drawnblog:

Getting a little personal here, but whatever. This guy. Michael Whelan. I got his art book from my parents for Christmas when I was 11 and it blew my little prepubescent art brain. I spent hours looking at the book, copying his paintings as best I could with my #2 pencil on copy paper. In the process he became a part of my creative DNA. Over the years other artists were spliced in and Whelan faded to the background as I discovered Mignola, Moebius, Miyazaki, Otomo, Shirow, Leyendecker, Wyeth, Watterson, Wendling, and many others.

But when I saw Michael Whelan recently got a brand new website (that showcases his best works of Sci-fi, fantasy, horror and everything in between) it aroused that old fondness for his work from deep down. I had forgotten how much he inspired me as a kid and helped me set my course to someday be a professional artist.

Go take a look around, some of it is getting a pinch dated, but the majority it is still as fresh as when the paint dried.

I’m glad I found this today, was just the inspiration I needed, and a reminder of my creative upbringing.

Just curious, who’s in your early creative DNA? And have you looked at their work recently?

This is my one of my favorites by him.  It makes me want to work with my mythological space wizard story.