Great Artwork While High: Matthew Porter

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I discovered Matthew Porter, the same way do I so many other wonderful things in my life. I was stoned and heard “Hey, babe ya gotta check this out.”

Talk about a great artist whilst baked; I laughed so hard when I saw his work it made me punchy. How cool are these?

I instantly fell in love with this adorable monkey dude kickin’ the shit outta Seattle. It reminded me of my one of my favorite arcade games growing up. Any Rampage fans out there?

My dabbed out mind immediately fantasized about a new level for Seattle. You can only imagine how stoked I was when I got to meet Porter in person, by accident and I was high! We were at the Seattle Center for the Folk Life Festival, which coincidentally brought many awesome stoners from all over. I was sitting on a bench vapeing some Grand Daddy Purple Wax out my Cloud V when again I hear, “Babe, babe, come here!” I followed the voice to a vendor kiosk being manned by none other than Matthew Porter.

Introductions were made, and I detected an English accent. It turns out he, like myself is a transplant and is crazy about his adopted city. So much so he decided to preserve it with these illustrations of his “cheeky monkey” tearing it up. The initial reactions are great, but the detail in his scenes really justify the long stare. Iconicity is a big part of Seattle and Matthew captures in truly original fashion. Top Pot Donuts, the Space Needle, the Mariners, the Seahawks  -– not even stadiums are spared the monkey’s wrath.

By the way, if I sound a little biased I certainly am. To say I was smitten with this city would be a gross understatement; its culture and spirit is unflinching right down to legal dank.

If King Kong-like robot monkeys aren’t your thing, there are portraits of monkeys depicting pop icons, alphabet animal prints and children’s books, and pretty bird prints.

Matthew Porter was down to earth and a genuinely cool guy. I am proud to support his work and even prouder to share it with you guys here. He speaks directly to the uniqueness of this town and why I moved here. He even gave me permission to use his work as an avatar. #lightersup

From Matthew Porter’s website:

Matthew Porter is a children’s book illustrator and writer. His stories and imagery present the perfect balance of nostalgia with modern elegance. His work has become ubiquitous throughout the Pacific Northwest and he has been called the undisputed king of the hipster board book genre.

His books are populated by wide eyed animals and his cheeky monkeys. Matthew’s pieces are acrylic paint on wood. The artwork is sanded to highlight the woods natural grain and is rounded out by his use of strong bold lines.

A little Rampage action…

Check out other posts from Weedist’s Great Artwork While High series