Thought I'd toss you apes a bone here:
http://www.gamespot.com/features/6144426/index.html
Gamespot interviewed several of the top creative types in the gaming industry on the subject of how one becomes a game artist. Lorne Lanning is featured prominently, and the banner for the article is a picture of a Clakker. He doesn't really say anything that we don't already know, but he does gush about how great Shadow of the Colossus and ICO are (two of my personal favorites, by the way).