NIGHT-GAUNTS | The Art of Michael Whelan

OTHER WORKS

1975

NIGHT-GAUNTS

Date

© 1975

Details

Size

Science Fiction

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.

runesoftheearth

eaglesarecoming

Roland, the last Gunslinger, stands with one hand in the pocket of his leather duster and the other gripping the gun belt crossed at his waist. He wears a red silky kerchief around his neck. His dark hair is blown and his skin tanned from his trek through the desert, but his posture is stoic and his gaze determined as he peers off frame left. A raven, facing the opposite direction, spreads its wings as it perches on his shoulder. The silhouette of the Tower looms tall behind him set against a mustard sky. The sun blazes low in the sky as seen through an opening at the base of the Tower.

A menacing figure stands on the husk of a dead alien tree in a bleak wasteland. He's dressed in ornate purple and black robes with hood drawn up. His gloved hands reach out to the bone white limbs that frame him. The ground is black and strewn with human bones. The sky is a mix of acidic orange and gray-purple.

wayofkings

goldwing-revised

dragonfire

memoryoflight

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.

elricinsinkingcity

Illuminated by the warm light of a lantern, a girl with tousled blonde hair sits at the edge of the sea with arms crossed over her knees. Carefully tied in a bow at the back, her white nightgown is tattered at the hem. Beside her, propped in the bare branches of a tiny sapling, two branches circled and strung like dreamcatchers suspend various baubles, shells, and a fish skull separated from the rest of its bones. The night sky is chill blue marred only by wispy clouds. The full moon looms large, illuminating in silhouette a monstrous creature wading in from the depths. Its eyes glow as if the moonlight shines through. Spotted wings curl out at shoulder height. The outline of strands—perhaps seaweed draping over its body—can be seen in outline. A bank of fog rolls in with its approach, but the girl doesn't seem to notice her head is turned toward the audience.

zworld

mym

A man in a cowboy hat and tattered leather duster steps through an open doorway that hovers impossibly a foot off the ground. A gun is holstered on his left hip. On close examination, the index and middle finger of his right hand are shortened to stubs. At his feet lies a thicket of vibrant red roses littered with human skulls. Straddling the doorway, the Gunslinger stands in awe of a massive, asymmetrical tower so tall that it blocks the sun. Traces of cloud sweep across the field of view and up the height of the tower, creating a hazy atmospheric effect that obscures the detail of the tower. Ravens circle the field just about the horizon.

darktower

spellforchameleon

wordsofradiance

darktowerlongroad

goldenkey

dragonsbane

chronos

swordsandicemagic

daughterofregals

nightsdaughter

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 the heat of the harsh desert, a man and woman take refuge as a pair of dragons with wings flared claw and snarl at each other. The Dragon Prince extends one arm against rust colored rock for support. While his features are chiseled and his expression stoic, the set of his eyes reflect thoughts turned inward. His free hand grips his sword held low as the princess, with eyes pressed shut, leans close in a moment of vulnerability as they've just escaped from a harrowing experience.

wellofshiuan

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