Michael Whelan cover for C.J. Cherryh's GATE OF IVREL. A swordsman kneels before a valkyrie of a woman, her hair white, her arms unsheathing a sword above her head, a high-tech gate to somewhere else in space and time behind her with a setting sun in the background.
I first noticed your work on my mom's copies of Cherryh's Morgaine saga myself.
Bathed in twilight, Roland Deschain stands in a field of red roses that surround a tower of massive girth. With arms crossed, he holds up a big revolver. Fingers wrap the sandalwood grips with noticeable tension on the trigger. Loosely knotted cloth spills from his other wrist, exposing the back of his hand, but not the fingers on his right hand. The cloth is bloody where it wraps over pinky and ring finger as he clutches the stem of a rose. Behind him, a narrow stone path leads through the field, past the faces of fallen statues that stare blankly up to the sky. Steps lead up to a wedge of light marking the tower entrance rendered as if the door is ajar. It's unclear whether the light comes from the chamber within or the flaring sun is shining through from the other side of the tower.
A cloaked and armored figure raises his sword in salute to a tiny figure in the distance separated by a chasm of broken earth shrouded by mist. A massive storm cell winds gray and blue across the sky intersecting the tip of the extended sword. A bright line of blue runs across the clouds as if etched by the unusual half-hilted, wavy blade. The orange cloak covering most of the figure (as viewed from behind) is decorated with a mass of wild crustacean arms ending in crescent claws. The icon on the pennant, flying tall on a pole held offhand, depicts a crab-like creature. The sky to the right of the storm is tinted warm yellow as the sun peeks out. A sliver of moon can be seen in a blue-sky break between the clouds. In the background left forks of lightning strike at the distant mountains on the horizon.
In 2005 and later maybe it was fans of Stephen King’s Gunslinger series? In the 2010 and beyond it might have been Brandon Sanderson readers?
Probably Mike or Audrey have much better ideas in this regard than I would. Thanks for a thought provoking question, though! 4/4
Three classical arches stand tall against a calm cerulean sky at twilight. Transparent spheres, each containing a flicker of flame, float among the pillars of a ruined yet still beautiful structure. Steps lead up from the sand to a broad pedestal set at the center of the arches. Above it a star hangs low on the horizon. In the immediate foreground, a path of stones winds across a shallow tidal pool. Water reflects the vertical lines of the pillars.
A contrast of two worlds set atop a tower spire. The left is elegantly detailed with elvish artistry while the right looks crumbled and weathered. Drifting from the background left to right, smoke rises off onion domes of the city. As it crosses the spire, the smoke transforms to cloud cover. An elvish male stares off in the distance with his white cloak partially wrapping his arm and his spear pointed down over his knee. There is a green metallic sheen to his leg armor. He holds an ornate shield, pearlescent green at the edges and white at the center, decorated with glyphs bound in a pink circle. Kneeling next to him is an elvish female wearing a pink and purple cloak. Holding a slender sword in one hand, she grips the thin railing that sits low over architectural detail, broad white leaves. On the other side of the spire, a human female glances haughtily at the audience with a bow held out, braced on her hip. Kneeling next to her, a blonde bearded male with a snowy lock glances over. He rests his sword back on his shoulder while holding a simple wooden shield in his offhand. His pants are torn; her cloak is tattered. Their side of the tower is made of crude snow covered stone, underlining a different reality.
In the 90s it might have been my gallery work, or my Tad Williams illustrations. 3/4
Ruth, a pearl white dragon with green eyes, poses regally with wings spread against a cliff face. Her rider Jaxom rears back, saddle-mounted just above her wings. A foreclaw grips rock as the other releases, flexing like fingers. Ruth's tail, marked with a parallel ridges of short spikes and ending in a spade-shaped tip, curls forward around her back leg. A tiny dragon grasps Jaxom's finger, perching like a bird. Across the misty valley, a group of dragons take flight, soaring past the Red Star which hangs in deep blue sky like a bloody moon just above the jagged spine of mountains.
John Carter stands over the body of a green Martian with a rapier plunged into its chest. In his arms, he carries Dejah Thoris who lays a hand across her chest covering one breast. She wears no clothes but accents of gold jewelry and chains cover her arm and waist. An angry mob of green Martians gathers behind the raised dais as John Carter looks for an escape. The wall behind them is open in an onion style arch revealing brilliant blue sky and a large craggy moon. The surrounding pillars are marbleized metallic green swirling against smooth sand-colored stone. An elegant laser pistol lies on the floor in the immediate foreground.
I’ve been doing so many different subsets of my favorite genres, that it’s hard to quantify. How do I determine if there were more McCaffrey fans or Burroughs fans or Elric fans who liked my work back, say, in the early 80s? 2/4
*One* work? I have no idea. Not trying to duck the question, but I’m at a loss to say.
It depends on “when” and “where” and “what genre” I think. 1/4
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.
AMAZONS (1979)
Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 24" x 17"
When doing a cover for an anthology, I usually just had to come up with an image that communicated the underlying theme tying the stories together, and then run with it. 1/3
An image showing the miniatures in a Space Elves Command Group from Warhammer 40,000
Working on the next post for exploringwarhammer.substack.com - Here's a sneak preview of the subject - Command Squads!
#Warhammer #Warhammer40K
Painted and finished Eldrad Ulthran miniature painted by me! He is painted in the classic black and bone Ulthwé scheme.
i got to paint one of my favourite minis recently! ✨
always love a chance to paint Eldrad & I’m super happy with how he came out ^.^
I have just spent the evening calculating how many defleshed human skulls it would take to collapse inside their own Schwartzschild Radius and create a black hole (roughly 16.5 solar masses, or 2 x 10^31 skulls, if my maths is right). Because space opera, right? Can't think too small!
1/2
Absolutely rinsed my kid at the Pokémon card game. That’ll teach him for making me do stuff at 7am on a Sunday.
Dwarf mine terrain and miner miniatures.
I built this mine last year using the plans out of White Dwarf 132. I had a great time.
A WIP shot of Magna. She is a large scale model
I’m live now, painting more of this lovely lady - metallics today 💕
Come join www.twitch.tv/electriceve
Which ironically, I have painted (albeit badly) in a fairly wide range of skin tones.
Imperial Army. I still haven’t got on board with this new fangled Imperial Guard thing.
www.solegends.com/citrt2/rto5i...
Rougue trader (i think) Eldar swooping hawk, sculpt still holds up really well, really enjoyed that one #warhammer #paintingwarhammer #nerdlings #oldhammer #warhammercommunity
I dunno, I reckon Shaolin Soccer single-handedly tips the scales the other way. 😂
I loved the idea someone once posted on Twitter. The Top 5 people on the Times Rich List each year get executed. That way people who reach that level would be competing with one another to give money to good causes but we'd still get to execute some super rich people on NYE
Spent an hour before work painting the red accents on this guy, just need to do the leathers and under suit now.
#Warhammer #WarhammerCommunity #Oldhammer
I really like the idea of this crowdfunder spreading geek fun for people. It can be very hard when you don’t feel you have somewhere to share board games and battles.
I don’t live near Shrewsbury myself but know I would love a friendly safe space to play!
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/inclusive-...
The Ontos Games stand chock full of Space Dwarfs, at York Racecourse.
Vapnartak 2026! Come get yer 1990s style Space Dwarfs! Ontos Games is here for yoooou!
Today is a good day for someone else to die!
Three Rogue Trader Space Marines. An Ultramarine, a Warrior Kaleidoscopes marine and a Crimson Fist Marine
Repost for no other reason than the image brings me joy.
#Nerdlings
#Oldhammer
I've been working on yet more "Spanish" Heavy Cavalry for my Italian Wars collection.
This is the 4th unit in total. 28mm The Assault Group figures.
I've enough for 8 lots of 6 so this makes it the halfway point.
Flag Pendants - I know 😎
#history #wargaming #hobby #tabletopgames
Ironically the main change to the insignia is that the newer ones look more like _they’re_ the ones squinting grumpily. 😂
I was actually impressed I restrained myself, tbf. Hahaha
I love that you say you don’t care and get a million replies explaining the difference you said you didn’t want to know.
A miniature of hatsune Miku dressed in khorne armour painted by me!
starting 2026 off with khorne miku/Miku the betrayer 😌 ✨
Monthly Projects 2026 January - whatever I feel like February - whatever I feel like March - whatever I feel like April - whatever I feel like May - whatever I feel like June - whatever I feel like July - whatever I feel like August - whatever I feel like September - whatever I feel like October - whatever I feel like November - whatever I feel like December - whatever I feel like
This feels like a stress free approach
#Nerdlings
