Michael Whelan

LLANA OF GATHOL (1979)

Acrylic - 24" x 32"



Since I did the eleven Martial Tales books over the course of a year, as time went on some things became less important. This time we did not worry about the title of the book, and Llana herself does not even appear in my painting. 1/4

#sciencefiction #illustration #edgarriceburroughs #delreybooks

Jun 15 at 12:22pmWeb
Show threadMichael Whelan2d ago
I realized that after doing nine covers I still had not shown one of the unique Barsoomian airships so commonly featured throughout the series. 2/4
Show threadMichael Whelan2d ago

To tell the truth, I felt there was little point in doing so, since Robert Abbett had done such a great job visualizing them on the covers he painted for the books in the 1960's.

Nevertheless, this scene involved an airship and also conveyed the feeling of the book very well. 3/4

Show threadMichael Whelan2d ago

Cover illustration for LLANA OF GATHOL by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Del Rey) 4/4

https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/llana-of-gathol/

Show threadGabriel N2d ago
@MichaelWhelan it seems the technician that did the color separation punched up the contrast, shortening the distance between the figures in the foreground and the monster in the background, and making the final printed cover much closer to the draft of the illustration. Thank you for sharing your process! This is amazing.
Show threadKatzedecimal2d ago
@MichaelWhelan
Moment of appreciation for putting a man in the boobs&butts pose
Show threadAlessandro Corazza 🇨🇦2d ago

@MichaelWhelan

The airship looks great - pity it got cropped out, although I can see how it ended up that way due to the aspect ratio of the painting. Did it simply end up on the back cover?

Do you have an idea of how the end result will be cropped beforehand, or you just paint however you want and let others make that decision?

Show threadWesley Allison2d ago
@MichaelWhelan I loved these books and loved the covers. Part of my memories forever.