Michael Whelan

Here's a lovely photo of a plethora of my fabric art creatures. They're on green fur with a galaxy print fabric in the background. There's a black cosmic moth with a gray face, twinkly red eyes, and a wide smile full of sharp teeth. She's covered with embroidered stars and planets of various sizes and colors. There's a watermelon ghost covered with embroidered pink flowers sitting on a pink wire chair. There's a watermelon ghost bag and a small homunculus sitting on a pink and green striped chair. There's a tooth creature with a wide open mouth and four orange eyes and lavender eyeshadow. There's a black phantom with a gray face and wisps of every color of the rainbow.

Hey Bluesky, could you help me spread the word about my Big Cartel shop? A sale or two would be a colossal help.

All of my creations are designed, hand-sewn, hand-embroidered by me. Each takes many hours to make.

jeremycreature.bigcartel.com

Portrait of a woman wearing a tiara. Her head is held by her hand, she wears a shawl on her left shoulder.

Graphite drawing on paper, A3. Portrait of Mikael Åkerfeldt from Opeth band, the logo of the band is used as a background.

Oil painting on canvas. 50x70cm. Portrait of a bearded man, he's holding his hands on his shoulders, his hair are reaching his chin. There is a moon in the background, he also has a moon symbol on his forehead.

Oil painting on canvas. 50x70cm. Portrait of a pale woman holding a golden skull at her lips. She's wearing a white dress.

Thanks for the support!!! I'm Mike, I draw and paint.

My works are available for purchase on kofi and inprnt:

ko-fi.com/michalputo/s...
www.inprnt.com/gallery/mich...

I have also pencil commissions open (oils will open in September):

michalputo.art/commissions/

For custom commissions just DM me

Setting Type Exploring approaches to book cover layout

In this week’s newsletter, we tackle the question of cover layout and type from the illustrator’s perspective:

theartofmichaelwhelan.substack.com/p/setting-type

New WIP #art #painting #wip #scifi #landscape

Smaug, painted after an illustration by Tolkien himself. The border is borrowed from an early book jacket for The Hobbit.

'Creative Black Magic' ✨ by Jordi Koalitic with Xiaomi Global takes these moments to the next level. Such innovative photography techniques creating the enchanted.

#beautifulbizarre #contemporaryart #photography #darkart #surrealphotos #photoinspo #art

But somehow we did. Twice.

Book cover for LAMARCHOS by Jo Clayton, published by DAW Books

Cover illustration for LAMARCHOS by Jo Clayton (DAW) 3/3

www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/la...

Figure sketch in pencil for LAMARCHOS featuring a nude female figure standing atop an abstract shape with her right arm raised with fingers tensed upright like a claw. Her left leg is forward and the trail of her long hair swishes with movement. Her left hand is thrust out to the side, presumably for balance.

Figure detail from LAMARCHOS featuring a naked woman crouched on an abstract purple perch. Her position with arms upraised is angled not quite towards but past an enormous spherical spaceship. A delicate circlet runs around her head and over long dark hair.

In this foreign and surreal environment, our heroine Aleytys—clad like the natives only in body paint and hair dye—uses her amplified mental powers to topple an enemy spacecraft. 2/3

As seen from behind, a naked woman atop an abstract perch set in a verdant alien landscape. She crouches with arms upraised as she beholds the spherical form of an enormous spaceship. It isn’t clear whether she is worshiping the ship or calling down violence upon it. The sky is a contrast of blue streaked with silver topped with billowing clouds of pink and purple. A fiery channel of yellow and orange splits the clouds down to the top of the ship.

LAMARCHOS (1976)
Acrylic on illustration board - 28" x 20"

As described in the book, the skies of the planet Lamarchos are alive with floating aerobic bacteria of every conceivable hue, which paint the atmosphere in swirling, ever changing clouds of color. 1/3

Habitats Volume 2 (Optimistic Science Fiction & Fantasy) The second issue of a brand-new optimistic science-fiction and fantasy magazine. Published by Habitats Press.

We're nearly 30% funded with 12 days to go! Thank you to everyone who is backing the project — please repost and help us make our goal! ☀️

www.kickstarter.com/projects/sam...

#solarpunk #scifi #fantasy #scififantasy #scifimagazine #fantasymagazine

🤦‍♂️

Book cover for ALL MY SINS REMEMBERED by Joe Haldeman, published by Avon

Cover illustration for ALL MY SINS REMEMBERED by Joe Haldeman (Avon) 3/3

www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/al...

Figure detail from ALL MY SINS REMEMBERED featuring a naked man throwing out his hands as he arches his head back in anguish. Dangling like puppet strings, loose cords attach to his flesh at nodes that look like electrodes. His face is blank—not expressionless but literally a flat template. His pale flesh is an unnatural desaturated gray-blue.

Foreground detail from ALL MY SINS REMEMBERED featuring a variety of masks lying on the purple ground. One has a receding hairline while another with a hawklike nose is completely bald. Another has a thick curling mustache. Most are Caucasian but one is African American. Odder still is a green mask and another purple, which is facing down.

The studio I was using didn’t have the room to pose a model in and I didn’t have time to find one, so I just made up the figure.

I stopped accepting commissions from Avon after this, because they would dictate which colors I could use, unlike my other clients. 2/3

From his knees, a naked man throws out his hands and arches his head back in anguish. Dangling like puppet strings, loose cords attach to his flesh at nodes that look like electrodes. His face is blank—not expressionless but literally a flat template to cover with one of the many masks lying on the vibrant purple ground in front of him. Light reflecting from his pale skin tints his flesh an unnatural desaturated gray-blue. The background offers an angry contrast of red, clouded with smoke rising from behind, a reflection of the turbulence building inside.

ALL MY SINS REMEMBERED (1978)
Acrylic on Illustration Board - 30" x 22"

An early career illustration that might be best remembered for its later inclusion in the liner notes of Meatloaf's BAT OUT OF HELL II album. 1/3

Seeing Kamala Harris openly say that the system is broken was so powerful.

Just having someone in her position say it so candidly without qualification was beyond powerful.

All the back-and-forth that occurred between the record people, promoters, and the Jacksons happened after I had moved on to other assignments already, so this is all news to me. 3/3

I had no idea what the deal was with the dove, just that whatever MJ wanted, the record company was willing to make it happen.

I didn’t think any concerts had happened yet when they had asked me to add the dove.2/3

Laura Lasley on Substack asked: I don't see the dove in the last picture of the actual album cover. Did it not make the final cut? I like the painting with the dove, great symbolism. Joe Scheuer on Substack responded: A person at mjjcommunity.com posted the following explanation. No clue if this is at all accurate: For over two years now, every now and then I've been after proper information regarding the vinyl pressing of The Jacksons' album "Victory" with the white dove on Randy's shoulder on the cover. The story behind this, is following: The first copies that were pressed, didn't include the dove on the cover. As the production ran, The Jacksons came up with the idea of white doves being released at the start of every show during the Victory Tour. The production was put on hold and cover painter Michael Whelan was asked to add the dove onto Randy's shoulder. The new cover as used and went into production. While planning the tour, the idea of having doves fly at the start of every show proved to be very difficult. So, production was put on hold, the dove cover got removed and the first version of the cover was used again. However, the dove cover was used for the picture disc format of the Victory album — 20,000 copies of the picture disc were pressed, only in the US and in Canada. As for the dove version of the standard format of the album, no one really knows how many copies were pressed or how many are still out there.

FAQ: Why do some but not all pressings of VICTORY have the dove on Randy's shoulder?

Here's the best answer I've heard (tip of the cap to Joe Scheuer for that!) plus a little more insight. 1/3

open.substack.com/pub/theartof...

Detail from THE LAST HILL featuring a transparent sphere containing a solitary flame hovering in the foreground. Behind it, rolling green hills lead to a tall mound covered in tree tops representing a range of autumnal colors: yellow, orange, red, and green. In the distant, another sphere floats high over the hilltop.

Title page from THE ART OF MICHAEL WHELAN featuring THE LAST HILL. Below the title reads “SCENES / VISIONS”.

I painted this for the title page of THE ART OF MICHAEL WHELAN, my third art book, but the first that presented my illustration side-by-side with my gallery art. 2/2

www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/la...

Against a lavender sky, a rolling pastoral landscape leads to a rounded hilltop covered in autumnal treetops mixing shades of yellow, orange, red, and green. A transparent sphere containing a solitary flame hovers in the immediate foreground while three more are evenly spaced in the sky.

THE LAST HILL (1992)
Acrylic on Canvas - 20" x 60"

As a transplanted Californian, each year I am transfixed by the fall colors near my home in Connecticut. 1/2

Yes. It's years of work that evaporates in an instant. Thanks for the sympathetic response. 🙏

Yeah, I'm aware of Ghost. It's a little different but a possibility.

The Road to Victory Covering the Jacksons' blockbuster album

The art? It was a concept for the 1984 album by Michael and his brothers. The newsletter this week is a deep dive on that assignment:

theartofmichaelwhelan.substack.com/p/the-road-t...

If you're asking us to take a stand and leave problematic platforms, you may have missed the first few acts.

Over the last 2 years, we left behind an audience of over 100K followers on Twitter and Instagram. Substack was a pivot from that and another will follow when I have the capacity.

Admin 🧵..

GLIMPSE OF TOMORROW (1984), Custom framed original art. Acrylic - 13” x 25 ½”. Preliminary concept VICTORY, rendered tonally and featuring elegant columns and curved arches defining the foreground. Standing tiny among them are five figures looking out at a futuristic city with raised roadways winding around saucer topped towers.

Standing tiny among elegant classic arches, five figures look out at a futuristic city with raised roadways winding around saucer-topped towers. The top of one tower is illuminated with white light either beaming down or transmitting up. Alien birds fly among the archways.

Originally purchased years ago in a charity auction, this preliminary comes from a vintage collection of Michael Whelan art. It recently came back to us for special framing and this exclusive offering.

This original is available in our shop while it lasts. 2/2

www.michaelwhelan.com/shop/glimpse...

Preliminary concept VICTORY, rendered tonally and featuring elegant columns and curved arches defining the foreground. Standing tiny among them are five figures looking out at a futuristic city with raised roadways winding around saucer topped towers.

GLIMPSE OF TOMORROW
Acrylic - 13” x 25 ½”
Preliminary Concept for VICTORY

Not only is it an excellent work of science fiction—the combination of classical architecture and otherworldliness is sublime—but the attachment to the late King of Pop at the height of his fame makes for a rare treasure. 1/2

a man with a mustache wearing a suit and tie with his eyes closed Alt: Danny Glover lowering his head to his hand because he's too old for this shit.

Fair warning: complaining about Substack on our art previews will 💯 without a doubt get your account muted.

Take it to DMs or email people. @stateofgrays.bsky.social

There's a thread on GATE OF IVREL here: bsky.app/profile/mich...

And a little bit more about the subversive intent of the pose in our FAQ from a few weeks ago:

substack.com/@theartofmic...