Exotic Tumors and Laudable Art Failures

If you didn't already know, Pat (Dad's wife) has been through the ringer for the past year or so. She's had to deal with cancer-scares in the form of tumors and she was forced to go under the knife yet again earlier this week. Good news, though, the tumors were removed and... well, I'll just go ahead and let my dad tell it with an e-mail he sent around a couple of days ago...

Good afternoon friends and family, Sorry for the mass email... but it seemed the easiest way to update everyone on Pat and her surgery. She is doing fine today after a rather lengthy surgery yesterday.... about 4 1/2 hours on the operating table. She is obviously very sore and not able to get up and around yet, but they're working on that. She should be able to come home by possibly Monday we're hoping. The doctor said that he got all of the tumor and was able to remove it in tact without rupturing it. And once removing it, he found another smaller one that was hiding (aren't tumors sneaky?!) that he removed as well. Then he was able to irrigate the entire area and suction that out so he was *very* convinced that there were no remains of any cells that could be suspicious. As it turned out, the tumor was not attached to the colon, so none of that needed to be removed (thank the Lord!). Additionally.... the doctor said that her type was so incredibly rare, that other doctors from around the country came in to observe the surgery and to write on it in the various medical journals. Matter of fact, this was so rare, that there have only been 11 other cases like this one in the entire world in the past 100 years! At this point, he is not anticipating any chemo or radiation since it is such a low grade, and should it ever re-occur, it is an extremely slow-growing sort. So that is most definitely good news! Thanks to all who have prayed and are praying. It counts for sure! She is at Akron General in room 5265. Best regards, Randy

So good news, then! Get well, Pat!

And, hoy, way to go with the rarer-than-rare tumor! This woman is a born record-breaker. I have to admit, though, that I was a bit disturbed when I logged onto eBay this morning and found a very suspicious auction (I managed to snap a screen capture before the auction ended... go have a look). It seems Pat and my father are attempting to recoup some of their medical expenses. Dad's always been a big believer in the Free Market, but this may be going too far.

Anyhow, it's hard to blame them. It seems that Pat's innards are fetching a hefty sum, so more power to ya, I guess.
...


I was really, really jazzed about a week ago when Drew (my Creative Director) gave me the go ahead to produce final art on the latest PS2 cover packaging illustration. The best part, though: after days of sweet-talking and maybe even a little pleading, he agreed to let me submit the illustration as a painting, rather than a Photoshopped, inked drawing.

Might not sound like a big deal to you, but I was on cloud nine. A painting! The caveat being, of course, that I had less than four days to complete this painting and I'd have to do it outside of normal working hours.

So, last weekend, I blew the dust bunnies off of my watercolors and pastels, made a run to the art supply store and dove in head first. I hadn't painted in a while... years, to be perfectly frank, but it was a joy to nestle myself back in the land of wet brushes and dirty fingernails. I transferred my pre-approved pencils onto watercolor paper. I began a lovely ochre under-painting. It was a nice start with a good foundation.

But the clock was ticking.

So, faster, faster, I moved to pastels. Then colored pencil detail-work. Before I knew it, two days had passed and I had barely started. So, I committed the cardinal sin of illustration: I panicked and rushed.

I was manic, skipping important steps. I was spending more time fixing screw-ups than actually building the illustration. Before I knew it, the painting was a disaster. No right-thinking client would ever accept this. Defeated, I pulled out the all-too-familiar bristol stock and did a joyless ink-job for final art. Harrumph.

I told Drew, and he was disappointed, but the important thing at this point was to get this illustration out the door. So, I completed my inks and applied the most kamikaze-style Photoshopping I've ever attempted over the course of the next 36 hours. It was passion-free, grumpy work. Every line, every tone was an ugly, artificial reminder that I'd had the opportunity to do something rich and natural, but here I was, relying on the damned computer again.

We sent off the revised illustration. Bleugh.

And yesterday, Drew came into my office and said, "I just got off the phone with Crave Entertainment. There might be a tweak or two, but they've pretty much approved the illustration."

"Oh. Good."

"Actually, Sheri's REALLY happy with it. She thinks it's one of the best covers she's seen."

"...Really...?"

"She showed it to the Crave CEO and he flipped. Seriously, he went absolutely ape for it."

"Are you sure?"

"Oh, it gets better. Have you heard of Eidos Interactive? They did the game Hitman and Hitman 2?"

"Yeah, I think everyone's heard of the Hitman games."

"Well, the Crave CEO has a relationship with the Eidos CEO. He sent a jpeg of your artwork to him and he also went crazy for it. He sent Crave an email that said 'now that's effective packaging. That's exactly what a game package needs to do. That's shelf appeal.'"

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope. The illustration's a total smash. It's making the rounds already. Terrific work."

--

So, what do you know? I guess it goes to show that beauty's in the eye of the beholder. I see failure when I see that thing, but it's potentially the most popular piece of art I've ever done.

Anyhow, look for it this summer: Trigger Man from Crave Entertainment.

Woo!