January Q&A with Michael Whelan

Photo of Michael Whelan at Tio’s Tacos in Riverside, CA in 2017

What makes for a good question? Quite simply anything that gets Michael talking.

Sometimes I’ll forward a simple question to him already knowing the answer. I ask because the reward of insight that Michael may provide vastly outweighs my concerns over asking the obvious.

I encourage you to do the same. More often than not, it’s a simple question from a fresh perspective that leads to a magical exchange.

Today we’ll be catching up on questions that Michael answered over holidays. ~ME

---

LAST LOOK BACK (1989), Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 36" x 24"

MRW: The painting was executed in a technique that layered brilliant colors, with the top layer partially obscuring the lower ones.

Here be Dragons and Whatnot on BlueSky Social asked:

Is that technique called glazing? Whatever it's called, I love the richness of the color! I'm especially enamored with that cool blue secondary light on the figure's shoulders and back

MRW: I’m not sure I’d call it glazing, which carries a different freight of meaning and use to my thinking. To me glazing always implies a transparent color over another color. In this case, however, I’m applying an opaque color over another background layer.

Though the opaque overlay gets somewhat hazy where it’s thin (allowing the undercolor to show through and visually mix with the overcolor), it totally obscures the undercolor where it’s laid on thickly, as in the sky behind the head.

I do use glazing in my acrylic paintings but it’s something I tend to think of as an oil painting technique generally.

---

LAST LOOK BACK

---

NIGHTFROST (2011), Acrylic on Watercolor Paper - 9” x 6”

Voiceless on BlueSky Social asked:

This is very beautiful. How do you paint such pearls/gems, if I may ask?

MRW: Uh, very carefully. 😉

I don’t really know, I just do it. There’s so many ways to paint such a thing, I don’t know how I could really describe the process without going into a four page essay.

Much depends on what sort of light source is illuminating the object, what its actual color is, how transparent it is meant to be, etc. There are many factors affecting how it might appear in a painting.

It helps to study the real thing and try to memorize how the light falls on and through crystalline shapes; then you have something to guide your effort towards making it look realistic.

Of course all this is dependent on what sort of media you are using, and what sort of surface you are painting it on.

Too many variables to delineate!

---

NIGHTFROST

---

FLIGHT OF DISCOVERY (2013), Acrylic on Canvas - 16" x 12"

Paul Hostetler on BlueSky Social asked:

Did you get bored painting all those nearly identical rocks? Because it doesn’t look like you got bored. All of them look like they got some love and attention.

MRW: Paintings like these become exercises in meditation. Once the essential tones are laid down, I kind of get lost in the detail and before I know it two or more hours have gone by. My reward is having completed a set portion of the work, so I know I’m making progress.

In the event that I DO find myself struggling with the tedium, I employ stirring music or audiobooks to help me pass the time while my hands do their work.

---

FLIGHT OF DISCOVERY

---

THE DREAMING LANDS (2002), Oil on Canvas - 20" X 30"

CONTENT WARNING: SUICIDE

Robot Pinhead on BlueSky Social asked:

Beautiful! Is the similarity to the Evelyn McHale photograph intentional?

MRW: Sorry, I don't know what photo you're referencing but would be interested to see it.

RP: I didn't want to share it directly because it might be upsetting to some, it's most commonly referred to as "The Most Beautiful Suicide"

MRW: Oh, if you had said “That famous photo with the lady on the car” I would have known immediately what you meant.

But no, my painting has absolutely nothing to do with that photo, unless there’s some unreachable subconscious spark in my head that I’m not aware of.

My painting was inspired by personal experiences and memories, as well as a metaphor I felt a need to express. Mine was a positive intent, not negative, drawing on a transcendental camping experience cross-patched with my stay in a hospital in 2000.

Good reference, though.

---

The photo by Robert Wiles—taken shortly after Evelyn McHale’s suicide at the Empire State Building in 1947—received a great deal of publicity in LIFE Magazine and beyond.

Because the photo may be triggering, I won’t post it here but will provide a link to a story that includes the photo as well as historic background if you’d like to learn more.

If you’re struggling with thoughts of suicide or self harm, please reach out to The National Suicide Prevention Hotline 1-800-273-8255, or alternatively for LGBT youth call the TrevorLifeline 1-866-488-7386 .

---

THE DREAMING LANDS

---

Weekly Art Recap

Art featured from Jan 13-18

• Evile - album cover for Infected Nations by thrash metal band Evile

• Kairos - borrowing a reference for time from the ancient Greeks

• Skychild’s Fall - a unique commission inspired by an Aboriginal legend

• Empire of Dreams - personal work and cover for the anthology Eclipse One

• A Spell for Chameleon - cover for the first Xanth novel by Piers Anthony

• Shadow Prince - another take on Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné

---

If you like in-depth content about Michael Whelan’s art, please consider subscribing. Our weekly newsletters are free, and we offer additional perks for paid supporters.