Got My Copy of Scary Man

Hmmmmmmmmm... So, from my last entry, you all know that I was hired to illustrate a book called Scary Man last year. Well, I received my copy in the mail (from Amazon) earlier today.

I must say, it's a bit of a disappointment.

The front/back cover look GREAT! They're all shiny and nice. Looks fantastic. But then, when you open it up and look through the inside, there are several things wrong with it.

1. My credit as illustrator has been completely removed from the inside. I get the impression that I probably would have been removed from the cover as well if it wouldn't have ruined the illustration (good thing I did the lettering on that myself).
2. Several of the illustrations are severely warped. I mean, I'm not the best "artist" in the world, but I'm not that bad. haha. Several of the characters look squashed and very peculiar. It makes me cringe! (And it almost makes me glad that my name isn't attached to it on the inside...)
3. The text is all over the place! On one page in particular (page 17), the text is printed directly onto the illustration (making it hard to read/see either!). Were they just not paying attention??
   

Those are my three main complaints about the book. The two things that I liked:

1. The front/back cover looks fantastic! For serious. It's just how I pictured it to look.
   
2. It was printed on 30% recycled paper and printed on presses that run purely on solar and wind power.

So, that's my review of the quality of the actual printed book. It's still a fun piece to have (and I'm still kinda thrilled that my name's on the cover at least), but do NOT waste $20 on it. In my opinion, it's worth maybe about $10. Though since it came out so shoddy (text all over the place!!), maybe $8.

Sort of an embarrassment.

Though my mom says that's just because I have a personal involvement with it. She says it's "not that bad."

--Lauren*

Scary Man

Okay, so, about a year ago, I was hired to illustrate a book for children. I haven't been allowed to talk about it thus far (I was under contract), but now that it's officially been published, I'm free to show the world!

It's about how to avoid pedophiles.

It was a very challenging project. There were certain scenes that had the potential to be extremely skeevy and had to be handled...delicately. I think I did a pretty good job, honestly.

The book itself can be a bit dull at times (I didn't write it). It's VERY repetitive. But I suppose that's because it wants to make sure that its points (mainly "don't talk to strangers") very very clear. Kinda hammers it in. Which, in some cases, I think is a good thing.

If you're a parent unsure of how to talk to your children about Stranger Danger, this could be a handy tool.

Or, if you're just a collector of VERY ODD literature. This could be something to add to your shelf to make your friends go "Whaaaaaaaaa...?"

I don't get any royalties from sales, but, if you're interested in buying a copy, it's available on Amazon: here.

So...that's pretty neat. :) Not only am I a published writer (poetry, newspaper articles, magazine articles, short stories) and published model (R&M bridal catalog 2003), but I'm officially a published illustrator as well now!

Woo!

--Lauren*

Fan of 90s Video Games?

Then I may have just the fan art pieces for you! And, guess what!--they're FOR SALE!!
In 1991, Wolf Team released a game for Sega Genesis called Arcus Odyssey. This original 11X14 inch acrylic painting by Lauren R. Tharp captures (hopefully!) the spirit of that wonderful game.

Included on the painting:
Erin (playable character--pictured as she looked in both the End Credits and the player select menu)
Diana (playable character--pictured as she looked in both the End Credits and the player select menu)
Castomira (evil sorceress!--as she looked in the opening)
Leaty (princess of light--as she looked in the opening)
The "Map" that shows up between "Acts"

Also, the sides are painted in a dark orange and have the words "Ambition," "Peace," "Fighter" and "Hero" written in black cursive. On the back of the painting the word "Darkness" is written in the same black cursive. Those of you who have played the game may remember those words as the names of the Swords you must collect during "The Bad Dream" Act. :)

Available FOR SALE

Also...
In 1993, Konami released a game, produced by LucasArts, called Zombies Ate My Neighbors. And those of you who have played it, whether on the Sega Genesis or on the SNES, know just how amazingly fun it was.

Relive the fun and the memories of Zombies Ate My Neighbors with this original piece of fan art painted by Lauren R. Tharp. It captures not only the hypnotic spiral of the start-up screen, but the classic poses taken on by the main characters during the "character select" menu.

The painting itself is 8x10 inches and was painted entirely with acrylic paints on a cotton canvas.

Available FOR SALE!!

If you're a fan of either (or both!) of these games, please consider buying these wonderful ONE OF A KIND ORIGINAL pieces of Fan Art!

I could really use the money...

Thanks and HAPPY BIDDING!!

--Lauren*

Donation Time!

Omigosh, you guys! I'm super excited about this!

Before I went to bed, I couldn't resist checking my bank account one last time and--YES!!--the PayPal transfer went through!! :D

I immediately filled out all the forms and whatnot to donate to Childrens Hospital. (I'm donating to the Los Angeles branch since that's the one that took care of me as a wee one). I'm so excited! People have made donations to various causes in my name before and I've donated spare change here and there, but this is the first "big" donation I've ever made. And it's something that means a lot to me.

Anyway, as promised, here are the pics of the check and everything:
Yay!

I'm so grateful to have the ability to walk.

Much thanks to all of you for supporting me & my endeavor!

I pass by a mailbox on my way to work. I'll drop this in first thing in the morning. I'm so excited! I want to do this again next year!! (Maybe I'll be able to afford to donate more by then!)

--Lauren*

The Box Sold!

The box I decorated with Fan Art (see entry directly below this one) sold!

My original intent was to keep $50 for myself in order to open a Savings Account (or at least to get by on... I was shorted 2 days pay on my last paycheck and I hate borrowing from my parents) and give the rest to Children's Hospital. But since the box sold for $55, I thought it would be pretty lame to only give $5 to the hospital... So I'm giving the whole thing to the hospital and keeping none for myself.

As soon as the money from PayPal gets transferred to my bank account (should be another 4 days), I'll make out the check and send it to Children's Hospital. I'll be sure to take a pic so you guys can see too. :)

I was originally hoping to go down to the hospital in person and drop off the check (and get a receipt...), but it's a bit far away and I'd probably end up wasting as much on gas as I'm donating. haha. Sadness.

Anyway! On to THANK YOUS!

Special thanks to:

• Sanjay of Cowbirds In Love for his (very funny/cute) news post about my box

• Zach of SMBC for his news post about my box (which is actually what ended up leading the buyer to my auction!)

• Tom of Gunnerkrigg Court for writing me a very lovely letter about my box (he saw it a bit late and couldn't help promote it, but he took time out of his busy schedule to write to me how much he liked it)

and, of course,

• David from Austria for liking my box enough to actually BUY it! Thank you!!>

More updates soon!

--Lauren*