Elric artwork/film

[Anonymous]

Happy New Year to you! I was wondering which artists' version of Elric is your favourite? I have spent several years collecting originals & limited edition prints of Elric...I think I have the largest collection going. My favourite is Whelan's for the book "Elric of Melnibone". As far as actors go, I would like to suggest either Paul Bettany or Daniel Day Lewis....what do you think?

Regards.

[Anonymous]

well, this is legion, but i cant login.
anyway, i think either the one with elric fighting off the dog-like warriors on the stairs (i think it was for a book cover, i have it in a fantasy art book, and i think thas what i read :P) or the white wolf, where elric is standing between two pillars. i think it was by brom.

then again, i havent had much access to much work. hard to find any on the internet :P

[Omaru]

Well, I know you were asking Mr. Moorcock but I'd just like to step in and cast my vote for Robert Gould. He's done my favorite Elric and Corum artwork.

[Anonymous]

In my opinion,
Michael Wheelan and Brom are the best.
The one with Elric between the pillars and fighting
the dog monsters on the stairs is by Brom.
Michael Wheelan came first. In fact, Brom copies
Wheelan's design for Stormbringer.
(nothing wrong with that, it looks great!)
Wheelan's Elric artwork
appears in his art books, and has been featured on
the album covers of the Heavy Metal band
Cirith Ungol-- much of whose songs are about
Elric Saga.
Those two artists are the best because I feel
they are the most skilled, their sense of anatomy
is at the pinnacle, their work looks real.
Also, I just looked at the cover of Fortress of the Pearl (Ace):
the cover looks great on there as well, done by Dawn Wilson.
I liked drawings done by Joseph Michael Linsner, the comic artist
of Cry For Dawn, that I saw in his portfolio, but still not as good as
the others I mentioned.

--Jer

[Paul]

Amano. Amano. Amano.

[dlackey]

My favorite is Gould for the Elric books, but I think Michael Whalen's work on King's "The Gunslinger" is some of the finest fantasy art I've ever seen.

[Michael Moorcock]

My personal favourite has to remain Jim Cawthorn's because Jim was illustrating Elric as I wrote the first stories, so it's fair to say the character grew out of our joint imaginings. The cover of the first edition of Stormbringer is by Jim and his work can also be seen I think on the Savoy website. He has also done various interiors over the years, including designs in the omnibuses and in Fortress of the Pearl and Revenge of the Rose, UK editions. My favourite cover artist is Gould,
but I can see merit in the Whelan covers. My only problems with those it that they were a bit more macho than I imagine Elric, maybe a bit too heavily (or obviously) muscled. Elric is wirey, of course, as anyone who swings that sword about must be, but Whelan's covers, beautifully done as they are, make him a bit too close to Conan. I think the Whelan covers, however, are the most popular as they have been on a whole variety of other editions, including a UK set done by Granada. My beef with Whelan is that he never acknowledges the origin of his posters and I am used to everyone, including the great Amano (who probably shares place with Gould as my favourite colour artist for Elric) acknowledging the source of their Elric pictures. I have never asked for a percentage
on Elric artwork but the only reason I can think Whelan doesn't credit Elric is because he's afraid he'll have to pay something if he does. I
find that a very ungenerous attitude. I was even a little irritated whenI saw that Brom hadn't called his most recent Elric picture by name in his book. Gould, for instance, has always been impeccable in his dealings with me over Elric artwork and we have an excellent relationship, as I also have with Amano. So -- for different but equal reasons I'd list
Amano, Cawthorn and Gould (in alphabetical order!) as my three favourite artists for depicting Elric, while acknowledging that there are some excellent artists out there who have done splendid work in the past.

[dlackey]

Doesn't Amano do the Final Fantasy artwork? That guy is amazing! If he is who I think he is, then without a doubt, if there is ever an Elric video game, Squaresoft needs to do it.

[Michael Moorcock]

Amano's work is on quite a few of the UK omnibuses, including the first one The Eternal Champion. You can find a lot of them at Amazon uk.

[Anonymous]

Yes, Amano's been doing all the Final Fantasy concept art for years now. Many also recognize his work from Vampire Hunter D. He's certainly got one of the most distinctive styles of any of his peers.

[Ailanreanter]

Jim Cawthorn's illustrations were the first images of the Elric series I saw, together with reading them for the first time and I think they'll be special for me forever.*g*
But I definitely like some of Micheal Whelan's works very much, too.

[EverKing]

I'd have to go with Gould. Amano's art is stunning and beautiful and I feel that it it shows the romance and emotion of Elric better than most; but, for getting a sence of the physical appearance of Elric, I like Gould the most. Brom's cover for Tales of the White Wolf is good, but typically Brom and I'm just not sure about that tatered partial suit of scale. I think Brom fell into the habit of most artists with a decent sence of anatomy...not wanting to hide it.

Whelen is one of my favourite cover artists because of his work with Tad Williams's Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Trilogy and Otherland. However, I don't really care for his Elric art. Like Mr. Moorcock said, it looks too Conan-esque.

[nalpak retrac]

I rather like the Whelan covers. It has been my assumption that Elric appears muscular in them because he is holding Stormbringer and the sword "pumps him up" with its energy. When Elric sheaths the sword, he shrivels back into David Bowie.

When picturing an Elric film when I first read the series I thought it would be interesting to portray this transformation. Not of course a transformation on the scale of Banner/The Hulk, but a transformation nonetheless. One might assume that Elric's face should change markedly, especially on the battlefield where he would be absorbing a great deal of energy indeed. Perhaps his appearance "under the influence" of the sword should suggest a slight resemblance to Arioch? Certainly his face should appear more demonic?

[byaself]

I really like Robert Gould's artwork the most. I feel he captures the mood, emotion, & physical features of Elric in his work. He and Jim Cawthorn's works really translated well to the visual medium of what Mr. Moorcock describes Elric to be in the Saga. I hope Mr. Gould and Crawthorn will be used as the primary conceptual artists for the film when the process gets to that stage. They might serve to be very valuable resources just as Alan Lee and John Howe were for LOTR. I hope Universal does not under estimate the passion that the readers of the Elric Saga have for the characters and staying true to the themes and symbolism that Mr. Moorcock conveys. Michael, best of luck to you as you fight to get your vision to the big screen. You have our support and I hope the powers that be get it right in the end!

[VonBek]

Chris Achilleos did a wonderful job too...

http://www.angelfire.com/me3/nonamed...ages/Elric.jpg
http://www.pcparadisefantasy.hpg.ig....Elric_1024.jpg

Any ideas about "Who will be the John Howe" for the Elric movie?