October Q&A with Michael Whelan
Thoughts on Drew Struzan, secondary rights, and color reproduction
Time has its way with all of us. That was the sobering thought that lingered with me on Wednesday as I learned of Drew Struzan’s passing at age 78.
Whenever an artist of this magnitude leaves us, there’s an immediate examination of their legacy…and so it was this week. At the movies, Drew Struzan’s poster art was ubiquitous and instantly recognizable. Whether you knew him by name or not, his work touched all of our lives.
As a fan who spent his youth dreaming of a galaxy far, far away, I can only express my gratitude. Drew Struzan left an imprint on our culture that few can match and that I will never forget.
Michael had thoughts to share as well before we get to your questions.
Michael Everett
Drew Struzan: Remembering a Legend
I was very sad to learn of the passing of one of the most amazing artists of my generation, Drew Struzan. His was a stellar talent, especially in his chosen field of endeavor.
The first time I saw an original of his, I stood open mouthed at the skill and creativity imbued in his work, and knew I was seeing a talent that would set a new bar in illustration art. His incredible facility in capturing likenesses in an uniquely exciting and stylistic manner was unequaled.
Though his legacy is enormous and will stand high among the greatest talents of our time, the man himself—so generous and knowledgeable—will be missed even more by all those who were lucky enough to count him as a friend.
Michael Whelan
Edniz on Cara asked:
Wow, how were you able to give it such a realistic texture? I can’t imagine doing this in any way.
MRW: An artist friend asked me the same question last year. I was only partially joking when I answered “I don’t know. I just mess around with it until it looks right.”
A large part of the process comes from experimenting with whatever you think might give you the effects or textures you’re looking to create. Much of the fun of what I do comes from playing with the materials and seeing what I can come up with. In this case I remember applying the paint with sponges and pieces of cloth, instead of using a brush, at least on 90% of the image.
Necessity is the mother of invention, right? I’ll do anything that will help me to get an image out of my head and onto canvas, paper or whatever. I’ll paint with a brick if that’s what it takes.
Shane Patrick White on Bluesky Social asked:
Did you ever have to make adjustments to your palette when you’d see that the printing process couldn’t handle certain colors? Or was it about the piece itself and your intention for how you wanted it to look only? Either way, those are some difficult choices.
MRW: I remember Frank Kelly Freas saying that he always painted illustrations as brightly as possible because he knew that much of the saturation would be lost in reproduction—but in seeing the originals on display sometimes he’d be concerned that he had overcompensated.
I never worried about it. To be honest, by the time I was doing most of my work, reproduction technology was so improved that it didn’t concern me greatly.
Generally speaking, my primary concern has always been for the values of a painting rather than the colors. As long as the basic warm and cool balance was maintained, I’ve always felt that once the value layout was determined any dominant color scheme would suffice—it often didn’t matter much to me.
Shane Patrick White on Bluesky Social asked:
In the case of selling art usage again, is there ever a conflict of interest that you have to deal with from the original client? Did you charge differently since the work was already done?
MRW: There’s no conflict of interest because the original commission was only for book cover rights to the artwork. In the majority of instances, I’m free to negotiate other uses [such as album covers] as I see fit, and rates for existing art does differ.
Out of respect for the original commission, I generally stay away from secondary rights sales of my work until the first use has been released and in publication for a considerable length of time.
Also, I like to make sure—whenever possible—that a reuse of a painting goes for something that feels harmonious to the feel or intent of its original commission. In spite of that though, some of the secondary uses for my artwork have been, er, “surprising.”
Evandril on Bluesky Social followed asking:
What’s the most surprising use of your work that you feel you can honorably share, that you’d want to share?
MRW: Two come immediately to mind…
THE ULTIMATE ENEMY was used as the background in a magazine ad for a company that made fans, of all things. I can’t for the life of me figure out what the connection was supposed to be.
Several of my SF covers were used as backdrops for a series of fashion ads for Louis Vuitton in 2020. They used my work to create fake “SF/Fantasy book covers.
The essential problem there was the clash between the fashion style photography and the painted images in the background. I love the look of the black outfit, though! It’s like something Trinity would have worn in The Matrix.
If you’d like to read more about the project, Adam Rowe covered the story for Forbes.
Weekly Art Recap
The White Commands You - interior for The Dark Tower by Stephen King
Outlook - a new personal work from the Lumen series
Two Worlds - personal work that served as cover for The Year’s Best Horror Stories
Amethyst Sea - cover illustration for Days of Grass by Tanith Lee
Foundation and Earth - cover illustration for Grand Master Isaac Asimov
Agent of the Terran Empire - cover illustration for Grand Master Poul Anderson
Coming Soon…
We’re in an off week again with our next original art release coming on the first Wednesday in November. As always, an exclusive preview will be available to our paid subscribers on Substack before the art is released in our shop on Wednesday, November 5 at 11am ET.
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