{"id":1633,"date":"2012-02-21T18:51:21","date_gmt":"2012-02-22T01:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/yellowedperils\/?p=1633"},"modified":"2012-03-13T00:12:19","modified_gmt":"2012-03-13T07:12:19","slug":"birth-of-a-pulp-cover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/yellowedperils\/2012\/02\/21\/birth-of-a-pulp-cover\/","title":{"rendered":"Birth of a pulp cover"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"You can’t get too many looks behind the scenes at pulp magazines. There are a number of books<\/a> that give insight into writing and producing a pulp, but not nearly as much from the perspective of the artist.<\/p>\n

Over at Heritage Auctions<\/a>, there’s a nice example of what artist Virgil Finlay<\/strong><\/a> went through to get the right image down for the cover of the September 1939 number of Weird Tales.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The five preliminary watercolors and gouache paintings (see the gallery at the bottom of this page<\/a>) take you through the process as Finlay tinkered with the characters \u2014 Edgar Allan Poe<\/strong> and the raven \u2014 starting with a wide shot, then focusing in on them. He’s also narrowing the colors, even at one point depicting the raven as a blood-red shadow looming over Poe.<\/p>\n

The final painting, shown on a reproduction of the cover (which isn’t included in the auction), is a variation of the last concept. But I think the preliminary illustrations do a better job of capturing the emotion in Poe’s face than the final painting. Unfortunately, Poe in the final painting is rather static, with only a slight surprised look on his face. It lacks the anger or terror from the preliminaries.<\/p>\n

I’m glad that whoever was in charge of composing the cover didn’t clutter it up with teasers as Finlay did in his last two preliminaries.<\/p>\n

It’s great to see such a step-by-step example from a noted artist. I’ve seen single preliminary drawings and paintings for pulp covers, but not multiple preliminaries.<\/p>\n

The framed set, from the estate of John McLaughlin<\/strong>, is on auction through March 1<\/a>, though online bids are being accepted only through Feb. 29. It is estimated to fetch $700-$900.<\/p>\n

Update:<\/strong> This set sold for $2,750 on March 1.<\/p>\n

<\/a>