Michael Whelan on Michael Jackson
on February 20th, 2009A few posts down, I mentioned Michael Whelan’s adventures doing cover art for a Michael Jackson album cover, and then having trouble getting paid for it. It was pointed out to me that the cover art was for the Jackson Five album Victory, and not for a Michael Jackson album, so thanks for that, and that’s what I get for trying to remember the article off the top of my head!
I was going crazy trying to remember where I had found the story, but eventually dug up American Fantasy Summer 1987. So, not Interzone, as I had thought.
Whelan repeatedly praised the Jacksons as being nice to meet and deal with, but here’s the actual quotes from the magazine about the incident.
Whelan said: “The unfortunate thing was that so many people around them had their own ideas about what the painting should look like that my ideas of what it should be got lost in the shuffle. You can add to the fact that fifty percent of the painting was executed on a stove in an apartment in Hollywood in very hot weather, under adverse circumstances…by the time I figured attorney’s fees, how much time I spent on it and the aggravations, I probably made as much on an hourly basis as I would’ve received for a regular commission.”
Whelan reserves most of his disattisfaction for the record company who “…were constantly trying to get me to get my price down, telling me they had illustrators lining up on the street outside to do this job for free and I’m ripping them off and do I realize all the jobs I’m going to get as a result of doing this Jackson over? Well, I have to laugh because I didn’t get one job as a result of that cover.”
It got worse when Whelan was misquoted in an interview. A reporter said Michael Jackson wanted his skin lightened for the cover art. The headline read “Michael Jackson Wants to be White.”
Whelan lightened Jackson’s skin in the painting as a creative decision so the figures would stand out from the dark background, but Whelan was concerned about the fan reaction to the interview. It doesn’t appear there was any fallout from it. Jackson later went on to whiten his skin without any help from Whelan, so no harm done by Whelan in the end.
“So much for my flirtation with big-time PR.”
OK, there you have it, and thanks to everyone for your patience while I scared this up! Now you have the straight skinny! And you have an example of how even the most respected creators can get the runaround from clients!
To what extent these musical artists are responsible for the abuse of freelancers doing their album covers, I do not know.
c
What Michael Whelan does not realize is that when you paint Michael Jackson’s portrait, you do not do it for money. You do not do it for fame, or for future jobs.
You do it for the children.
The children.
Seriously. The children. That’s how Michael pays these days. He’s got a connection.
I still think that “The Jacksons Live” is a great album, deadbeat pedophile or not.
Pretty stunning story, eh? Sad to have so many millions of dollars and still be cheap with your clients.