What to Know
- "Colossal Characters: Live Plein Air Painting with James Gurney & Friends" at Pasadena City Hall; the event opens LightBox Expo 2023
- Friday, Oct. 27 from 10 a.m. to noon
- Several artists will gather at Pasadena City Hall and other Crown City locations to draw huge figures roaming Pasadena; the public is invited to join
If you favor fanciful notions, you surely fancy Pasadena, a storied city that's home to the rosiest procession on the planet, the oh-so-daffy Doo Dah Parade, a place focused on space (hi, JPL), and oodles of galleries.
It seems like a town where just about anything awesome might happen, and if you were to claim that you spied a giant squirrel scampering across the Colorado Street Bridge at midnight or a 20-foot-tall robot sipping tea in the Norton Simon Museum's garden, you might be believed, at least for a moment.
It turns out that supersize squirrels, big furry monsters, and robots of ginormous size may just call upon the Crown City on Friday, Oct. 27 when "Colossal Characters" take over the area near Pasadena City Hall and points beyond.
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The free open-air art event, a kick-off to the three-day LightBox Expo 2023, will be led by James Gurney, the author and artist of "Dinotopia," and other acclaimed painters and illustrators.
Behemoth butterflies won't really flap over the Rose Bowl nor will a gargantuan spider stand guard above the Gamble House; the art session will focus on creating "Colossal Characters" paying a visit to Pasadena.
The artists will have their sketchpads at the ready, and you bring yours, too, if you'd like to join.
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It's open to kids as well, so if your tot has ever imagined a huge hero from a game or film stomping along Colorado Boulevard, this would be a great moment to put that idea to paper.
"The character can come from animation, movies, video games, or comics. The interaction between the character and Pasadena can be anything from playful to apocalyptic," suggests the event organizers.
And everyone is welcome, so worry not if you've just begun your plein air journey or have only tried illustrating once or twice. One more "worry not": You don't have to be registered to attend LightBox Expo 2023 to enjoy "Colossal Characters."
Plein air painting, long synonymous with golden Golden State landscapes, is very much about celebrating the splendor of the outdoors, often in muted tones and soft strokes.
Add some "Colossal Characters" to this genteel genre, and a few well-known Pasadena locations, and you've put a particularly playful spin on plein air, the perfect pre-Halloween art meet-up.
Why are we picturing a big bookworm reading books inside Vroman's Bookstore? Imaginative illustrators, don't Pas this intriguing art event by.
