Taking Flight
Explaining the Process of Illustration
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is an essay from Michael Whelan’s Works of Wonders published in 1987 by Del Rey Books. The text (lightly edited here) remains an excellent guide to the process Michael has used throughout his career as an illustrator.
The most frequent questions I receive from the public at large are directed toward the process of making a painting: Where do you get such ideas? How long does it take? What steps are involved? It is to answer the majority of such inquiries that this short essay is dedicated. But first a caveat.
Please be aware that I approach each painting as an independent oeuvre with its own peculiar evolution. The steps described below apply in part to most of my paintings, though not all; yet I doubt I’ve done any single painting which involved all the steps delineated below.
Much of my art is illustration—artwork used as accompaniment to film, literature, or music. The majority of my paintings originate, therefore, with a manuscript. The manuscript is usually preceded by a phone call from an editor or art director during which terms, deadlines, and general concepts are discussed.
Sometimes the manuscript will sit on my shelf as long as a year before I get to reading it, depending on my schedule; I like to read it as close as possible to the final execution of the painting so the mood of the work is sustained throughout the painting process. It is for this reason that I avoid working on more than one project at a time.
At any rate, eventually the manuscript is read, first for the simple story line and feel of the whole, and then a second time for notes on themes, character details, place descriptions—in short, anything that might have some bearing on the appropriateness of the image to the written work.
My next task—and the hardest one—is distilling what I’ve absorbed into an intriguing image that expresses what the book is about; also, if possible, expressing something of what I’m about as well.
Using pencil sketches I explore the various pictorial possibilities that come to mind, more often than not on the backs of the manuscript pages themselves. Sometimes I hit on a “perfect” solution quickly, other times it is a trying effort involving days and days of searching.
When I’ve finally reached a number of concepts I’m happy with, my next job is to render them in a form recognizable by an art director and editor. These “comps” are small-scale, rough, mostly monochrome versions of the intended painting done in whatever medium I feel works best at the time (black and white acrylic most frequently).
The comps can number anywhere from one to twelve, depending on the book and my response to it. In any case, one comp is chosen by the art director and becomes the basis for the final rendering.
At this point I seek whatever other information I feel will help me to do the painting efficiently and accurately. This means, first, a color sketch of some sort. Typically quite abstract and very small, it will function as a guide to color selection and mixtures on the final work. In addition, I will often consult photos and sketches of difficult aspects of the work such as folds in clothing, textural details, unusual lighting effects, etc. Occasionally I’ll hire a model or “borrow” a friend to pose for me as well.
When accuracy is especially critical—or when I feel too insecure to just leap into the painting at this point—I’ll draw a full-size pencil layout of the major elements on tracing paper and transfer many of the outlines onto the board. This eliminates a lot of mistakes by giving me a “road map” to go by.
The final painting is executed with acrylics (nine times out of ten) on primer-coated canvas, watercolor board, or masonite. I work from background to foreground. If I use any airbrush, it is in the background where I have a large area, such as a sky, which requires a smooth blending; otherwise a variety of more or less conventional brushes are employed.
After the setting is established, the middle and foreground areas are laid in with little attention to detail except at the edges. The painting is then worked on as a whole rather than by completing one area after another—but most of the time areas of soft focus are completed before areas of sharp focus. Often the pencil drawing is consulted, along with the supplementary photos and studies I’ve made.
When the painting is finished (customarily at the eleventh hour!) a coat of protective acrylic medium is applied over the work, and the painting is delivered to the publisher the next day. If I’m really pressed for time, I’ll occasionally skip the varnish coat and take my chances-figuring that, knowing me, I’ll probably see something I’ll want to change when I get the painting back.
It’s amazing what suddenly becomes apparent when I view a painting after a six-or-twelve-month hiatus!
Weekly Art Recap
Amazing Dragon - Cover for the relaunch Amazing Stories magazine
Landing - revisiting an early digital painting in traditional media a decade later
Your Ride is Here - the next entry in the 2024 Leftovers & Palette Gremlins gallery
Bluebird - inspired by sanctuary found in the tunnels of the Los Angeles River
Niobe - Cover illustration for With a Tangled Skein by Piers Anthony
Unmasked - A riff on the Crimson King that went on to win a Spectrum Gold
Coming Soon…Print Giveaway and October Q&A
Send in a question or reply with a comment on any post this week to be entered to win a print of UNMASKED signed by Michael.
This is our first art giveaway on Substack so all subscribers will be eligible to win this time around. Paid subscribers will be entered automatically and comments left since the September Q&A will be included.
Submit your comment by October 25. No purchase necessary. Free shipping within the US. International shipping will be discounted. Winners will be announced in the weekly newsletter on October 27.
Thanks for sharing your process! I would love to win a copy of “Unmasked”!
Thank you for sharing. That was such an amazing insight to your process. I have so much of your art hanging in my house. It’s the center piece of most rooms. Thank you for your art!!!