High Times is a mixed media collage of herb grinders and smoke accessories arranged to depict a clock at 4:20 . The main wheel, escape wheels (the gears inside the clock ), case and dial are made from different sections of herb grinders. The minute and hour hands are made of a lit blunt and joint respectively , while the seconds hand is represented by a burning incense to mask the odour.
Inspiration
There’s a popular pop culture reference which ties cannabis use to the time 4:20. The origins of this reference are still up for debate, one prevailing theory on the origins of 4:20 has to do with a group of California students who would meet up and smoke pot at the allotted time . The association has become so prevalent that 4:20 has become the official spark up time for stoners, and April 20th as the day of protest against the prohibition of cannabis world wide . 4:20 is now synonymous with the words weed and cannabis that it is even used as a kind slang to tip off others in the know.
Creative Process
Creating an image that associates cannabis with 4:20 is probably one of the most cliche and obvious things to do when considering creating cannabis art, so working with this concept was going to require some creative juices. I began with breaking down the ideas of cannabis and time, and the associated objects /elements of each—weed would be something like— smoke, buds, grinders, papers. Time—clocks ,gears, cycles , rotation. We have all seen the inside of old clock towers, or the gears on a mechanical wrist watch; the gears of a clock share a similar shape and form with grinders—both objects have teeth, and also turn or rotate—this would be my lowest common denominator between the two concepts. I used real grinders that have ground up their fair share of buds, the resin and grime buildup over the years give the ‘gears’ some character.
Cannabis is often enjoyed socially and is passed around from one person to another in a rotation, this opened an opportunity to create another subconscious association between the rotation of clock hands, to the rotation of a joint or blunt in a session—both things ‘go around’ so to bring them together at 4:20 in this way—I felt made the image speak for itself.
Work Flow/ Post Processing
Photographs were taken and imported into procreate 4 where layering, blending options, and smoke fx were added to bring the image to life.
Below is a condensed time lapse of my work flow in procreate 4 on the iPad Pro from raw photographs to finished image.
High Times is featured on the Sticky-icky Sticker Sheet 1 available now on our online store.
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By : Malcolm Nyiam Vendryes
IG: @nyiam_