Betty Cunningham

From Sega Retro

BettyCunningham.jpeg
Elizabeth Tracy Cunningham[1]
Place of birth: United States
Date of birth: 1962-06-28[1]
Date of death: 2000-09-11[1] (age 38)
Employment history:
Accolade[2] (1993 – 199x)
Northstar Studios[2] (199x – 199x)
Divisions:
Role(s): Artist[2], 3D Modeler[2]
Education: California College of the Arts (BA Illustration)[2][1]

Elizabeth "Betty" Tracy Cunningham (née Kopf[1]) was an American graphic artist and former Sega Technical Institute artist and 3D modeler.[2] First joining STI in 1993, she produced artwork and 3D assets for a number of the studio's games - including the infamously-cancelled Sonic X-treme. She was married to STI's technical director Robert Morgan in 1994, who she later joined at Captivation Digital Laboratories as the company's in-house artist.[1]

Career

Even from a young age, Elizabeth Kopf displayed a strong interest in paleontology. At age six, she told herself she would grow up to become an archaeologist, but a year later, found that drawing dinosaurs could be a much more rewarding hobby, and changed her goal to becoming an artist.[3] She eventually entered the video game industry in 1993 as an artist at Sega Technical Institute[1], where she would produce artwork and 3D assets for a number of the studio's games - including the infamously-cancelled Sonic X-treme. Through her work with STI, she would be introduced to its tech director Robert Morgan, with whom she would form a relationship and later marry in 1994.[1] Through Morgan, she was also introduced to Point of View and Captivation Digital Laboratories, later accepting a role at the latter as the company's in-house artist.[1] Through her time in the game industry, Elizabeth acquired over 10 years of freelance illustration experience.

In her personal life, she was known for her strong passion for avian biology and archaeology. Reportedly, she painted a model Tyrannosaurus used during production of one of the Jurassic Park films, and won a number of awards for her dinosaur models[4] - including the Silicon Valley International Plastic Modelers Society Best in Show award in 1996.[1]

Elizabeth Cunningham passed away on September 11, 2000. She is remembered by her family and friends, who updated her personal website (Flying Goat Graphics)[5] with a memorial document detailing her life and career.[1] This website has remained online to honor Elizabeth's memory and document her work.[6]

Production history

External links

References