THE ELUSIVE DOODLEHOPPER (2017) by Michael Whelan, the third installment in his 2017 LEFTOVERS & PALETTE GREMLINS gallery project.
I had been watching this kinda bizarre critter slowly evolve on my drawing table. Rather than risk damaging it further—you can see the cuts and score marks he’s acquired while resting under other projects—I cut him loose from the mat board protecting my drawing table.
Source: michaelwhelan.com
POINT / COUNTERPOINT (2017) by Michael Whelan, the second installment in his 2017 LEFTOVERS & PALETTE GREMLINS gallery project.
Like so many of my palette gremlins, I saw this head in the paint on my palette and let it become what I saw there. I dipped my finger in gesso and made an eye, then went on from there.
Source: michaelwhelan.com
OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS (2017) by Michael Whelan, the first installment of his LEFTOVERS & PALETTE GREMLINS gallery project for 2017. That’s right, back at it again for the new year!
I recently bought some slanted brushes that I find fun to play with when I want straight edges in a picture. While applying random brushstrokes to a piece of illustration board, they began to look more and more like little cubes to me. This brought to mind H.P. Lovecraft’s descriptions of strange shapes seen on the mountain range his explorers fly over when traveling to the Plain of Leng. With the addition of windblown ice crystals and a little ‘aeroplane’ for scale, these random brushstrokes became a scene from AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS.
Source: michaelwhelan.com
STOWAWAY (2016) by Michael Whelan, the final week in his 2016 LEFTOVERS & PALETTE GREMLINS gallery project.
I sketched out this little guy on a scrap of canvas, using a jar of leftover paint mixed for rendering the sky in my recently finished Tad Williams’ cover. I set it aside to dry and forgot about it until a few days ago.
Although it made me smile, I thought there were parts that could use a little extra cleaning up. Oops. Thank goodness I had the presence of mind to take a shot of the first version before I mucked around with it.
Some collectors go for sketches and preliminary works, preferring the raw vitality and freshness of the inspiration as it was first expressed, unhindered by second-guesses and overthinking. I get that—now.
Source: michaelwhelan.com
THE CRYSTAL TREE (2016) by Michael Whelan, week 51 in his LEFTOVERS & PALETTE GREMLINS gallery project.
This one arose from brush marks on a scrap piece of mat board fished out of my wastebasket. I had been testing a new angular brush, making strokes in various directions in white on a purple-black wash which had been applied some time earlier. The shape of the combined brushstrokes suggested a Christmas tree, and since it was the winter solstice I played with the idea to see where it would take me.
Source: michaelwhelan.com
THE ARCH OF SOLSTICE (2016) by Michael Whelan, week 50 in his LEFTOVERS & PALETTE GREMLINS gallery project.
For several months, I’ve been taking daily walks after sunset, and the moon has been my companion much of the time. One evening a crescent moon hung over the horizon with Venus glowing brilliantly below it. I stared long enough to convince myself it actually WAS Venus, not a low flying helicopter with a bright searchlight.
The moment was breathtaking, and ever since I’ve had that vision imprinted on my consciousness waiting to be realized.
The opportunity came while I was staring at the mat board on my tabletop, debating whether to put time into such a scarred and abused surface. I kept seeing an archway in front of me, and finally I couldn’t resist dashing in a figure while waiting for another piece to dry.
This palette gremlin only begins to capture that original feeling. It would have to be painted in full color with a much wider range of values. If I ever finish this as a full painting, I’ll print a digital copy and paint on that, because the section of matboard is damaged to the point of being unworkable.
Source: michaelwhelan.com
EPHEMERAL (2016) by Michael Whelan, week 48 in his LEFTOVERS & PALETTE GREMLINS gallery project.
This was a piece of scrap paper used to test the flow of paint on my brush while I was working on the Tad Williams book cover currently on my drawing table. I saw a face in the paint—maybe because it was after midnight and I was tired—and I sketched in a more complete version with a white colored pencil and some acrylic paint.
Source: michaelwhelan.com
SPIRIT OF ENDURING HOPE (2016) by Michael Whelan, week 47 in his LEFTOVERS & PALETTE GREMLINS gallery project.
I turned a smear of paint on my drawing table cover a tree. Other marks suggested rocks and became an island to which I added a figure. I started to paint in clouds but stopped because the image was getting boring.
It called for something else, but I didn’t have a clue what. Cthulhu rising? A dragon?
In search of further inspiration, I dropped a rag smeared with cobalt blue paint onto the scrap of matboard and took a quick shot of it with my phone. I wasn’t entirely happy with the mark the rag made, but I went ahead and painted what was suggested by the random mark, a floating female figure and a symbolic element composed of Gingko leaves in a circle.
Source: michaelwhelan.com
Michael Whelan talking Palette Gremlins at Muddy Colors. Includes a preview of this week’s gremlin.
Michael Whelan will be mounting a major exhibition at the Riverside Art Museum in California, runnning from February to May 2017. Baby Tattoo Books is publishing the show catalogue as an art book.
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