After receiving a BA in Art from San Jose University, Michael Whelan has spent the last 30 years creating hundreds of paintings for book covers, calendars, magazines and album covers.

His impressive client list includes Stephen King, Isaac Asimov, Roadrunner Records, Meatloaf and Sepultura. Specializing in science-fiction art, he is a fifteen-time HUGO (World Science Fiction Award) winner. In 1992, he won a HUGO in the new category of Best Original Artwork and he was awarded the "SuperHugo" for Best Professional Artist of the last 50 years.

The readers of Locus magazine have awarded Whelan "Best Artist" for twenty-two years running. More recently he was awarded a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators, an Award for Excellence in the Communication Arts Annual, and the Spectrum Gold Medal. In 2004 he was awarded the Spectrum Lifetime Achievement award, and in June 2009 he was the first living artist to be inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. He has four books of his artwork published and is currently focusing on his gallery art.