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

I finally made my way through this entire thread. I have to say your work is just incredible! It looks like a lot of fun to paint on velvet, I may have to give it a go sometime. I was wondering; does the velvet "fuzz off" as you paint? If so, does it get your brushes all clogged up with fuzz?
Can you use the water mixable oil paints they have out now, or do you have to use traditional solvent based oils? Since velvet has a bit of "give" to it compared to stretched canvas, do you ever find you have stretched it out a little with the painting process? If so, is there anything you can do about it?

Sorry about all the questions, I am very curious about this medium since your results look so phenomenal. I never really cared for velvet paintings before I saw yours, they always seemed like such a kitschy tacky medium to me. You have opened my eyes. :)

I just found a black velvet museum in Portland, Oregon on UTube. It's worth watching.

See Rob you are like Lay's potato chips if we start with one of your pages we just have to devour them all! Wendy

Hi...Tiki-Tim doing a remote posting for Robb Hamel from Daddy Katz in Dayton,Ohio.Robb just finished up on his "Tiki Vignette #4",commissioned to Cory in London,England.This is simply an amazing piece of art and you'll love it.Finish time was 9:30 p.m.Here's a few pics of the artwork...

Finished painting going to "Cory" for his birthday

The Master at work

Couple of clowns (Robb and I)

The 3 Tiki Vignette's side by side

"And the Band played on"

"I'm gonna be a little self indulgent and show more of my world"

Thanks Robb, you should do that more often :)

Thanks Tiki Tim for helping out, and for the support you always give. For those that don't know him, Tim is an amazing conversationalist, he always has great stories and always takes interest in what others have to say. Also, he seems to go to every Tiki event that has ever happened!

Vignette 4 now has to go to sleep for a few days while it dries... Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I've always been happy with the design of Vignette 3, but for the third of the set, I did a little remixing of the color scheme.

This is the original one.

Here is the angry looking remix. I haven't finished retouching the pic, but the red in real life is also retina scorching in intensity.

I don't really have a preference, but I'm glad I'm experimenting with the design instead of repeating myself.

Anyone willing to throw their two cents in?

Great job on that one Robb! Good to see you posting more often! I met Tiki Tim at Hukilau we had a nice chat about Tiki art. He does go to all the Tiki events, and has the video to prove it! :D

Robb so good to see you back, and on velvets!
You are so good at this stuff.
To change is like picasso not painting to become a chef.
Those velvets look GREAT!
And I love the one you did for me.
Hope all is well, Happy Summer!!!!!

Just outstanding work, It looks like you have a cool Mid Century Modern place there too.

Zerostreet - thank you, I'm gonna try to keep it revving.

Tiki Skip - I appreciate it. Doing your sign was one unique experience, I loved stretching my creative muscles like that.

Chuck Tatum - Thanks so much. My house is subtle Mid Century. I try to keep it out of the Atomic Ranch "turned up to 11", range. I love that look, but wouldn't want it to kill my Zen buzz.

Got my Tiki Magazine in the mail today! Was excited to go though it to find my Tiki Tower ad. Was very surprised to see and read that great article on you and your work! Congrats!

aloha Robb,

Congrats on your fantastic feature in Tiki Magazine. your work is looking AMAZING!!!

Looking forward to seeing where you go with the new direction!!

Toes

Yeah - what they said...

AGAIN - Congrats on the Tiki Magazine article Robb!

Congrats Robb! Finally read your article and i'd say they a did a wonderful job
capturing who you are,
your work ethic,
respect to your art and craftsmanship,
attention to detail
AND study of artists of old....
BUT!!!!!!!
i will always carry a grudge that you
threw away
that panther velvet....
would've looked great in the studio...
Much Kudos...the photos just POPPED off the page..i know the pieces are better in person(no gloss stock sheen) but Tiki Magazine did a great jobcapturing the intensity and detail of your work! BRAVO,buddy!
and thanks for the plug,that was sweet. :)

now quit restin on them laurels and get some more of those
Admiral Waddlebottom's naturalist paintings DONE!!!!
excited to see more of your work on a gessoed ground....

YOU'S GUYS ARE THE GREATEST. I WANNA GIVE A 2,000 MILE GROUP HUG!

Ken - I still haven't seen the interview!

Here is a piece I did specifically for Tiki Magazine:

I've been working on this design off and on for about 10 years. It features a character I conceived and my wife named called Sugar Rush. She is meant to be an action movie character in films combining badass 1970's characters in pulp magazine adventures. I even have a sketch for a movie poster!

I took reference pics of my wife standing in for the character, these are in the foreground. The small sketch the large one is based on is on the easel. The most critical part of this piece is the full-size design sketch. This piece is ALL ABOUT DESIGN.

I use reference materials like a 1970's Sears catalog and watch 1970's blaxploitation films to get the details right...

Details like this Makarov pistol.

I LOVE badass women with big afros. The face is meant to be mostly in shadow, partly so she looks more badass, and partly cause I don't have a model for her face.

I wanted Sugar to have a smaller bust so she'd seem more capable of action scenes, but something about her seemed wrong, so I added a Pam Grier chest and everthing came together!!

The Tiki is small, and being used as an ashtray, so that is probably why Tiki Magazine didn't use this piece.

I would need several masks to do the ball chair. Here I'm beginning to trace one.

The figure is lit by only one light, so it's gotta look realistic.

Imitating real lighting on her skin - WITHOUT REFERENCE PICS! - is a challenge, but the surprise is HOW LONG THIS DAMN KNIT BIKINI TOP TOOK!

Here's some masking being done. Masks on velvet can be Hell on Earth!

I'll try to wrap this up soon, time is short right now - thanks for looking.

That's just wicked good!

On 2011-08-23 06:59, Chuck Tatum is Tiki wrote:
That's just wicked good!

+1!

Can't wait to see the finished piece.

Damn, I used to do frisket masking for airbrush T-shirts, I cannot even imagine how hard it must be for velvet. The concept is awesome for this piece love those old blaxpoitation films: Coffy, TNT Jackson, Foxy Brown, etc. Execution is turning out fantastic can't wait to see the finished piece. :)

Cleo would be Proud....

That is looking so good! Hope to see more steps!!

Nice !! I knew if I waited long enough, my wishes would be granted here on TC. :D

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=34744&forum=1&vpost=503214

Love the new piece rob!

Thanks everyone. Yous guys are tha best.

The painting of Sugar Rush was started when I found out that I was going to have an interview in Tiki Magazine and I wanted a new State of the Art piece to surprise people with. It was finished in about 40 days. It's a simple looking painting, but that was as fast as I could do it. It didn't survive the editing process, unfortunately. I assume the tiki ashtray wasn't prominent enough for it to count as tiki art.

Here is the finished piece:

"Sugar Rush" - 36x24 - oils on black velvet.

Excellent work. Mysterious....

AW YEAH!
Now that is one Sexy mama there,Robb!

Sexy AND a bit dangerous...
Excellent painting Sir!

That's as sexy as a big collar, brown leather jacket on a Brother
any one who don't like it is a Jive Turkey!

Robb it's cool brother, your down with it.

CTiT

Robb - Beautiful painting!

Mysterious? Yes! Romantic? Yes. Foreboding? YES! Her hidden right hand scares me the most!

The tiki - to me - is the "pit bull" that ties it all together - you know the whole urban ghetto mod-ism chic paired with the exotic moody idol...and they're looking at ME! Holy-crap its HOT in here!!

Thanks for posting - another RH velvet masterpiece IMHO.

Dig that 70s shag carpet man - power to the people RIGHT ON! :lol:

Beautifully done, great lighting - as always. Sorry it didn't make the cut - their loss!

Beautiful Robb! Such a strong sense of narrative on this piece....I feel I could easliy make up a story about what's going on there!

Wow. It's spell binding and hard to stop staring at each area. I usually say each painting has one special place. This painting has them all over from the bottom of the glasses to the hair. Even the tops of the knees are remarkable. I love your art, Wendy

Turned out great Robb!! Love the textures.

I am so happy that you guys like it!!

I've had it under wraps for months and wanted to share it with my peeps, but had to wait until the mag came out.

Thanks so much, all.

Gold star for you.

That is great on so many levels!
Absolutely AMAZING! I think my brain just broke, it's so good.

Thank you Grog and Zerostreet_ Sugar Rush was a hell of a challeng for such a simple image.

I'm about to start a 2nd copy of a painting of mine called, "First Moonrise," and discovered a challenge: BOTH OF THE MAIN PAINTS I USED ON THE ORIGINAL ARE ON MY "BANNED COLORS" LIST. They required too many layers to be built up to make them bright enough.

Now I've started a round of tests to come up with a good moonlight palette for the painting. Kathryn, who commissioned the piece, loves moonlight as much as I do, so I plan on really making that the priority.

In my studio, I'm set up to test a new moonlight palette.

Here is my first round of candidates. I'm going for luminosity but with a natural look.

The T.C. community is a lighthouse in a wicked storm.

http://www.robbhamel.com

[ Edited by: Robb Hamel 2011-09-13 12:35 ]

Thank you so much Rob. I've a whole wall of glaze tests for my ceramics but it never occured to me to make tests for black velvet paintings. This is excellent. When I try this medium in the future I'll be sure to test and record how many layers etc. before I start. You made my day, Wendy

Man, that finished piece is just fantastic. You have such a talent for matching your subject to the medium. Your use of shadow and lighting in that piece is just so wonderful.

WOW! just.... WOW!

Robb, looking so good my man!I love your devotion to the old school.
Inspiring as always!!

wow i love this one

bump!
Hey Robb! Where You AT?!?!?

Hello!

It has been a year, but I should be able to post once a month or so.

Thanks to the folks who have been encouraging me to get back into the swing.

Extra huge thanks to Ken Ruzic. I can't begin to tell how much the guy has helped with our many phone conversations!

I've got a small piece I'm nearly done with. Here are a couple of progress pics:

Another couple of coats to brighten this guy up & he'll turn into a Christmas present!

Good to see ya back, Robb!

YAY!!

ROBBBBBB!!!!!!

So glad to see you back! Very nice piece, someone must have been very good this year to get that :)

Dark, moody and atmospheric! Tiki- cool Robb!

Y E S !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aw Fudge!
Besides Al and Robb Hamell
we have a THIRD Master of Velvet!
Soooooooooooooo Beautiful!
Worth the WAIT,Buddy!

I'm back after a long time too, and you posted while I was gone. I really enjoy your work, sir.