I captured some of my insights and discoveries during the creation of the first four Calamityware plates. I thought you might like a glimpse of the creative process so I decided to do a four-part Origins series for the Calamityware Blog. Here's how the sea monster plate came to be. Obviously, this also inspired the Sea Monster Jamboree print.

1 On a shopping trip to a fish market, I saw this impressive fish with an open mouth.

2 Since I was thinking about big fish, I drew my own version.

3 An article in The Wall Street Journaldrew my attention to work by scholars studying the monsters that inhabit the empty spaces of early Renasissance maps.

4 Inspired, I spent many delightful days drawing my own collection of sea monsters.

5 Some of my favorites were new to cryptozoology.

6 But it’s hard to beat the uncomplicated drama of a really big fish with a really big mouth.

7 Drew a preliminary version of a Calamityware plate with a hungry fish and shared the drawing on my Flickr site.

8 Drew crisp versions of the temple and bridge to contrast with the hand-drawn quality of the monster. Added borders and refined a digital file for production as Calamityware plate 4. Ta da.