Whelan: Laughter! It seems richly ironic to win an award from the Society of
Illustrators for a work that was totally uncharacteristic of virtually all the
art I had done over the previous 20+ years!. In addition, the artwork was
never used by the record company, so to this day it remains an unpublished,
non- illustration. Lastly, the entire theme of the piece is a scream against
the dehumanisizing effects of technology...in effect, an anti-digital artwork
created digitally. So, it is full of paradoxes and contradictions.
Nevertheless, I was pleased to get some recognition from the SI after all
these years.

Manzieri: A lot of fans visited your booth during the second edition of Scificon 2.0, the online science fiction convention, where you displayed some examples of digital layouts for the upcoming new novel by Tad Williams. I suppose your layouts are still there at the URL: <http://www.scifi.com/scifi.con/art/michaelwhelan/index2.html>.

Whelan: They're at my website too http://www.glassonion.com
[ Editor's note: December 1997 gallery ]

Manzieri: Do you think that digital illustration is going to become an alternative medium for the next generation of artists?

Whelan: It already is! The work which won me the medal at the Society of Illustrators was entirely digital. It was the first one to win a gold medal at the SI, but I'm certain there will be many others in years to come. All the reports I hear from teachers in art schools is that great numbers of their students are primarily interested in working digitally, so there is no question that they will all have a major impact on the direction illustration takes in the next decade.

Manzieri: Do you personally know any artists who are definitely switching over to the digital medium?

Whelan: Yes, too many to mention here. In the SF/Fantasy illustration field, there are David Mattingly and Barclay Shaw, for example.

Manzieri: How do your computers live together with your brushes? What about your hardware and software? Could you explain to us in a few words how you paint a digital artwork?

Whelan: My art computer is a PowerMac 9500 setup, which is in a separate room one floor below my regular art studio. Usually my digital works begin from a sketch or other work which has been done in conventional media, which I then bring down to my computer room and scan into digital format. Then I continue the work using Photoshop. 99% of everything I do digitally is done with Photoshop, which is very intuitive for me. Occasionally I use other programs, but very rarely.

Manzieri: Have your conventional methods of work changed in some way?

Whelan: Yes, in that I do more of the preliminary work using the computer. In a situation where there are likely to be many changes, or where i need to show many different approaches to a design problem, the computer is great.Because you can copy
areas and recombine them endlessly, it is easier to produce many variations of a design with the same elements. easily. Also, the computer makes it easier to chart out perspective grids for pictures with complicated perspective plans. When I first began to get involved with digital art, I thought I would use the computer for producing finished works, but as it has turned out, I find it much more useful for the beginning stages of a work instead. I hardly ever use it to produce an output for reproduction anymore.

Manzieri: How do you store the digital images? How do you print them?

Whelan: I store them on 1.5 Gig SyJet cartridges and on CDs. I print reference copies on an Epson Color Stylus 800, and for finer resolutions I use a service bureau and
get Iris or Dye-Sub prints.

Manzieri: Is there a market for digital art?

Whelan: I don't know.The ones I did with the Mithril people didn't sell well because we had such a hard time getting across to people exactly what we were doing. I've given up for now doing digital prints.

Manzieri: Is it conceivable to eliminate the real canvas?

Whelan: From my point of view, yes...when truly archival quality Iris dyes are perfected.

Manzieri: Recently Don Maitz, Janny Wurts and Frank Kelly Freas saw a great number of their artworks stolen during transport to various conventions. They were solid and real canvases. Is there, in your own opinion, a valid system for preventing the theft of digital artworks?

Whelan: Not yet. I have seen pirated copies of my works all over the place, and it's been a real nuisance and time-waster to hunt them all down and litigate the offenders. I could spend 8 hours a day just dealing with copyright violations...

Manzieri: As we approach the third millennium, what is your point of view on the actual prospects for Illustration in the science fiction and fantasy field?

Whelan: People ask me that question all the time. I have no idea, really!! Who knows? Conjecture seems a waste of time.

Manzieri: Your official website < http://www.glassonion.com> is very interesting and articulate. Would you give us a brief history on it? How and when was it established?

Whelan: For these details I pass the word on to my webmaster Michael R. Jackson...

Jackson: Early in 1996, I wrote a letter of introduction to Michael and proposed putting some of his works on the Internet. At this time, Michael was in the second half of his planned two year sabbatical from commercial illustration. It seemed that the web would offer a good forum for presenting Michael's paintings as well as keeping his fans abreast of what he was up to working on his own.

Our site started as a monthly gallery in May/June of 1996, featuring 10 paintings. We also offered a biography of Michael and an exclusive Question and Answer forum. Our archive of paintings grew with each month's gallery, and we switched service providers a couple of times before reaching our final home.

By the spring of 1997, our site had grown so large that we needed to move to a larger commercial hosting package. At this time, we also rehauled the site and it became Glass Onion Graphics online. For the first time, we offered their catalog of products. Essentially, we changed over from a fan site to a commercial web-site.

The presence of our site helped Michael secure his one man show at Tree's Place. Michael had referred Julian Baird, the gallery owner, to our site as a portfolio of his work. Julian was suitably impressed with what he saw and their relationship grew from there.

On-site, we covered the Tree's Place opening at the end of summer. Shortly after that, we participated in the Sci-Fi Channel's 2nd annual convention online, featuring preliminary work Michael was doing for the second Tad Williams' Otherland book. The following month, we premiered the final cover art for "River of Blue Fire" on our own site.

Currently, we're gearing up for another full production feature of the work Michael has done for the next C.S. Friedman book, _This Alien Shore_, which will be our April gallery. In the next month or so, we'll also be presenting an interesting 2 hour interview with Michael that took place last year right after the show at Tree's Place. We're now offering close to 200 of Michael's paintings online and are proud to be one of the most comprehensive art sites on the net.

Manzieri: Are you satisfied with it, Michael?

Whelan: Are you kidding? I think he's done an absolutely fabulous job. I couldn't be more pleased with it, seriously.

Manzieri: What about your future projects on the Web?

Whelan: I have no future plans. It's all we can do to keep up with what we have already. I certainly have no interest in devoting MORE time to email, answering requests, etc. than I already do! I think my fans would rather I PAINT more then ANSWER EMAIL more!

Manzieri: Has the Internet changed your way of communicating?

Whelan: Certainly.

Manzieri: Are you more easily in touch with editors, writers, and other artists?

Whelan: Absolutely...especially with the authors. It's a great way to communicate!

Manzieri: How much time do you dedicate to navigating?

Whelan: I have no set time. When I am deep into a creative project, I ignore my email, etc. for weeks at a time. I just can't handle the load! But when I have some time between projects then I try to get in and deal with it all. I'm sorry, I have no definite answer for that one.

Manzieri: Do you think that the Internet could become a form of direct contact with art directors?

Whelan: I haven't thought of it that way, but now that you mention it, sure!

Manzieri: Do already open-minded, totally wired publishers and art directors exist?

Whelan: I imagine so...but frankly, one is much better off dealing with people in person, at least in the initial stages of forming a professional association with a client.

Manzieri: Do you remember a particular anecdote or moment of your life that you would be pleased to share with our audience?

Whelan: There are so many, how would I choose? One that comes to mind happened when I was working in the Anatomy and Physiology Department at my college. I had a number of different jobs when I was going to college, but the work-study program I was in at SJSU was the most interesting. My job involved all sorts of tasks related to the anatomy department, such as preparing cadavers for the classes, stringing bones together to make complete skeletons, making models of body parts, some medical
illustration, etc.
Anyway, one day we were in the main dissection room (a room full of bodies and body parts, etc.) and we were trying to shut the window, which overlooked a stop light on seventh avenue in San Jose. Somebody had walked off with the pole we used to hook the edge of the window (which opened outwards), so we couldn't get it shut. One of my coworkers grabbed a leg which was lying on one of the gurneys and used the foot to hook it on the edge of the window and pull the window shut! I rushed to the window and looked down. Sure enough, there were several cars waiting at the stop light and there was one driver who noticed what we were doing. He was staring up at us with this hilarious look on his face...! God knows what he thought we were up to.

Manzieri: Your last words. Who is Michael Whelan today?

Whelan: Damned if I know! I am hoping my personal art will help me discover answers to that question. I know one thing: MW will never again be content to work only on illustration anymore. My gallery ("personal") work is very important to me and in the coming years it will occupy more and more of my total creative output.

Manzieri: Our best wishes for the future and thank you for joining us. We will enthusiastically continue to follow the path of your prolific imagination through the alien realms...Delos and all the Italians fans thank you for your interest and your availability!

Michael Whelan's website: http://www.glassonion.com
E-mail: webmaster@glassonion.com
Artist e-mail: michaelwhelan@glassonion.com

Maurizio Manzieri is a SF cover artist for Mondadori (Italy). Since 1995, he has published digital covers for the leading science fiction magazine in England, Interzone. Interzone was the recipient of the 1995 Hugo Award, the most prestigious award in the science fiction literature field. As well, he collaborates with Virtual Views, a company specializing in multimedia science fiction. In 1996, Virtual Views published an avant-garde CD-Rom, unique in its own genre: "Sinkha", a science fiction novel, packed with state-of-the-art pictures and animation sequences, and winner of a bronze award by Newmedia Invision Awards. In 1997 Manzieri was included ad honorem in the DigiPainters' Club, an international organization of renowned digital artists. He was also appointed member of the World SF Italia, the Italian unit of the international science fiction association of professionals. His official international Home Page is: http://www.sinet.it/personalpage/manzieri/indexe.htm, E-mail: mazier194@ns.sinet.it

The artwork is being shown here with the permission of Michael Whelan, under special arrangement with the artist. Any uploading to other websites or utilization for commercial purposes without the artist's consent will be considered a copyright violation. Every image is linked with the original page in the official website GlassOnion, where you can also buy posters and other merchandising.