When I first started out as a freelance artist, I did illustration work for advertising agencies. I painted food products for Kraft and Oscar Mayer, and transmitters for Harris Transmitters. Velveeta cheese, salad dressing, even illustrations for a hog procurement brochure. I was very grateful to get those jobs. I was making my living as a professional artist. Advertising taught me valuable lessons, like making deadlines, and meeting clients. What I really wanted to paint was sci-fi, and fantasy images for book and game covers. So I created sample pieces and mailed out poor reproductions of them. I attended conventions and was able to meet a few individuals who were starting up a small gaming company. Some of the first covers I illustrated were for Pacesetter Ltd. in Delavan, Wisconsin. They saw that I could paint cheese and knew instantly I could paint zombies riding a roller coaster.
Of course if I could paint hogs, I could paint a werewolf in a nightgown. Back then I painted in acrylic, oils were too mysterious. These were painted in 1984-85. I was 6 years old and just out of college.
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