Trick or Treat?

Teasing closer to Madness...

and

Oct 31, 2024

Jagged, foreboding mountains angle across each other as the clouds above form disrupted patterns of broken parallel lines. — Preliminary art for AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS

We’re not quite ready to reveal Michael’s cover illustration for At the Mountains of Madness yet—it’s a cursed deadline, damnit!—but I do have a few more teasers to share while Michael completes his finishing touches.

I’d like to think the tease last week didn’t draw Michael back into madness but here we are…it’s Halloween and I promised a newsletter!

The preview follows an expanded feature on the cover for Sepultura’s classic Chaos A.D. album.

Happy haunting tonight!
~ME

CACOPHONY

Subject of some mad experiment, a figure bound by tight cords and wrapped in a sheet hangs upside down. Segmented conduit runs the length of the body projecting from a filthy array of mechanical equipment above. A horizontal strut extends to an injection site at the neck. As the wrapped figure writhes, bandages dangle over a glassy eye set in the machinery below. He cranes his neck as if sightless he senses its presence. Hidden within the machinery, gruesome faces peer out. From behind the bank of equipment, hands reach up suggesting the rapture of some hellish concert crowd. Rendered just behind, a dark maw opens to receive body and soul. The rest of the background is an abstraction in purple, warped brick interrupted by scenes of suffering—faces crying out, more pierced by spikes and consumed within toothy amoeboid shapes. An ammonite spiral unwinds to take snail form. A trilobite floats out of a standing circle of stone. — CACOPHONY (1992), Mixed Media - 24" x 24"

I had a good relationship with Road Runner Records and Sepultura after their Beneath the Remains and Arise releases. When they sent a sample of “Refuse/Resist”—which I loved—I was eager to be part of the project for Chaos A.D.

LEFT: Album cover for BENEATH THE REMAINS by Sepultura featuring the painting NIGHTMARE IN BLACK. RIGHT: Album cover for ARISE featuring the painting of the same title. — Album covers for BENEATH THE REMAINS and ARISE

Everyone—from the band to the art director and staff at Roadrunner—was terrific to work with. It was such a no-hassle thing compared to other efforts for other artists. They were encouraging and the atmosphere was excellent; we were, I felt, all on the same vibe.

The music was the uniting force. But to be honest, I could have done several paintings just on the theme of “Biotech is Godzilla”! So my main problem was choosing which of a welter of potential ideas to run with!

Working on CACOPHONY. Photo by Brad Stanton

I saw the picture in my head one evening when I was stuck in a crowded room filled with noisy people. I felt trapped and driven to distraction by the commotion, hands grasping at me for attention, when all I wanted to do is get away and find quiet somewhere.

Share The Art of Michael Whelan

Additional images from CACOPHONY

A series of three details from CACOPHONY featuring a body bound by cords and wrapped in a sheet dangling over a glassy eye set in a bank of mechanical equipment. From behind the machinery, hands reach up like some hellish concert crowd. — Details from CACOPHONY

Album cover for CHAOS A.D. by Sepultura, distributed by Roadrunner Records — CHAOS A.D. by Sepultura (Roadrunner Records)

AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS

Closeup of an arctic explorer in the right foreground. Reflected in his goggles are tentacles of some elder demon. To the left, mountains — Preliminary concept for AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS

Jagged and foreboding mountains point inward to the center of the panel. The sky above is a swirl of white and pink clouds against blue. — Study of mountains and sky for AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS

Preliminary concept for AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS

An arctic explorer holds hands crossing over his eyes. He holds a green 5-pointed star. His red scarf trails in the wind against a background of pink and blue as snow swirls around his legs. — Preliminary concept for AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS

Preliminary art for AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS. An arctic explorer covers his eyes with his arm as he grips a 5-pointed star. The fingers of his free hands are tensed and he appears to be in agony. Behind the figure is a splash of paint mottled with spots. — Preliminary art for AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS

Preliminary art for AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS. A human face with white eyes and mouth stretched open in a cry of anguish. The painting is rendered in monotone, looser around the edges and mottled with spots. — Preliminary art for AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS

Share your thoughts…

We’d love to hear your feedback. Please let us know your thoughts, questions, etc!

Like what you see? Subscribe!

We’re posting art every day on Substack. Don’t want to miss anything? Subscribe to get a weekly email including a recap of daily art posts.

To receive every art post by email, you can opt-in by visiting your account and then clicking the toggle for Daily Art.

A skull with green eyes rendered loosely in watercolor style in pinks and reds. — Boo!

Liam Sharp

Liam Sharp’s Substack

Nov 1Liked by Michael Whelan

Wonderful!

Expand full comment

St Rooster Books

Tim’s Substack

The Sepultura and Obituary album covers were so mesmerizing! I remember when my buddy brought the cassette of Chaos AD to school, I was so blown away by the art.

4 more comments...