March Q&A

and

Mar 16, 2025

A dreamlike view out of a cave of orange rock out to vibrant blue sky. The curved ground gives way to layers of cloud. Above in the blue float transparent orbs, cloudy with the glow of a flicker of flame. — DREAMTIME (2014), Acrylic on Canvas - 60” x 25”

A Social Media Milestone

I wanted to take a moment to recognize that yesterday we surpassed 20K followers on Bluesky Social, our fastest growing stream on social media.

When we began posting on federated social media over a year ago, I hoped that one of these sites would replace legacy platforms that were growing more problematic by the day. Bluesky hit that tipping point many months ago and allowed us to leave places we no longer wanted to be, and I can’t begin to describe what a relief that is now.

Thank you for following us and engaging so passionately with our content wherever that may be. With social media, it’s good to remember that platforms are transitory. It’s the connection to people that matters.

Now let’s get to your recent questions and Michael’s answers!

~Michael Everett

THE PEREGRINE

Michael Whelan

Jan 4

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Shane Patrick White on Bluesky asked:

As your prices rose did you ever take on jobs that paid less but gave you more in other ways? What were the conditions that made this the right choice for you, Michael?

MRW: I have occasionally taken commissions which accompany fees below my usual rate—and for all kinds of reasons. I’ve done album covers for bands that I like or cover paintings for stories or authors I value as too good to pass up, and often for a fraction of my usual rate. I value my freedom to choose what seems most fun to work on.

All my “personal “ or “gallery” work is done for myself without any assurance whatsoever that it will ever sell or find a publication use. Fortunately that’s rarely ever been a problem, but still, I realize there are few guarantees in this world. Conversely, I’ve turned down some sweet offers because I had objections to the content, or it seemed to me that they weren’t allowing me enough time to do a good job.

There’s no advantage to setting yourself up to do a substandard effort on an assignment, no matter how well it pays. The damage done to your reputation will, in the end, cost you more than the extra money you might make.

Black and white alternate concept for VICTORY. Six figures lock hands as they hover in a V formation over a field of angled pylons. The nearest stones frame the figures directing the eye to the horizon where a fantastical city rises on the horizon. — Alternate preliminary concept for VICTORY

I have to add that I’m speaking out of embarrassed experience here. In fairness I must admit I’ve allowed myself to get seduced into taking on a couple of projects when I shouldn’t have.

The inducements were the old time-worn ones of “fame” and money, and alas the work I did was, I feel, not equal to what I could have done given more time and less art direction. So, I understand how it can happen, even when you know in your heart that you should walk away.

LEFT: An old man with long white mustache and beard sits atop a surreal throne holding a glass of wine. The palette is limited to brown and gold at the heart of the image with the sky green-blue. The arms of the throne are skeletal remnants of creatures, some with horns like rams, others with manes like lions. Fearsome and twisted, all mouths are open baring curved fangs. The crown upon the figure's head is made of long stalagmite-like spires that rise tall and taper slightly inward. They are red tinged at the top points, the splashiest color in the pieces tied closely with the wine in the cup. Beside him are echoes of his less kingly self, bald pate exposed, arms crossed. The mass of surreal figures morphs into skulls. The throne gives way to a ridge of rock with white highlights that fades in an arc back to the right edge of the panel. A touch of yellow stands out as a thin castle rises on the stem of a plant into the sky. RIGHT: A montage of faces set in white smoke rising in strands from the ground, set against pale blue. The most prominent face is a man with eyes pressed closed. To his left, a hook nosed bearded visage looks weathered and ancient in years. To his right a skull distorted in a scream billows outward with too bulbous top. — THRONE (left) and HANDS OF CREATION (right) by Wojtek Siudmak

Kacper Pilch on Instagram asked:

Were you ever inspired by [Wojtek] Siudmak or [Zdzislaw] Beksiński from Poland? They are these very thought provoking and fantasy-esque artists

MRW: They are fabulous artists. I didn’t know about them until Guillermo Del Toro mentioned Beksinski to me. When I googled him, I was floored by how unique and compelling his work was.

LEFT: The immediate foreground is dominated by pale buttes with surreal blue veins running through the rock. On the ground, a trail leads to a wall of stone shifting the colors to rusty warmth. Flat on top the formation bears a face whose features are difficult to discern. Rising above the horizon line is an unexpected twin peaked mountain. Snow fills the crags of the ridges of the mountain and blankets the top of the formation it sits atop. RIGHT: Atop a massive wooden chair, a distorted figure sits against dirty yellow sky with one emaciated arm bent but aimlessly reaching out. Its mouth is open, eyes shadowed sockets expressing some kind of torment. Highlights of warmth burn at the edges of clouds around it but don't break through the haze. Red cloth flutters and folds near the viewer and murkier in the distance. Beneath the chair are piles of wreckage, perhaps the broken structure of buildings hinted at by the lines of the debris. — Untitled paintings by Zdzisław Beksiński

The aspects of Beksinski’s work that I find particularly compelling are his compositions, his colors, and his steadfast dedication to his own unique and dreamlike surrealism. I regard him as a phenomenon, one of those rare, totally unique masters that only come around once in a generation.

Since I didn’t know about him until recently, I can’t say he influenced my work, but in these latter days his intense dedication to his own personal vision is something, I think, that any artist could stand to learn from.

AT WINTER'S END

Michael Whelan

Mar 7

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Ed Dawson on Bluesky asked:

Have you read [Robert Silverberg’s] great stuff in collaboration with Randall Garrett? They cowrote novels together under the name Mark Phillips.

MRW: No, never got around to reading the novels you mentioned. Alas, there’s too much to read! I can hardly get through the stack at my bedside, so adding more to the pile has to wait for now.

I like to alternate as much as possible between nonfiction and fiction; currently I’m reading as much as I can manage about the WW2 battles for the South Pacific. (My father was a machine gunner in the first Marine Division, fighting in Guadalcanal and Tulagi.)

But I ALWAYS appreciate good recommendations! Past ones have lead me to some wonderful and thrillingly inventive books, for which I'm quite grateful.

Polkagoat on Bluesky asked a follow up question:

Do you have any recommendations on this topic? I really want learn more.

At the moment I’m reading Guadalcanal by Richard B. Frank, which looks to be the single most authoritative account of the whole scope of the operation. It’s a very large book based on exhaustive research though, so it will take me a while to get through.

Next in the cue is Guadalcanal Remembered by Herbert Christian Meirillat, who was what we would call an “embedded reporter” nowadays. He was actually on the island and in the battle first hand, so I’m thinking his account will be a useful addition to the authoritative but somewhat removed narrative of the first book.

I’d like to follow it up with Robert Leckie’s Helmet for my Pillow, written by an ex-Marine who was a machine gunner at Guadalcanal and other battlefields during the Pacific campaign in WW2. A good background of Marine life and what battlefield experience was like then and there can be had in Eugene Sledge’s With the Old Breed: At Peleieu and Okinawa, which I’ve already read. It’s a pretty unflinching account of one man’s journey through Hell.

Weekly Art Recap

Grid of images 3 across in 2 rows corresponding to the list below. — Art featured from March 10 - 15

Swords of Mars - Barsoomian brawl for the legendary Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Reach - a departure from the Lumen paintings, where characters in enclosed spaces reach for the light
Brother Assassin - classic SF cover for the Berserker Saga from Fred Saberhagen
The End of Nature - first in a series of paintings about our fragile connection with the planet that sustains us
Santiago - classic SF cover for the book by Mike Resnick
Question and Answer - an early Ace cover for Grand Master Poul Anderson

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We’re preparing for the release of our next batch of Stormlight originals from Michael’s last book cover, Wind and Truth. Stay tuned for more details on that offering!

Misty Violet

Mar 16

Great Q&A. Thank you so much for all the open insight into your work! 😊

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Celinda Evitt

Thanks for the book recommendations. I loved The Colditz Story about the POW castle housing escapees in Germany. Different theatre but still great. My brother cherished The Things They Carried as true to his time in Vietnam Nam.