This is the story of illustrator Mark Ferrari, whose artwork was so good it forced Lucasfilm Games to figure out how to make a graphics technique called dithering compress to fit on floppy disks — in the process winning awards and triggering the use of dither in the wider games industry — and who pioneered the use of two background illustration tricks that gave the illusion of animation. He became world-renowned for his colour cycling and palette shifting techniques, which could be used to make a single computer illustration appear alive.

You can see a collection of Mark's artwork — including his coloured pencil illustrations as well as his computer graphics — at his website markferrari.com.

Gary Winnick has some of his past work viewable at garyart.net.

Thimbleweed Park is available for nearly every current computer and game console. If you buy the iOS version through lifeandtimes.games/thimbleweedpark, I'll get a small cut of the sale price.

Music Credits:

• Evan Schaeffer - Tulip Poplars, Anthem, and Big Tree from the album Glow, and Mantra and Graze from the album Big Spash
• Lee Rosevere - Sad Marimba Planet, More On That Later, Southside, and What's Behind the Door from the album Music for Podcasts 4
• Kai Engel - Seeker, Run, and Denouement from the album The Run
• The ending from Loom
• And a few bits of my own stuff

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Links:

• Thimbleweed Park on the App Store — A brand new adventure game from Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick, creators of the classics Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion!