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Michael Whelan is no longer here (see sticky)

@whelanmichael

Feb 10, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read • Read on X

Scrolly

FILED TEETH (1980)
Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 30" x 22"

Ace Books contacted me about doing a cover painting for one of a two-book series: DRAGONS OF LIGHT and DRAGONS OF DARKNESS. My art was to be for the second volume.

The book was an anthology, but I chose to depict a specific scene from a story by Glen Cook because it was appropriately gloomy and lent itself to the suggestion in the title very well.

I completed the painting, delivered it, and bent my mind to the next task.

I forgot about it until a proof copy arrived. DRAGONS OF LIGHT had been published, but with my painting on the cover. The first artist had missed his deadline, so they put my cover on the book instead.

This prompted a few fans to comment to me, "If this is Dragons of Light, what will Dragons of Darkness look like? All black?"

Cover illustration for DRAGONS OF LIGHT edited by Orson Scott Card (ACE)

michaelwhelan.com/galleries/file…

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More from @whelanmichael

Michael Whelan is no longer here (see sticky)

@whelanmichael

Dec 26, 2023

ELLIE'S DREAM (2010)
Acrylic - 40" x 30"

The vision came to me exactly as you see it here. I was thinking about the Moon Race and the clear cloudless skies of my childhood days in California. 1/4

The curving structure is shaped to resemble a wind-twisted rocket contrail something I witnessed many times living near Vandenberg missile base. 2/4

I chose a girl at the pinnacle of the structure because humanity's reach for the moon will be incomplete until a female crew lands there and explores the surface, representing the other half of our species. 3/4

Read 4 tweets

Michael Whelan is no longer here (see sticky)

@whelanmichael

Aug 7, 2023

I hate to start the week like this, but admin 🧵:

Over the weekend, we received an email about copyright abuse that detailed how Michael's art was being used to produce computer generated images in his style.

First and foremost, this was done without permission—to be clear Michael will never authorize this kind of use—and it wasn't just "fine tuning."

Uploading copyright images without care or concern for the wishes of the artist is theft of intellectual property.

Despite the praise, it's not flattering. It's alarming and the images produced are hardly "amazing works of art." It's thinly veiled plagiarism.

Quite frankly it makes us all feel sick seeing this kind of blatant abuse tied to an appeal for support on Patreon.

Read 7 tweets

Michael Whelan is no longer here (see sticky)

@whelanmichael

Dec 12, 2022

THE WHITE DRAGON (1978)

Acrylic on Masonite - 20" X 30"

Although this is the third book in the series, it was my first Pern cover, and I was determined to create the dragons as faithfully to Anne McCaffrey's description as possible.

Even with her rather specific description of her dragons, I found plenty of room for individual interpretation.

These preliminary drawings show the evolution of my concept of the fantastic winged beasts.

Read 6 tweets

Michael Whelan is no longer here (see sticky)

@whelanmichael

Sep 10, 2022

A 🧵of fun illustrations I did for the "What if" section of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PICTURE ATLAS OF OUR UNIVERSE by Roy A. Gallant (1986).

1). Jellyblimps and Swordtails of Jupiter