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Paul Faris is an illustrator and art director that has worked on arcade, pinball, and video games. Paul is best known for his pinball work for Bally and his arcade and home console work for Taito. In 1975, Bally started a new in-house art department; Paul joined Bally shortly afterward. He was promoted to art director at Bally in 1977. At Bally, Paul’s artwork appeared on many of their popular games, including Evel Knievel, Eight Ball, Playboy (Bally), Paragon, Xenon, and Centaur. In 1985, Paul left Bally and started Paragon Studios, Inc., a small art gallery and studio in Wheaton, Illinois just outside of Chicago where he remained active in the development of gaming artwork, expanding beyond Bally to work with Game Plan, Data East, Taito, and Sega Pinball. With an American division based in the Chicago, Illinois area, Taito frequently hired local firms and artists. Paul’s relationship with Taito appears to have begun with arcade art for Double Dragon in 1987. This timing appears to have coincided with Taito transition from pinball machines into arcade and video games, with Taito's last pinball machine possibly having been in 1984. Paul's arcade work for Taito then crossed into creating video game box art for the company. OVGA has included Paul Faris’s full known box art catalog below, all of which was for Taito: Toki (Taito | NES | 1991) Panic Restaurant (Taito | NES | 1992) Power Blade 2 (Taito | NES | 1992) Cadash (Taito | Genesis | 1992) World Beach Volley: 1992 GB Cup (Taito | Game Boy-EUR | 1992) Sonic Blast Man (Taito | SNES | 1993) Super Chase H.Q. (Taito | SNES | 1993) Beyond the above box art, Paul did numerous additional illustrations for Taito arcade flyers and full page ads for console games for which he often did not illustrate the box art. Paul commonly included his signature in these ads, aiding in the identification of his extensive Taito catalog. Pinside includes a full list for all of the pinball machines for which Paul was a member of the design team. In 2006, Paul Faris was inducted into the Pinball Expo Hall of Fame. In 2018, at the age of 71, Paul was inducted into the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA), following 36 years as a wrestling coach. Paul and his wife, Jan, have lived in the same house in Wheaton, Illinois for over 40 years. They have 3 children and 9 grandchildren.

One of the premier talents in the pinball industry, perhaps John's first foray into illustrating pinball machines was with Old Chicago (1976). However, he perhaps best remembered as the oustanding pinball illustrator of the 1990s, having worked on some of the most iconic and/or best selling machines of all time during that era, including the incredibly successful Addams Family and Twilight Zone machines, and the revered classic, Medieval Madness. Other notable machines graced with his artwork include Bride of Pinbot, White Water, Funhouse, Road Show, Cactus Canyon and too many others to list. The Internet Pinball Database has an excellent list of his credits for interested parties to review. John is still on top of his game illustrating new games for the Jersey Jack Pinball company, continuing his long collaboration with Pat Lawlor, the equally distinguished pinball machine designer behind Addams Family, Twilight Zone, and many more. Beyond pinball, John also illustrated some of the arcade artwork for the Cruisin' series of games. The N64 versions of Cruisin' Exotica and Cruisin' World adapt his arcade artwork onto the box covers. John spent most of his years in the Chicago area, and now lives and works in Tennessee as an avid hiker, dog lover, and plein air painter.

Description: A monster, a girl, and a classic pinball machine from a classic maker's best era! Year: 1992 Medium: Acrylic on board Image Area: 30 x 40 inches Image Source: Original Condition: good