1976: Year in Review (Part One)
Establishing a Career as a Cover Illustrator
Staking everything on a letter from Donald Wollheim that promised a cover assignment, bolstered by recent success selling his work at conventions, Michael packed his VW Beetle and with trailer in tow headed to New York City to pursue illustration in 1975.
His parents may not have been happy about his career choice, but by that time they lived in New Jersey, and he was able to stay with them for a short time while he scoured bookstores, studying science fiction and fantasy book covers. He spent 18 hours a day polishing a portfolio that he felt compared favorably to what he saw on the shelves.
Like many young New York area artists, Michael visited Neal Adams’ Studio. One afternoon, he sat inking panels for him while Neal called Charles Volpe, the art editor at Ace Books, and arranged for a meeting to show his portfolio. Neal was also instrumental in connecting Michael with Marvel Comics.
Michael’s first professional sale was to Marvel, who bought pieces right out of his portfolio and hired him for more cover work. He quickly found that the fast turnaround and revolving deadlines of comics didn’t appeal to him.
Fortunately as promised, Donald Wollheim provided Michael his first book cover assignment, and with the introduction to Charles Volpe at Ace, a second client soon followed. After that, Michael was never without an assignment.
His early covers for DAW and Ace offered variety. From The Year’s Best Horror Stories to Michael Moorcock’s Elric series and the Fuzzy books of H. Beam Piper, Michael enjoyed working across all genres.
He moved to Connecticut and later answered an ad for a small house for rent, which was owned by Audrey Price. From the main house, he heard the album Autobahn playing. “It almost didn’t matter what the house in the back looked like,” Michael explained. “Once I heard Kraftwerk, I knew she must be cool.”
When they met, Audrey didn’t know anything about illustration or book publishing, but she read science fiction and enjoyed learning about his work. By that time, Michael had agents who took his original cover paintings to be sold at science fiction conventions.
When Audrey went with him to a Boston area science fiction convention in February 1976, she was quite dismayed at the ill-treatment of his paintings. Whelan cover art was already attracting collectors, so it was important how his original work was presented.
That summer Michael participated in his first gallery show in New York City.
Audrey’s father Walter Larsen was a CPA and offered advice on how to approach being an artist in a more businesslike fashion. Audrey encouraged Michael to handle the sale of his original art himself.
In preparation for the World Science Fiction Convention, Michael and Audrey had paintings and preliminary works professionally framed. They drove out to Kansas City for Labor Day weekend, but after spending all their money on the framing, convention memberships, and hotels along the way, they arrived with $55 in their pockets.
They hung Michael’s work in the art show alongside the legendary Frank Kelly Freas and Tim Kirk, but each day grew more nervous as they checked and found there were no bids. Luckily on the last day, Michael was awarded “Best in Show” and his originals sold for prices achieved only by the stars of the field.
His work and its professional presentation made a huge impression. They even shook hands with Guest of Honor Robert Heinlein.
The Norman Kramer Gallery, attached to the Connecticut shop that framed his work, invited Michael to produce a painting for their upcoming group show “Machines on Wheels,” and he painted his first non-illustration work for that exhibition.
ARMAGEDDON (pictured at the top) depicted large robot-like monsters on wheels and airborne space vehicles. In a traditional New England gallery, it definitely stood out among paintings of tractors and other farm machinery!
(Editor’s Note: I made some light corrections for accuracy after publication based on Michael’s feedback.)
Weekly Art Recap
Arkady - cover illustration for Second Foundation by Grand Master Isaac Asimov
Foreigner - cover illustration for Grand Master C.J. Cherryh
The Divining Heart - the lessons of history are our path to the future
Dawn Journey - exploring the limitless architecture of the imagination
Destiny’s Road - cover illustration for Grand Master Larry Niven
Mordred - interior illustration for The Dark Tower by Stephen King
Lovecraft Original Art Coming Soon
This week we will be taking a pause in the 2025 Leftovers & Palette Gremlins gallery project. Instead of the usual L&PG reveal, we will be adding a small preliminary painting from AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS to our shop.
An exclusive preview of the original art will be available for our paid subscribers on Substack before the art is released to our shop on Wednesday, March 5 at 11am EST.
Michael's cover art for Foreigner is, in my opinion, the perfect depiction of the Atevi & Brent. Almost all of the other cover illustrations seem to have never read C J Cherryh's descriptions of these characters. His Banichi is the picture have carried through all of books in the series.
Thanks for sharing your "origin" story! Fun to hear how you met Audrey!