From the moment I finished the manuscript, I knew how the cover art had to look...a mirror of the first with some obvious differences. 2/7

THE SUMMER QUEEN (1990)
Acrylic on Panel - 36” x 24”

I was glad to learn that Joan Vinge was writing a sequel to The Snow Queen, and even more so when I got a call from Warner Books for the cover assignment. 1/7

#sciencefiction #illustration #joandvinge #warnerbooks

COLD CUTS (1997)
Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 30” x 22

For his last cover for The Year's Best Horror Stories, Michael—a longtime vegetarian—presented a gruesome display within the mundane confines of the basement refrigerator.

https://www.michaelwhelan.com/shop/cold-cuts/

3/3

THE KEY (2009)

Oil - 24” x 18”


The dead cannot show us the other side. If we want to see it, he holds the key and we have to go with him. The joke’s on us.



https://www.michaelwhelan.com/shop/key/

2/3

In this special Halloween edition of our weekly newsletter, Michael answers the question of what attracted him to drawing dark art. 

Plus two new horror paintings available now in our shop!

https://theartofmichaelwhelan.substack.com/p/the-lure-of-darkness

1/3

#horror #illustration #originalart

We’ll be adding two original works of horror to our shop for a special Halloween newsletter tomorrow (10/31). A preview is now available for our paid subscribers.

https://theartofmichaelwhelan.substack.com/p/horror-original-art-preview

I don’t know why it took me over 10 years to get around to doing this painting! 2/3

RISING (2007)

Acrylic on Watercolor board - 36” X 24”



This image came to me while I was working on THE RIVER in 1996. 1/3

#personalvisions #fineart #imaginativerealism #meditation

“The very meaninglessness of life forces man to create his own meaning. The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent… but if we can come to terms with this indifference, then our existence as a species can have genuine meaning. 2/4

IN A WORLD OF HER OWN (2016)
Acrylic on Canvas - 36" x 48"

This painting arose from musing on an interview that Stanley Kubrick gave in 1968, a source of inspiration I have gone back to over the years, revisiting comments made by the director. 1/4

#personalvisions #fineart #imaginativerealism #fadedstar

The board originally had a figure sketch on it from the work I did for Lucca Comics & Games. When I saw it turned 90 degrees sideways, I was struck by the shapes and one thing lead to another...the figures turned into a “tree.”

Executed with acrylics left over from an underpainting on a gallery piece that I was working on. 2/2

https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/2019-leftover-7/

THE WITCHING TREE (2019)
Acrylic on Illustration Board - 6” x 6”

An accidental shape on a scrap of illustration board evoked a sort of Lovecraftian tree. 1/2

#leftoversandpalettegremlins #horror #illustration

Cover illustration for ARISE by Sepultura (Roadrunner Records) 3/3

https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/arise/

Using the sepia photoprint as my "underpainting," I finished the painting in my regular acrylic paints. It was an enjoyable excursion into strange territory for me. 2/3

ARISE (1990)
Mixed media - 20” x 20”

I took the opportunity with this commission—an album cover for Sepultura—to experiment and have fun.



After completing a small stack of tone renderings of textures and distorted faces, I photocopied them, cut them out, and recombined them. I then had the assemblage photographed, and a sepia-toned print was made of it in the appropriate dimensions. 1/3

#horror #illustration #sepultura #roadrunnerrecords

ARKADY (1985)
Acrylic on Canvas - 32” x 20”

Having passed through terrible destruction, the former hub of the Galaxy in Isaac Asimov's classic opus is now a pastoral world. 1/5

#sciencefiction #illustration #isaacasimov #foundation #delreybooks

However, my intention was to design the wave as a simple exponential curve to visualize the problem of human population growth:

“...the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man.” 2/2

https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/wave/

WAVE (1994)
Acrylic on Canvas - 48” x 48”

Of all the paintings hanging in my home, this one probably elicits the most comments. It's also a good example of why I am reluctant to say too much about my work. Some people are frightened by it, some view it as peaceful and some are just struck by its abstract qualities. 1/2

#fineart #personalvisions #imaginativerealism

Cover illustration for THE GAMEPLAYERS OF ZAN by M.A. Foster (DAW) 2/2

https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/gameplayers-of-zan/

THE GAMEPLAYERS OF ZAN (1976)
Acrylic - 28” x 22”

An unusual aspect of this assignment was that the author told Donald Wollheim what scene should appear on the cover. My task, then, was to paint “a mental image of a woman revolving in blue boxes over an infinite control panel with a star pattern all around her.” 1/2

#sciencefiction #illustration #mafoster #dawbooks