Jungalero - New Drawing - August 08 - pg 3

Hi,

I’ve been lurking around Tiki Central for a while and have finally got round to posting. I’ve really enjoyed reading the forums but have particularly enjoyed reading Creating Tiki; there are so many great artists here, the standard of work is so high, really amazing. I especially enjoy seeing people’s Tiki/bar rooms, all of which are great and some are just jaw-droppingly out-of-this-world.

Anyway, I’ve always been interested in art and loved to draw as a kid, I carried the interest through my school years and eventually ended up going the art-school route. This didn’t really work out for me and I quit after a few months, I found the over-intellectualizing of everything and pretension really depressing. It kind of put me off art for a while, I didn’t have the inclination to pick up a pencil or brush for a long time.

Well, around the late nineties I was getting into Tiki culture and discovering the likes of Shag, Mark Ryden and other “lowbrow” artists. I loved the fact that here were a group of artists who were doing what they wanted, just following their own instincts without worrying about the “art world”.

Similarly, when I found Tiki Central and saw the stuff that people were doing here I was blown away. The enthusiasm people have for what they do is so refreshing and really contagious. This is one of the great things about Tiki: it just seems to encourage people to create, even people who have never picked up a paintbrush or chisel before.

After seeing some of the great stuff people have done on here, it got me round to thinking that I could do something. Yeah, I was actually getting to the point were I wanted to paint again. So here it is, the first painting I’ve completed for a long, long time. I’ve been calling it “Moai Svengali” and it’s acrylic paint on canvas board, 24x18 inches. It took me a while to complete, but I really enjoyed it and I’m pleased to finally have something to contribute.

Thanks for looking.

"I feel like Alan Ladd at Easter Island"

[ Edited by: Jungalero 2007-02-07 18:00 ]

[ Edited by: Jungalero 2007-07-05 10:49 ]

[ Edited by: Jungalero 2007-08-25 09:09 ]

[ Edited by: Jungalero 2007-10-06 03:40 ]

[ Edited by: Jungalero 2008-08-17 07:04 ]

Nice work! If that were a print, I would certainly buy one. Keep 'em coming!

Wow!!! , you should paint more and more.

Thanks for sharing.

I love it, Betty page, Martin Denny, ki'i and Moai, beautiful!

ST

Whoa...

Well welcome to TC (your new home) Jungalero, where you been?

We need to see your portfolio, and fast. This is amazing talent.

Loving the crispness and colors.

Mahalo

McTiki

Wao!Beautiful work!Print some posters of that one,and keep painting, thats what you should do!

very nice, I agree.

Great artwork! Welcome to TC, looking forward to seeing more of your work

I agree! Keep painting! More! More! Welcome to the TC Ohana!

I wanna see more !!!. I love that latin flare, the conga drum with Desi Arnaz.. the tiki with the maracas..the dark hair maiden..

...."The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"...Einstein

[ Edited by: IsleConch 2006-09-29 17:07 ]

Hey there,

Thanks to everybody for the feedback, it’s really gratifying to get such a positive response. I certainty intend to carry on painting and I’m just about to start on my next picture, which will be slightly different in style but will still be Tiki themed. Unfortunately, it seems to take me a long time to complete a painting these days, the reasons are threefold:

1. I’m a bit rusty, not having painted for so long.

2. Time constraints (damn job!).

3. Also, I do most of my painting late at night/in the early hours of the morning, which means I do get a little zombified after a few days (and not in a good way). It’s at this point that I become afflicted with a medical condition called “Hound-dog Eyes”*, and falling asleep in front of the TV becomes obligatory.

(*not actual photo)

Ok, so I’ve got my excuses in early, but as soon as it is finished I will post it here. Hopefully it won’t take too long.

Thanks once again for the comments.

Mahalo,
Jungalero

…I said it would take me a while.

Ok, so here’s what this is: I wanted to try this idea of putting two different styles together in the same painting, a flat “graphic” style as a background with more “photo-realistic” elements (or element, in this case). This was more of an exercise really, in terms of technique as much as anything else, and I’m still pondering on how well the two styles go together. Anyway, maybe it’s an idea I’ll return to in the future.

Vital statistics: 19 inches x 15 inches, acrylic paint on paper.

...and a close up on the face...

Thanks for looking,
Jungalero

On 2006-09-21 17:26, Sneakytiki wrote:
I love it, Betty page, Martin Denny, ki'i and Moai, beautiful!

ST

No kidding!!! That is really great. Your art would look good on an album cover!!!

I love the Monotone and flatness of the background in combination with the detail in the figure. Great stuff, keep 'em coming.

Very nice indeed! The two paintings are great, it must be a tremendous effort painting them at night o early in the morning, but I think it's really worth it! Congrats!

Thanks Vampiress, that’s quite a compliment. It’s funny; a piece of album cover art is partly responsible for getting me here in the first place. I remember buying the Exotic Moods of Les Baxter CD with Mark Ryden’s “Pele” painting on the cover, this was in my first flush of Tiki experience back in ’96. It was the first time I’d heard the music of Les Baxter and the art seemed to compliment the music perfectly; it was an intoxicating cocktail! That painting certainly played its part in setting me off on the road of Tiki discovery and definitely inspired me to do my own paintings.

Frostiki – thanks for your feedback on the graphic/realistic style. The more I look at it, the more I see possibilities.

Clarita – Thanks for the kind words. It’s not so much the staying up late at night painting that’s an effort, it’s the getting out of bed the next morning! Seriously, it does feel worth it and the feedback certainly helps.

Mahalo,
Jungalero

"I feel like Alan Ladd at Easter Island"

[ Edited by: Jungalero 2007-04-05 08:19 ]

Jungalero,
Yes, really nice. I really like the second painting. Great color choices. I'm always fighting Worth my color theory. I know you love Ryden, who doesn't! What do you think of Shag? BG on #2 looks a bit shag-adallic! Very nice, baby!

Not enough time to paint? He's what you need to do. Just give up TV, and paint instead. That's what I do. Job? You're so good at art, THAT should be your job! Perhaps u should post the progress on your paintings as you do them? (please) I'd love to see your process. I'm always inspired by seeing how other artists create. Or at least show us your sketches, and then the final. You must be wicked good with a pencil too.

More Please!

Love that portrait painting. I want one of "me" to hang above my tiki bar!!

killer work! good thing for all of us you got back into painting. i sometimes go months without hitting the easel. life and other projects, you know. (and work)
really, awesome skills Junglero.

Sweet Stuff, Really Sweet!

You are one badass painter Jungalero! I'm a big fan of mixing styles. I've no doubt you could teach me more about painting than I could suggest to you, but I just wanted to post 1 suggestion especially since you are contrasting the flat background with the dimensional figure in front.

Any time you paint an outline around an object (or draw 1 for that matter) it tends to flatten said object. You need some lines to start the painting but to make it pop fwd you need to get rid of them unless they would exist in real life. The dark brown outline of the Woman's face/neck works fine on the right as this is your shadow side. The dark outline of the face and neck on the left which is your bright high light side would not be there, and as painted flattens your figure a bit, tending toward merging her into the background. The piece is so well done that it's a great success as painted and she DOES pop fwd. I just wanted to recommend painting that dark line out of the left side. If you painted that a light color against the dark green it would add alot of depth to the piece. Just for shiggles try holding your finger over the dark lines on the Left side of face/ neck and watch the woman come towards u. Weird aye?

Anyways Bravo on an outstanding piece! Please don't take my suggestion as any kind of a slight. I wouldn't waste time talking about anything unless I thought it was outstanding.

ST

Hey,

TSA – I love Shag! For me his use of a limited palette, and the combination of colours he chooses, is one of the most appealing aspects of his work. Yeah, the background of the last piece was kind of inspired by Shag - that flat “graphic” style - but using various tones of the same colour, which is always a pretty safe bet. It seems to work well and hopefully isn’t too derivative (heh, heh).

It is interesting to see other artist’s technique (I’ve been keenly following your thread); I need to get into the habit of recording the different stages. At the moment I’m getting a bit “back to basics” with my drawing, particularly when it comes to looking at building form, etc, so I haven’t been doing much Tiki stuff in the past few weeks. One thing I love about Todd Schorr’s work is that the objects in his paintings look so solid, to me he’s “the master” technique-wise, particularly when it comes to using acrylics.

Also, I decided to take your advice and threw the TV out the window, Motley Crue style:

It seemed to make sense at the time, although, on reflection, maybe the bandana was a mistake.

Fres-tiki & Benzart – thanks for the encouragement.
greentikipat – yeah, there’s always something to get in the way and take up valuable painting time, I’m really trying to be a bit more disciplined when it comes to that. I’m loving your latest piece, by the way.
Sneakytiki – Thanks for the comments. I see what you mean; I hadn’t looked at it like that. I might try to lighten that outline in Photoshop and see how that looks. Where would we be without some constructive criticism?

Mahalo,
Jungalero

Hey,

Haven't done much in the way of Tiki art in the recent months, but here's a drawing of a Mondo Maori mug I did recently. I think it's one of my favourite mugs...

Thanks for looking,

Jungalero

Excellent as always. Are you selling prints of the first picture you posted? :D

Very nice drawing! it almost look like a photo. Congrats!

Nice work you have posted here Jungalero. It's great to hear that we have inspired you, the artist within. I like your name.

Vampiress, I'm afraid that I don't have any plans to do prints at this point in time - maybe in the future...

Here's my latest work, inspired by the imminent release of Sven's new book (which looks absolutely amazing), I decided to try my hand at a modern/cubist/abstract tiki (call it what you will)...

...acrylic on paper, 20x16 inches. Apologies to Picasso.

Thanks for looking,
Jungalero

I really like that one too...wonderful style and blend of colors. :D

Look deep into my eyes.....

You are feeling very sleepy.....

Very sleepy.....

Listen to the tone of my voice.....

Now repeat after me.....

"Must make prints for Vamp....must make prints for Vamp....." :lol:

Hey,

I wanted to do a portrait of Bettie Page (how original), but to make it a bit more interesting I made it into a mock-pulp-book-cover-type-thing.

"Jungle Nocturne" - acrylic on paper, 14.5 x 9 inches.

Thanks for looking.

WOW!!!!

Great job Jungalero!!

The Betty Page pic is very nice and I LOVE that abrstract tiki design!!! That would make a great menu!

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

I love that abstract tiki, very cool. Betty looks great too, in both paintings. Thanks for sharing.

Nice work! That mug sketch is my favorite by far, almost photo realistic and a great vintage look :D

"HOT TIKI ACTION"!!!!!!!

I LOVE IT! Rock on with your Motley Crew bad Tiki Self! Yeah baby, YEAH!

Your work is wonderful! That black and white mug sketch was a real gem!

VAVAVOOM!
Great betty page painting!
and the colors and style of your abstract piece would make Picasso Proud!

Hello all,

It's been a long time since I posted anything on here, but here's a Tiki related drawing that I just finished. It's graphite on paper, 14"x10".

Thanks for looking,
Jungalero

She's smokin'. That's a great drawing and I love the abstract Tiki.

holey moley, thats a beautiful piece!

Thanks for the feedback – it’s always appreciated.

On 2008-08-17 08:48, Tabu wrote:
She's smokin'.

Indeed! Now that it's against the law to smoke in enclosed public places (bars, restaurants, etc), this is pretty much the scene we’re seeing outside Tiki Bars the length and breadth of the UK.

Mahalo,
Jungalero

Hey Jungalero!

Beautiful stuff!

I really like all your pieces for different reasons. That "experiment" (successful, I'd say) of the "3-D" model against the flat green background is striking and very well executed. And your "Jungle Nocturne" is definitely smokin'! (Love my Bettie!)

And, speakin' of "smokin'", I also really respond to your "Tipsy Tiki Room" -- wonderful modulations and composition. I've done a lot of black & white graphite work myself, but none of it tiki so far.

Well, that's it for now and I'll be keepin' my eye out for more of your work!

Cheers & Mahalos! :drink: :tiki:

[ Edited by: KreepyTiki 2008-09-15 16:34 ]