#leftoversandpalettegremlins

THE WITCHING TREE (2019) Acrylic on Illustration Board - 6” x 6” An accidental shape on a scrap of illustration board evoked a sort of Lovecraftian tree. 1/2 #leftoversandpalettegremlins #horror #illustration

PASSING BY (2025) Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 12” x 16” During my college years in the late 60s, I was fortunate to see Santana in concert—and they were great! 1/5 #leftoversandpalettegremlins #personalvisions

THE UNINVITED (1974) Oil on Illustration Board - 10” x 15” When I first moved to the East Coast in search of illustration jobs, I had to prepare a portfolio with a selection of the variety of work I was able to do. This was the “horror” piece that I took around to the art directors. Painted with oils left over from another portfolio piece back in ‘74. https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/uninvited/ #horror #illustration #leftoversandpalettegremlins

THE LOST CITY (2017) Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 14" x 7 ½" Members of the Miskatonic Antarctic Expedition discover an ancient city while searching for Gedney, missing from the advance camp and the massacre that took place there. 1/2 #leftoversandpalettegremlins #fantasy #illustration #hplovecraft

SKIMMING THE RED ZONE (2021) Acrylic on Board - 9 ½” x 17 ¼” I often see pictures in my mind when I glance at accidental shapes created by brush marks or overspills in the studio. 1/2 #leftoversandpalettegremlins #sciencefiction #illustration

DARK FORTUNE (2017) Acrylic - 12” x 9” A dark smudge on palette paper suggested a hooded figure...and it turned into the Man in Black from Stephen King’s opus The Dark Tower. https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/2017-leftover-7/ #fantasy #leftoversandpalettegremlins #stephenking #darktower

PARTY ANIMAL (2016) Oil on Canvas - 8” x 10” This “Leftover” was gleaned from a palette set up for a morning oil painting exercise (a horror riff depicting author Stephen R. Cox as one of the “rad leps” from his Mutant Hunter series). 1/3 #leftoversandpalettegremlins #horror

BETWEEN TWO WORLDS (2021) Acrylic on Illustration Board - 10” x 7 ½” This started with a piece of the illustration board that I was using as a backsplash for a series of small monochrome works. One morning I came into the studio and in the random lines and shapes that marked the surface, I glimpsed a finished space scene. https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/2021-leftover-8/ #leftoversandpalettegremlins #sciencefiction #illustration