Michael Whelan (@michaelwhelan) — Bluesky Profile

12 hours ago

Book cover for ROBOTS AND EMPIRE written by Isaac Asimov and published by Del Rey Books

Cover illustration for ROBOTS AND EMPIRE by Isaac Asimov (Del Rey) 4/4

www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/ro...

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12 hours ago

Detail from ROBOTS AND EMPIRE featuring Daneel shaking the hand of Giskard in front of large circular viewport. Daneel appears human, even from behind, while Giskard is clearly a robot in humanoid form by the silver sheen of its exterior, exposed pneumatics, and the metal plates that cover the more flexible material of its joints.

Close detail from ROBOTS AND EMPIRE featuring Giskard extending his hand to Daneel as viewed from over his shoulder as they shake hands. Giskard’s eyes glow pale yellow, softening the smooth metal of its face. A support divides the top of its head into hemispheres. Solid metal defines the contours of its eye sockets and cheeks like a mask, a layer over its mouth and chin below.

In the end, he must decide the fate of Earth's millions of souls, and later he passes this task on to the robot Daneel. For me, this handshake symbolizes the transference of duty from one robot to the other. 3/4

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12 hours ago

Preliminary concept for ROBOTS AND EMPIRE featuring a robot hand reaching out a shaking a humanoid hand with a stary field and planet in the background.

Loose color study for ROBOTS AND EMPIRE with notes scribbled by the artist, reading “Rich black → dull bl[ue]” and “Flares off his reflections.”

Again Giskard is pivotal, so he stands right of center, with the center point of the circular window (the future) being his "heart," or where his heart would be were he human. The planet's fate hangs over him like a Damoclean sword. 2/4

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12 hours ago

A robot stands in front of a large circular viewport as it shakes the hand of a humanoid. The crescent shape of a planet hovers among a starry field as seen tthrough the glass behind them. The wall is structured with metal supports and curves up to the ceiling where conduit runs. Grated deck plates run the length of the floor seen in the immediate foreground.

ROBOTS AND EMPIRE (1986)
Acrylic - 20” x 32”

My favorite scene in the book, save the ending, was the handshake. Reading the manuscript, I was struck by the understated beauty of that scene and became determined to use it for the cover art. 1/4

#art #booksky

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1 day ago

So I welcomed the opportunity to do a large and fully detailed illustration of such beasts, along with one of the major characters in the book. 2/2

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1 day ago

No, I got my “David” homage out of my system when I painted “Napoleon Hoka” 😉

I had done a cover for May’s THE MANY-COLORED LAND previous to THE NONBORN KING, and in that earlier cover I had depicted many knights on flying “horses"...but they were just little spots in the whole painting. 1/2

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1 day ago

Yes, exactly.

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1 day ago

Detail from AFTERNOON SHADOWS featuring a redheaded woman in a white dress standing in the ivy covered ruins of an abbey. She holds her hand palm up as if releasing a stream of butterflies that wind upwards in an S-shaped curve.

Close detail from AFTERNOON SHADOWS featuring a woman in a white gown with a lavender sash tied at her waist. Her hair is red and short which contrasts the tall ruined wall of the abbey in front of her that is now overgrown with ivy. Through breaks in the wall we can see the calm sea but the sky over the horizon is gray with hints of orange. Above a thick cloud layer the sky is blue and bright, providing a different outlook depending on where you look. Her head is turned to the side level with the horizon as sunlight casts long shadows past her in the abbey.

We erect monumental structures in an attempt to outlast the progress of the ages, but everything must pass in the end, whether it be the fleeting lives of butterflies or slow erosion of edifices of stone. 2/2

www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/af...

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1 day ago

Long shadows fall across the ivy covered ruins of an abbey. Standing casually in the tall grass among the ruins, a woman in a white dress with a windswept lavender sash rests one hand on her hip as she glances to the side. Her palm is upturned as if releasing a stream of pale butterflies that flutter up and away past a tall pointed arch in a sweeping S-shaped curve.

AFTERNOON SHADOWS (2006)
Acrylic on Panel - 12” x 9”

Dedicated to my beloved mother-in-law Pat Larsen. “Mum” will never be forgotten.

Inspired by a ruined abbey I saw on the coast of England, this study is an exploration of feelings about the inevitability of time. 1/2

#art

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2 days ago

Support Street Books — Street Books Sponsor a book and help support Street Books, a mobile library for people living outside.

One of my favorite Portland orgs is Street Books - a street library that provides community, resources, and advocacy for people living outside or at the margins in Portland, Oregon. They always need books, donations and supplies. Wishlists here: streetbooks.org/take-action #pdx #pleaseshare

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2 days ago

Elsewhere » Aidan Moher—Hugo Award-winning writer and editor My work has appeared in WIRED, Washington Post, IGN, GamesRadar, New York Magazine, Lifehacker, Input, EGM, Kotaku, Tor.com, Uncanny Magazine, and many other places. Below, you will find a collection ...

Hey, hey! Money's tight right now and we just had to drop a ton up front to pay for a summer of day camps/childcare for our kiddos, so I'm looking to fill the gap with some extra freelance work.

I'll be reaching out to my usual editors with pitches, but if you've got extra work, reach out!

Clips 👇

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2 days ago

Good books are always there for you when you need an escape. Glad you found those at the right time!

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2 days ago

Book cover for THE NONBORN KING by Julian May, published by Del Rey Books.

There is so much of interest to illustrate in Julian May’s “Pliocene Exile” series that I’m amazed at not finding more art derived from her books in science-fiction convention art shows. 5/5

www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/no...

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2 days ago

Detail from THE NONBORN KING featuring a red-haired man in golden armor rearing back in the saddle of a powerful black war horse. The pose captures them in mid-leap with a fantastical city in the low background.

Figure detail from THE NONBORN KING featuring a red-haired man in golden armor with his feet in stirrups as his horse rears back. His wardrobe is black on gold, from plumed hat to trailing cloak. There is a spot of red for the icon on his tunic and the long sash of cloth at his waist. In his far hand, he holds a mace as he turns to the audience. Held aloft in his near hand, a ball of flame burns bright followed by a winding tail of smoke.

Sometime later I decided that I should have used acrylics for this cover instead. The multihued splendor of the costumes and events in the book might have been more appropriately recreated with the intensity of acrylics than with the subtle tones of watercolors. 4/5

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2 days ago

Tonal preliminary concept in bronze and black that approximates the final cover for THE NONBORN KING. A man on an alien black war horse is caught mid-leap with a fantastical city in the low background. He holds a ball of fire in one hand and a short rod in the other.

I couldn’t stand to ruin those expensive sable detail brushes using them to paint in acrylics, so I’d switch to watercolor or gouache whenever I could. Those media are more forgiving and better suited for really high levels of detail anyway. 3/5

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2 days ago

Tonal preliminary concept in white and gray featuring a smiling man with a ghostly aura leaning against the stone railing of a curved bridge. He wears a feathered cap and appears to be propping his chin on a rod. The towers of the fantastical city behind him are roughly rendered lines with sharps white dots defining the structure, as if they were strung with lights. Behind, mountains rise to meet a cloudy sky.

...and maybe some background elements painted in acrylic. After that layer had dried and set, I’d paint over that with gouache—which allows for excellent detail rendering.

Part of the reason was frugality: acrylics are MURDER on fine sable brushes. 2/5

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2 days ago

THE NONBORN KING (1983)
Mixed media on Watercolor Board - 28” x 18”

Once or twice a year, for a change of pace, I work in watercolors as I did here.

A number of paintings I’ve done—including SNOWFALL and SWORDS AND ICE MAGIC—began with an overall wash of color... 1/5

#art #booksky

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3 days ago

pidgeotto, but dressed like otto octavius in a rather half-assed sketch. Sorry, I don't have free time but I needed to get this idea out of my head.

Dr. Pidgeotto Octavius

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3 days ago

white knight in the woods with a dragon hunting him

character concepts from the last of us part 2

character concepts from a catan expansion

Hey all I'm looking for work!
I'm experienced in character design and costume for games and film as well as illustration for books and TTRPGS. I'm based out of BC Canada looking for freelance or full time. My portfolio is linked in the first comment, thank you for shares!

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3 days ago

🤣 Can confirm this as accurate!

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3 days ago

😀🙏

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3 days ago

This is exactly right, but the push "to protect children" by a technology sector that is actively harming children—and everyone else in the process—is happening worldwide.

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3 days ago

Detail of solitary figure in white robes standing on a platform of eroding earth beneath a yellow streetlight. A violent storm front brews in the background, while there is no escape below as the earth has eroded to a peak of thin meandering ridges.

Close detail of solitary figure in white robes standing under a yellow streetlight on a platform of eroding earth. She holds an ammonite fossil in one hand with the other pressed to her chest as she looks up. At her feet a chain dangles over the edge holding a small red glass heart. Beneath the base of the lamppost, a length of wire is exposed until is feeds back into the earth below.

Will Science light the way to the future? 2/2

www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/er...

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3 days ago

$A solitary figure in white robes stands beneath a streetlight on an eroding cone of earth. In her hands she cradles the spiral of an ammonite fossil as she stares up at the yellow light. There is barely any platform left to stand on as the peak descends in thin winding ridges, bare rock at the peak but mossy and green at the base of the eroded mountain. A heart on a chain dangles off the edge. The sky beyond billows in violent potential with the horizon painted a gradient of pale to vibrant orange. Land parts to sea in fractal-like tendrils, receding to black water except where it glistens green from light filtering through the storm front's edge.$

EROSION (1999)
Acrylic on Panel - 32" x 40"

The fourth of my End of Nature paintings. The figure is stranded on a pillar of human folly, looking up to a symbol of technology—the lamppost—for her deliverance from the perils signaled by the oncoming storm. 1/2

#art

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4 days ago

😀🙏

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4 days ago

Book cover for AMAZONS! edited by Jessica Salmonson, published by DAW Books

Cover illustration for the anthology edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson (DAW) 3/3

www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/am...

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4 days ago

Detail from AMAZONS featuring a female warrior posing triumphantly with a foot resting on her fallen foe. Her head is framed by the full moon as she holds out her spear at arm length with butt resting on the ground.

Close detail from AMAZONS featuring a heavily armed warrior with curving blade slung low behind her back. The pommel is a crescent moon. A heavy mace hangs at her hip. Her armor is banded over her hips with an ornament decorated with a black dragon with wings spread. A black steed cranes its neck as it stars directly at the audience with eyes reflecting bronze. Its harness is black studded leather, but its bridle is decorative blue.

This was the first cover painting in which I deliberately used a symbolic element not taken from any story. The moon is the symbol—and source?—of feminine spirit and strength. 2/3

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4 days ago

Framed by a full moon rising over hilltop, a female warrior poses triumphantly with her foot on the corpse of a defeated foe. Her heavy armor is a combination of segmented plate and exposed chainmail. Pauldrons flare wing-like, as does the bottom of her helm which is topped with a high tassel. Unrestrained wispy blonde hair is caught by the breeze. She holds a long spear with ribbons also stirring. A heavy mace hangs on her opposite hip while a sword with thin curving blade and crescent ornament on the grip hangs low on her back. A black steed cranes its neck ever so slightly to see around her.

AMAZONS (1979)
Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 24" x 17"  

When doing a cover for an anthology, I usually just had to come up with an image that communicated the underlying theme tying the stories together, and then run with it. 1/3

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5 days ago

It is! 😀

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5 days ago

Bathed in twilight, Roland Deschain stands in a field of red roses that surround a tower of massive girth. With arms crossed, he holds up a big revolver. Fingers wrap the sandalwood grips with noticeable tension on the trigger. Loosely knotted cloth spills from his other wrist, exposing the back of his hand, but not the fingers on his right hand. The cloth is bloody where it wraps over pinky and ring finger as he clutches the stem of a rose. Behind him, a narrow stone path leads through the field, past the faces of fallen statues that stare blankly up to the sky. Steps lead up to a wedge of light marking the tower entrance rendered as if the door is ajar. It's unclear whether the light comes from the chamber within or the flaring sun is shining through from the other side of the tower.

A cloaked and armored figure raises his sword in salute to a tiny figure in the distance separated by a chasm of broken earth shrouded by mist. A massive storm cell winds gray and blue across the sky intersecting the tip of the extended sword. A bright line of blue runs across the clouds as if etched by the unusual half-hilted, wavy blade. The orange cloak covering most of the figure (as viewed from behind) is decorated with a mass of wild crustacean arms ending in crescent claws. The icon on the pennant, flying tall on a pole held offhand, depicts a crab-like creature. The sky to the right of the storm is tinted warm yellow as the sun peeks out. A sliver of moon can be seen in a blue-sky break between the clouds. In the background left forks of lightning strike at the distant mountains on the horizon.

In 2005 and later maybe it was fans of Stephen King’s Gunslinger series? In the 2010 and beyond it might have been Brandon Sanderson readers?

Probably Mike or Audrey have much better ideas in this regard than I would. Thanks for a thought provoking question, though! 4/4

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