An unused preliminary concept by Michael Whelan for Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly.
Source: michaelwhelan.com
A horror concept by Michael Whelan
Jordu Schell gave Michael Whelan a demo sculpt done at IlluxCon a few years back. Whelan later set it up as a model and returned the favor with an original painting. He added a couple items for dramatic effect. Oils on canvas.
Source: michaelwhelan.com
TRICK OR TREAT by Michael Whelan
This was another one of my morning oil painting exercises, this time based on a sketch of a face I had done on a piece of scrap paper. There was something compellingly creepy about that smile, which I tried to capture in the painted version. I liked where it seemed to be going so I continued to fiddle with it every once in a while until I felt I had done enough with it.
Source: michaelwhelan.com
NIGHT CRAWLER by Michael Whelan
I often take walks at night to give my eyes a break and to stretch my legs a bit. Late one foggy night I was out on our street when I came upon a bare, oddly shaped tree in a neighbor’s yard, looking very mysterious in the glow of a nearby streetlamp. Staring at the ghostly shape my imagination added a naked pale creature twisting there in the fog, clambering around amid the branches with some unknown intent. Hmm.
I immediately went back to my studio and sketched the scene out, altering the lighting to look as if the tree and it’s denizen were caught in the headlights of a passing car. I tidied the painting up later, but it was no problem because the image in my mind stayed there and nagged at me until I got it down.
Don’t ask me where these things come from!
Source: michaelwhelan.com
SWEET DREAMS by Michael Whelan
Oils - 5" x 7"
A very small study done as a technical experiment, painting the large masses of the image with colored acrylic gessoes, letting that layer dry, then completing the painting using oil glazes. The skull is one I have in my collection [though the lock and key are made up], and the flowers are inspired by ones I saw growing next to the track at Danbury High School.
Source: michaelwhelan.com
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