Profile
Michael Whelan
Artist
Male
Born
Jun 29, 1950
Age
63
Hometown
California
Nationality
American
Michael Whelan is an American artist of imaginative realism. For more than 30 years he worked as an illustrator specializing in science fiction and fantasy cover art. Since the mid-1990s he has pursued a fine art career, selling non-commissioned paintings… Read More
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News + Updates
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Cleo Hughes, 79LATimes - Jun 03, 2012
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Warmest Congratulations Are Extended To Veronica O'toole And Jonathon Marbach ... Wicklow PeopleGoogle News - Aug 31, 2011
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Also In Local Notes New Ross StandardGoogle News - Aug 24, 2011
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See The Feast Week Carnival Video Here Lutterworth TodayGoogle News - Aug 23, 2011
Timeline
Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Michael Whelan.
CHILDHOOD
1950
Birth
Born on June 29, 1950.
TEENAGE
1968
18 Years Old
By his final year of high school, his family had moved again, to San Jose, California where he graduated from Oak Grove High School in 1968.
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TWENTIES
1973
23 Years Old
After graduating from SJSU in 1973 with a BA in Painting (as a "President's Scholar"), Whelan studied briefly at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California for nine months from 1973–1974.
In 1974 Whelan exhibited his work at the World Science Fiction Convention in Washington, D.C., where it was seen by Thomas Schlück, who first discovered his work and contracted to use it in European publications shortly afterwards.
1975
25 Years Old
Because he was already receiving offers for commissions, Whelan left the Art Center College of Design to pursue illustration full-time. In 1975, he moved to Connecticut to be near the New York City hub of the publishing industry.
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1978
28 Years Old
Whelan credits the 1978 publication of Anne McCaffrey's best-selling The White Dragon featuring his cover art as a turning point in his career.
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THIRTIES
1980
30 Years Old
Whelan first won the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist in 1980 at the World Science Fiction Convention in Boston, won the next six annual renditions, and at the 50th Worldcon in 1992 was voted the best professional artist of the last 50 years.
FORTIES
1993
43 Years Old
Whelan illustrated the cover for Meat Loaf's 1993 album Bat out of Hell II: Back into Hell.
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1999
49 Years Old
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Whelan was successfully treated for Lyme disease in 1999 and prostate cancer in 2000. In 2003, a Flash animation slideshow titled Family Art Corner was released anonymously, alleging that a woman named Jan McRae had plagiarized the work of many artists, including Whelan, for reproduction in proselytization tracts printed by the Children of God cult.
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FIFTIES
2000
50 Years Old
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Whelan's time near White Sands and Vandenberg Air Force Base proved a lasting influence; in a 2000 interview, he noted that "living near to missile launching sites and Air Force bases had an impact.
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2002
52 Years Old
Larger versions of his artwork were featured in the album's 2002 special edition release.
2009
59 Years Old
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame inducted Whelan in June 2009, the first living artist so honored.
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LATE ADULTHOOD
Original Authors of this text are noted on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Whelan.
Text is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Text is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.