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

On 2008-10-31 13:57, Tiki Shark Art wrote:
Happy Halloween Tiki Tribe!

Okay: this one I do not believe! ABSOLUTELY MINDBLOWING.

Brad, I get a primal feeling that says you have somehow transcended yourself with this image.

Awesome! I really dig the skull 'wave' mr. pumpkin head is surfing on---excellent work, as always!

Aloha Tiki Tribe~
Thanks guys, I'm very pleased you like the Pumpkin surfer. He was a blast to make!

Here's some more on the latest. Details on the sea and shore.
Of course, in trying to get the sky right, I obliterated the palms. so, now to go back in and work them out. But, I hope, with out blotching up the sky. So I did some sketches....

Now, I've been watching other artists on TC nail palm trees. Thor and Robb... those guys make them look so alive you can feel the ocean breezes. So, I thought I'd go for a different look.

Mahalo~

duuuuuuuude,

the pumkinhead is DISGUSTING-ly good!!!!!

i have totally downloaded that file and will systematically pilfer every process, concept and nuance contained there-in.

alohas, t

Brad,
don't let Toe getcha down!
with his brain disease in full gear
he thinks he's an artist...
Vat a KOOK!
:lol:

You've got a great lyrical way of making someting decorative and beautiful yet creepy!
BRAVO!

Brad.... I LOVE the breed of Palm tree you are creating....It's awesome!! Really dig your sketch style too on all your layouts!! Needless to say, the Halloween pumpkin surfer is fabulous and I hope to the living Tiki God's you got it out someplace where many can see and appreciate it!!

BTW..That looks like a dude I heard was rollerblading on Kalakaua Ave. on Halloween in black speedo's(with a bodyglove logo...ahem!)and a well carved pumpkin head looking a might like this sketch!!! Hmmmmmmmm =)

ALOHA Tiki Tribe~
Big Toe~ OH, I'd be thrilled to have inspired you with the pumpkinheaded surf ghoul. Your Rat-Fink-Dragon is totally showing up in my next painting (number 18)! Or at least my version of it.
LLT~ Creepy and decorative... that's exactly what my art is all about!
THOR~ Thanks, it's fun making up tropical plants. Well it sure helps having a lot around here to look at as reference - then take it to a place more "exotica" than real. Hey I wasn't roller skating down Kalakaua Ave in black speedo on Halloween.... That wasn't me. I was roller skating down Ali'i Drive!
Bigtoe, LLT, and THOR.... wow, I'm really having a moment. It just hit me how much you three guys inspire me. Big Mahalos duuudes!! (snif snif!)
Here's da' art...
Now, I was talking to Kenny and he gave me this idea - some little trick he used on that bitchin Shrunken Head Masterpiece.

I lay some tracing paper over the painting and sketched out where I wanted my palm trees. I also didn't want to ruin to much of the sky.

Then I cut out the sketched palm. And drew on the painting around them.

See?

Then I started shading roughing them in. URK! Orange and Green,.... nice! No, that's not the final color this thing is gonna be. I sort of semi monocromaticly layering stuff in.
Mahalo from the Big Island!

GROG just bought Sectrum 15 yesterday and saw your art on page 184 Brad. Congrats.

GROG~ Wow! I have not gotten my copy of Spectrum 15 yet. And, I live on a remote friggin island and the ONE book store in town hasn't gotten it's copy yet. I don't know how it looks! It could have been reproduced the size of a miniature postage stamp (I hope not)! Or as a glorious two page spread (as Capt. Jack Sparrow would say:" Unlikely.")
Hey, GROG, ol' buddy, howzit look?

We got a guest staying here, so da art studio is now a guest room. No art is a happening. So, here's some other things around here you might like looking at:

Da beach

Heiau are you?

tiki with plover

under da sea

Cool ride.

Not making art.

Big Aloha from the Big Island!

Dang guests! I want art!!

:wink:

Recharge those artistic batteries Brad.

Love the progress on the new piece.

Kahu~
I hear ya! The guest winged over to Maui yesterday so I got the room for a night.

ALOHA from the Big Island!

what a beautiful orange wave!
You need to lock those guests out and not let em return to your hallowed fortress of studio-tude!
Looking amazing brad!
A little shoreline microcosm!
:)

4" tall x 8" wide. Page 184. Spetrum 15.

ALOHA TIKI TRIBE~
Wow, GROG, thanks for posting that. Cool! Just wish they had not put me on the same page with such a REALLY amazing looking illustration. But, That's great! Can't wait till the postal boat gets my copy to me.

Roughing in some more. I put a strange exotic flower on the other side of the tiki-man to balance out the composition.

Mahalo from the smokin' volcanic island!

Brad, It's so cool seeing you out there living the dream. Congrats!

Is your Tiki Shark e-mail address working?

I just had two e-mails bounced back to me.

Probably Japan causing a financial disturbance in the Pacific.

Or Godzilla.

[ Edited by: TikiFool 2008-11-20 08:11 ]

Babalu~ Mahalo my friend. Livin' the dream? Oh, that explains why I stumble around feelin like I'm half asleep all the time.
TikiFool~ Whoops, I think my e-mail was all full up.
Aloha~

Tikifool~ ...and yes. Godzilla was spotted swimming past Oahu, so communication lines were disrupted as the military assumed momentary control, and those two tiny Japanese girls sent out mental signals.
Ok. I got a cold, and that may have been the cold medicine talking.

Hey Brad!
Love the new piece in progress... interesting to see how you completely lost foreground detail working on the background... that happens to me all the time! Great solution, too, that Kinny's got some good ideas... although I think I'm far too lazy to do all that extra work!

Looks great brad, really like the colors

tobunga~ Thanks! Having to go back and really get the Palm trees where I was happy with their shape did mean sacrificing parts of the sky... but had to be done.
Td~ Mahalo... how's weather there... u still snowed in?

Here's where's the paintings at. Putting in some clouds ...to cover where I had to fix the right Palm tree's leaves- and because they help give the sky a bit more depth.

Here's a closer look at the weird Palm tree.

Aloha!

Holy crap, Brad- a Big update!
everything looks great!

Aloha Tiki Tribe~
Thanks TD~

A bit more on the clouds.
MAHALO~

Lookin Rad Brad!
those Palms are wonderful! As much as i love the sky, I can't wait til you get the foreground going some more!
By the way, people were stoked by your work at Damons!
Thanks for making us hack artists look bad!
:lol:

Aloha Tiki Tribe
Kenny - Hey, thanks so much for taking my art to Damons for me. I'm grateful to have the chance to show my stuff at such a swanky and historic joint. Sorry I was unable to get to the mainland for it. Oh well, next time! I'm "THANKFUL" I got good tiki friends like you!

Hey, did anyone take a look at "page 7" in the new tiki magazine? I have not gotten mine yet cause the postal boat hasn't arrived here at the island - so, I don't know how it came out! Howszit look?! did it reproduce OK?

Here's some more on the current painting. Roughed in some of the other palm. And (cause Kenny asked) I roughed in some more on the foreground figure.... working on the whole color scheme. Cool light from the front, warm sunset from behind.

Here's a sketch for the mug on the ground in front of the tiki-man. It's supposed to be an abstract version of his head.

BIG TURKEY DAY ALOHA!
B~

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2008-11-26 11:42 ]

Brad, Where you at?

[ Edited by: Tiki Duddy 2008-12-11 20:51 ]

Brad your technique is labor-intensive! I'd have a nervous breakdown slowly hammering away like that. But the results....

I really like the prehistoric trees!

ST

Aloha Tiki Tribe~

TD~ Sorry I've been reoccupied with a serious illness in my ohana. I don't want to burden you with the details, but it's all about the circle of life and how it ends. Anyways, I'm still here and still finding sometime for tiki.
Robb~ Thanks, yep, very time intensive. If I knew how to work faster, I'd sure do it!
Sneakytiki~ Hey thanks, I love weird old trees that look like a dinosaur should be munching on them.

Still painting. But the big news is in "TEXTILE ART". Beach towels, actually.

I FINALLY received the last production sample for the line of jacquard beach towels my small company is producing this coming season. It's taken about 4 years to get them all the way through the twisting, turning, bumpy road to the marketplace. But this year, they will finally see the beach's (under people's butts!). The question now is just where they will be available for sale.

Here's the four designs.

And here's the "Blue Tiki" beach towel!

Been a long road, and here's the stretch left to go:

They're going to be distributed this spring/summer on the East Coast through a chain of beach stores in Florida called "Marco Destin".

They're being represented on the West Coast in the LA Gift Mart in "Showroom 504". Retail stores on the West Coast will order them from there. I hope. (fingers crossed!)

I'll keep you posted on details, and after I know, I'll post exactly where and when they should hit stores over in the Marketplace forum.

Tiki Shark

http://www.tikishark.com
http://www.myspace.com/Lotus_Land

P.S.

Oh yeah, here's a shot of the work inn progress. I'm seeking to finish it this week end, so it's in time for submission to SPECTRUM 16.

Aloha~

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2009-01-10 13:48 ]

~Great to see you back, Brad

The eyes on that guy are Wild!!
the flowers are sweet too--reminds me of the morphing flowers from the movie The Wall

Cool Beach towels too! the sharks are wicked; and the blue tiki is awsome!

Lov'n this new painting Brad. Those eyes give him just the right amount of creepyness.
I also like the blue/green color of the tikiman.

Good to see you slinging some paint again mate. :D

Hey Brad, Good to see you back with us! And I'm glad to see there should be some towels available to fulfill my dream. :wink: I love the blue tiki and the yellow and red one! The new painting is looking great too. Love the movement on the flower! It looks so lush!

This is creepier than the "big-eyed puppy".

Aloha Tiki Tribe~
TDThanks, I needed a weird "something" to balance out the tiki mug, so that's where the flower came in.
Swamp FireThanks. I was exploring the layering effect, and layered in different tones on the Tiki-creature-guy's skin.
HeweyThanks, it's good to be painting again!
JentinkThanks, I'm excited about the towels getting out there! The "Royal Hawaiian" red and yellow hibiscus and turtles came out as everyone's favorite.
Grog~thanks! Yeah, I wanted to take the eyes one step further into "creepy" past the Bela Lugosi piece.

For anyone who didn't grab a copy of Tiki Magazine yet, here's the mysterious "Page 7" I was secretly working on. I was calling it "the Menehunes Come out at Night", however, in the mag I think I got edited down to a shorter title. No worries though, I'm very happy with how well they reproduced all the colors.

Big Aloha~

ZOUNDS!
that tikimug painting is mind-blowing!
so lush and happy!
Well worth the time you put in....
and your tikimag page 7 IS Awesome in print AND in person!
Now i'm itching for the next one!

and can we have some detail shots of your latest?
:)

Aloha Tiki Tribe~

So far.

Put da lime in da...

What canyu say but "Outstanding"!

Thanks Tikilizard!

I got called away in mid-post. Here's the other detail shots.

Aloha from the Big "Eye"-land.
(ouch!)

Brad -

Love your use of opposite colors. Have you ever seen your work under a color wheel? They POP!

Thanks for the posts - I always look forward to them.

Cheers! Greg

What a cute nose the tiki has! And your garnish is amazingly life-like! My limes never look quite that yummy though.

... love it! Will this be available as a print?

WOW: canvas texture!

I LOVE it 'cause I can see your juicy brushstrokes. I think you paint with CANDY!

If I ever see one of these works in person, I'm gonna have to touch it or lick it, 'cause your work is too cool to just look at.

I didn't know that till I saw the awesome closeups.

It don't get much finer than this! Dang!

Too creepy!

duuuuuude, the little "lime-in-da-coconut' vignette is a print all by itself!

that is some SEXY paint-slingin'!!

Happy ALOHA Friday !

Here's a peep.

What I worked on last night.
Thanks everyone! You are the wind beneath my wings. (except GROG. GROG's just wind)
Mahalo!
P.S. Jus' kidding. Thanks GROG too.

Yo! Brad!
everything is hypnotic! the sunset-the eyes-the wicked dewdrops.
AWSOME closeup shots too!!
i like the picture transformation from the drop on the lime before and after the fine detail. really helpful!