Good News

Why do I say good news? Well, I finally got a couple of commissions from Wizards of the Coast! I've been trying to get work with them for years, but of course when I look back I probably wasn't ready.

Which gets me to thinking about all of the art jobs I've tried for over the years that I wasn't ready for, but thought I was. The earliest was when I had just graduated High School, and had deluded myself into thinking I was some young hot shot artist about to stun the fine arts community with my incredible talent.

At that time I had an eclectic mix of paintings (some I have to admit were actually pretty good for being 18) that when I see them today I cringe in disgust at their lack of skill. Out of dozens of paintings I did only a few still remain. A couple at my parent's house and one or two at an old friend's place where he safeguards quite a stash of fine-art I did years ago. The ones that remain are the descent ones, the rest all "disappeared".

Anyways, back to the story...I made slides of all of my work, dressed in my coolest clothes, and walked into an art gallery (that even if my work had been good wouldn't have been the proper place to show my art) and passed my slides to the director.

She took less than 30 seconds to flip through the amateur crap I tried to force on her, suggested I go to school to get better, and handed back my slides. I made some smart-ass comment that I can't remember and walked out feeling even more misunderstood by the world.

Now, as I sit here getting ready to start my pencils for Wizards, I'm humbled, excited, and nervous that I've finally gotten to do artwork for a brand name I've dreamed about working with since I first poured over the pages of the original Monster Manual. Only this time I promise there won't be any smart-ass comments if I get a critique.