THE SUMMER QUEEN (1990) by Michael Whelan, cover for the book by Joan Vinge.
How did Whelan make such a worthy counterpoint for The Snow Queen? The subtlety of the palette for Snow made its detail extraordinary. But The Summerqueen cover is just as much a feast for the eyes. The colors are bold, but still romantic, the iconography just as epic. I loved this cover just as much, and maybe more (!!), which is saying a lot. [However, this digital image needs color correction. It’s skewing very yellow/green, especially noticeable in the flesh tones.]
You’re dead on re: the color correction. The image original posted must have been from old PhotoCDs. Michael had a bulk of his work re-photographed a decade ago and color correctd everything himself so I do have a better version on file that I’ll re-post in a moment. Also, thanks for the kind words on this piece. I’m sure Michael will appreciate it. THE SNOW QUEEN and THE SUMMER QUEEN hang next to each other at his house. They’re breathtaking to view in person. ~MJ