Monday, July 7, 2008

Somewhere in Arizona, seventeen (?) years ago

It's a beautiful sunny day here in western Massachusetts, and I'm about ready to head out for a short motorcycle ride. Thinking about that put me in mind of this photograph that's been hanging up in my old studio for many years. My friend Ed took this while we were on a break during our cross-country motorcycle trip to San Diego many years ago. I can't remember if this was on the way out or on the way back, but I do recall it was somewhere in Arizona.



I loved riding through the desert -- it was quite beautiful for the most part, and the total antithesis, visually, of the type of terrain I ride through here in this neck of the woods. But the aspect that I wasn't too crazy about was the incessant, baking heat. I was fortunate to be riding the Honda Gold Wing -- years of development had evolved it to the point where the clever engineers who worked on it had devised very ingenious ways to route the engine's heat away from the rider (as long as you were moving, that is).

One of our groups' mottoes on this part of the trip was "Hydrate or die!". We made sure to keep plenty of water with us, and we went through a lot of it (or perhaps more correctly I should say a lot of it went through us). If you look closely, you can see one of my life-saving water bottles strapped to my back seat. -- PL

17 comments:

Buslady said...

Now there's riding in style. :D

Dinoff said...

Wow, sweet bike!

m. said...

Get off your stinkin' motorcycle and write issue 30!

Roseangelo said...

Hah, sounds like someone needs to be given a deadline; nothing motivates productivity more than a good, solid deadline. :)

Anywho, I see you have a Harley sticker on your helmet - Do you own any Harleys? My dad got bit by the Harley bug a couple years ago, but I haven't yet had the chance to ride on it since I am generally only able to visit in the winter. Looking forward to the time when it comes, though.

Tristan Jones said...

Ah, so this is the trip Stan Sakai told me about...

m. said...

Get off your stinkin' motorcycle and answer my emails!

Turtle Collector said...

Hey Peter,

I am a huge fan of the Turtles figures. I have been collecting them ever since I first saw them up on the shelves in a local Target almost 20 years ago now! WOW!

I am also a digital illustrator specializing in MOTORCYCLE Portraits drawn exclusively in Adobe Illustrator. You should check out my website and go through my portfolio.

It is at: www.pentoolart.com

I would love to send you some personalized samples... you know, it is the least I can do for saying a very hearty "THANK YOU!" for your genious...

- Chris

~ tOkKa said...

-->> ..Yeh me see ' HELMET ' too !!


:P

Godman Falcon would be proud !!



>v<

~ tOkKa said...

-->> ..Chis, you work is really surreal and amazing !!

'Specially like the ' Indian ' renderings.

That's my father's fave bikes, since i was small.

Beautiful Illustrations..they really are !! !!

>v<

Turtle Collector said...

Hey, THANKS TOKKA!

I am into drawing the Motorcycle Images about as much as I am into collecting the Turtle Figures! Thanks for checking out my work.

Now if I could just get Peter to check it out too... being into motorcycle as much as he is, I would really love to hear his honest feedback too.

- Chris (another fellow "Dromer")

Buslady said...

chris dude...are you telling us those motorcycle images are not photographs!?
They're freaking awesome!

Hey yer local! Well sorta...im in Corona.

PL said...

" Turtle Collector said...
Hey Peter,

I am a huge fan of the Turtles figures. I have been collecting them ever since I first saw them up on the shelves in a local Target almost 20 years ago now! WOW!

I am also a digital illustrator specializing in MOTORCYCLE Portraits drawn exclusively in Adobe Illustrator. You should check out my website and go through my portfolio.

It is at: www.pentoolart.com

I would love to send you some personalized samples... you know, it is the least I can do for saying a very hearty "THANK YOU!" for your genious...

- Chris"

Chris, I did go to your website and checked out your work -- very impressive! I've played around a bit with Illustrator, and I know how difficult it can be to achieve even the simplest of effects. Well done! -- PL

Turtle Collector said...

Peter,

Thanks for checking out the site... I appreciate that. If you would like some samples of the work (postcards or 8-1/2 X 11 Prints), just let me know.

I would be honored if you owned some of my work as I have collected literally "hundreds" of Turtles... over the last 20 years!

Thanks!

- Chris.

Turtle Collector said...

Oh, Peter, I almost forgot...

I am working on a DVD Tutorial series of instructional videos for Illustrator. I am testing them out in my summer school class as we speak.

When the DVDs are done, I will be more than happy to send you one so you can improve your Illustrator skills.

I have been using Illustrator for 20 years now, so I pretty much know my stuff by now.

- Chris.

~ tOkKa said...

-->> ..directions to DVD, pls.

>v<

Jeannine Atkins said...

yay for life saving water bottles!

Capital Chay said...

You should modify the 'wing to have some kind of weapon protruding from the sides of the front wheel. Just to cover those road rage moments.