of my current salary. If St. Martins can afford to pay Amanda Hocking $2 million to write some mermaid books, then to get someone like Whelan to do a cover is probably going to cost equally as much if not more. My guess is probably a couple million, minimum, per painting. Especially since he can just shrug and say, "I don't need you...I have as much money as I'll ever need to take care of my family and send my kids to school, etc." That's what I meant yesterday by the phrase "F U Money." It's a term I coined with my friend James to describe a turning point in a person's career where you choose your own destiny and could care less about outside forces (like the need to eat and have a place to sleep).

Consequently, I heard that these covers on the six books when arranged in order on the shelf, create the entire image that you see using the spines. That would be a cool effect. Be sure to embiggen and check out the details on all the pillars. That's why I chose this particular piece as a favorite. It showcases Michael's obsession with detail. Nothing is too small to be overlooked.

FACT: The only contemporary that Michael has been compared to is the artist H.R. Giger and vice-versa. They are completely different artists, but equally as great. I prefer Whelan to Giger myself. Giger scares me.

20 comments:

  1. I love Whelan's work and have for years. They are so instantly recognizable! This piece is really stunning.

    Really enjoying this series!

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  2. I better start saving up if I want him to do my book cover. I wonder how much I have in that big jar of pennies...

    mood

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  3. Giger is creepy. They are nothing alike.

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  4. This painting actually reminds me of those games where they list things you need to find in a certain amount of minutes.

    I really like the detail, though. :-)

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  5. Another great painting! Thanks for sharing. Also, thank you for the offer to help me with my critique contest. It means a lot. So much so that you will be offered one of the critiques no matter how many comment. Thanks Michael.

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  6. Blowing all your money on a cover design is probably not the best way to be successful at publishing. Though back then covers meant more since bookstores were the only way to buy books. Most books today the cover is more or less an icon on a web page.

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  7. That's cool that Whelan did something for Zelazny posthumously. I loved the Amber series.

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  8. I don't see the H.R. Giger connection but Michael Whelan does have a mastery of technique and the ability to create a total mood.

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  9. @Stephen and Alex: I used to think like both of you. But Whelan and Giger are very much alike in the size and scale that they work in and the detail that they work in. The smallest things on a Giger painting have meaning (the same as Whelan). It's been weighed in upon by many art aficionados so this isn't just me. I see the connection now, and once it was explained to me, I understood it.

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  10. Giger does some interesting stuff, but I've never been a huge fan. Too much just being gray.
    Parkinson, though...

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  11. i think it's hilarious that Giger scares you and yet you so love Prometheus (well "love" being a lazy word)

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  12. Even a posthumous dream is an honor. And that is some amazing art. Need to catch up on these Whelan posts. :)

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  13. That picture is so cool. Gosh, i want to just sit down a write a scene that occurs here now :)

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  14. I love Michael Whelan's artwork. Great idea to feature his paintings!

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  15. He does great work!

    www.modernworld4.blogspot.com

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  16. This is a stunning one, too. And I agree, Giger is creepy.

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  17. Wow. 2 million dollars. I recall hearing that Marvel offered Todd McFarlane something similar to continue pencilling Spider-Man back before he left and did his Spawn thing.

    That's a lot of cash

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  18. I'm ashamed to say I've never heard of this guy before now. This is amazing though. My son is in bed, but I half want to go wake him up just to show him this. I'll restrain myself and wait until tomorrow. VERY cool stuff. Awesome post. I'm going to check out the other pics now...

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