Keeping velvet tiki art alive...? TWO PIECES ARE WRAPPED! YEAH!

Since he's brand new, how about "First Moonrise". No matter how many thousands of moonrises a Moai sees over a lifetime, his first one is always special.

Great work Robb!

Anything worth doing, is worth doing to the point of wretched excess.

Edit - I get "Moai" and "Maori" confused

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2008-07-05 20:28 ]

"The Sleeper"

"Moon over My Hammy"
:lol:
Turned out beautimous,Robb!
Stoked this will up in Costa Mesa soon!

What a bunch 'a joksters.

I'm going with MadDogMike's "First Moonrise."

Thanks everybody, my brain's too tired to do it myself!

This one is also for Tiki Freakout:

At this stage, I have no idea what sort of fill light would define the Tiki or what the setting would look like.

great stuff, Robb! i'm jealous since i have no time to paint right now.

awesome stuff rob! that moai is mighty radd

Tikithomas - thanks, moai's are fun to paint. Maybe it's their calm, kinda amused personality.

Greentikipat - you gotta find time to paint, your works' gonna be at Tiki Freakout!

Here's the last step and finished painting:

"Tiki Vignette 1"

[ Edited by: Robb Hamel 2008-07-07 07:14 ]

Wow, I truly love "tiki vignette". Fantastic lightings, like always, great subject, love the leafs, really perfect.

Is there gonna be multi copies of this one too ?

Hey Virani, you always swoop in to cheer me up when I need it, thank you.

Yeah, Tiki Vignette 1 is #1 of a limited edition of 4, but it is named 1 because I want to do a series of similar, but unique, Tiki Vignette designs. I'm pretty pumped about it, actually.

I do series paintings to keep the cost of each down - I don't have to develope each and every one, so I charge less.

[ Edited by: Robb Hamel 2008-07-07 12:46 ]

love love love love love love love LOVE this one!!!

you're out of control Robb!
Stoked you're sending us two pieces for the show!
people gonna FREAK the FUNK out! :lol:
i still think you shoulda went with "Moon over my Hammy"...
sigh....

Hi Robb! I know I'm going to need one of your amazing works in 'Hula Sue's South Seas Club' :)
Your paintings are truly inspiring. The mood each one creates makes you want to build a bar around it. I always look forward to the next one.
John

Ditto what everyone else says! One of these would look marvelous in my Jungalero Lounge. Fantastic light logic going on in your works.

Thanks Big Toe, that's one hellacious compliment.
Llt, if you knew what I'm developing now, you'd know I'm outta control, thank you.
Mr. Pu Pu, just let me know what you want and when.
Howland, thanks a ton, if you need one, you got it.

Robb, your work is amazing!!! I love them all!!

WOW! Robb, totally amazing work! So labor intensive, but the results are worth it! AWESOME!

I think the title for the Moai piece should be badass or "Bad Motherfucker", just like I have embossed on my wallet, yuk, yuk...

Great tikis!

S
T

Just saw both of Robb's paintings for the TIKI FREAKOUT in person!
We got em well-lit and they look MAHVELOUS!
"Moon over My Hammy" transports you right into the canvas!
Very splendid contributions to this show!
If you're anywhere within 100 miles of this show
you MUST come and see these!
Robb hasn't learned how to price his paintings very well yet..
So take advantage of this shortcoming and grab some of Robb's art
BEFORE it's priced out our market!

llt - LOL!

If I wasn't such a hack I'd jack the prices up!

Hey Robb - you do some very classy work. Beautiful stuff! I've never messed with velvet. Your technique is beautiful.

Rob, I am Totally blown away by your stuff or Excellent works. I saw your pieces at Hukilau and really loved them but this Moai has Really got me going in a Rush. I Keep saying I Gotta get over to this side (of creating tiki) more often and this is proof Positive. I Can't believe I have been Missing out on this stuff for SO Long.
All I can say is HAPPY HAPPY HAPPPPY!

wow they are awesome very mystical dude love the play with light and shadow very skilled work

Thanks Sam, Benzart, kroozn62. Yous guys are too nice. Keep this up and I'll start thinkin' I'm not wasting my time.

This is just a test to see if my weblink is working. So far, no go. Does it take awhile?

[ Edited by: Robb Hamel 2008-07-29 18:53 ]

Hey Robb!

Just wanted to say your work at the Tiki Freakout show is absolutely amazing!
Tiki Vignette #1 is my favorite... it's so ethereal, almost as if it's made of smoke, and if you could pass your hand through it, it would dissipate... totally awesome!!!

Tobunga - your comment about my painting is so terrific it's caused me to rethink what type of lighting effects I'll be using on future paintings.

Sorry about no new painting posts, I'm developing stuff I can't show yet.

[ Edited by: Robb Hamel 2008-08-02 05:09 ]

Finally! I got my velvet art website in an acceptable shape and ready to be scoped out. I hope you guys like it.

A special thanks to Sophista-tiki for turning me on to software I can use and afford. And thanks to llt for helping with the hardest part: getting the link below to work.

Great website Robb, looking forward to new additions

Nice page Robb! Looks great.

Alright! After gearing up for another show, I have a new painting to do that I've been avoiding all year!

I'll be doing a mid-century house/tiki combination. I've done it before and it was suprisingly popular. I wanted to step things up a lot, and really update the first approach. Here was the first one from last year:

Doing mid-century houses on velvet is tough... I'd rather poke a swizzle stick through my scrotum. They do look cool, though.

First of all, I spent an entire day coming up with a page of sketches:

I chose this sketch:

Then I spent another entire day working out the multi-point perspective:

This time, I want the house to look occupied, with a feeling of light and life. My big problem is that all my tests and mental visualisations of how to do this have failed.

Next: a sketch on black paper to get a feel for how my work up to this point looks....

[ Edited by: Robb Hamel 2008-08-06 09:47 ]

Aloha,

A gift of velvet!!! Truly!! You do some amazingly vivid and precise work... You are definately not a hack by any means... Accept the accolades and enjoy the attention for your hard work. Keep it up man. I totally digg your style!!!

Mahalo,

http://www.yatesstudios.com

Dirk Yates
aka Kimo
aka Tiki Dirk

[ Edited by: Dirk Yates 2008-08-07 22:55 ]

Thanks, Kahu, MadDogMike... it's my first website I'm really glad you guys liked it.

Thanks Dirk, it's good to see you back and active again... are you gonna post some new work soon?

Here is my first color sketch. I'm focusing on how to light the house for now - until I figure that out, I'm wasting my time doing anything else.

I've been rethinking the design, gonna have to do some retooling. I'll post something next week.

Robb, I like the lights in the background. House on a hill overlooking the city? It amazes me the amount of planning that goes into a painting! I thought you just started slapping paint on a canvas (or velvet), I guess that's why my few attempts at painting have been utter failures! :D

Aloha!

I know that alot of you Robb Hamel fans out there would just LOVE to own one of his unique Original paintings on velvet, but are afraid that they are just too expensive for you to ever own one.

WELL THINK AGAIN!!!

Robb & I have one more of the edition of four Originals of his "Sleeping Sentinel" available for sale...

As most of you know, Robb's gorgeous Originals now go for $600 and are destined to continue climbing as his popularity and exposure in galleries nationwide continues.

This Original painting on black velvet is offered here for it's original price of $299, which INCLUDES shipping and packing materials to U.S. destinations. Foreign shipping will be higher; please ask for a quote. If you will be at Tiki Oasis, I can bring it to you and save you the $$ on shipping.

This will be your last chance to "get in on the ground floor" of Tiki-dom's newest and most wonderful black velvet artist, and collect Robb's art at this low price. Don't miss out; P.M. me today!

Mahaloz!

MadDogMike - the architectural stuff takes so much planning that a six-week vacation on Paris Island sounds better....

Lee - good god!

Robb-
The website is Bee-Yootyiful!!! What "afforadble and user-friendly" software did you use? I just may have to pick yer brain so I can build a website too!
Great Job!

Dawn Frasier turned me on to Yahoo Sitebuilder. She's right: just about anybody can use it. A couple of frustrating spots and WHAP! - a website is born. It's cheap too. Give me a buzz if you need help of any kind.

Thanks for liking the 'site.

Due to a mixup, my painting "Tiki Vignette 1", which sold at Tiki Freakout, has become available again.

It is still at the Light Gallery. It had a line of people wanting it, sold, and became re-available when it was swapped for my other piece.

It is three feet high, a foot and a half wide, and requires no frame. The price is $475, and it is possibly the coolest thing I've done up till now... waddya think?

Contact Wildsville man, or ETseven (they're on the Freakout thread, of course).

Here's the pic:

This piece is AWESOME!!!!!!! This was the piece that Sold Pre-show and had everyone wishing they got it first. Then Person who purchased it came to pick it up in person and decided to purchase Robb's larger piece instead.....probably because it was featured in O.C. Weekly.

If you are interested let us know A.S.A.P........... The Light Gallery is having a new show this weekend and will have it displayed for the surf crowd.
Also,if you CANDYASSES don't buy it,WIldsville Man will add this to his growing Tiki art collection

Wow, beautiful awesome work at a REALLY great price!

Great looking work!

I remember you guys talking about an online supplier for velvet...did that place work out?

Any suggestions for stretching...it seems when I photograph some of my work, a more' pattern (the funky pattern that occurs when two grids intersect at irregular angles) appears at the edges where I have stretched the velvet...of course, that only happens when I am adjusting the photo on the computer (i.e. the pattern is not visible "in the flesh") can this be avoided?

Jared - I haven't had a moire problem before, I bet it is just how that fabric photographs.

I've been testing my velvets very hard all summer, and I've picked a velvet called "Upholstry Velvet" carried by Velvets Etc. in Jersey - 973-379-4272 (Ted, the owner, will pick up).

It's a poly/cotton blend made in Mexico (the capital of velvet painting!), and is amazingly resistant to fading. It's also affordable at about $19/yd (I used to pay about $28/yd before). It has a little sheen and is tough to photograph, but looks great in person. My old fabric was excellent, but this one even beat out samples of very old fabrics I tested from when they used to use horribly toxic materials in dyes. All of my Tiki Mag show stuff was done on this fabric.

I'm hoping people either buy this fabric or test their own, because we don't need to be creating work that doesn't last.

http://www.robbhamel.com

Black velvet art that embraces the darkest side of Tiki.

[ Edited by: Robb Hamel 2008-09-14 09:21 ]

TIKIMAGSHOW!TIKIMAGSHOW!TIKIMAGSHOW!TIKIMAGSHOW!TIKIMAGSHOW!TIKIMAGSHOW!

I finally have pics of my Tiki Mag Show work on my website! I wanted to post them here, but there is no time. I'll post 'em here later, but if you want to look at them now, click the link below!

Sorry I haven't been posting these as they're created, but the time just hasn't been there.

I hope you enjoy them, one nearly killed me!

Robb

http://www.robbhamel.com

Black velvet art that embraces the darkest side of Tiki.

[ Edited by: Robb Hamel 2008-09-14 09:25 ]

Robb, we haven't seen you in a while! I love the green palm leaves on the Tiki vignette 2.

I want a Robb Hamel painting on the cover of a tiki magazine.

Mike: thanks for noticing! I've been insanely busy with my new paintings for the Tiki Mag Show and one other I'm keeping under wraps right now.

Virani: Me too! I've working on magazine cover designs right now - as an excersize only.

Robb, thanks for the tip. I'll be calling NJ today...(kinda funny to think that velvet made in Mexico, goes to New Jersey and then gets painted in California...I'll shorten the loop a bit, by sending it to nearby DC)

I don't know if fading is as much of an issue for the velvet painter...I mean, sunlight is the worst culprit for fading, and hopefully these paintings are going to be enshrined in a dark, windowless tiki bar! (perhaps that is why "the basement" has preserved so many vintage velvet paintings...)

great to hear you have a cover in the works, cant wait too see what you have up your sleeve next!