NOW IT'S SPEED!--NOT PERFECTION!
--Time is short! DFO 1636 10/83
(From a Taped Message to a Creations Unit Overseer:)
1. THIS ORIGINAL PENCIL SKETCH OF HEAVEN'S GIRL I'M SENDING YOU HAS GOT ALL THAT BEAUTIFUL FINE-LINE DETAIL & SHADING & ALL THAT PERFECTIONISM OF EMAN. I told him to try to shade'm a little bit by pencil instead of having to use letratone, so he went to all that extra work which was probably just as much trouble as letratone! Then when he made the xerox, you notice all that fades out. But if you lay those two pictures side-by-side in front of you--the original pencil sketch & the dark contrasty xerox that he made & sent along with it--it's the xerox which strikes you the most & which is the best photographically for printing!
2. EVEN THOUGH SOME OF HIS FINE EXPERTISE FADED OUT ON THE XEROX, I THINK THE LORD LET THAT HAPPEN TO SHOW US SOMETHING--THAT THE XEROX CAN DO THE INKING! You know what they do with these pencil sketches? Normally he would take that pencil sketch & go back with a fine-point pen & go over every line in ink & ink the whole thing, & it takes two or three days! But look what came out on the xerox!--A one-shot xerox in two or three seconds & you've got it inked!
3. IT'S NOT ABSOLUTELY PERFECT & GORGEOUS LIKE FINE-LINE RE-INKING, BUT SOME OF THAT'S GOING TO BE LOST ANYHOW IN OUR PHOTOWORK & REPRINTING--& WE'RE NOT THAT DAMNED PARTICULAR! The body of the picture, the main outlines & the picture itself is strong, dark, contrasty & is going to make a good print! Even though it's not perfect & hasn't got all the fine lines & fine points & fine shadings & everything, the xerox is the one which would come out best in print!
4. SO AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, IT LOOKS TO ME LIKE WE'VE SOLVED OUR INKING PROBLEM! I've suggested this before, that maybe somehow in photowork we can bring out the darkness & the contrast without doing all that inking, & here we are!--Even in a xerox! The xerox brought it out better than the original. It's just like in one flash of a xerox he'd inked the whole thing without having to fiddle around with inking or letratone either one!
5. NOW THAT'S ALL WE NEED! WE ARE NOT PERFECTIONIST ARTISTS OF MASTERPIECES THAT HAVE TO HAVE EVERY LITTLE DAMN FINE LINE COME OUT JUST SO! If any of our artists wants to draw or paint with that kind of perfectionism for the technical critiques of the experts & the critics, well, they'd better not be in this outfit. They'd better go someplace else & try to crash the Art World, because we just haven't got time for it & we're not that particular! We want pictures!--And as long as they look like what we want'm to look like & like the subject we're talking about, we want pictures & we want'm now!
6. WE DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO WAIT DAYS FOR INKING & DAYS FOR LETRATONING & ALL THAT! We already discovered it's a waste of time on the colour pictures for the poster! We discovered it too late after he did all that letratone almost to no avail, because by screening the colour we were getting almost as good pictures as we needed, right straight from the colour without any letratone or any shadows or shading.
7. WE NEED SPEED, NOT PERFECTION! Right now on these pictures the main thing that we're short of is time!--Not perfectionism! Our artists can wait till they get to the Millennium or Heaven if they want to be perfectionists, when they've got Eternity to do it! But right now we're in Time & we've got very little time left & we're in a hurry & we've gotta have'm fast if we're going to get'm out at all! We can't be fiddling around with perfectionism on these pictures until the time is gone & fiddling with the little details while Rome burns!
8. I'M BEING VERY PARTICULAR ABOUT THESE FIRST IMAGES OF HEAVEN & THE HEAVEN GIRL! It's extremely important that we get even tiny little details just right, because they're going to be seeing a lot of this Heaven poster & a lot of this Heaven's Girl! So I want to get her character & her face & everything just right! But once he's got it, I want him to be able to knock'm out!--I mean daily! Be able to sketch a picture every day & not just wait a whole week to get two or three little sketches or to have him make a few corrections. I need'm now! We needed'm yesterday!
9. WE JUST CANNOT BE SUCH PERFECTIONISTS! As far as I'm concerned, if it's a choice between that gorgeous original & all of its fine shading, beauty, perfection & detail & having to wait another week for it to get inked & letratoned or whatnot, if he can just walk over to the xerox machine & have it automatically inked & toned at the same time on the xerox, bingo, even if it's not perfect, I'll take that one!--Just like the two you see before your eyes!
10. SO I THINK THAT'S A GOOD LESSON ON SPEED!--SPEED IS FAR MORE VITAL TO US NOW THAN PERFECTIONISM! I realise that dear Eman is a perfectionist & your artist there sometimes also tries to be, but there are only certain things on which I really try to get the fine points exactly right, but after that we don't need to fool around with every little curlicue & tiny detail etc.!
11. FRANKLY, I THINK IN THAT CORNER PICTURE THAT JAC WENT & REPAINTED, the rascal, I believe that he could have changed the tone & the colour of those strips right on the original without having to repaint the whole picture! I don't think it was worth his time, & if he had told me & asked me I would have said no & I guess that's why he went ahead without asking! He knew he was guilty, that's why he kept apologising on his note!--Because I would have said just go ahead & make some of those bottom stripes a little bit more colourful, a little darker, that's all, & not go ahead repainting the whole thing!
12. NOW MAYBE THIS WILL TEACH HIM A LESSON! YOU JUST TELL HIM NO! I mean, even if it's just a matter of principle I'm going to set my foot down! No! I'm not going to give him time to repaint that whole picture! No! He is just going to have to do the best he can! People liked it pretty well as it was! That little bit of technical perfectionism that he's talking about with that halo around the Pearl, I didn't notice that much difference! He's just going to have to go right ahead & take the original & try to bring out that blue stripe of brighter blue & put a little more scintillating colour in the bottom layer like a diamond, & that is it! I don't know whether he's able to add sparkles or not anywhere on the Wall, it may be too late, but we should have had a little sparkle. But if it means he's going to have to make corrections & white-out & paint over & all that kind of stuff, forget it, because the laser won't take it for overlays.
13. JUST TELL HIM TO GO AHEAD & DO THE BEST HE CAN WITH THE ORIGINAL HE'S GOT RIGHT NOW & THAT'S IT! He wasted all that time trying to re-paint the picture. I'm sorry to have to say it, but that's a fact! He asked you first, but you knew the order & you should have set your foot down! Imagine my shocked surprise when I got that! I was pulling out pictures to show people & I showed them that unfinished Corner picture when he'd already finished the Corner! I imagine they must have been mystified when they saw it!--Why was I showing them that one when the thing was already finished?
14. HONEY, YOU'VE GOT TO GET TOUGH! YOU'VE GOT TO BE ABLE TO SET YOUR FOOT DOWN WITH THESE ARTISTS! They are inspirationalists & they are moved by emotion--I ought to know, I'm one of'm--& they're temperamental & they're sensitive! They get inspired that they want to do it a certain way & that's it & it's hard to stop'm! But for the sake of speed & efficiency & the work we have to do, there comes a place where you've gotta draw the line & you've gotta set your foot down & say firmly: "No! I'm sorry, we haven't got time! Period!" In the time he spent redrawing & repainting even the one little bit he did on that Wall he could have drawn some of those pictures we need right now for Book 16.
15. NOW HONEY, IF YOU DON'T KEEP A TIGHTER CONTROL & CLOSER WATCH ON HIM to make sure he doesn't do things he's not supposed to do, I'm going to have to hire a watchdog to hang over his shoulder fulltime! And for him to have actually asked you & you went ahead & let him, you're a pushover! That's one reason I love you, you're such a nice pushover! You're such an easy mark! You're a good sucker too! ILY!--Ha!
16. ANYWAY, YOU'VE GOTTA BE FIRM ON SOME THINGS, HONEY, YOU'VE GOTTA BE ABLE TO SAY NO! Do you think this outfit would have gotten as far as it has if I hadn't gotten tough with some people & said no? I mean, I have to be like a military general with some of these people! You have to lay it on the line, you've gotta put the pressure on, you've gotta give'm deadlines! You've gotta say, "You've gotta get it done & by this soon & that's it or else!--We'll get somebody else to do it!"
17. WE'RE IN A HURRY! WE HAVE A JOB TO DO & WE'VE GOT VERY LITTLE TIME LEFT TO DO IT IN! I shouldn't even have to spend so much time making these tapes telling you guys how to do it or what not to do, when we should be doing it, but we learn a few lessons this way anyhow! You're going to have to be firm, Honey, because I don't want to have to give this talk again! I don't want to have to give you that order again, nor him again, or next time I'm going to blow up! If you think I'm blowing up now, I'm only upset right now! But when I blow up the fur's going to fly & the heads are gonna roll as they have in the past!
18. WHAT DO YOU THINK WE HAD THE RNR FOR?--I DUMPED 300 PEOPLE OVERNIGHT, 300 LEADERS! What kind of business corporation can stand that sort of loss of leadership? But when they weren't doing the job, I was ready to can'm on the spot when I found out some of the dumb stuff they were doin' & the dirtywork they were pullin'! I got rid of'm in a hurry! We didn't know who was good & who was bad, but we figured if we'd fire the whole bunch of them, then we'd find out who was good by seeing who made it & who could take it!
19. SO YOU HAVE GOT TO GET TOUGH SOMETIMES, HONEY! AS A LEADER YOU ARE A MILITARY GENERAL! You've got to be a Deborah!--Not in the sense of our Deborah, but the one of the Bible who was a Prophetess & who told the generals what to do & they did it! (Judges 4 & 5.) And that's what you've got to do! You shouldn't have said yes & let him get away with that. You should have said, "Just brighten or darken the other strips & that's it!--Or don't do a thing until you ask Dad!" If you don't know what to do & he insists on doing something he hasn't had permission for, then you're going to have to forbid him to do it until he gets the answer from me, because I would have immediately said no!
20. SOMETIMES I'M AN EASY MARK & A PUSHOVER WHEN PEOPLE PRESSURE ME ABOUT SOME THINGS. Sometimes the people here work on me from both directions & try to pressure me & try to push me on something that maybe I haven't really yet decided or gotten the word on or have a real strong conviction on yet. They push me into something before I've really got the answer, so we make mistakes!--And it doesn't pay, some of them have found that out! It doesn't pay to push me into a decision on something before I really know what to do. I don't know what to do unless I hear what to do, & to push me into a decision before I'm ready or before I've got the answer is a dangerous thing! So that's another lesson!
21. SO AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, EMAN'S FIGHT PICTURE IS DONE! FINITO! That xerox is sufficient for our photowork, especially when we're going to reduce it to a GN-size page. Who cares? If he wants to save the original for future colour work, that's fine, then he can colour it & be a perfectionist & all that. On colourwork we're of course a little more particular because those are big expensive projects & we put a lot into'm & we really want'm as near-perfect as possible. But on these little sketches that I'm just going to use for the moment on an illustration for one article in one Magazine, we just cannot take time to be perfectionists! We've just gotta take the first thing that looks good & use it!
22. SO AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED YOU CAN GO AHEAD & SHOOT THAT LAST XEROX OF THE FIGHT! THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH! His revisions on the bust or the half-figure are very good! He did some darkening, darkened her hair more etc. like I said & put the drape on her & the various little revisions that I gave him & he sent me a xerox of those changes. And although it's not exactly perfect yet, the point is, it is good enough to use as one of the pictures for one of those articles on her. You got it? So I'm going to send you this xerox & tell you to use it, because it's good enough!
23. HE ALSO SENT US A NEW FULL-FIGURE, FULL-FACE, & SORRY TO SAY ALMOST NOBODY LIKED THE FACE OR THE FIGURE THIS TIME because it was a little too changed & it wasn't really quite right, but it is a picture we could use because we're going to need several. That fight picture I think was inspired, he really was trying hard, & that was the best conception he has drawn of her yet. We could even use that in a close-up, zoom in & use her face or her half-figure etc. if we need more pictures for various shots & close-ups for these various articles.
24. WE'RE GOING TO SQUEEZE ALL OF THE PICTURES OUT OF THIS ART THAT WE CAN GET! I am just thrilled with the work our editor did on selecting close-ups for the "Heavenly Colour" art discussions, & it certainly helped to relieve that long, too long, lengthy, wordy diatribe on all the details of the poster! It relieves that long endless text! If you don't like the text, at least you can look at the pictures!--Like the newsboys used to tell the smart-alecks who would say, "Oh I can't read!"--They were always ready with the answer, "Well, look at the pictures!" So if they claim it's too hard to read, tell'm to look at the pictures! So it was a great idea to zoom in on those close-ups to illustrate the different things we were talking about in the text, & if they don't want to read the text, they can look at the pictures!
25. SO WE CAN GET AN AWFUL LOT OF ART OUT OF ONE OF THESE PICTURES!--OR WE CAN GET A LOT OF PICTURES OUT OF ONE OF THESE WORKS OF ART, I DON'T KNOW WHICH! So I'm not going to be afraid to use'm! But I've gotta have Eman revamp this last picture a little bit & try to make her more like the first one he drew, that little fight girl! Everybody liked that one! They're just tickled pink & thrilled about that one! She's so cute & she looks just like what she ought to be--small, diminutive, about a teenager & a real fighter! She's got the right-sized face & head & everything.
26. HE'S SO PRONE TO WANT TO SKETCH MASTERPIECES THAT IN THIS LAST ONE HE'S GOT HER LOOKING LIKE A FASHION MODEL! Well, he did all the details regarding the clothing & all that--although I don't think he let the nipples show through enough. I think he got scared out on that by former instructions. But anyway, we can bring'm out a little more. As long as she looks like she's clothed, even if certain things show through the clothing I think we're safe. If it looks like she hasn't got any nipples at all, I don't like that!--Personally I like to see'm! Her clothing ought to be at least semi see-through, so I've got to tell him that. Your artist there is doing great on that, he's had enough instruction, but we've gotta still give Eman a few fine points on that. Anyhow, even if these are not exactly right or perfect I think we can use some of'm!
27. GOD BLESS & KEEP US ALL & ALL THESE MATERIALS, LORD, & KEEP US STRAIGHTENED OUT IN THE WAY WE SHOULD GO & WHAT WE SHOULD DO & HOW TO DO IT, the methods, & give us wisdom in all these things! You said "if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally & upbraideth not, & let us ask in faith", Lord, & we know that You'll give it! (Jam.1:5,6) It's Your work & You want it done & the World needs it, so we believe we've got the faith for it that You'll give the wisdom how to do it in all of our cases as long as we keep getting on cases to get it done! So help us, Lord, in Jesus' name! Keep us all safely & thank You for continuing Your protection & provision, in Jesus' name, amen!
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