iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 8h

Omigod, this is the most heartwarming story possible! Backpack (bear 89) is the son of the 2019 winner of Fat Bear Week, Holly (bear 435). In 2007, he injured his foot & a practice of riding on momma's Holly's back had a new meaning: he was mobility-restricted while it healed. So Holly moved him.

From DISCVR blog's Facebook page, a momma bear & a yearling cub on her back in the shallow water. I think the background has been swapped out, and I can't rule out some AI use there? God, Facebook has become the social media for AI slop : (

The title of the article, which I link below, is "How Bear 89 earned the name Backpack"

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 8h

RUN FOR COVER (1977) Acrylic on illustration board H. Beam Piper is, of course, best remembered for the Fuzzies of Zarathustra. My involvement with those books began in 1976 when Ace, guided by Jerry Pournelle, repackaged the two original novels: LITTLE FUZZY and FUZZY SAPIENS. #art #booksky 🪐📚

A white haired man stares down a horned and tusked alien boar-like creature as it prepares to charge. Pappy Jack cradles a little fuzzy alien creature in one hand while gripping a laser rifle by the stock with his other. The beast turns intense orange eyes towards the pack of fuzzies that are panicked and looking for cover. The beast’s intentions are clearly hostile from the bristling of its mane to the set of its hooves on the flora covered rise.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 9h

The indifference is not just at Cornell; our country knowingly elected a sexual predator… twice! There are so many examples of how our culture programs young men to be this way. We have social media platforms amplifying violent misogyny. Rarely are there ever consequences for any of it.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This is why we need strict campaign finance reform in place NOW. The Roberts court opened a floodgate of endless corporate dollars into our politics, and corporate "speech" dominates both parties.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

THE DIVINING HEART (2005)  Acrylic on Canvas - 36" x 24"   "Stepping stones" of ammonite fossils represent the lessons of history and are the only havens of safety for the figure in the foreground. #art

A dark haired beauty stands on a spiral fossil that rises barely above the surface of shallow water. A path of these ammonite stepping stone meanders out across placid water past a natural breakwater of rocks but doesn't quite reach the horizon. She doesn't appear to notice the path forward; she's stopped to admire a red glass heart that dangles from a cord. Her eyes aren't fixed on it though as her thoughts retreat inward. The pure white cloth draping her body spills down to reveal the bare skin of her back.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

KING OF THE DEAD (1977) Gouache on illustration board - 24” x 14” I had the good fortune of working on Elric early in my career. The books by Michael Moorcock have proven to be enduring classics in fantasy. #art #booksky 🪐📚

Elric holds the slender black blade of Stormbringer as he turns in surprise toward a menacing skeletal figure. His gold cloak billows as he pivots, and the gold chain gripped in his other hand slackens as the ruby amulet bobs weightless with sudden motion. Arms flexed wide, the threatening figure grips a black trident. Beneath a horned helm, its skull is set in a deathly howl that exposes its fangs. With eyes flashing, a mass of figures skulk among smooth pillars in the background. Several of the ape-like humanoids flank Elric in the lower foreground.

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Arienne Childrey @ari4ohio.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Pay attention Dems. Gov Beshear won twice, in a deep red state, and never threw trans people under the bus. He led with compassion rather than the fear and cowardice we've seen from some of our Ohio candidates and party leadership.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

In this week’s newsletter, we talk about secondary rights and get spacy tackling the origin of a pair of album covers for Jonn Serrie. Plus an exclusive digital wallpaper of ARMENIA for our paid subscribers… theartofmichaelwhelan.substack.com/p/city-in-th...

A woman in flowing robes stands on a ridge of rock looking out at the night sky pierced by the blurry dots of stars. The woman holds a hand to her chest as she stares at a gleaming city in the sky hovering just beyond the ridge. A wormhole swirls the dark sky as it forms. On the panel left, a glass vessel half filled with water stands on three metal legs. A solitary flame burns inside.

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Faith K. Falkner @faithfalkner.com · 27/09/2026

Be patient and kind to those who are making art right now. We're all self-funded and the richest, worst people in the world are trying to plaster over and erase our hard work.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

PASSING BY (2025) Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 12” x 16” During my college years in the late 60s, I was fortunate to see Santana in concert—they were great! #art

A woman strolls across a field overgrown with wild grass that is nearly glowing in the sunlight. Copper five and six-pointed stars stick out of the ground on sticks. The woman wears a long black dress decorated with astronomical icons (crescent moons and wavy suns). The gold pattern on the front of her red tunic matches blonde hair that falls past her shoulders. A white owl perches on her shoulder with wings spread and beak turned toward the audience. A red-feathered bird flaps past at thigh height and a few more glide in the distance. Verdant trees cover the edges of the panel with a break between exposing billowing clouds that roll across brilliant blue sky.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Fun fact: if you follow the gallery links in our posts, you can see if the original painting is still in the Whelan collection or available as a print.

Description of the painting followed by a button that reads “Original Available” that leads to a contact page to inquire about the painting.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

👏 Register to vote 👏 Verify your voter registration *and* polling place. Make a plan to vote, and cast your ballot early and in-person if you can. (Early voting begins on 10/19 in TX) Make sure others are prepared as well. Drive people to the polls if you can.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

PURSUIT (1982) Acrylic - 30” x 20” Occasionally it is fun to do an action-filled scene. This exciting book by Alan Dean Foster afforded the perfect opportunity. #art #booksky 🪐📚

In a frantic flight through the woods, a fierce ostrich-like bird bends its sinuous neck as it corners around a massive tree. With a powerful talon, it grips rock and seeks footing with its other leg raised. Mounted on its back gripping reins is a redheaded man in a vibrant blue coat. A serpent coils around his shoulder and down his extended arm. The serpent spreads kaleidoscopic wings and hisses in displeasure. A badger-like creature springs out of their path.

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It's me, Nico. @nicasio.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Times are getting a bit tough on my end, and having some work lined up would help immensely. If you have any need of editing or sensitivity reading, please keep me in mind!

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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 24/09/2026

over the past few weeks several AI evaluation/cybersecurity experts have explained how what's happening is a result of human incompetence rather than "AI going rogue". I'm begging the media to show a shred of journalistic integrity and stop parroting what altman or amodei say

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Jón Kristinsson @jonkk.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

seems like there's a couple of vibecoded painting apps being announced lately.. ..so I just wanted to mention that there's also a new NOT vibecoded painting app being developed, that's awesome already, called @kalapaint.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/kala...

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Climate Defiance @climatedefiance.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

HUGE UPDATE: we halted Amazon's panel at Climate Week. We shut it down so hard that every guest and every speaker had to leave the premises. No one was able to return. Their whole event lasted less time than their warehouse workers' pee break.

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 24/09/2026

It is a huge shame to see so much language attributing agency, intent and thought to a software program, when all that should be attributed to the humans who designed a dangerously clumsy and broken looping LLM. Means the companies won't be held accountable for designing a bad product

A swarm of OpenAI rogue AI agents appear to have gone on a spree of trying to access Australian government health data, in what some researchers say is the first autonomous hack of a government website.

Communications between AI agents and other traces of their efforts found by researchers from US non-profit Transluce show how hundreds of Open AI's agents worked together over a period of months to gain access to information held by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), NSW's crime statistics body, BOSCAR, and a number of other international organisations.

The data shows the bots posting about their unsuccessful attempts to bypass cybersecurity defences and exploit vulnerabilities.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

ÉMIGRÉ (2006) Acrylic on Panel - 12” x 12” A study done at the time I painted END OF NATURE VII, later finished to become a new small painting in its own right. #art

The viewer is drawn into a low angle view from the underside of a wide crescent of trees. Bare trunks bathed in golden light lean toward an unseen sun setting low off-panel to the left. The play of light on bark illuminates rich texture, defined in detail by soft shadow. Thinning branches rise and spread like the delta of a river to support flat treetops that stand dark green against clear azure sky. Blending among the upper branches, a female holds a suitcase, clasping it by the handle with both hands. Pensively she stares off, posed as if waiting for a ride. The line of her eyes extends from nearby branches to an inward facing sliver of chalky moon. On her back flare wings that seem constructed rather than natural. Secured with leather straps crossing her chest, the wings flare out revealing a webbing of wooden supports underneath to lend structure.

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404 Media @404media.co · 23/09/2026

Citizens showed up to the city council meeting with plans to let city leaders know how they felt about the city’s use of Flock. But Springfield mayor Jeff Schrag moved to prevent public comment on Flock. Then, arrests happened, @mjgault.bsky.social reports. Story: www.404media.co/woman-arrest...

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Kim Sokol (Open for Commissions/Freelance!) @kimsokol.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

If you see this, quote with your Night/ Dark Art!

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Kimonas @kimonasart.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Another painting of Amatha. Blood Moon 14" x18 " oil on board.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

PEEKABOO FUZZIES (1983) Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 16” x 22” The Fuzzy Sapiens created by H. Beam Piper first appeared in the early 1960's and were a welcome contrast to the menacing aliens that seemed to dominate science fiction of the day. #art #booksky 🪐📚

A pair of adorable furry creatures poke their heads out from the cover of dense tropical vegetation. Their huge eyes are strikingly green, cat-like and glossy so that the treetops reflect in the light. Their noses lie long, wide, and flat. Their mouths aren't pronounced like an ape, but thin lips and the slit of their mouths does seem ape-like. Long tufts of light brown hair sweep outward around the eyes like a flaring mane, giving their faces a disproportionately wide countenance. Hair over the pate is smoothed back of their heads. Cat-like ears—soft rounded triangles—are set above and just outside their big eyes. One thick-fingered paw, lacking claws or nails of any sort, extends as if pushing the alien foliage aside.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

No, I made her up. Someone told me after the book was published that she looked like the author C.J. Cherryh.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

THE RIVER (1996) Oil on Canvas - 48” x 36” In my personal work, the red glass heart evokes the world of the senses and things that appeal to those senses. That’s material possessions for some or pleasure seeking and gratification for others.

Reclining on a low broken branch, a woman in white diaphanous gown rests against a tree trunk. Lost in contemplation, her eyes are pressed closed. Her hair falls in tight waves of blonde down her back, and a lavender sash crosses her waist from behind. Tacked to the trunk above her, a red glass heart hangs from a ribbon. The forest beyond is partially obscured by branches of a conifer. Soft light cuts diagonals through the misty air. The tree squats on a grassy island. At its front edge, an open vessel half filled with water contains a solitary flame. A branch crosses in front of the tripod stand it sits upon. A skull is revealed in a knob of the branch, a memento mori revealing the woman's thoughts.

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ProPublica @propublica.org · 22/09/2026

Sen. Susan Collins helped steer millions in federal defense contracts to Navatek, whose CEO illegally funneled thousands of dollars to her campaign. The FBI sought to launch a probe and was eyeing Collins and other lawmakers. Then Trump gutted the unit in charge. THREAD 🧵

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Erion Makuo @erionmakuo.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

🌷 Was lucky enough to paint Artagan for the latest collaboration between @everythingdice.bsky.social and @criticalrole.bsky.social! The illustration is featured on the box for Fey Realm Oversized D20. Thank you for having me! AD: Luke Ge & Yves Eyang

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

DRAGONFLIGHT (1978)  Acrylic on Masonite - 20" X 30"   For the 1st book in Anne McCaffrey's legendary Dragonriders of Pern series, I wanted to create a literal visualization of the title. I selected an aerial POV and tilted the horizon to simulate the dizzying sensation of flight. #art #booksky 🪐📚

A flight of dragons swoops past a rocky mountain peak down that mostly obscures the sun. The light tints green sky yellow along the ridge. With wings spread wide, the lead dragon pulls up from a dive with beak open to expose teeth and tongue. The arc of its climb intersects a red striated planet. The female dragonrider raises one arm up as she glances back over her shoulder.

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Amber Ying 應緣 @amberying.com · 12/05/2025

Saw someone say that LLMs are like parrots for just repeating the input, and having worked with some very smart parrots, I can confirm that parrots are smarter than LLMs since the birds can actually understand the context of words.

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Chuck Wendig @chuckwendig.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

oh FFS (the FFS is to Apple, obvs, not Gwen, who is awesome)

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

In this week’s newsletter, Michael talks about early influences and his approach to illustration in the conclusion of this 3-part interview from 1982. theartofmichaelwhelan.substack.com/p/shayol-fan...

Roland Deschain, the last gunslinger, stares contemplatively across the sea as waves gently lap the shore. Footprints can be seen in the damp sand leading to where he sits, pistol unstrapped at his hip and bedroll at his side. The sun hangs low but intense, blazing a line of orange across the horizon. Over a low stretch of wispy clouds, the silhouette of an asymmetrical tower rises dream-like in the sky. Odd projections mark the sides while spires of varying height sit atop the peak like chaotic crenelations.

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Anna Holmes @annabookwriter.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Not only is illustration art, WSJ has artfully illustrated that no matter how rich you get, you’ll never be accepted in old money circles. They think they make culture. We all do, for better and worse.

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Delilah S. Dawson @delilahsdawson.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Y'all, this giveaway has like 10 entrants right now. Very high odds of winning. Just sayin'.

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Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

a lot of people act like there's a trade being offered where we give up trans athletes in sports and in exchange fascism is defeated forever

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I’m pretty sure I had 12 pieces. A graphic arts teacher at Art Center told me that no art director wants to go through more than 12 images, so I took his advice to heart.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

THE UNINVITED (1974) Oil on Illustration Board - 10” x 15” When I first moved to the East Coast in search of illustration jobs, I had to prepare a portfolio with a selection of the variety of work I was able to do. This was the “horror” piece that I took around to the art directors.

A crack in the door reveals a squat monster turning the knob with one hand while clawed fingers grip the edge to open it quietly. The round mushroom dome of its head weighs down the rest of its features. The ridge of its brow sits equatorially, a narrow line that hides eyes pressed shut, suggesting the creature hunts with senses other than sight. Its broad nose flares as short curved teeth punctuate a rictus grin as it enters uninvited.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

THE GAMEPLAYERS OF ZAN (1976) Acrylic - 28” x 22” An unusual aspect of this assignment was the author told Donald Wollheim what scene should appear on the cover. #art #booksky 🪐📚

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 18/09/2026

This is why I hate "just a tool" so so so much. You can make a calculator without access to every calculation. You can make photoshop without access to all photos. Someone show me a genai tool that didn't require all of our labour in its production. It's plagiarism software.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

re: the barrier to fine art for illustrators Certainly. My own success has shown that…but then again, I keep a discernible separation between my gallery work and my illustration. I’d avoid having a show mixing the two in a gallery, though I’ve had no problem with museums that have mixed them up.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

That “fish shaped building” just popped into my head when I was creating the painting. I have no idea where it came from or why it looks like that. I like your reading of it though! Maybe I painted it after watching Finding Nemo with the kids?

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Aimee Cozza Illustration @aimeecozza.com · 17/09/2026

Tomorrow! I'm hosting a lil workshop about group crowdfunding as part of @flightsoffoundry.bsky.social RSVP now so you can join in as I infodump about why group crowdfunding is AWESOME and even if you're scared to crowdfund, you should join in as part of a group flights-of-foundry.org to RSVP 🦇🪽

Flights of Foundry. Friday, Sept 18th, 1 PM EDT. Group crowdfunding: It's better together

We’ll talk all about what group crowdfunding is, go over the numbers that prove it works, I’ll tell you how you can set up your own collection, and we’ll work together to form some full collection and collaboration ideas! RSVP now!

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

WINGING IT (2008)  Acrylic - 36" x 24"   American history is full of examples of artists who were illustrators and became recognized fine artists—Edward Hopper and Winslow Homer come to mind—but I didn’t know whether I’d be able to pull off that transition. www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/wi...

Self portrait of the artist in a daring leap off the top of a weathered concrete tower. In one hand, he grips a pencil, L-square and French curve. A coil of rope is looped at his elbow. In the opposite arm he awkwardly clutches a bundle of wood wrapped in canvas as he kicks off the railing into open air. Carried behind on loose straps, a satchel with a hammer half falling out leaves a trail of stray nails with his sudden motion. Below, wires attach to the tower at points leading off to other unseen structures. Rust streaks down from the guard rails at the top. Partway up the tower rebar is exposed and the wider base is cracking and worn down. A trio of doves glide past faded bills posted on the rounded, grimy wall.

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Kat Abughazaleh @katmabu.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

🚨 THE KAPOW HANDBOOK IS FINALLY DONE!!! 🚨 6 months, 5 authors, and 60 pages later, we’ve written a guide on how to integrate mutual aid and direct action into electoral politics. And we’re not gatekeeping this info either. Get a free digital copy on 9/21 at kapow.works/handbook !!!

Me, holding a spiral bound notebook that reads “how to KAPOW the system”

Two pages of the book, one is an FAQ asking why campaigns haven’t been doing this the whole time. The other is a black intro page for PART 1: INFRASTRUCTURE that reads “Cynicism is for losers. We can build the world we want to see.”

Two pages on how to make a mutual aid hub in your campaign office with loads of
Polaroids of our office and volunteers

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The argument against AI should always start with the THEFT of creative labor the technology was built on. The intent was CRIMINAL. CEOs should be facing charges, not class action lawsuits. The devastation these companies continue to inflict on creative communities demands accountability.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

THE MASTER MIND OF MARS (1978)  Acrylic - 21" x 27"   The only John Carter cover in which I intentionally deviated from the story. The Master Mind does not appear in the actual scene, but Lester del Rey thought the cover should go along with the title... #art #booksky 🪐📚

Ulysses Paxton stands with a hypodermic needle poised over Valla Dia, who lays unconscious on an operating table. Tubes run from her arm to a device hanging from the ceiling. A large chamber in the device is filled with blood. An emaciated old man lurks behind them, fixing his goggled stare on Ulysses. The Master Mind holds a long slender blade in his hand. Through an archway on the left, a four-armed white ape enters.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

SANCTUARY (2019)  Oil - 24” x 18” This rose from my desire to revisit thematic ground that inspired my first gallery show at Tree’s Place back in 1997. #art

A red glass heart tied to a silk ribbon lies discarded on the worn stone steps of what could be some ancient temple. Water laps gently up the low climbing steps from the left while a passage between classical columns leads forward and up to a partially obscured peaked archway. A transparent vessel with a bubble-like sheen contains a solitary flame and floats toward the light beyond the archway.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

WEYRWORLD (1990)  Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 27" x 36" My schedule was booked up many months in advance, so Del Rey Books commissioned me to do this cover before the book was even written. #art #booksky 🪐📚

With wings spread wide, a white dragon perches on a rocky spire that rises out of cloud cover. Its legs are set unevenly as it gains a hold. Viewed from behind, a rider is saddle-mounted with legs straddling its neck. A handful of other dragons and riders are gathered on similar peaks for a conference in the clouds. The valley wall as seen only in the distance meanders across the horizon. Two large crescent moons hang in a hazy blue sky.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

In this week’s newsletter, we preview a rare auction event featuring original Michael Whelan cover art from The Martian Tales by Edgar Rice Burroughs... theartofmichaelwhelan.substack.com/p/john-carte...

John Carter fights side-by-side with Tars Tarkas. In Barsoomian fashion, John Carter is completely naked. He pierces the chest of a blue plant man with a skilled thrust of his rapier. The anatomy of his green alien companion is fascinating in that Tars Tarkas has a second torso stacked on the first. He towers over all around him. Two large tusks jut fiercely out of his lower jaw, and his eyes are set on the side of his head. Tars Tarkas draws back a rapier in one of his four arms. His other lower arm guards with rapier held laterally. The two allies are framed by a milky white boulder with a shiny gold vein running through it. Despite outnumbering the two heroes, the plant men seem to find only death in their approach up the red grassy hill. In addition to the troop of plant men, white apes with four arms approach from out of the trees. Above the scene, two craggy moons hang in clear blue skies above the gold rimmed valley where the fighting takes place.

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Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

THE LOST CITY (2017)  Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 14" x 7 ½"   Members of the Miskatonic Antarctic Expedition discover an ancient city while searching for Gedney, missing from the advance camp and the massacre that took place there. #bookssky #art 🪐📚

Cresting a ridge, two explorers take in the view of an ancient, alien city nestled in an arctic mountain range. Intricate spires rise out of a mist of windblown snow. Between the angled peaks of mountains, the sky radiates aurora-like waves rendered in white and gray-blue.

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