Reading · The Art of Michael Whelan

A young girl with hair tied back in blonde pigtails holds on for dear life as she clings to a white star-shaped balloon. Sweeping rock formations set against cloudless pale skies reach out as she narrowly escapes their sharp feathered tips. The girl is wearing a white tank top and pink shorts. Her feet are bare, floating unsupported and at the mercy of momentum like the long kite tail that trails the pillowy balloon in its exit off panel to the upper left. The far horizon, rendered hazily, tilts at an extreme angle adding to the sense of disorientation, perpendicular to the movement of the rocks and path of the balloon. — HIGH FLIER (2018), Acrylic on Illustration Board - 16” x 12”

On a whim, I added the figure to a study for EMPIRE OF GRASS, a Tad Williams cover recently completed at the time.

This was the first installment in the 2018 Leftovers & Palette Gremlins gallery. Leftovers are spur-of-the-moment doodles or sketches created from paint left over from a work in progress. In this case, both the paint and the background painting were leftovers.

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LEFT: Detail from HIGH FLIER featuring a ballon flying over sweeping rock formations. A young girl in pale yellow tank top and red shorts clings to the balloon a the leading point of the star. The balloon seems to be made of fabric stitched with a thick bead of trim at the edges. A long ribbon trails it flapping gently over the perilous rocks. RIGHT: Figure detail from HIGH FLIER featuring a young girl clinging to a white star-shaped balloon as it flies past jagged rocks that seem to be reaching out to catch her. She wears red shorts and a pale yellow tank top. She grips the point of the star with arms extended wide. With tenuous grip, her bare feet trail her unanchored, following her upward momentum. — Details from HIGH FLIER

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HIGH FLIER

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