ART FROM JORDANCON
When visiting the Glass Onion Graphics booth at SFF conventions, a highlight is the opportunity to see Michael Whelan’s paintings in person.
Of course his art looks fantastic on dust jackets in the bookstore—and even reproduced on our website—but there is no substituting the wow factor of staring at his original paintings up close.
And then there’s the opportunity to speak with the artist himself. When Michael isn’t busy participating in panel discussions, he can usually be found at our booth.
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JORDANCON 2013
Michael Whelan is Artist Guest of Honor next month at JordanCon. It is especially geared toward the Atlanta area and the South in general, but fans are coming from all over the world for a chance to meet Michael, author Seanan McGuire (of bestseller FEED fame) and A MEMORY OF LIGHT’S Brandon Sanderson and Harriet McDougal.JordanCon is a fantasy literature convention founded in honor of the late Robert Jordan, author of the blockbuster series The Wheel of Time. This year JordanCon is joined by the regional SF convention DeepSouthCon, so events will include four tracks of simultaneous programming, an Art Show, a Dealers Hall, a masquerade contest and a ghost walk.
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THE WHEEL OF TIME ORIGINAL ART
Original art that Michael Whelan produced during the making of A MEMORY OF LIGHT is now available in our shop. We will likely be adding more concepts so make sure to check back!
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A MEMORY OF LIGHT AUDIOBOOK SAMPLE
One of the great pleasures of listening to The Wheel of Time in audiobook format is the outstanding narration of Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. The husband and wife team have voiced all of the books in the series, most recently A MEMORY OF LIGHT.
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THE MAKING OF A MEMORY OF LIGHT
My approach to A MEMORY OF LIGHT was dictated by unfamiliarity with the series. Not having read The Wheel of Time books, I focused on the scene provided and the characters therein while also keeping in mind that this book was the culmination of many years of reading for devoted fans.
It seemed best to start with the focus of the painting: Rand himself.
My initial sketches explored the pose he might adopt as he entered the dark confines of the cave. I attached light sticks to a wooden bokken and descended a flight of stairs with the lights off, trying to get a feel for how he would be holding the sword to light his way into darkness. (Since early in my career, I’ve found a kinesthetic sense of the figure’s pose is helpful before attempting to recreate it in it’s variations.)
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A MEMORY OF LIGHT ORIGINAL ART
Last week, we released the print for A MEMORY OF LIGHT which is signed by Michael Whelan and Brandon Sanderson. This week, we will be unveiling a “making of” gallery featuring concept art from Michael Whelan’s cover for book 14 in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time.
Along with the gallery, we will be offering original Michael Whelan art (several sketches and studies from AMOL) for sale in our shop. Michael is the only artist other than the late Darrell Sweet to illustrate a book cover (not ebook) for this epic series, making this a one of a kind opportunity to own art from a series that has over 40 million books in print.
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A MEMORY OF LIGHT BOUND
A VISUAL TOUR ON TOR.COM
Are you a fan of the late Robert Jordan? A bibliophile? Or are you just obsessed with how things are made?
Head over to TOR.com for Irene Gallo’s tour of Quad Graphics, the book bindery where she documented the assembly of A MEMORY OF LIGHT, the last volume in the epic Wheel of Time series. Irene previously ran a feature on printing the sales proof of the cover. Both are fascinating articles and not to be missed.
And as the excitement builds for the release of A MEMORY OF LIGHT on January 8, 2013, we will be announcing a print of the cover illustration by Michael Whelan. Stay tuned for that as well as the addition of AMoL original art concepts in our shop!
AVAILABLE NOW IN OUR SHOP
MOIRAINE AND NYNAEVE*
RAND IN SHAYOL GHUL*
THE DRAGON REBORN*
RAND AL'THOR*
RAND AL'THOR: BLADEMASTER*
MOIRAINE DAMODRED*
A MEMORY OF LIGHT
THE WAY OF KINGS
A MEMORY OF LIGHT
I was honored to paint the cover image for the final book in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, but it was a daunting prospect given the massive backstory of 14 books written over a span of 20+ years.
Each volume, illustrated by the late Darrell K. Sweet, had a similar look and feel. I decided the last cover should retain a sense of continuation while bringing the epic to a close.
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PRINTING A WHELAN COVER
A MEMORY OF LIGHT GOES TO PRESS
Irene Gallo, Art Director at TOR books, recently visited Coral Graphics in NY to review sales proofs for the jacket art of A MEMORY OF LIGHT.
On bigger books, like AMoL, we will go through the entire printing process to create an early version of the jacket for two reasons:
1) To give our sales force a shiny cover to show off to the various bookstores we’d like to carry stacks and stacks of the book…
2) So that we can get a good look at how all the pieces fit together before we print a small forest’s worth paper.
Continue to TOR.com for more insights about the printing of Michael Whelan’s cover for the final book in Robert Jordan’s WHEEL OF TIME series:
AVAILABLE NOW IN OUR SHOP
MOIRAINE AND NYNAEVE*
RAND IN SHAYOL GHUL*
THE DRAGON REBORN*
RAND AL'THOR*
RAND AL'THOR: BLADEMASTER*
MOIRAINE DAMODRED*
A MEMORY OF LIGHT
THE WAY OF KINGS
TOR.COM REVEALS WHELAN COVER ART
A MEMORY OF LIGHT COVER REVEAL
TOR.com: “We are very excited to reveal the cover to A Memory of Light, the final volume of Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time. The artwork for this final edition is by, arguably, one of today’s most beloved illustrators, Michael Whelan.
“The task of jumping into a 14 volume series on its last installment must have been a daunting one but Michael rose to the occasion. Harriet McDougal, Jordan’s editor and widow remarked, “that is the Rand I have waited to see for twenty years.” when she saw the image. And while the artwork clearly has all the earmarks of a Whelan painting, it’s theme and coloration make it a fitting heir to Darrell K. Sweet’s series of Wheel of Time covers.”
AVAILABLE NOW IN OUR SHOP
MOIRAINE AND NYNAEVE*
RAND IN SHAYOL GHUL*
THE DRAGON REBORN*
RAND AL'THOR*
RAND AL'THOR: BLADEMASTER*
MOIRAINE DAMODRED*
A MEMORY OF LIGHT