Year 1

If these look familiar it's because I posted them a day or two before the Great Tiki Central Crash of 2010...and my post never returned. Wah, wa, waaaa. Since then, I have made two more carvings, which I have included, plus-the pics from my original post. I was never a 3D artist...drawing was my thing, but I'm happy with my progression; however, I know I have a long way to go. So far, I have been trying to carve images I see on tiki mugs, or stuff I've seen on here, ...I've tried my best to not directly copy others and to come up with semi-original stuff, but that seems to be the hardest part. Enjoy!

Tiki 1 (made with a tile cutter and a screw driver...don't ask)
Tiki 2
Tiki 3
Tiki 4 -lost the pic, but it really sucked!
Tiki 5
He called the carvings, Gwog Gwog's" and the name stuck!
Tiki 6 (Two logs stacked on top of each other, hollowed out, due to rot-flicker bulbs in the eyes and a light in the coconut he's holding)
and here is a video of it in action, pardon the goofy audio, History channel or something...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBIMQ-Jhg-U
Tiki 7
Tiki 8 (a gift for my brother the private investigator)
Tiki 9 is in progress....pics soon

I am not pleased with the staining technique I have been using (straight MinWax) and I have searched in vain many times for ideas on here, but never seem to find what I'm looking for. I've had no luck with a blow torch and have resulted to painting ebony stain in areas I want to shade. Any suggestions or links to threads with good advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for looking!

The "correct" 3rd tiki

Great carves. I think i did see these before the site crash. Glad you put em back. As far as finishing goes, you might try looking at Wood Finishing Simplified by Joe L'Erario. He's got a couple of other furniture finishing books as well.

I like the coconut holding guy a lot.

If you want a darker blow torch kind of look, then you could try rubbing black wood ash (the carbonized stuff, not the grayish accumulation stuff) into the carve with your fingers and varnishing over it.

I tried it as a test on a botched piece and I think I might give it a go on my next carve.

Been thinking about saving some animal blood (turkey season is coming up) and giving that a try, but then I think maybe that would be taking the whole savage island thing a bit far.

TikiGrogGrog like TikiGwogGwog' carvings. Looking forward to seeing more.

BigT- I'll check it out! Thanks!
Lente- Black wood ash...never heard of it, but will check it out! Thanks!...and if you do the animal blood thing, let me know! haha
Grog- Thanks for the encouragement! A new one will be up soon!

Not a bad year at all, Make this year even better!

Thanks, Ben! ...and thanks for your TC posts, they have helped me immensely!

Here is my 9th tiki!

I'm still in the "I wonder if I could make one of those?" phase. I found some questionable spots (rot?) in the log below the torso, so I opted to make him in a seated position. It's got to be pretty obvious who I copied on that part!

Again, a FAIL with the staining technique! haha. The darn thing looks like it was dipped in chocolate! I'm thinking of going over certain areas with black paint for contrast.

Any suggestions or advice to help save this thing would be greatly appreciated!

I make these for myself, I'm not trying to sell them or anything.

Thanks!

Picture with no flash. Which is how I wished it actually looked.

Picture with flash, which, sadly, is much closer to how it really looks...

Tikis looking good. Keep it up

Thanks for the Tiki. All the newer ones look great also. I will take a pic and show the Tiki's new home.

Overkill? Thoughts? haha I kinda like it!

That Tiki Mr. Gwog, is off the chain!

Well done!

Mahalo

McTiki

I am digging the blow fish in the Tiki's mouth. The Blow fish needs some real big cartoon eyes to show expression, "he is about to get squashed."

Damn! Thanks, McTiki!

Tiki B- Maybe. For whatever reason, I keep adding to this one. Who knows, this time next year, he might even be drivable!