*Crown hidden far above in sky
Throne built from mighty granite
Kingdom ruled in mountains high
Some tallest on the planet

Sequoia is king’s given name
One of three red-skinned brothers
Entire world knows of his fame
The son of nature’s mother

Sequoia’s lived three thousand years
Through fires, quakes, and snows
Despite cold, shakes, and sooted smears
Sequoia king still grows

One look upon this ancient king
Puts one’s life in perspective
Decree Sequoia king does sing
Nature must be protected*

This fractal artwork was inspired by a very unique corner of the world that contains some of the most majestic forms of nature that exists on our planet. The Giant Sequoia, one of the oldest living things on earth, is found in this area. I have hiked this area many times, and even scaled the summit of Mount Whitney once when I was younger. There is nothing more humbling than the majesty observed when standing beside a 3500 year old tree as wide as a house and standing as high as a thirty story building… or the view from a the summit of a mountain that is almost three miles above sea level, where you can actually observe the curve of the earth on the horizon. This artwork is my tribute to this amazing area.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks contain big trees, high peaks, and deep canyons, but the diversity goes far beyond that. Located in the southern Sierra Nevada range of California, the parks’ elevations extend from 1,300 feet (418m) in the foothills to 14,491 feet (4,417m) at the summit of Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the contiguous 48 states.

Giant Sequoias are the world’s largest trees in terms of total volume. They grow to an average height of 50-85 m (165-280 ft) and 6-8 m (18-24 ft) in diameter. Record trees have been measured to be 94.8 m (311 ft) in height and 17 m (57 ft) in diameter. The oldest known Giant Sequoia based on ring count is 3,500 years old.

I have provided some links below, including a real-time web cam, for you to further explore this treasured area.

*Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park – U.S. National Park Service*
http://www.nps.gov/seki/index.htm

*Sequoia National Forest – U.S. Forest Service*
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/

*Giant Sequoia National Monument Web Cam*
View From Jordan Peak, looking northwest towards Dennison Peak
http://sierrafire.cr.usgs.gov/output/swfrs/webc...

The original artwork is 4800 × 9600 pixels at 300 pixels per inch. The mountains, cloud cover, and Sequoia forest are three separate fractals made in Apophysis. The gradients were created in ApoMap, a gradient editor commonly used with Apophysis. The fractals were created as a transparencies and then used as a separate layers in Photoshop. The background sky gradient was created in Photoshop. The foreground lake was created in Photoshop as well. Masks were created to combine the fractal layers in Photoshop. Because the original is so large and difficult to see over the internet, I have included a few of detail cutaways below. The detail cutaways are reduced in size by 50%, which will give you an idea as to the scope and complexity of this artwork.