BROKEN LADDER | The Art of Michael Whelan

OTHER WORKS

Acrylic on watercolor board - 6" x 6"
1991

BROKEN LADDER

Date

© 1991

Details

Acrylic on watercolor board

Size

6" x 6"

Personal Visions

A woman in an elegant black dress with diagonal pinstripes sits measuring a

SAILOR ON THE SEAS OF FATE

wellofshiuan

she

mym

stronghold

eaglesarecoming

Framed by an arched buttress and castle wall, a boy kneels next to a white bearded man who rests a hand upon his head. Saturated blue with the background, a castle keep rises with mountain peaks visible farther in the distance. The boy wraps his arms around a dog. The man wears white robes and holds a candlestick. The wax is melted nearly down to its base. A book lies fanned on the ground, and a ferret emerges from the tent of its pages. On the left, obscured from their view by the castle wall, a hand emerges with a finger raised (perhaps in caution or rebuke). The fabric on the exposed arm is a motley checkered pattern.

In a scene lit only by muzzle flash, a disfigured green humanoid grabs the leg of a boy threatening to pull him off a platform. As the boy Jake turns back, his face is etched in horror. Roland, the last Gunslinger, grabs his arm while simultaneously firing his big revolver. Roland's weight is shifted back so the lines of his arms and legs all parallel drawn out on diagonals to add to the sense of motion. From the set of his square jaw and snarl on his lips to his brow pinched in concentration, Roland's expression is pure grit and determination. His eyes are drawn to murderous beads taking aim at the slack jawed, drooling Slow Mutant.

A woman in ornate headdress and leafy yellow cloak holds out two glass vials. One is accented in black with a skull decorating the slender handle of the stopper. The other vial is decorated with a gold swirl leading to a Celtic shield knot. Her young face is covered by a mask of pointy yellow leaves with a gold and green border framing her blue eyes. A motley pattern of butterfly wings peeks out underneath; a purple butterfly is centered above her forehead. Bells hang from her ear which is covered by a single pink rose. A hint of white hair mixes with beaded necklaces covering her neck. Wild grass sweeps off the top of the mask. The tall headdress is laden with symbols. Central among them is a sun with a stylized biohazard symbol at its center. The horizon is dominated by the yellow. Twin suns burn in bright circles hanging over the angled towers of a spaceport as wide saucer-like ships swoop in for landing. Whispy cloud patterns climb a green sky.

DRAGON LAKE (1988)

Wearing a yellow dress with a satchel hanging at her side, a redheaded woman stands with feet in an uneven stance atop stone waves. Caught in a moment turning, she holds a single bead between her gloved fingers. The “island” backdrop behind her is a strange mix of alien vegetation and rectangular crystals glowing orange-yellow, the only light source in a painting dominated by dark blue. The view through the trees on the left reveals a rectangular tower with no outward features. A man with light hair streaked with black kneels on a similar rock outcrop in the foreground left. In the sky, wavy contrails descend from left and right to a small circle hanging in the lavender tinted sky. Below lies a sea of shimmering beads.

runesoftheearth

Light slants across the mist hanging over an Asian-style water garden. Lost in meditation, a monk sits with legs crossed, levitating a few feet off the ground. On either side of him, two banner hang from a pergola with wide overhanging eaves like a pagoda. Set on blue, an simple overlapping flower crest reflect Japanese iconography while on red an ornate dragon evokes Chinese style. On an arched bridge over peaceful green-blue waters, a band of warriors gather looking toward the solitary monk.

darktower

dragonsbane

zworld

Grass and ivy have overgrown ancient ruins, but the delicate artistry of the Sithi can be see in the still standing pillars and arches bathed in the golden light of sunset. A solitary statue kneels among the ruins. She holds a bow one-handed with an arrow knocked. In the other, she lightly grips a long spear with the tip angled down. In the foreground left, stairs wind up to another level of the ruins. A long sword and shield lay discarded there. Another skull and a dagger rest on the step above. Clearly, the remains are non-human based on the central ridge of spikes along the crown and the wing like projections from either edge of the skull.

On a dusty, titled horizon, the Gunslinger stands with pistols gripped in each hand but now resting at his side. Bodies pile at his feet and dozens more extend in a line that snakes to the foreground. Various weapons, from scythes and machetes to bricks and boards, lay discarded in the lifeless dirt beside the twisted, bloody corpses.

goldwing-revised

wordsofradiance

stoneoffarewell

elric-untitled

lordprotector

spellforchameleon

Painting depicts Shallan Davar, a young redheaded woman, sitting on a cliff overlooking the Shattered Plains. She wears a thick blue dress and her hair is blowing in the wind. Her booted foot dangles over the edge, and she is holding an oversized sketchbook but the page is blank. Below she can see a base camp with rows of troops and a mobile bridge extending over a chasm. A trail of dark smoke blows over broken, lifeless terrain. Beyond, jagged mountains can be seen in hazy silhouette. Clouds mostly obscure a blue sky.

Framed by a full moon rising over hilltop, a female warrior poses triumphantly with her foot on the corpse of a defeated foe. Her heavy armor is a combination of segmented plate and exposed chainmail. Pauldrons flare wing-like, as does the bottom of her helm which is topped with a high tassel. Unrestrained wispy blonde hair is caught by the breeze. She holds a long spear with ribbons also stirring. A heavy mace hangs on her opposite hip while a sword with thin curving blade and crescent ornament on the grip hangs low on her back. A black steed cranes its neck ever so slightly to see around her.

At the base of a spiral staircase, Elric stands over a green scaled demon. He draws back the long blade of Stormbringer in a two-handed grip. A black trail of motion can be seen at the end of the blade as it begins to sweep overhead and down for a killing blow. His clothes are torn to shreds and blood trails down the pure white skin of his chest and thigh. The demon bears its fans and it's fore claws grip Elric's leg

A man wearing the skull of a deer clasps the long tube of a telescope tightly to him. One sleeve of his tattered white garments is rolled up past the elbow. Ridges of veins are raised in the tense grips of his hands. Red orbs fill the sockets of the skull while green ribbon twists around the bone until loosely draping over antlers. Filaments sprout, oddly feathery, from the curling rack. On the dingy shelves behind, a small assortment of hardbound books lean with more stacked haphazardly on the long shelf below. Charts tacked to the wall curl with age. Points of light, more like street lamps than stars, gleam in the cracked glass of a many-paned window.

nightsdaughter

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