The Lurid low-brow Tiki-Art of Brad (tiki-shark) Parker

Wow Brad! Such a rich web of design, color, and execution! Love watching the stages too! Looking fantastic!

Aloha TC,
Hewey, Suburbanpagan, Thanks so much! I'm inching along, sneaking in painting time after work. Here's what I did last night...

Can you see it?

I'm working on making the tiki look like it's made out of wood this time.

Hey, today's date is 07 07 07! That makes it... Ah... international "We should be in Vegas playing slots day!"

Aloha from the smoking seething erupting volcanic island~
B (tiki shark) P

Wow! What a concept ... tikis made out of wood! Who'da thunk it! :wink: Sorry, Brad! Just messin' with ya!

This is looking quite fabulous! It's excruciating to have to wait for the updates, but I'm kinda enjoying the tease. :blush:

You're insane, and we're all the better for it :D

Aloha Brah,

You are one very seriously talented artist!!! I am truly envious of your mastery of detail. Love seeing your creations.

Mahalo

Sweet bro...very sweet!!! As I begin my own tikinatious artizmic journey...
I draw much Inspiration from dudes like you..and thor..and the grand master The Shag!

keep-um cumin Ma-halos!

From Frojo!

Mmmmm, close-up! Not quite as good as scoping the real thing but it sure helps.
I really hope you're planning to get some TikiShark mugs made before too long. Fish-chin and the Creature would make a nice starting set!

JentikiWhat I mean is that I wanna this one to look more like wood than the previous ones. It's actually strange what Tiki/palm tree wood grain looks like. So here's my best excruciatingly slow shot at it... :)
HeweyI insanely thank you.
Dirk YatesI seriously thank you!
FrojoWelcome to the tikinatious artizmic journey my friend! I'm honored you place is such talented company, cause I look to Thor and Shag for inspiration Too! Thor's lighting is amazing, and Shag's color choices are masterful!
PaipoMugs! Yes, I have thought about them. I'm weighing out the financial possibilities. I'll let you know well in advance if things get in the works. Thanks!

Here's another close up of some woodie work.
We got guests in! So the ol art studio has become a guest room for a few days. tomorrow we take the trek to show off the volcano!
All hail Pele!
Mahaloo from the volcano
Brad~

Brad,

I love work that constantly reveals more upon further viewings! I just noticed the Cthulu mythology-like seastar with the eye in its center!! Too cool. :)

Take care,

I.

Master Shark Man,

It blows me away that your working all this detail out on a 30 x 24 inch canvas....I could never have the patience for this.

Bravo!

Shark,

You are by far one of the sickest painters around! (yes, that is a compliment)

I'm always inspired by your "lighting FX" and truly hope to capture the kind of detail in my own work.
Can't wait to see the finished piece. Kudos Bro!

The wood detailing is coming along great, I can't wait to see more.

Aloha TC!
IvanchanYou totally plugged into the Cthulu aspect. I have a strange and strong notion that connects tropical oceania with Cthulu mythos, and it's sneaking more and more into my work.
BabbluReally? Is that detailed for 30 x 24? It is a bit busy. At first it seemed like such a huge canvas, I had to put more into it to fill it up with something interesting.
otikinikoThanks for the sick complement. :)
Frostiki Thanks, now to more colors layers on the other side of the tiki...

Mahalo from the volcano...

I dont know how you do it!

This one is amazing Brad!

Wow! I'm gonna have to go all John Madden on you! "You see, this is where Brad lays down the paint! BOOM!" Incredible!

Hey TC!
JPMARTDOG~ Thanks! That's one sick puppy!
SUBRUBANPAGAN~Big Mahalo! Boom!
So we had some guests.

We took them to the Place of "this"...

And to the "U know what."

Then I got to work on some color layering. Changing the tiki from it's weird pumpkin color...

To more of the woodie color I was searching for. See around da fish head, that's what I was trying to get.
I'm on the third layer, while trying to let the bottom two still show through in places.

Big Aloha from the Big Island!

Tiki Shark

http://www.myspace.com/Lotus_Land

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2007-07-14 11:55 ]

Aloha TC,

After a visit to the Volcano, I always get a bit inspired.

The "Tiki O' Da Volcanic Steam Vents"

Mahalo from the Volcano~

Hey TS, I don't think you painting is to busy at all. I think your composition of the elements works wonderfully. It's your attention to the detail, and your layering process that blows me away. I'm not a skilled 2D person, but it seems to me like it would require a great deal of patience to work though this all this imagery with such thoroughness in this space. It's one of your finest works in my opinion!

Yo Brad, Tiki Shark on the Island! So I got to thinking, about your incredible work ethic and the amazing transformations we regularly see from sketch to finish - your grasp of color and layering of paint, and of course... your imagination and creativity, equally dosed with a genuine friendly and caring personality taking time to answer our questions and even visit us on myspace. Well..... I got to thinking and ........... I'm depressed! LOL

Seriously though, we've seen a few glimpses of your home and "studio" but could you add a picture of your work space - ie. your palette (glass or disposable? one color at a time?), paints and brushes(your favorite brush and size?), your easel or table and general work environment (natural light, open air, big views or work all night long?). Do you work on more than one piece at a time, it seems you do your tiki sketches while you are working on painting "du jour".

Not meaning to be intrusive, I think your workspace would prove to be equally educational and inspirational to us "wannabe" artists. Once again, I really appreciate your posts and seeing the transformation of your incredible work! Thank you
Jon M aka jpmartdog aka Madd Jon Kidd

Babalu ~ Thanks! That's just what I needed to hear at this moment!

JPMARTDOG~
Hey I didn't know you were my pirate buddy Madd Jon Kidd! Cool! Aloha! Thanks for the big complement, really nice to hear! As they say around these parts.... MAHALO!
Well, ya know, I'm new at this painting thing. This month, will be one year since I started. (I think. or was it Aug 2006?) So, I'm sort of a late bloomer and stumbling my way through figuring out how to do things. A constant learning experience. I'm not sure I'm even getting this color layers thing right. But the latest piece is getting closer I think to me getting the hang of it. It's only with the encouragement of folks like yourself off Tiki Central, and the mighty LLT, that I've gotten this far.

I will post some shots of my work studio/guest room, soon. It's kind of a temp space, and not the art studio I've been dreaming of yet. I paint when I can squeeze time in. Usually, after I finish up my regular work with Tiki Shark Hawaii Inc. So, yeah, many late nights. And, only if no one is visiting from the mainland - and staying the the guest room! And let me tell you, since we moved out here, we've seen our friends more than when we lived in LA! Ha!

Right now, I'm posting the latest experiment: Turning the tiki from the great pumpkin color into wood color...

There's the whole thing so far.

And here's the tiki. He's toned down from the pumpkin to a more realistic old wood. I did it by layering on a grayed out version of the oranges I was using. Adding a cool blue to the warm orange toned it down. I'm trying to let some of the under layers show through, especially in the dark areas. One rule I've been following that has helped is "darks are transparent and light shades are opaque."

Big Mahalo from the Volcano!
Brad - Tiki Shark

Tiki Shark

http://www.myspace.com/Lotus_Land

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2007-07-15 11:57 ]

Inspiring!
Momentum is growing...figures coming alive...good call on mixing the pumpkin with the blue,that way your dominant color in the painting has welcomed the wooden tiki into its realm...Mighty instincts have you!
And could i get a shot of what kind of toothpaste and deodorant you use? :lol:
Amazing as usual!

Wow! Looking good Brad! It's been a treat following you through this one.

Aloha TC!
So, here's that shot of my studio I promised...

Like I said, it's a temp studio that gets changed into a guest room when we got company. Not all dat interesting, but not all that bad. It's got two windows that let in a lot of light, and mirrored closet doors opposite so yeah, a lot of light in the morning! Since it's not a permanent working space, I don't have all my weird usual stuff up. Such as movie posters, autographed photos of movie monsters (just my favorite the Creature from the Black Lagoon), my old monster models, and movie props and misc toys and such.

Got some more work on the tiki done. Working in the distressed wood look.

Here's a closer look. I think it's looking a like an old palm wood tiki that's been in a sea cave for a while... right?

Big Mahalo from the volcano!

Hey there!

I love seeing where an artist works. Even the temp situations! They can have a Zen minimalism about them. :)

Take care,

I.

That is one nuts looking tiki. You paint some of the coolest looking tikis I have ever
seen.

You suck, man I wish I could paint like that

That texture on the tiki is nuts! Love the point where the warm and cool light meets on him too! Looking fantastic!

Ivan ~ Well my studio temp, that's fer sure. It's is not the "cave of Wonders" that is LLT's. But, I look forward to setting up one just as colorful and full of art stuff!
Congatiki~ Thanks! this tiki is sort of something outa my head. I didn't want to just do Ku. I want to make new styles and types, like crazy Al is doing.
Frostiki ~ I know.
Suburbanpagan ~ Yes, this one I'm really wanting to get the old weathered wood texture. So, let's take a look...
I think the tiki's texture may be done.

So, tonight I think I can start the cave walls...

Big Mahalo from the Volcano!

Those are cave walls, that makes a lot of sense now. If you said they were earlier, I must have missed that. I thought that that where a decorative edge with a different plane of ground.

HEY TC!
TeaKEY~ Yep, yep, sea cave. Or supposed to be. Or "a decorated edge of a different plane of existence" maybe. That's always my greatest fear: I draw a cow. And someone looks at it and say's, "What a funny looking horse." I know, I gotta really think of how I wanna treat the cave walls to make them 1. look like what they are supposed to be, and 2. be really interesting. It's been bouncing around in my noggin fer a while. In the mean while...

VooDooRoom Tiki~

Happy Aloha Friday everyone~
Mahalo from the Volcanic island!

Tiki Shark

http://www.myspace.com/Lotus_Land

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2007-07-23 13:02 ]

Ooooh...love the background! Rrrrawr!
The weathering is looking very authentic Brad, now come on...FINISH IT! I'm in agony here!

When are you gonna paint the flavor of the drink - Im dying to see what she's got in da mug!

Dude, it's taking so long to finish this painting, it's like watching paint dry. Oh wait a minute. We are watching paint dry..... never mind.

(P.S. Keep up up the good work you bastard, it's looking awesome.)

Aloha TC,
PaipoGlad u like it. I put her in for you!
JPIt's gotta be some rum drink no doubt!
Grog~I know, I want dis one done too!
So, we had a tropical storm swing through the islands this weekend. Lots of rain! Great display of lighting off the coast late Saturday night! Big Island wise, it feels like we're getting more rain now, then we did in winter. Maybe it's like Monsoon season? So, while the warm rainy gray weather raged, I stayed in and painted a bunch - I painted slimy sea cave walls and skulls.

I didn't want this painting to be about death, so I tried to really push the skulls into the back ground by making them a darker shade. (hmmmm... slimy.)

I have no idea what color the star fish is yet. I think it gotta be in the warm spectrum, cause everything in the cave is in a warm light, as opposed to everything out side is in a cool light. So... orange? Yellow? I gotta figure that out tonight.

Mahalo from the Big Island~

Tiki Shark

http://www.myspace.com/Lotus_Land

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2007-07-23 12:18 ]

Such a pleasure to watch this masterwork blossom.

I've enjoyed the extreme close-ups where I can see the texture of the canvas... it feels like I'm peeking behind the scenes at Disneyland.

The starfish, yes, maybe it needs to be dark, perhaps ruddy, so it doesn't interfere with the tiki.

Tough choice!

does ruddy mean ruby? A dark ruby red would be cool but the lobster might be that color. Their are such thing as blue lobster I believe and they are rare and a beauty. With maybe a little mossy green algae on its tail fin.

Sheesh!
RUDDY? RUBY? BLUE?
All I know is the color is gonna be awesome!
You'tre right on the money Brad,keeping it warm...and cozy...and inviting...
Is it that warmth that drew past explorers into that cave?
Were they also offered the same beverage this siren is holding?
Is it their skulls that line the cave walls today?
Hiding dem bones up in the rafters so unlucky beachcombers won't see them until it's too late?
I like how the title "Moon over Manky-whatever" doesn't describe the theme,only the mood!
21st Century Master you are!
Keep it up Brad,this piece is making huge leaps each session!

Aloha TC!
TikifoolThanks, and thanks for the advise, (as you can see below I took it.) All these years I've known you, you've always been a great source for direction!
teaKEYYeah, I always sorta thought ruddy was kind of a red. But Also, I want the lobster to be really red. So I pushed the star fish towards a non bright red color. (by mixing in a tad of green) a Blue lobby sounds really cool! But, I want everything in the cave to be in the warm spectrum, so I'll save the blue lobby for another painting.
LLT~ THANKS! Hmmm questions...
1.) Yes, that plus the mysterious naked wahine.
2.) Very possibly, but perhaps in a mug by Gecko or Squid.
3.) Yes could be, or ship wrecked sailors, or esteemed ancestors, or lost Amway sales reps.
4.) Of course! Now you're getting the idea! Or, someone is displaying them Just like a cherished mug collection.
5.) Moon over Manky-whatever! I like it! and thanks for the kind words! Hope the bash went well last week end. It rained here, lots!

Hey did someone say they liked the close ups? U got it!

Okay, now for the magic singing shell... I'm thinking a sorta orangery-pinkish-yellowish warm color.

Big Aloha from the volcano!

On 2007-07-25 20:44, Tiki Shark Art wrote:
Hey did someone say they liked the close ups? U got it!

Close ups good! The detail is awesome.

How about one with your finger in it, so we get an idea of scale?

Coming along very sweet :D

Hewey has a thing for fingers, is the real reason he wants to see that. :P Then visuals are coming along nicely, I'm stiill awed by the amount of dtail that you add into your paintings

each detail is a little painting in itself!
Lovin the starfish! That blue eye is very Cthulu and creepy..
there's a HP Lovecraft story about a painter that went mad and he had these paintings of eyes all over the landscape...which people thought was just his craziness seeping into the piece,until they went to that area and slowly,as they looked,they could see that there were eyes all over the landscape! AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! Very nice technical mastery you're displaying there! WOW!
so are you getting excited,being close to the finish line?
KUDOS to YUDOS!

Aloha!
Hewey~ okay...

Ya mean like this?
Frostiki~ Oh, yeah, I get it!

okay, so in case you not into fingers...
LLT~ I'm so glad I'm part of a artist's forum that is as weird as I am and totally get the HP Lovecraft connection to Tiki art. But, ya know... I'm just painting what I see too. The starfish here on the Big Island, they have big blue eyes... and... AHHHHHHHHHHH!

Mahalo from the volcano~

Didn't Lovecraft have an allergy to shellfish so he had all these horror stories with deep fishy tentacled things?

I do see the connection with tiki art--they're both very sea and mystery (and sometimes creepy) based imaginings!

I.

Just throw in a lil' cthulhu and the circle will be complete!(my favorite Darth Vader expression!)Looking fantastic Brad!

On 2007-07-26 11:57, Tiki Shark Art wrote:

:o Looks like you could hold a mai tai with that thing! Crikey!
...and I'm not talking about the starfish (which looks excellent by the way...)

Sounds like someone's got foot envy! :)

I.

Aloha TC!
IvanchanAn allergy to Shellfish? I never heard that, but that's very interesting, and could explain a lot.
SurburbanpaganDarth talked about cuthulu? "Impressive. Most impressive."
Paipo~ Yeah, I know! I got feet like a prehistoric bird. What's worse, I think I read somewhere that one of the ways to tell if someone is a werewolf, is if their second toe is longer than their big toe. I'm not saying it's true, ya know, but...

Working on the magic shell...

Mahalo from the volcano~

The original sketch still rocks!

This looks nice though. One of your finest so far for sure.

Thanks again

Keep going

Mahalo

McTiki