Little lost Tiki's Art Chronicles and Stuffs! Page 70!A brief Return,BUT! Some new pieces to Delight YOU!!!

awesome use of color and fascinating details in this one, llt! great work!

Deeeeaaaaaamn! I been starrin at the last pic for about the last 28 minutes..........and my eyes R starting to leak...Beauty at its best..Maholla!!

It makes me wanna take off my shoes and run through the jungle laughing and singing a happy tiki song, until, of course, I fall into the quick sand and sink with that poor tiki on the right...

Wow! There's just so much going on! I feel like I consumed too much sugar when I look at it cuz my eyes keep twitchin! Looking really NICE.

ST

That's coming on incredible! y love when there's action in a paint and in this case is in the colors too!! very very cool!!!

Hello kids! Did we all have a good week? Good! Good! Thank you all for the encouragement and enthusiasm,during crazy weeks like this one,you all just put that smile on my face and heart...TC Ohana really help when it comes to gettin recharged! Well, a lotta detail has gotten filled in on Wed,Thurs night and today from about 9:30 til 10 :30 tonight! Also repainted over an old piece I never liked,got that one done as well. I wanted to get some new ones done for the November 11th Tonga Hut gig,so first, here's the newbie...just born around 8:00 tonight!

Very fun little break in between the coats of sealant for the Pele piece! The title of this painting is "Tiki Totem"just like the piece I painted over! It's on such a cool piece of wood,that it really needed something special! Here's what it used to look like.....EEW!

Yuck! I like this new version better! Plus it reads better when you turn it upside down! By the way, you can hang it either way! Jolly-o!
Well,enough of that, here's where I was this morning....

The painting is 4x4 feet to answer an earlier question... I did a lot of work today finishing up more palms and lava and getting the landscape more defined....

There's a couple of new characters added,see if you can find them!

and here's a detail of the lava that's been driving me nuts as of late....

Well, good friends, goodnight! A pretty solid 12-hour day! With a lunch break and half-hour nap, of course.Man! I love painting on days off! Mahalo for letting me share this with y'all! Hope you like it!

llt, you are a freakin machine! A nicotine, energy drink and no-doz fuelled machine! How do you do it month in and month out? I really love the stuff you do on random objects & bits of wood and that "repaint" is super sweet. How/where/when can I get one?

Hi lost, I Loooooovvvvveeeeee the totems. I was just skimming through to see what was new but havent read about them yet. I have also been working on totems lately. ( look for product to be announced Nov.1) Now Im really inspired to get in gear.
Dawn

On 2006-10-28 00:37, little lost tiki wrote:
Hello kids!
The painting is 4x4 feet to answer an earlier question...

Say WHAT!? (or should that be "What The??", Im a huge Rove fan, mainly for the "What The??"...)

Four feet x four feet!!! I have been watching the progression of this but had no idea of the scale! Thats insane! No wonder you need all the fags & performance enhancers! :lol:

Love the colour pallette you are using, very 'Old-Skool tattoo', esp. the lava.

How do you find the transition from being 'in' your paintings, to coming back to 'real life'? Im sure when you get right 'in there' its a lot like the focus/concentration of jewellery making. I have a hell of a time making the 'return trip' in order to respond to kids/wife/telephone, etc, heehee

Awesome stuff LLT! Tama :)

I love it LLT..

Looks around me from my big chair to see if I have wall space for a 4x4 .......... I love it Kinny, Can't wait to see some art at the TonGa..

Very nice man :) Love the detail

Howdy-doo!
Thought I'd post some progress tonight because I gots other woiks to do this week.Can't believe I actually got some time in this weekend! Between re-reading "Curse of Lono" by HST and going to Biff's Mahaloween gig,and naps,I didn't think I was gonna shake the lazy's! But it happened....about 6pm til 11:30-nice little stint/jag/session in the studio! Worked a lot on the lava and the cliffs, and had to do a sketchbook entry to figure out the land mass on this thing! Sneakytiki is right, it's like consuming too much sugar when you stare at it reeeeal close! WaWaWaWaWa (say it out loud real fast...) In fact, Do Not Consume sugar while looking at this! I don't want to be responsible for anymore deaths..... The reason you get that effect is that I like to place colors that fight each other right next to each other,especially in narratives with a violent or shocking element.Colors can be your friend!Kind of like Clarita said earlier about action and colors...That and keeping all the outline the same color really messes with your sense of distance,check out some Indian and Persian Miniature Paintings to get that cool vibe! Thanks Paipo for all the props,your work does something to me when I look at it,you nail it! PM me and we'll talk about the repaint...How do YOU do it month in and month out? You're a stone-chiselling machine!As for the "HOW"...It's just discipline,an understanding family,chemical imbalance,overactive imagination,long naps,intellectual and visual stimulation sessions,playing good tunes,short naps,and having a studio at home and away from home, and cigarettes! and redbull...or coffee....or both! Hey Dawn! Totems are the shizzle! Saw that one of yours at the end of the hallway,can't wait to see more! Your colors are outtasight!Now get it in gear,friend! Tamapoutini, I likes to woiks big sometimes.It's always fun to have a few "showcase" pieces for an upcoming whatever.The smaller pieces are fun when I get ADD and want to get my head out out of the bigger pieces...It's hard to make the transition from waking to painting life.My whole life I've always felt in-between,so to speak...The old cranium is very good at visual retrieval and multi-tasking,which helps a lot during painting.The lighting is usually autopilot while the forms have to work into the narrative and the composition.Giving them each a personality,then seeing how they react to one another and their environment.A lot of pieces I'll let the landscape simply act as a prop,but in this painting, I tried to give it more life and direction,an entity, like Pele herself.I never fully separate from a painting even while at work.A good colorway,or vague silhouette will command cigarette break and quick sketch for when the painting starts later. Real life sucks but it pays the bills! I don't get out too much, so these are like little vacations! Isle Conch,Hiphipahula, thanks! And Huey...grab some rum and sit on yer bum,cause here's some more details! But first...earlier, I had mentioned the landscape as prop.Here's a good example in "The House of Good Fortune". Note how the house is the most important element and the cliffs and river lead you towards it. The main subject controls the composition....

Now in the Pele piece, the landscape has a bit more control over the painting,leading your eye to and fro-looking for a way out of this explosive landscape!

Here's a landscape study so I wouldn't get lost...

and here's some more details of the lava and the middle island.It appears to be shaping up quite well!


It's areas like these where I get lost in the foliage! If you're going on a mental vacation, you might as well have a taste of adventure!

Good night Ohana! Talk to y'all soon! Keep Creating!

looking real good, lots of eye candy, can't wait to see how it shapes up.

Talk about eye candy, I agree completely! The Pele piece has lots to look at, the more you look at it the more you find. Really wonderful. 4 x 4 is huge, and it will really create a powerful focus for a Tiki room! Really a nice job LLT! Great work!

LLT!-that stuff is amazing to me yet again. Your work always looks so dreamy and 'twinkley'--like looking at a Christmas tree! HOGF and Pele are BOTH real eyeball ticklers. I started staring into the Pele piece and got lost m'self, it was a fun, happy lost though. I swear I thought I saw little Bird of Paradise blooms wearing grass skirts and carrying torches--was it just a dream!?!?

I'm w/ Paipo--How/where/when can a po' boy get hooked up w/a piece?!?!? Prints-Prints-Prints-we need'em--don't make me come find you!!! :D

What's the TiPSI (Tikis per square inch) count on that sucker? The little blue flame-holding fella would make a good stone carving too....
Are you gonna have this finished for the next show?

....This paint Is so beautiful I'm going to cry!! I really love your style!!

[ Edited by: Clarita 2006-11-03 10:16 ]

aloha llt! well i am stoked. i just received huhu. the pics in this thread can't begin to show how beautiful it is. so many great details. the book, about 500 tikis, is also amazing. i opened it before the painting and it was 20 minutes til i could put it down! with your permission, i think a little lost tiki tattoo would be awesome! the land of pele is absolutely blowin' my mind! it's shaping up as a modern tiki masterpiece! keep it up, braddah!

Ken, Post a new overview of your Pele painting - with the new lava. I wanna see the whole thing. Please.

Aloha Crew!
Thanks for being so STOKED! Well, haven't gotten but a few hours this week on this sucker,but I'll show you that as well as a "Behind the scenes" look at some of the studies for this painting! The approach to this piece was a little unconventional,but more challenging and entertaining! As you all had seen from the last posting,there were times when little lost tiki got lost in his own piece! Such are the hazards of creating jungle worlds...A few times I had experienced the equivalent of "painting oneself into a corner"-So here's some sketchbook entries first,then some painting progress shots for you to enjoy! First, we must address your inquiries and comments....thank you all for your continued excitement and enthusiasm! Oh! Before I forget...I got a 2-page spread in the latest issue of ISM magazine,go check it out!
Sirginn:
Eye Candy is the word! This guarantees years of enjoyment and thought! Have you ever seen William Blake's"Last Judgement" or Brueghal's "Triumph of Death"? Every time I study them something new is to be found! Keeps us artists from getting bored with our own stuff! (The fact the viewer is also captivated is merely a side effect...)
Brad:
When you gonna bust out a 4x4? or a 6x6? Once you go big you will want to always do bigger pieces! Your work would totally translate beautifully to a big canvas! Keep your scale the same,just more stuff,more vignettes to visit,like a village scene!
Surf-n-Turf:
Aloha old friend! I know, I'm a flake...I'll try and get you that disc we discussed soon!Those are Birds of Paradise in grass skirts! I had done a bunch of studies of different plant warriors and such and these were my favorites! As for the print thing,well...it might be a little while...I did the canvas giclee' print thing and really ate it.I should've started with paper instead of fancy pants museum stretched canvas and stuff! Way out of my league, I've discovered.I would love to do paper prints,but greenbacks are needed and the wahine's going to school ,so I'm working my buns off between work and painting,soooooo.....Anyone wanna sponsor a struggling arteest?
Paipo:
I could get this finished for the Tonga Hut/Tiki Tony/Tiki Magazine show, but it's too big to show there! I think I'll save it for one exhibit before selling it,but that's in the future! TIPSI factor? Well, here's a full-shot for you and Brad to look over and figure out yourself,I got writing to do! Look closely, I may have added some!

Clarita:
Don't cry! haha! Let's see what you've been creating lately! Haven't seen anything new for a week or two! Pleeeeeease?
Bullet,
Mahalos my friend! Glad you're stoked! Another satisfied customer folks! I alternate between bright and garish all the way to tonal and moody in terms of pallette,the more tonal pieces are a bit easier on the eyes and fit in with other objects well. The bright pieces tend to stand out more and excite the eye more! Anyone with hyperactive kids be warned! Do not hang LLT in your home,unless it's a toned-down pallette! Knew you'd dig the book...It started mostly as a way to access all my sketchbook tiki stuff ,but it was one of those collections that you just wanna share! Glad it took you away for a bit! Feel free to tat up anything in that book! Make sure to send me some pix when it's finished! I feel very honored...Thanks for the masterpiece comment,artist's don't hear that too often,and coming from a bloke like you, it means alot!
Well, I've talked your ear off, but those who stuck with it are about to be rewarded!
Here it is.... Little Lost Tiki battles the Volcano!!!!!!
First...in order to paint a volcano,one must study a volcano,so...here's some sketchbook entries!


here's some of the types of eruptions.... Where else can you look at fun art and get edjimicated at the same time?

Here's a colorful lava study....

Here's the area I got to tackle last week..

here's a detail of the volcano....a mix of a few of the eruption types...

and here's a new tiki I added...

note the lava pouring out the side of the hill, like it sprung a leak! That can't be good....

Here's the middle area,with more lighting,grass,vegetation added....

Here are two concepts I had for that area....


There! Hope that occupies you all for a while! I'll post more when I can! Again! Thanks for looking! BUT! Before I go...I'll show you a new drawing 'cause I likes it and you ain't sees it before..... It's called "the Cannibal's Collection" Enjoy!

amazing, llt! i don't claim to be an art expert. i just know what i like. but, i don't go throwing the word masterpiece around freely. land of pele is deserving of my highest praise. it's a treat to watch the progress on it. mahalo braddah llt!

Man, You Gotta Lotta Lava There and it looks HOT. Neat studies. I love how you broke it down to stone, Lava flows, vegetation and all the layers that make it a great piece.

Hi Ken!

I'm sorry I haven't been around much lately, things have been crazy here! Thank you so much for posting your works and studies, they completely fascinate & captivate me!

Take care my friend,

On 2006-11-04 20:16, Tikiwahine wrote:

...they completely fascinate & captivate me...

/quote]

Tama sez: Ditto, compelling, captivating, facinating, impressive, amusing, evil genius... I'd probably pass out viewing one 'for real'! Cool stuff LLT! :)

BEEEEEutiful! (LLT, I think you rang my studio today, but I was painting, and didn't see who it was. If I'd known it was u, I'd have picked up!) Love the eruption!

LLT, I'm not up on all the color and technique stuff. I'm just a color-blind whittler. All I know is that your painting blows me away. You should be having a La Luz de Jesus show.

Of course the Tonga Hut will do nicely in the meantime.
Bring that 5 bucks and the ciggie you owe me.

I Love it! all the color, the eruption sketches alone look great! Most of all I love your palm trees! :) I have a thing about palms, can't landscape without them! see ya at the Tonga

Hatred growing.

Oh wait a minute. That's Tiki Shark's thread.

Good stuff. Indubitably.

Nice work. Lottsa lottsa detail. and fire everywhere! :)

Hey llt! I'm looking forward to seeing more of your paintings in person. You have an INSANE style. Those study's are paintings/art in their own right. Are you going to be bringing any of the studies you did for the paintings to the tonga? I'd love to see them if ya are.

My favorite is the study drawing of the lava gushing out of the side of the volcano.

Mahalos Bullet!
You da man! I will question your statement no longer! Art is like that...you either like it or don't! Thanks again for all the support!
Benz,
Thank you sir! I imagine you break down a piece of wood into a landscape of textures and dimension just as in a painting...Fortunately for my scrawny arms,it's a little easier than you carvers with your big strong manly arms!
Thanks Shani!
Always a smile when i see your name or think of that fez picture! You're like Happiness Inc.!
And always to glad to captivate the ladies,despite being a fat old married weirdo guy!
Tama! You probably would pass out! Especially if you visited the "Electric Puha" that Paipo mentioned...I think a lot of my lighting sense came from those acid days of my long lost youth.At least with the paintings,you can "come down" just by not looking at it! Evil genius?
Maybe mean,or crabby,but not evil.Evil is for suckers....ask Rumsfeld!
Brad, Squid,Hiphip,and GROG,
Get outta here and go bug someone you don't see that often! Indubitably!
Hewey!
let's get some more rum-soaked drawings posted!
Polynesiac,
I'll bring a couple of sketchbooks if you do! I'll also have copies of "about 500 Tikis" and stuff that we can show and tell! I'm trying to get Squid to start a sketchbook as it would keep his drawings all together! Seeing as we gotta get there way early to set up ,we'll have a lotta time to kill! Really looking forward to meeting ya and seeing your groovy sculpts and the way they come to life in person!
Well folks,sad to say,no progress this week on Pompele...BUT besides doing 6 landscape medallions for the mugs, I also did up some pieces ...new ones for the Tonga Hut shew!
Here they are so far! please forgive the blurriness,but I just thought I'd share how things look to an artist after running ragged on after work art jags every night til one or so!
Here they are,most of em quickies that are thrift store finds that I gesso or paint over!





and one I'm gonna finish tomorrow night at the studio....

Actually,I just finished it last night with an extra one for good measure!

This should be a great show at the TongaHut on Saturday! i'm bringing about 20 pieces and will sell some out of my car if there's no wall room! I'm also bringing the last few copies of my Tiki Coloring Book and "about 500 Tikis' book so make sure you show up! As for the pele painting.....I promise to get some more done on the big one after the Tonga Hut show!
Aloha Ohana! and thanks for visiting!

visit http://www.kenruzic.com for a Grand Old Time!

[ Edited by: little lost tiki 2006-11-10 21:58 ]

What a prolific artist you are Ken. Can the eyes have an orgasm? I'm still trying to absorb Return of the Pineapple King!! Your latest stuff is outta sight!! One of these blinkin weekends I'm gonna get down there to a local show. Good luck this weekend.

Thanks for sharing some of the method behind the madness, and for more of the "re-animated" thrift store finds...I love those things! Looking forward to pics from the big night.....

Whats up,Kinney?! Your work keeps getting deeper every week..I'm Lovin It!! PM me ....I gots a ?? on the mask n cross spears piece. Pm or call. Keep rollin the good stuff......art that is. :-b LOL

Hey kids!
To answer your question alohacurrent

[QUOTE]
Can the eyes have an orgasm?[/QUOTE}
No,that's called crying! You may however, have a real one when viewing choice pieces in realtime.That is why I wear diapers whilst painting! Get down here and see some shows!
Paipo: the thrift store finds arose from a few things.... Price/the character-shape of the piece/ and wanting to save poor old sorry placques and stuff destined for the trash heap.Lord knows we have enough junk in our landfills! I read a study on Garbageolgy where they took core samples from a junkyard and found newspapers from the 40's! I can't even imagine how long it'll take diapers to break down! :lol: Wish you could be at the Tonga Hut for this show! Any plans to exhibit in the USA? Your work needs to be shared World-wide! I won't be taking any pics tonight because I'm still a bit under the weather,but someone will,and I'll try to ham it up if a camera is in the general area!
Freddie: Wish you could be at the Tonga Hut tonight! Now who's gonna buy me drinks? Maybe I'll just keep rolling the good stuff....art that is!
Here's an oldie piece I'm bringing tonight-hope there's enough wall-space!

Laters!

Wow, I just looked thru all the newer pix u posted, great stuff LLT!

ST

Little Lost Tiki Ken - The tiki totem was AMAZING in person at th Tonga Hut, and so was all o' dem , butt especially the Tiki Paddle! Lucky Grog for buying that one! Although I missed the seeing the ultimate surf board piece...

ALOOOOOOOOHAW!
Wow. Last posting 15 days ago....remind me never to mix eggnog and robitussin! Thank you. Thank you. i'll be playing here all week.....Anyways, sorry for the major delay! During the flurry of the pre-thanksgiving, impossible and daunting challenges from work,and life in general, painting time had been reduced to an hour here and an hour there! Plus, I had to finish the oval medallion illustrations for the three TikiFarm Mugs in the work.......Here's the link if you've been unawares of this treasure....
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=20932&forum=12&start=45
Well, as for "Pompele" (or "the land of Pele"-whatever it's gonna end up being named),it looks like this Beast is almost done! Got to work on it Wed night at the studio and then took it home for a few hours onThanksgiving before the Big Food Coma,then Saturday was a whole day of naps and DVDs and Sunday became a session from about 7:30 in the morning to about 6 tonight! Upon a closer study, there may be areas that need some fine-tuning, but for all intents and purposes, it's pretty much Donesville! Hooray! Phew! Been itching to start something new for about a week! That'll drive an artist crazy! Especially when the idea room is full but the canvases are still white! Well, first off, here's the whole thing....

Please excuse the glare off the top-I'll try and shoot a daytime shot very soon! Below is my TikiFarm Mini-Chiminea that kept me warm in the studio this morning. I just stuck a few tea light candles in there and the durn thing spit out warm air and the ceramic absorbed the heat and radiated it outward and kept my little slippered toes all warm and happy! Thanks Holden! Painting well is 1% inspiration and 99% keeping your toes warm! Uh-huh!

Now, to understand this piece, you must remember that the narrative happens in different areas throughout the canvas, just like our grand human drama here on earth, some events carry purpose, while other actions do not.....Your job as viewer is to be sort of a jungle entomologist/sociologist/archeologist person, delving into these strange cultures and deciphering their deeds. They are painted this way so I can stare at this thing for years and still get a sense of newness and adventure.....daddy don't like to get bored....

Above is the foreground area i haven't touched since the beginning of this painterly odyssey. I surrounded the jungle spirits with a a slight glow to pop them forward as well as to soften them into the land....

this guy turned out funny, I imagine he's communicating something to the bird of paradise warrior across the gulf,but the earthquakes and lava sloshing prevents me from hearing their dialogue (plus, knowing their language would help....)

Here's just a shot of the middle to give you a feel for all the lush vegetation in this piece! And lava too!
Here's a reeeeeal close-up shot of an area so you can see how i build up the canvas. You can still see the initial ink wash under the grass/treetrunks/and lava....and the canvas texture too!

The fun part about this style is the optical blending you get when you back away from it about 10-20 feet. Then the real fun begins when you get all up in it's grill and check it out at about 5 inches away from the surface! Optometrists love these kind of paintings! they call 'em "Eye-Killers"! Well, here's a detail of the top above the Hut, showing you the starry sky i decided on around 2:00 today.....

Pictured here is the lava flow,the Tiki on the LavaBank, and the lava-ly (thanks Brad) river oozing by....

Here's another shot of the Hut with more details to the right......

and to the left......

Here's a reeeeeal close-up of the volcano and the lil' palm trees and cliffs I put up in the upper left of the piece....it needed somethin' over there!

Here's an extreme close-up of those two jungle spirits in the forground...notice the work put into the flaming hibiscus and grassy grounds! Please notice-no one else does......

And lastly, the little tiki troll under the bridge,waiting for someone to cross....

Well, my friends, that was fun, but exhausting! Don't know if I'll do a progressive painting posting anytime soon...but rest assured friends, i already have a couple of more pieces rattling around and ready to be loosed in the near future!
I have to be careful with my ideas tho!
Here's why! Recently, in my home studio, it felt as if these eyes were staring at me...Very strange...Usually after this feeling, i would get a call from Squid with another one of his great ideas! It was like he was reading my MIND! Well, yesterday, I turned around and saw THIS!

A Surfboard/transmitter disguised as an art piece but really a Squid listening device! Imagine my shock and awe! Anyways, I burnt the darned thing and finally removed the aluminum helmet and socks......Absolutely shocking, wouldn't you agree? Where else but on TC can you find so much intrigue and MUG WARS hi-jinx? Enough of the babbling! Thank you all for looking and I'll chat atcha' soon!
Your Humble Servant,
Kinny

visit http://www.kenruzic.com for a Grand Old Time!

[ Edited by: little lost tiki 2006-11-27 08:22 ]

Zowie!

Ken, I think it is real interesting how each and picture you have here showing the detail of the large piece, look great by themselves. Each of those pieces could make a great artwork. Very nice piece.

GROG's eyes are bleeding!

sorry,grog I farted...oops..
Off the hook ken love it...

Boom goes the dynamite! That painting is straight up crazy go nutz! Dig the Squid too!

Chongolio

The land of pele is really amazing!! And when I think that it couldn't get any better, you do an update!!! Best wishes Tiki friend!!

Dude! What Paipo said.

Beautilicious!!! Amazing detail Ken! Thanks for the close-ups, I never would have imagined just how much work goes into each little element.