IN DAI CHIKIZA (1988) by Michael Whelan, cover art for The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams.

The jacket art for the first volume of the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy features Jingizu (the Sithi word for “Sorrow”), a blade forged by the Storm King.

I’ve always loved Tad’s description of the sword, and he painted it so ominously in just a few passages:

“…in a sheath at [King Elias’] side was the sword with the strange crossed hilt…there was something queer and unsettling about the blade…[It] had a strange double guard, the cross pieces making; with the hilt, a sort of five pointed star.“

…[the blade] was no mere weapon, but a blasphemy against the earth that had yielded both iron and witchwood. It was a hole in the tapestry of creation, and life leaked away through it.

Don’t you think Michael channeled the text perfectly in capturing Sorrow? I doubt he changed anything from his original design when he painted it again for the recent DAW reissues of the trilogy.

In case you missed it, we previously posted the jacket art for To Green Angel Tower which featured the sword Minneyar (Memory). I have yet to unearth the jacket art for Stone of Farewell which features the last sword Thorn. I still have 2 ½ rooms and an attic to sort through in the studio, so we’ll see if I can find it on my next visit.

Source: michaelwhelan.com

theartofmichaelwhelan:

MEATLOAF ASCENDANT (1997) by Michael Whelan

Along with the science fiction and fantasy cover art I was sorting through in the studio, I stumbled on album artwork as well. Here’s Michael’s original painting for The Very Best of Meatloaf.

Thematically, the painting follows Michael’s iconic cover for Back Into Hell. You can see an echo of that cover in the clouds above the bat demon.

Michael sent me a note regarding the MEATLOAF ASCENDANT feature we ran here on Tumblr.

After all the changes and additions he’d been asked to do in the painting, he inserted a “kitchen sink” in among the debris (see the zoom of the foreground) as his own wry commentary on the difficulties experienced trying to please all of the parties involved.

Art direction by committee is never a good idea, and I think he found a good outlet for his frustration.

(via theartofmichaelwhelan)

Source: michaelwhelan.com

BLACK STAR RISING (1984) by Michael Whelan, cover for the book by Frederick Pohl

Aliens and comedy. We’ve seen this a few times from Michael in his early science fiction covers. In WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE, the aliens join Michael and Audrey for an ice cream party.

Here we have an alien police officer verbally unloading on the protagonist. And in the background? A monument to the shrimp legions raising the flag at Iwo Jima. Enjoy the absurdity of it all!

Source: michaelwhelan.com

PEGASUS IN FLIGHT (1990) by Michael Whelan, cover for the book by Anne McCaffrey

Here we have a clear reminder that Anne McCaffrey was a science fiction writer. Sure Michael painted some gorgeous dragons for the Pern books, but even those were works of SF.

Interestingly, this illustration is one of the rare instances when the publisher Del Rey dictated what they wanted on the cover. Michael worked from a brief overview of the story. He never read the manuscript before executing the painting!

Source: michaelwhelan.com

AT THE EDGE (1988) by Michael Whelan, cover illustration for an unpublished book titled Messenger to Tintagel

This could be the rarest find from my recent time in the studio. I mean, how often do you see a finished Whelan cover that virtually no one has ever seen?

When I asked Michael about it, he explained,“It was a commission for DAW that was done based on an outline…but something happened to the author and he never finished the manuscript. So it’s a painting waiting for a book. His ‘sword’ is supposed to be made of wood.

Source: michaelwhelan.com

dragonsmirk:

theartofmichaelwhelan:

A charcoal illustration by Michael Whelan completed for the interior of Dragons of Darkness edited by Orson Scott Card.

Fans may recall that Michael’s illustration FILED TEETH was slated for the cover of this book, but the publisher used it for the preceeding volume Dragons of Light because the artist assigned that cover missed deadline.

For the record, “Filed Teeth” is the title of a short story by Glenn Cook collected in that second volume.

Because of confusion surrounding the cover, I thought this interior was an interesting find. I still have no idea which volume it was published in. Any readers have the books to check?

I have these books. The interior is published with Glen Cook’s story in Dragons of Darkness. I think there were a couple more interiors? I could be wrong. I’d need to unpack the books and have a look. (We moved last year and I have yet to unpack all of my books, but they’d be easy to find.)

Filed Teeth is one of my absolutely favorite images. I have the poster somewhere- I need to get it framed.

The Dragons of Darkness cover was done by Don Maitz.

Thanks for the info! FILED TEETH is one of Michael’s paintings that really shines when you see it in person. I could stare at the background for days.

Don was scheduled to do the first cover. I didn’t see artist credit for the second but I figured they swapped cover assignments and it was probably his work.

If you dig up the books, I’d love to see the other interiors. The one we featured here was large, about the size of a painting, but it was the only one in the envelope. Silly me, I forgot to measure it.

(via dragonsmirk)

Source: michaelwhelan.com

A charcoal illustration by Michael Whelan completed for the interior of Dragons of Darkness edited by Orson Scott Card.

Fans may recall that Michael’s illustration FILED TEETH was slated for the cover of this book, but the publisher used it for the preceeding volume Dragons of Light because the artist assigned that cover missed deadline.

For the record, “Filed Teeth” is the title of a short story by Glenn Cook collected in that second volume.

Because of confusion surrounding the cover, I thought this interior was an interesting find. I still have no idea which volume it was published in. Any readers have the books to check?

Source: michaelwhelan.com

THIS ALIEN SHORE (1998) by Michael Whelan, cover for the book by C.S. Friedman.

A great cover for many reasons. First, there’s the movement created by Michael’s composition. Vibrant splashes of color draw us into the background, but the eye never lingers long there as the lines created by the alien crowd redirect back to the central figure.

In the foreground, we get a realistic portrait of Jamisia that conveys a lot about her character. All eyes seem to be on her in that moment. Her body language is closed, protective, yet her gaze is direct. Her costuming is shiny but her face is unembellished.

Contradictions abound. Even the object in her hand is meant to cast eyes away, which only serves to heighten the viewer’s curiosity about her.

All of these subtle elements add up to intrigue, drawing readers to pick up the book to learn what the story is about. And that is perhaps Michael’s greatest gift as an illustrator, his ability to connect to an audience and hold their attention in the briefest glance.

Source: michaelwhelan.com

SHADOW’S END (1994) by Michael Whelan, cover for the book by Sheri S. Tepper.

I’m not sure if my photo does this illustration justice. Due to the angle I shot it, corrections in PhotoShop left the orbs of the alien forest slightly elongated. The overhead ighting also seems uneven. The wider shot of the original is better, I think.

Source: michaelwhelan.com

PEREGRINE (1977) by Michael Whelan

At first glance the book Peregrine looked like an original publication from 1978 but that didn’t track with the fact that Michael’s early ACE covers for Poul Anderson were all reissues.

Sure enough with a little research on ISFDB and Wikipedia, it appears this was a repackaged version of Star Ways from 1957, book 6 in Anderson’s Psychotechnic League.

Source: michaelwhelan.com

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