Long Day Number Two



Curtis Cannell


Curtis was so proud of getting the cover of PC Gamer. He did the high resolution soldier artwork and the battle scene below.



Some of the first press for Planetside using artwork by Curtis Cannell

This was my second very long day this week. Today I attended the funeral of my good friend Curtis Cannell. I have known Curtis for many years. First we worked together at Simutronics and later, when I set up the Sony Online Entertainment office in St. Louis, I brought him on there. Curtis was a brilliant artist, as you can see from the image scan above. Here is a link to the full resolution image of the drawing. This was just a drawing Curtis did for fun one evening. When he left St. Louis I asked him if I could have a drawing to remember him by and he gave me this. It was one of his favorite pieces but I assured him how much it would mean to me. I'm glad I have it to remember him by. If you have photographs, paintings, or drawings of Curtis that you would like to share, please email them to me and I will set up a portfolio page on this site for him.

Needless to say it was a very sad day. It is always horrible when someone so young passes and especially hard when parents have to bury their child. Curtis was well liked and I heard the visitation was attended by hundreds from the town. Even under such sad circumstances it was nice to be able to see Jeff Dobson and Drew Risch who came up from Austin, Texas. Drew told me a story about Curtis that made me laugh and miss him all the more. He said that when Curtis found out I was becoming a Freemason (presumably from reading this site) he was in complete disbelief. He said there was no way I was being serious about it and was only joining to infiltrate the organization to ferret out its nefarious secrets. My, oh, my, what a great conversation did I miss out on. I can see it now, Curtis and I drinking late into the night, him screaming at me how nuts I was for joining and me trying to convince him the institution is respectable.

I miss Curtis now and I remember him fondly. For those of you who loved him too, keep him in your heart.

Comments

Owl Chick said…
Just some hugs for you, John...I know it's a rough time.

:: Hugs ::
11:44 PM
Anonymous said…
John,Thank you for remembering my brother. He had many great times with you. He loved your Christmas parties. I have all of his sketch books and most of his poster sized works. I will share them soon.
Much love,
Angie Cannell Wright
5:47 PM
Shevaun McNaughton said…
I know your post was along time ago - but I was thinking about Curtis tonight and just found your blog entry - I still miss curtis
8:47 PM
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