He designed and created the cover of the 10th Anniversary Edition of "Dillon and The Voice of Odin" and he's become acclaimed in the New Pulp community for his outstanding cover design work for Pro Se Productions.
Recently I asked Sean to create a promotional piece for my upcoming "The Return of Fortune McCall" and I loved it so much I wanted it to be the cover. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. But the piece he did is so evocative and so much captures the spirit of Fortune McCall that I just could not let it be shown.
And I also felt that Sean's story behind the creation of the illustration should be re-posted here. He's already posted it on Facebook but it hopefully will be seen by a wider audience here.
And since I've run my mouth far too much already, I now turn the floor over to Mr. Ali...
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Yesterday, I showed a piece of art to a writer who asked me to do a promo piece for his upcoming book.
The piece was something I started over a year ago, and it was, remarkably the last thing I got done before becoming seriously ill...
Yeah, you folks missed that episode, but only because I didn't tell you.
It was the kind of ill where you start wondering if maybe you should've done the things you said you were going to do, because you may not be here to do them in another week situations...
I lost my voice, was flat on my back, had a lingering cough that sent me to a doctor for answers and as I sat there listening to how I would weather this storm, I also heard about how if I didn't take better care of myself, this could be the beginning of one really long series of storms...
Since I'm not a complete idiot (in theory), I took his advice, dropped everything I was doing and started making changes, exercising and all that good stuff...
And, so far, those changes seem to be moving me in a positive direction. Which is why finding this piece is a little ironic. It was the last thing I started on the tail end of what had to be the mother of overextending myself to well past the point of burnout into the happy land of I just don't give a damn anymore.
Mostly because when a doctor says you're overdoing it, you get to choose if it's going to be you surviving or everything else taking you out for good...
And if that's the case, I'll be damned if I let go of life because I can't let go of other stuff...
But I finished this piece at long last, sent it off to the author, he went over the moon and wanted it for a cover...
...and it got shot down.
I forget the specifics, once a job is dead, it's dead, and you put it in the rearview. But I was actually kind of glad it went down that way. It was something I hadn't let go of from the last time around, and I felt compelled to finish it.
Now, here's the funny thing, I went back to the piece, which I fully intended to delete, and said, "Now that it's not a job, how would you fix this on a second pass?"
And it became something I did to wind down and start getting my chops back instead of me looking at a clock or a calendar. I had fun doing the work again, which is something I hadn't been able to say in a really long time.
Since the character, Fortune McCall, belongs to Derrick Ferguson and is published by Pro Se, this is in no way an official promo piece, it's just me doing a before and after for the fun of it...
And really, wasn't that the whole reason we got in the game to begin with?
This image is where I started,
And this image is where I ended up...
I'm kind of glad it got shot down because I'd have never looked at it again...
...and I would've missed unexplored possibilities...
In fact, outside of the author, who'll probably want a copy, this piece is pretty much off the table in any way shape or form as far as I know, so don't ask me when it's coming who's on it or anything else, because I honestly don't know...
...which, isn't nearly as nail biting a situation as it once was for me...
I've let it go.
I may not be where I once was, but I'm glad I've gotten where I need to be...
...and from here, it only gets better.
Be good to yourselves and each other...
