{"id":135496,"date":"2026-01-01T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-192548"},"modified":"2026-01-01T18:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T18:00:00","slug":"feature-the-art-i-stole-from-nintendo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2026\/01\/01\/feature-the-art-i-stole-from-nintendo\/","title":{"rendered":"Feature: The Art I ‘Stole’ From Nintendo"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Karen<\/a>
<\/span> Image: Nathan Lockard \/ Karen McKenna<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over the holiday season, we’re republishing some of the best articles from Nintendo Life writers and contributors from<\/em> 2025<\/a><\/em>. This article was originally published in November. Enjoy!<\/em><\/p>\n

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It began with a Zelda T-shirt.<\/p>\n

I was wearing my \u201cIt’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.\u201d<\/em> shirt while running a quick errand at the bank. The teller spotted it. He was at least 20 years younger than me, but his \u201cNice shirt!\u201d comment kicked off a lengthy conversation about our shared Nintendo fandom.<\/p>\n

Before long, he pulled out a tablet and showed me his digital fan art<\/a>. It was awesome: detailed, dynamic sketches of Mario, Pok\u00e9mon, and (my favourite) Metroid characters. His passion was apparent.<\/p>\n

I told him I was thrilled by his drawings, because I know how much that work means. You see, years ago, I had a job at Nintendo that involved seeing hundreds of pieces of original Nintendo fan art. And I took some home.<\/p>\n

This is the story of that collection, and how a handful of drawings, once marked for the landfill, became some of the most meaningful pieces of my gaming collection.<\/p>\n

\"Super<\/a>
<\/span> Image: Grant GM<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Player\u2019s Pulse and a Pile of Precious Paper<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This will definitely date me, but I interned at Nintendo during the second half of 1996. Before long, I was given complete control of Player\u2019s Pulse, the letters to the editor section. I chose fan letters, wrote responses, and, most importantly, picked the envelope art that was displayed on those pages.<\/p>\n

Mind you, this was nearly three decades ago, so the letters and the artwork were on real, physical paper, sent via snail mail. This was before the days of email and file shares.<\/p>\n

I absolutely loved sifting through the envelope art because it was pure fandom: earnest, expressive, and often beautiful.<\/p>\n

I was shocked to learn that it was Nintendo’s practice to destroy all artwork after it had been screened and scanned for the magazine! That meant dozens, maybe hundreds, of amateur art pieces in the trash bin each month.<\/p>\n

It felt criminal to toss that effort, so I kept all the artwork that came across my desk during my short internship.<\/p>\n

Here are five pieces of art that define the long journey of that collection:<\/p>\n

Naomi Chiba\u2019s Envelopes<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Years after I left Nintendo Power, I read a Kotaku article<\/a> about Naomi Chiba<\/strong>, easily the most prolific Player\u2019s Pulse artist ever. While reading, I remembered that I had three of her original envelopes in my collection!<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a>
<\/span> Image: Nathan Lockard \/ Naomi Chiba<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With help from the author, I connected with Naomi and arranged to return her artwork.<\/p>\n

Doing so was surprisingly emotional. I hesitated when it came time to seal the envelope, but then it occurred to me that she might be the first person to ever get back the artwork that they had sent to Nintendo Power.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when it hit me: this coloured paper meant something.<\/p>\n

Quid pro Quo with Seth<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The success with Naomi led me to find more artists.<\/p>\n

Seth Hatland<\/a> came next. He was so grateful to get his Mega Man X<\/strong> and Mario<\/strong> drawings back that he insisted on trading them for a brand-new piece of art as a thank you. \u201cI\u2019ve gotten slightly better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

What an understatement!<\/p>\n

He sent me an incredible piece of Link that has hung proudly in my office ever since.<\/p>\n