yawn!
rip van llt here
arisen from a grave-like sleep
and ready to cater to your demands...
if you need a drink or a snack
or need to go doodles
please do so now
'cause you will be SPELLBOUND
by the Magical mysteries that await you!
!!!
but first...
zerostreet-Ah! yes, the step-by-steps are the best
it's a great way to help the terribly shy
or deformed
or deranged
or bed-ridden artist Ohana
and i fully support any endeavor to inspire and inform
our brethren.
'cause thas what it's all about
Mutual Inspiration Pact!
Keep on exploring and creating and sharing
myself and the ohana appreciate it!
Jason-special K...
do you sit around musing on these nicknames?
cause you sure have a lot of them...
i would rather you took that mental energy and
channeled it straight into a few more luscious velvets of yours!
i see you like the texture....
i imagine you do too
seeing as i want to caress them when i see them!
:)
Clarita-te amo art sister!
you are so sweet and full of inspiration and energy
all wrapped into a beautiful creative creature that you are!
Thank YOU for returning all those happys
with art and heartfelt postings like yours...
:)
hey beady!
Happy birthday agin!
That frame,and many others are
pure bona-fide authentic...
get this...
BAMBOO BEN frames!
if it's a good one!
(i DO sometimes use inferior shoddy ones
maybe shoddy is too harsh
sub-par might be a better word)
but this one was the gem out of the
last batch from him
so i had to do something that
- i would consider worthy of his handiwork
2)transcended mere Tiki Art into a fine art realm
3)captured that pure raw primitive nature of
not only the jungle
but of the man who built the frame...
a manly man
named Ben!
but i digress....
Thanks for the visit
but i got a lot to type.....
The following step-by-step
is a record of
HOW THE COVER OF A CD RECORD ALBUM THINGY IS MADE!
I speak of this more conceptually
because this one was all about the narrative
and i loves me some narratives!
Don't you?
Well, here's the album
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=37084&forum=11&start=0&15
or here!
http://www.tikijoesocean.com
Tiki Joe's Ocean
"Under the Midnight Sun"
So, if you want the story behind the album...go there
you're obviously more aural than visual
and that would clear up some space for the more visual folks...Thank you...
You're always welcome back later...
Oh! and buy something when you're there!
Anyways....
Andy wrote me a few chapters of things to ponder
as well as sent an example
of a painting he liked
(that was the style i was to emulate for this piece...)
"Night and the Village"
so i pondered all that
(i have a special thinkin log that i sit on and think about things and stuff...)
and made up some things on my own
and gelled em together with him
via telephone/talking wires
thru delightful conversation
calm and courteous duologue
and joyful banter....
sigh!
Andy sent me a few skeletal tunes
still in the works
to get a vibe...
After that it was
hit the sketchemebooks
and do some
SKETCHES
real quick-like
to get an impression of atmosphere
What would a Midnight Sun be doing?
How would it affect the surrounding environment?
Would everyone be asleep
or would someone be able to share in this miracle?
Will i be able to fit the 25 things he wants in here
and still
when shrunk down
not have it look
muddy
or too dark
or too busy....
Kenny, you got yourself into another PICKLE!
Check out the Pufferfish Moon!
How KOOKY is that!?!?!?
Sometimes i just slap colors down
and damn the consequences!
as shown below with this crazy sun!
Distance!
How to achieve distance
in a style that is
mercilessly flat?
PICKLE!
PICKLE!
PICKLE!
We need a temple/meeting house
an A-frame
some Tikis
a river with a bridge
Pineapple fields
it's gotta be lush
and also a village
and some catamarans
and a curly swirly sun
and stars
maybe a volcano if i can fit one in
(but not with smoke like the example painting)
and...
PICKLE!PICKLE!PICKLE!
oh yeah...
where to fit the band and title?
P-P-PICKLE!
before i forget
make it readable ken!
without a microscope,i ask?
but seriously folks..
and here's some sketches for a floating rowerboy
that got axed
he woulda cluttered the sky....
if you must pry...
doodles!
Well, after pitching the story of the single little Moai
while everyone was asleep
who happens to awake
and row out
to get closer to this celestial performance
it was agreed we were both on the same page
and ready to proceed to the....
final Sketchy phase!
this is where i use fancy inks and watercolors
and actually draw it in proportion
to the measurements given...
all professional-like
and such....
plus as an added bonus
you can sell em later!
:)
First sketch...
good start but
where's the type gonna go?
sheesh....
ha-rumph!
also it doesn't have those solid
almost pareau-ish Chinese papercut lookin shapes
that was a Hallmark of the piece
that Andy liked ...
So, in a way
that sketch had the right elements
but it was deceiving
those shapes needed to be represented
to get a true example
and confirm my suspicions
that it would be too dark and heavy
for such a widdle CD cover....
suspicions confirmed...
p-i-c-k-l-e
think Ruzic Think!
What are you gonna do!?!?
He ain't gonna budge
and then
in my lowest moment
as i wept in the streets
gnashed my teeth
and babbled incessantly
DING!
(insert timer sound here)
why not make that color lighter?
You see here...
all that indigo
looks good on a 3x3 footer
but 4.75 by 4.75?
Come ON!
So lighter it is....
Andy likes having the original art
of each of his albums
so i wanted to give him something
that him and Debbie and Joey and Sam Sam
would have in their home to enjoy and wonder at...
being to their home
and thinking of that style....
gave me another...
DING!
Why not do it on Wood?
this piece came to mind...
"the Lost Hut"
i had done some acrylic washes over the wood
and got some nice tinting
as well as allowing the beautiful texture of the wood to show thru....
Hmmmmmm?
(insert Yoda or Jar-jar voice here....)
Ladies and gentlemens
we have a winnah!
intermission
Okay!
Now it's time for the step-by-step!
off camera
i scanned the final art and gridded it out
so i could keep the elements in the right general areas
i also scootched the sun down
and lifted the hut and A-frame up a bit
to allow for type...
2x2 foot wood
$40
already cutting into my profits...
at least Toe was nice enough to spare me the Aggrocrowdophobia
of dealing with regular folks
at the Art Supply Warehouse
'cause he's cool like dat!
Buy BigToe art!
NOW!
or you'll get a....
PICK-UL!
Sketched it gingerly
in pencil
onto the wood...
i used a grid
usually don't
but this is professional-like!
not flight of fancy
seat-of-your-pants
kinny Art
mind you....
close-ups
color in the base "ground"
the grass under those shapey things..
by doing washes
I not only lost 6 precious hours of life in the HEAD-ZONE
but also succeeded in giving it a magical depth!
See?
Instead of the harsh indigo
(as shown in those above examples...if you've been PAYING ATTENTION)
i decided to use a kinda Hunter green/Dark Olive
which is a few shades lighter than the indigo
only a few shades,Ken?
ain't it still gonna be too dark and heavy and busy?
Huh PickleBoy?
Huh?
i just smile
knowing
- it was just a disembodied voice
2)or one o them figments
3)or that "divine discontent" that Miro speaks of
- i already done thought up a solution...
but you'll have to wait....
More of them pareaublahblahblah shapey things
Note how distance is cleverly represented by scale
SCALE!
by making things smaller they look farther away!
it's a parlour trick we artists use
when painted into a corner
plus it makes sense
i mean look around you....
the clever tangled shapes seem almost to taunt me as well...
PickleBoy!?!?
Well, I'll show THEM!
now onto the PALMS...
initial coloring..
Okay... back to the heavy dark shape dilemna
as you see
i have added a lighter olive to the shapes
giving them more form
and lightening them a bit more...
until later....
started on the A-frame
gettin the shadows going
(note: the original intention was to do the huts and tikis and everything in that curly swirly style
which would require abstracting that object into suitable chunks....NAH! i just made a decision and went with it!
Andeebedarned! i was doing it for the greater good and
i felt good enough an arteesto to make a judgment call
and pray he likes it...well he did! YAY!)
Oh! I'm so rude!
Here's a picture of the cel-vinyl i use
the acrylic is hi-quality Winsor-Newton(not pictured)
there's the gridded printout and sketches i refer to....
color overload!
about 12 hours of coloring and shading later....
fleshing out stuff
establishing lighting and texture....
doing washes over the grain to give it a semi transparent look in places
especially nearer to shore..
after getting the thatching done
i began to concentrate on the pufferfish
and the light he'd be projecting..
a view from on top of the temple/meeting hut
smaller=farther away!
the notorious pillar boys start to take shape....
as you can see
the curly shapes
have been further subdued
by festooning it
with grass and flowers!
festoon!
betcha ain't heared that in a while!
the miraculous midnight Sun..
i kept the center raw to capture the furious roiling of a sun...even a midnight Sun!
if you've noticed
i had added a purple color to the cloud outlines
as well as filled in the sky
with a painstaking technique of wet washes
now remember, this is raw wood
that SOAKS up liquid...
or bleeds out
so it was a challenge to get the right amount on the brush
PICkLE!
but worth the effort...
added an orangey brown
to make it warmer
also started hi-lighting things with colors
tonally lighter
cause it just makes sense...
the village started coming to life...
pufferboy is gettin brighter...
here's a view of that pineapple field
Andy relinquished the river and bridge
but would not budge on the pineapple fields
they were a lil bit challenging
because i wanted to simplify them
but still have them make sense in this strange world....
also not e the catamarans!
Approaching the finish line!
more layering in washes
adding hi-lights and such...
like the clouds...
it helps pop them off the sky and become fluffier!
that's right
i said it..
fluffier!
got the expression
the reflection
the boat texture
pretty nailed
plus he's gonna be about .05 inches tall or so
so optical blending will be key..
you can't imagine the time
spent staring at this from a distance of about 7 feet
chain smoking and squinting at this thing
all in order to ensure proper optical blending...
you can't imagine...
:)
washes of yellow
washes of white
finally it's looking brighter!
the shore
the pineapples
the moon and burping volcano
all coming together...
gave the Midnight sun some shadowing and hi-lights to make it wiggle amongst the stars more....
the notorious pillar brothers
are almost....ALIVE!
This last step is top secret
where i light incense
say a silent prayer
punch a kid
smoke a cig
and work with a fine-toothed comb
scanning the horizon for defects...
and then...
another 9 hours later
(about 47 total)
it's DONE!
and ready for sending to Andy
to have his personal designer
prettify it for public consumption!
Pretty as a...
you guessed it!
a PICKLE!
"Under the Midnight Sun"
acrylic and cel-vinyl on wood
private collection
a worthy challenge from a true friend
and we are both pleased with the end result
we hope you are too!SIMPLY SMASHING!
in fact....
You should BE at Andy's CD Release Party
here at the Tonga Hut
August 13th
to help us celebrate TikiJoe'sPop's THIRD ALBUM!
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=37299&forum=17&0
It's a little past my birthday
but you can bring me presents
i really won't mind you being late about it and all....
it's cool....
or purchase a 12x12 print of this lovely piece of art
they're signed and numbered by me
limited edition of 25
only 25 will be on this PLANET!
it should be on the endangered list,this print should be!
and i bet Andy would sign it too
and they'll only be $20
Thanks so much for wading thru all the babble
and learning the process
that goes on in the batcave...
1:00
time for a bath and bed....
Goodnight Ohana!
and mahalos for visiting
it's always a pleasure to hang out!
