THANATOS

Cover illustration for On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony

Jun 23, 2025

Death in black robes with skeletal face and bony hands leans on the steering wheel of a yellow sports car. Billboards decorate the buildings behind, one reading "This season hell is HOT! ...it's where the ACTION IS!" The setting is urban with the sky exposed between buildings descending in a gradient from burnt orange to bright yellow. In the gap between buildings, a man seated on a flying carpet casually flies past. — THANATOS (1983), Acrylic - 24" x 36"

Just before beginning this painting I broke my right hand—my painting hand!—and I found myself forced to function with my fingers, wrist, and arm immobilized in a cast. Determined not to let the injury stop me from painting, I employed several tricks to circumvent my temporary infirmity.

Alternative preliminary concept for *On a Pale Horse*

First, I took a paintbrush with me to the doctor's office so that the cast could be molded around my hand holding the brush. That way I could still paint large areas with that hand. Then I relearned how to paint with my left hand. Although I am not ambidextrous, I had done some left-handed artwork before and I managed.

The most interesting trick though was devised by my good friend John Crawford, who is a top-notch engineer. John masterminded a radio-controlled, solenoid-operated airbrush for me, which allowed my left hand to work the air brush strapped to the cast on my right arm!

Pencil sketh of Death, portrayed as a man in black cloak carrying a scythe, rides on an actual horse as portrayed in mid leap with front hooves and back together in pairs. — Preliminary sketch for *On a Pale Horse*

However there was one hitch...the crystal in the transmitter was set on a frequency that allowed interference from local CB traffic, and at times my airbrush would mysteriously sputter into life and begin spraying on its own!

Share The Art of Michael Whelan