Don Ivan Punchatz suffered a cardiac arrest on October 11th leading to his tragic death eleven days later. After tests discovered no remaining brain activity, honoring his wishes, Punchatz was removed from life support and died peacefully shortly after the machines were disconnected.
Punchatz was responsible for art appearing in Playboy and National Geographic as well as on the covers of TIME Magazine and Newsweek and became one of the highest profile artists of his day. After moving from New Jersey to Texas he was the first illustrator to disprove the long-held theory that to be a successful artists you had to live in the New York area. His studio in Texas helped launch a number of other successful artists as well as popularizing the idea of a regional studio. For his innovation in art as well as art culture he later became known as “The Godfather of Dallas Illustration”.
One day, a small start-up videogame company by the name of id Software contacted Punchatz looking to commission a piece that would later become the cover of their first-person shooter Doom. Of course, high profile artists such as himself come with a hefty price tag. When he agreed to do it, id offered Punchatz a choice. He could either take a percentage of the game’s profit if/when the game blew up into to some kind of crazy cultural phenomenon or id would pay him a discounted fee. Punchatz chose to take the discounted fee, unaware that PC gaming was an interest shared by so many people.
The cover art for Doom has since become one of the most iconic in video game history. We’re very sad to let go of a man so full of wonder and we give our best to his friends and family.
Luckily, we have a few things to remember him by.
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