iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 14h

Oh, lol. I definitely interpreted that wrong!

Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

That's fairly typical for prices achieved over the last few years on small works like this. If you want to see eye popping numbers, there was a 4" x 6" Elric Demonslayer concept that sold at Heritage in March for just under $12K. That works out to $475 / sq in! comics.ha.com/itm/original...

comics.ha.com

Michael Whelan The Vanishing Tower Slipcase Cover Preliminary | Lot #46327 | Heritage Auctions

World's Largest Collectibles Auctioneer

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

There was a limited edition photoprint (of 200) that sold out decades ago. It's always possible that we could reissue a new edition. We evaluate our catalog several times a year and I'll be happy to mention it when we discuss new prints.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Curiosity will lead to better places than picking nits, especially when lacking context and familiarity. 🤷‍♂️

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Maybe it’s that I’m surfacing after writing / editing a newsletter for 12 hours 😭😮‍💨, but…I really don’t get it. My reaction as a reader to something unexpected isn’t to judge the artist for what I don’t understand; it’s to ask why did they choose that unexpected thing. What does that choice mean?

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

That AMoL illo was everything I’d been dying to see on a WoT cover for decades…and I know how much it would have meant to Mr Jordan having hosted him for a signing on his last book tour. That was 💯 Rand al’Thor front and center…but but but, her hair. 🤯

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

When we revealed Michael’s cover for A MEMORY OF LIGHT, I remember the fan reaction to Nynaeve…her hair isn’t short! That can’t be her. And then, y’know, they read the book. This reminds me of that. Reading those comments was…tedious, and I didn’t even paint the cover!

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I asked Michael about this a few years ago when someone pointed out the same cling. I’m not quoting him directly but the gist of his response was it was 70s SF, man. Personally I think his intent is to raise questions with the prospective reader. I’m cold looking at the cover and now I’m curious.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I get the same reaction from Interstellar fans whenever I post LUMEN 6. I asked Michael about it way back when and he found such speculation flattering as he admires Christopher Nolan's work. www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/lu...

michaelwhelan.com

LUMEN 6

Looking for the way to the light, a moment of discovery at last.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I don't think it went as far as reference as confirmed by Paul Franklin, who worked on VFX for Intersteller. He hadn't seen the painting before coming across a post on Twitter, but he thought Nolan might have. That thread is long gone, but Paul did pop in here: bsky.app/profile/mich...

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I think all of this is fairly typical for most illustrators, but y'know...beware of bad contracts and work for hire.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

When Michael broke away from illustrating in the mid 90s, there were a number of gallery paintings like THE RIVER that people saw first as book or CD covers. Technically those aren't secondary rights sales but the same contract details apply.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

We handle his rights internally now and try not to do anything that confusing (or amusing 😜). Usually the US cover is licensed (by country) to the publisher who holds the publishing rights for that author. So there's some exclusivity by country that plays out naturally.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Usually with secondary rights you see a book cover later used as an album cover but not the other way around. Michael had an international rights agent from the beginning of his career, and there were some odd sales where the cover for one author ended up on another author's work in Europe.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The original commission is typically US book/audio rights only. Michael maintains rights for most book covers (including prints, accessories, etc), but not major label album covers. There's a merchandising/marketing component with music (t-shirt sales, etc) that necessitates that contractually.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

A little different. It was a straight secondary rights sale with no change to the image.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The cover for Ixlandia was a digital mashup of THE RIVER and background elements from another gallery painting, ARMENIA. Thanks for the great question! It prompted a more expansive answer from Michael that I'm putting together in the newsletter this weekend. Stay tuned...

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Reposted by Michael Everett

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 Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Doing a quick search for Norman Rockwell, Duckduckgo shows more generative AI on page 1 of search results than actual art. The image tab is dominated by the same nonsense. This is sooo problematic, mixing the work of a great artist with AI slop.

Five of six AI images in the style of Norman Rockwell dominate page one search results in Duckduckgo

The first 5 images on search results for Norman Rockwell are all AI generated and not actually Rockwell's art.

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Reposted by Michael Everett

Kelly McKernan @kellymckernan.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The summer did not unfold as I had anticipated & now I’m in big debt after moving for grad school on a different timeline, thanks to my ex and his family. If you can help, I’d be so grateful. I am living on student loans, but it’s not enough unless the goal is met. www.gofundme.com/f/help-secur...

gofundme.com

Donate to Help Secure Primary Custody and Child Support for Penny, organized by Kelly McKernan

New Developments / I need your help again! I started this G… Kelly McKernan needs your support for Help Secure Primary Custody and Child Support for Penny

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Got a jury notice in the mail and had a WTF moment over how they got me so fast, then realized it was for Texas. As it turns out, no longer living in a state is a valid excuse for dismissal.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

* Slight correction - McKillip wrote mostly fantasy but she did have 2 other SF books: Moon-Flash (1984) and The Moon and the Face (1985).

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I posted this with "Barracuda" from Heart blasting this morning. "Crazy on You" came on right after setting the perfect book-art-music vibe for the day. 😎❤️‍🔥

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

My bad on the misleading alt-text. 😬

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

After 3 years, the divorce was final last month. We closed on the sale of the house a few weeks ago. Tomorrow the trailer arrives from TX with all my stuff. This weekend, I can finally settle in here with all my books. It feels so good to be back home in IL. Just wish my daughter was here too.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

AIPAC spending 30M and still losing the Senate race in MI is quite something. I listened to a few interviews with Abdul El-Sayed recently and came away impressed, particularly with his framing of healthcare. We need more progressives like this in the Dem party.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

I’m so far behind on correspondence. Next week is gonna be a slog. 😭

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Undoubtedly. This all started with a question from a King forum about why KA decals are no longer available on Etsy. We've never licensed for that use (but clearly need to offer PoD). It's so frustrating that readers never stop and ask if the artist is getting paid for the IP they created.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

His first book WONDERWORKS (Donning, 1979) features his early career with covers for DAW and Ace. There are some excellent author essays. We sell a remastered ebook edition in our shop, which is also free for our paid subscribers on Substack. 4/4 www.michaelwhelan.com/shop/wonderw...

Remastered ebook cover for WONDERWORKS featuring THE WHITE DRAGON

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

His second art book was Michael Whelan's Works of Wonder (Del Rey, 1987). That book collects his covers for Del Rey from the late 70s through the height of the 80s. Lots of commentary and some excellent features like a breakdown of his illustration process. 3/4

Coffee table art book titled MICHAEL WHELAN'S WORKS OF WONDER featuring the illustration GISKARD from ROBOTS OF DAWN

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

The best of his art books is still THE ART OF MICHAEL WHELAN (Bantam, 1993). It's a beautiful coffee table book, long out of print but not difficult to find. It features illustration and fine art, commentary on every painting, and several excellent interviews. 2/4

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

BEYOND SCIENCE FICTION is his only art book in print, available signed in our shop. It collects his retrospective show (of the same name) held at the Riverside Art Museum in 2017 and serves as a good intro to his art, both illustration and fine art. 1/4 www.michaelwhelan.com/shop/beyond-...

michaelwhelan.com

BEYOND SCIENCE FICTION

In 2017, the Riverside Art Museum exhibited a major retrospective titled BEYOND SCIENCE FICTION. This book includes every painting displayed at RAM in the first published collection of Michael Whel…

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Yeah, it's heinous when slop dominates search results. There's a lot of crossover with other artists in the prompts and occasionally I'll cringe when curiosity leads me to search under their names.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

AI images posted with "style of Michael Whelan" in the prompt. I'm doing rounds knocking down violations of "rights of publicity" for use of Michael's name. The slop is propagating from one platform to another.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

I saw someone post about it this morning, and it sounds amazing!

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Reposted by Michael Everett

Chuck Wendig @chuckwendig.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Increasingly, Soylent Green serves as one of the best metaphors for AI -- it's taking all that we are, as people, chumming it up, and feeding the slurry back to us. We're told that we need it, it's nutritious, it'll save the world, even as it damns it and us.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Sometimes as I'm stringing together a 7 post daily art thread, I wonder why I don't make life easier on myself and save the long form content for the weekly newsletter. 🤔

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Aw thanks. I appreciate the shout out! 😁

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

We announce new print releases via the newsletter, or if you send me an email at webmaster AT michaelwhelan DOT com, I can send you a more personal heads up. www.michaelwhelan.com/follow-us/

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

There's a strong possibility we will! We released a new edition of GUNSLINGER ON THE BEACH that has done very well, and LEGENDS follows that as one of our most requested "sold out" limited edition prints.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

It’s an autofill prompt for contact info from my browser.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Having spent the last 3 years in court, I'd like to believe in that possibility but I'm too damaged by reality to believe it.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

We offer a limited number through our Substack. The Stormlight covers are all available via free subscription, then we do an exclusive for our paid subscribers that rotates quarterly. theartofmichaelwhelan.substack.com

theartofmichaelwhelan.substack.com

The Art of Michael Whelan | Substack

Fine artist of Imaginative Realism. Illustrator of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Winner of 15 Hugo Awards. Inducted into the SF Hall of Fame in 2009. Click to read The Art of Michael Whelan, a Substack...

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

I've seen some of Michael's art on iBooks editions of Silverberg but I haven't been able to find WING. Possibly a secondary rights sale?

Book cover for THE MAN IN THE MAZE by Robert Silverberg published by iBooks. Features art from WAYFARER AND THE EVENING STAR.

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Reposted by Michael Everett

sumrow @sumrow.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Done! Largest casein painting so far. Had to repaint the fox & adventurer twice but it was worth it. Title: “Sanctuary”, 12” x 16” casein paint on linen panel.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

I’m a couple episodes in and feel comfortable saying this is an excellent podcast!

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Small victory after 2 months of fighting. Also as I was doing rounds, it appears that CivitAI finally took down the LoRA producing images in "the style of Michael Whelan". That one was took years, but it looks like my complaint through the webhost finally got it done.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Sheesh! That's a lot of dragons for tomorrow. Every. Single. Cover. 🐉👊

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

I don't think we've heard definitively, but it had to be. I remember watching that scene with my son for the first time on DVD and getting goosebumps all over again. I pulled out a copy of Works of Wonder to show him Michael's painting afterwards. Yep, same reaction as seeing it in the theater.

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Michael Everett @stateofgrays.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

If tone could kill, there'd be bodies littering Bluesky over the Graham Platner discourse right now. 😱🍿

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