MONSTERS IN PUGET SOUND
Good afternoon. While more monster surprises are bubbling, I thought I’d show you a few photos from my trip to Seattle. I spent five days with the creative team at Starbucks as part of their creative retreat. I told them a little bit about what I do and led them in a fun monster workshop. They’re a great group and they came up with brilliant stuff, both in my session and across the board. It was a pleasure to meet them.
As part of my talk I also gave a monster demonstration. I drew a monster before their very eyes, live and in full effect. Which I had never done before, so I was drawing with my fingers crossed. Especially since I suddenly found myself in front of an 18×24 drawing pad (vs my usual 8.5×11 sheets.) I’m a little bit scared of large formats, so I thought “OK. Let’s see how this goes.” But you can always count on the monsters to come through when they’re really needed. Presenting the biggest monster yet:
I really like the way that one came out. The large format let me change my mind about the final shape a few times in the process, and that’s fun. So… keep your eyes peeled for future large format creatures.
Until then, here are a few snapshots:
Beautiful Orcas Island:
Puget Sound and the SAM Olympic Sculpture Park:
Mount St. Helens, I presume:
Mount Unknown:
On the way home, just before we touched down in Burbank, we descended through a few separate banks of clouds. Looking out the window I noticed our shadow on the lower layer, ringed by a perfect little rainbow that followed us for quite a few minutes. As you can see from the Orcas Island photos, nature is such a showoff sometimes — a bit of a slut for attention, really — but I enjoyed the subtlety of this one.
You can see more photos right here.
This concludes our test of the emergency broadcast system. We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming. 344 LOVES YOU
workshop you say?!!! I would like more information please. Would it be possible for you to do a workshop in Florida in March?
Beautiful pictures and cool monster. I always look forward to seeing what’s new. Thanks for sharing.
Marsha
The tall Monster turned out lovely. Really like this guy. Looks like you really enjoyed the trip from the photos. (Now I wonder if there is something you are physically not able to enjoy…)
The huge rusty metal thing, is it by Richard Serra?
There are a lot of things I’m physically not able to enjoy, because supply is limited. But hey… there’s always hope! Also, you’re correct: The huge rusty metal thing is by Richard Serra. I didn’t like this one as much as the Torqued Ellipses, but it was still pretty cool.
Marsha, sure I can do a workshop in March. Maybe send a suggestion to the local organizers.
I lived in Seattle for two years in the early 90’s. I worked downtown and used to dash into Pike Place Mkt. to get my lunch, then sit outside in a park or on a pier and just enjoy.
On the days when the mountain is out, there is nowhere to look that’s not pretty. On the other hand, there is that rain.
Thx for the lovely pics. That plane framed in the rainbow is really something.
If you can believe it, there’s actually a name for the “rainbow” that is often times seen on the side opposite the sun on an airplane. It’s most commonly called a glory, or a mountain specter (because you can see the same effect on the top of mountains sometimes too). I’m not sure how the optics all work, but ’tis indeed cool to see one.
Is that right? A Glory or a Mountain Specter? That’s brilliant! Thank you for introducing me to the terms, Schlockading. I love that! (I also love that it’s a recognized phenomenon that shows up in the file. I was worried that my corneas might be detaching.
Fantastic photos. Those stitched shots are great. I would love to see some of those large scale.
If you click on them, you can see bigger versions.
Not huge, but bigger. :^)
SO COOL. i loved the photo of the public market neon lights. and, in close second, the … specter. ooooooooo. how halloweeeeeeny.
The big monster is really cool. You have done a great job under such a stressful situation with lots of people watching. The pictures are amazing…hey…wouldn’t the world be boring if mother nature wasn’t a show off????
Absolutely, Teresa. I’ll have to post a few images of the view from my desk sometime. Nature is SUCH a show-off, and I love that about her.