MichaelWhelan , to random
@MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art avatar

Preliminary concept for ELRIC AND THE SINKING CITY
Acrylic on Illustration Board - 9" x 6"

https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/elric-and-sinking-city/

Elric rests an arm on a demon statue that resembles a temple dog. With Stormbringer angled up, he delicately fingers the black runeblade. Beneath his signature black dragon helm, he casts eyes askew in a haughty glance. His yellow tunic bears the chaos star, eight arrows radiating out from a point. At the center is a stylized red eye. His legs armored in shiny plate painted yellow at the joints. His knee rests on the forelimb of the statue. At his feet lies the body of a dead warrior in bloodied chainmail.
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    • dance_along_the_edge , to bookstodon group
    @dance_along_the_edge@socel.net avatar

    The Stealer of Souls and Other Stories, 1973 Lancer Books. A collection of the Elric novelettes The Dreaming City, While the Gods Laugh, Kings in Darkness, The Flame Bringers, and the title story.

    🎨 Jeffrey Catherine Jones

    @bookstodon

    Elric of Melniboné, a warrior in a green cape stands at the head of an ancient galley vessel and raises his sword Stormbringer at a monstrous sea creature as the shocked rowers avert their gaze. The Stealer of Souls *MEET THE INCREDIBLE ELRIC* *FIVE MAGNIFICENT STORIES* *FANTASY ADVENTURE AT ITS BEST* Michael Moorcock
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    • MichaelWhelan , to random
    @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art avatar

    KING OF THE DEAD (1977)
    Gouache on illustration board - 24" x 14"

    I had the good fortune of working on Elric early in my career. The books by Michael Moorcock have proven to be enduring classics in fantasy. 1/3

    Elric holds the slender black blade of Stormbringer as he turns in surprise toward a menacing skeletal figure. His red tunic is cinched at the waist with an ornate belt. As seen in profile, the black wings of his helm sweep back to points. His gold cloak flares with motion as he pivots. He holds the gold chain of a red jeweled amulet in his other hand. With arms flexed wide, the threatening figure grips a black trident. Beneath a horned helm, its skull is set in a fierce howl exposing fangs. Tattered robes expose a muscular chest. A multitude of gold bracelets adorn its slender bony arms. A sword hangs at its hip. With eyes flashing, a mass of figures loom among smooth pillars in the background. Several more ape-like humanoids flank Elric in the lower foreground.
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    • + Tim_Eagon
    MichaelWhelan , to random
    @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art avatar

    Preliminary art for ELRIC DEMONSLAYER (1980) for The Vanishing Tower by Michael Moorcock (Archival Press)

    https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/elric-demonslayer/

    Close detail of Elric in the grip of Stormbringer's lust. The black rune sword is drawn over his head in a loose two handed grip. Straight white hair flows with his motion. His eyes are shadowed slits. His cheeks are drawn tight as his mouth is wide baring teeth. In strokes of white on toned paper, you can see the texture of the surface and the detail of the crosshatching to achieve contour in his Elric's muscles.
    Close detail of Elric in a wide stance straddling the fallen demon. Elric's legs are thin and taut. Blood trickles from punctures in his thigh. Claws grip one black leather boot as the other forelimb, bent at the elbow, draws back defensively toward the curving fangs protruding from its broad snout. The demon's head looks wolfish while the shoulder and arm are covered in coarse, diamond shaped scales. The long scabbard of Stormbringer is belted at Elric's hip and runs the full length of his leg extended. The ornamental detail is intricate in a series of oval gems set in chaotic filigree.

    Preliminary art for ELRIC DEMONSLAYER in white and black on toned paper. At the base of a spiral staircase winding around a tower, Elric stands over a scaly demon. He draws back the long blade of Stormbringer in a loose two-handed grip. His clothes are torn to shreds and blood trails down the pure white skin of his bare abdomen and thigh. The demon bares its fangs as its fore claws grip Elric's leg as we wait for the deathblow to fall.
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    • MichaelWhelan , to random
    @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art avatar

    STORMBRINGER (1977)
    Acrylic on Masonite - 30" x 20"

    This is probably my most famous painting of Michael Moorcock's legendary anti-hero Elric of Melnibone. 1/4

    Standing atop ruins at the end of the world, an anguished Elric thrusts the runeblade Stormbringer to the heavens. The sky behind him roils with clouds rendered in acidic green. The chainmail on his right arm is torn. He wears a yellow tunic and belts strapped across his waist and chest crusted with jewels. His purple and black cloak billows in the wind. From a leather cord, he holds an ivory horn with ornate swirls of gold. The ruins he stands upon are crumbling, including the face of a skull that is missing a chunk of forehead and part of the orbital. The mouth isn't human given the fangs in its mouth and the horns protruding off the side of the head that is intact. Off to the side, a pterosaur-like creature perches with wings spread.
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    • MichaelWhelan , to random
    @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art avatar

    Remarque in the Archival Press edition of THE VANISHING TOWER by Michael Moorcock.

    Remarque in brown pencil and some ink featuring Elric down on one knee next to a gnarly and twisted barren tree. As he stares off panel left, he grasps the long black blade of Stormbringer as it stands with tip in the ground. His other hand rests on his knee. Drawn lighter in the background is the head and sinuous neck of a dragon.
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    • ng76 , to random
    @ng76@tabletop.social avatar

    I'm a fan of Elric/Eternal Champion style RPGs, so I made a short, incomplete survey of RPGs inspired by Michael Moorcock's works:

    https://polyhedralnonsense.com/2024/04/02/five-levels-of-elric/

    MichaelWhelan , to random
    @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art avatar

    THE OONAI (1980)
    Charcoal and White Chalk - 15" x 10"

    This is one of 12 full page, black and white illustrations from the Archival Press edition of THE VANISHING TOWER by Michael Moorcock. The ornate borders were part of the art and original to each piece.

    https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/oonai/

    Scan from the Archival Press edition of THE VANISHING TOWER featuring the interior illustration THE OONAI.

    Standing on a high perch, Elric faces a winged serpent, hovering with its mouth open, baring teeth and forked tongue in a hiss. Its long tail winds around the outcrop of rock and coils about Elric's midsection as it snatches him. Elric holds the long slender blade of Stormbringer in his right hand. His left hand thrusts upward out of the serpent's grip.
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    • + Xenograg, epidiah
    MichaelWhelan , to random
    @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art avatar

    An Elric remarque executed in the Archival Press edition of THE VANISHING TOWER

    Pen and ink remarque featuring Elric with arms crossed over the hilt of the runeblade Stormbringer. The long, elegant sword is propped vertically so that the pose seems a loose embrace of the weapon. Delicately between his fingers, he holds a rose and tilts his head toward it. His face is rendered in shadow with his eyes closed as if he's lost in remembrance. A trio of loosely rendered bats flutter in the background over him.
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    • + Tim_Eagon
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