Tiki Central / Other Crafts

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

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C cy Tiki Socialite Gresham, Oregon Joined: Mar 10, 2011 Posts: 1666	C cy Posted posted on Sat, Nov 5, 2011 4:47 PM Fantastic new work TikiSharkArt. I learn a lot by seeing the progression shots, and how you layer color on. Also good advise to keep more than one piece going at a time. Keep posting!
Z zerostreet Tiki Socialite http://www.zerostreet.com Joined: Feb 06, 2010 Posts: 2411	Z zerostreet Posted posted on Sat, Nov 5, 2011 7:36 PM Awesome Brad!
LLT little lost tiki Tiki Socialite Orange,CA-right near the Circle! Joined: Jun 12, 2006 Posts: 7763	LLT little lost tiki Posted posted on Sat, Nov 5, 2011 9:30 PM Love those wet weird orchids,Brad! Hyper real! and Kitschen magnets in all those ABC store!?!?!? Excellent.... Saturation Program...Nearing Completion! :)
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Mon, Nov 7, 2011 1:45 PM ALOHA TIKI TRIBE! cy - thanks. I always find the in progress shots of other artists the most interesting too... zerostreet - Big Mahalo! little lost tiki - Thanks! It was fun painting them, after I got over the idea I had to make them look like real orchids, and then easy after I got the idea to make them Orchids from outer space, or another dimension... here's the next step in "Hawaiian Eye" letting this one look more painterly, so I'm not hiding my brush strokes. I reworked the comp a bit, and got the building a little more worked out.
U umeone Tiki Socialite Joined: Aug 26, 2005 Posts: 168	U umeone Posted posted on Tue, Nov 8, 2011 4:45 AM Aloha Tiki Shark Art, love your work and have to tell you the Wanderer touches my heart. Great job!
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Tue, Nov 8, 2011 12:21 PM ALOHA TIKI TRIBE! umeone - Thanks so much! Here's the next step... worked out the building some more, working on the lettering (always tricky) and got the zombie/skeleton lurking in the up stairs window done. More to come... Aloha!
T tigertail777 Member Oregon Joined: Nov 25, 2004 Posts: 679	T tigertail777 Posted posted on Wed, Nov 9, 2011 11:28 AM I don't know if it's just me...or that skeleton hanging out the window, but so far this one is shaping up to be even more surreal than your usual stuff. I just discovered Hawaiian Eye a little while ago and am working my way through the first season, so I dig the connection you have going there. :wink:
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Thu, Nov 10, 2011 3:24 PM Aloha Tiki Tribe! tigertail777 - Ahhhh, yeah, I think you are right. As I get a better command of what the heck I'm doing, I seem to drifting into more pop-surreal, or guess I should say poly-pop-surrealism. I hope I'm creating a distinct style. Step 4.) Worked out the building abit more, Smoothed the figure a tad. Here's a closer look. ALoha!
Z zerostreet Tiki Socialite http://www.zerostreet.com Joined: Feb 06, 2010 Posts: 2411	Z zerostreet Posted posted on Thu, Nov 10, 2011 4:10 PM Nice Brad! Loving this one so far! I can't ever see a Private "eye" on a door without thinking of the Little Rascals for some reason! :)
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Tue, Nov 15, 2011 1:54 PM ALOHA TIKI TRIBE! zerostreet - Oh yeah! THATS where that is from! Spanky! Step 5: More detail on the building. Added in the trees, and another tiki (can't have too many of those!) Roughed in his Aloha Shirt. Here's a close up. ALOHA!
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Thu, Nov 17, 2011 6:48 PM ALOHA TIKI TRIBE! Step 6: I evened up the tiki's eyes a little - I noticed one was a bit off. Then started to lay in some light semi transparent tones on the tiki-man. The idea will be to have him in warm tones so he stands out from the cool blue and green of the night background. I think they will have to be red orange yelllow, and magenta. More to come! ALOHA!
U umeone Tiki Socialite Joined: Aug 26, 2005 Posts: 168	U umeone Posted posted on Sun, Nov 20, 2011 11:47 AM Wow, this is just fantastic and your lettering is great! I love seeing the progression. :) Beautiful work!
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Thu, Dec 1, 2011 9:19 PM ALOHA TIKI TRIBE! umeone - thanks! Yeah, lettering is REAL tricky for me. I keep retouching it as I go (cause I'm so bad at it) till it looks good nuff! Step 7: laying in warmer tones on the Detective Tiki so he pops out of the cool blue green night. How loud should his shirt get? Hmmm good question! More later!
CTIT Chuck Tatum is Tiki Member Southern Cailifornia Joined: May 12, 2011 Posts: 1674	CTIT Chuck Tatum is Tiki Posted posted on Thu, Dec 1, 2011 9:46 PM Brad you need to have all those Hawaiian Shirts you have been painting made into the real thing, cause I would wear em!
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Fri, Dec 2, 2011 4:47 PM ALOHA TIKI TRIBE! Chuck Tatum is Tiki, thanks! This one is a bit overly colorful maybe. I thing I may tone it down after I get it more finished. Had to move the tiki's foot over to the left, add on a bit more torso, so his head didn't look like it was too off center.
LLT little lost tiki Tiki Socialite Orange,CA-right near the Circle! Joined: Jun 12, 2006 Posts: 7763	LLT little lost tiki Posted posted on Fri, Dec 2, 2011 5:03 PM aw MAN! a cat in the friggin MOON! that fellow's lookin quite happy and the piece is coming along splendidly! don't tone down the shirt too much... is beautiful! :)
CTIT Chuck Tatum is Tiki Member Southern Cailifornia Joined: May 12, 2011 Posts: 1674	CTIT Chuck Tatum is Tiki Posted posted on Fri, Dec 2, 2011 5:49 PM I Digg It!
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Fri, Dec 2, 2011 7:11 PM ALOHA TIKI TRIBE! LLT - thanks! The cat moon was fun, not sure if it was going to work, but seems ok. the shirt is still in prog , I will take your input to heart, as always. Chuck - Mahalo! Last shot as a bit bad here's a better one [ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2011-12-02 19:12 ]
Z zerostreet Tiki Socialite http://www.zerostreet.com Joined: Feb 06, 2010 Posts: 2411	Z zerostreet Posted posted on Fri, Dec 2, 2011 7:17 PM Looking awesome Brad! There's something I love about the building being on the edge of the ocean...lends so much to the surreal-ness!
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Sun, Dec 4, 2011 8:28 PM ALOHA TIKI TRIBE! zerostreet - Thanks! This one came out a bit more surreal than most, I guess. "Hawaiian Eye" 24" x 20", Acrylic on canvas Closer look at the Zombie ... Closer look at the tiki detective. Thanks for watching this one come together. ALOHA!
T TikiDaye Tiki Socialite Florida, USA Joined: Mar 26, 2010 Posts: 154	T TikiDaye Posted posted on Mon, Dec 5, 2011 3:58 PM Brad, Beautiful work... Really dig the lighting effect you produced in this one. Love the way the painting really sets up a story... I could envision many adventures for Hawaiian Eye. Thanks again for walking us through your creative process. Such an encouragement and inspiration to me... Peace, Jason
CTIT Chuck Tatum is Tiki Member Southern Cailifornia Joined: May 12, 2011 Posts: 1674	CTIT Chuck Tatum is Tiki Posted posted on Mon, Dec 5, 2011 4:15 PM You Rock Brad!
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Tue, Dec 6, 2011 2:34 AM ALOHA TIKI TRIBE! TikiDaye - Thank you, I'm glad I could share a little of the process with you. Watching the other artists on TC gets my creative juices going, so I'm happy to return the favor. And thanks for noting the lighting. That's what it's all about for me. Dramatic lighting on a tiki... still the base raw driving urge for me to paint TIKI art. I'm sort of painting the imaginary box covers to monster models that never were. I was so taken with Bama's amazing box art on the Universal / Aurora monster models I loved, built, (and later blew up with fire crackers) as a kid, that magical moment is mixed in with my love of modern Tiki Culture. Chuck Tatum is Tiki - U Rawk! Here's the next painting... (though I'm gonna work on 3 at once - and bounce back and forth... like the pro's do... (Ken & Big Toe and such)... While back I did a ink study from a dream I had . It called "Kon Tiki Dream". I'm playing around with the tiki. I don't want him to be the one in the ink study. Here is the first rough on the canvas. Still working out the look of the TIKI. That's always a huge step... to get the right "tiki" look... not too cartoony/modern and not an actual historical tiki, but something that's more my own. Cartoon ...sure. But maybe a bit more dignified? It's hard to create that, but a very important part of the painting.. .if the tiki's not "right" than everything else won't work.
Z zerostreet Tiki Socialite http://www.zerostreet.com Joined: Feb 06, 2010 Posts: 2411	Z zerostreet Posted posted on Tue, Dec 6, 2011 3:59 AM Love these sketches and studies! This is gonna be another great one!
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Thu, Dec 8, 2011 3:54 PM ALOHA TIKI TRIBE! zerostreet -thanks, this is an image thta has been sitting on the back burner of my brain for a long time. I got it from a dream I had while I was reading "Kon Tiki" by Thor Heyerdahl, - and I really want to get it right. More sketches to get the tiki right... It's always a big challenge to create a tiki that "feels" right to me, without reproducing one of Crazy Al's beautiful creations. Step 2: roughed in his face Step 3: working out light source... all important! I really want this to be dramatic, and the lighting is a big part of that. Step 4: I wasn't happy with the tiki, so I worked his face structure into something a little more unique (I hope) Step 5: roughed in the sea-o-sharks. In the dream, there were all kinds of fish, but he sharks were the most interesting. It'll be a challenge to get the depth right. More later...
T tigertail777 Member Oregon Joined: Nov 25, 2004 Posts: 679	T tigertail777 Posted posted on Fri, Dec 9, 2011 4:36 PM Very cool. That must have been one hell of a dream. :wink: Can't wait to see more.
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Sat, Dec 10, 2011 5:03 PM ALOHA TIKI TRIBE! tigertail777 - Yes, it was a very vivid dream, and my mind was filled with the true life saga of the crew on that balsa raft in the book "Kon-Tiki". I recommend it as good tiki-culture reading! Step 6: I bought a BIG brush to work out backgrounds faster, and lay in big shapes - (I'm reading a book about artist Steve Rude, and he uses this technique) - roughed out sky tones and filling in the many many shark tones...this storm tossed dream will get darker before it gets lighter (meaning, I always work dark to light!) ALOHA!
T TikiDaye Tiki Socialite Florida, USA Joined: Mar 26, 2010 Posts: 154	T TikiDaye Posted posted on Sat, Dec 10, 2011 7:54 PM Can't wait to see you take it dark and then dazzle us with your lighting skills! Is the overall color scheme going to be more reds? Or do I just have to wait to find out? Great work, Brad... Peace, Jason <
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Sat, Dec 10, 2011 8:04 PM TikiDaye - thanx! I think a warm sky, with cool blues in the water shark-filled foreground. Sound good?
T TikiDaye Tiki Socialite Florida, USA Joined: Mar 26, 2010 Posts: 154	T TikiDaye Posted posted on Sat, Dec 10, 2011 8:16 PM Brad, Sounds great... Love the life you are giving those sharks already... I'll stop bugging you so you can get back to painting (go on, I'm anxious to see the next step)... Haha Peace, Jason
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Thu, Dec 15, 2011 2:09 AM TikiDaye - Thnx! Working out the sharks with some more detailed sketches. sketches... few more... and some more... more painting to come... ALOHA!
B BigToe Tiki Socialite Southern California Joined: Nov 07, 2006 Posts: 758	B BigToe Posted posted on Thu, Dec 15, 2011 9:54 AM OMG LOOKING KILLER!!!! LOVING the lava sharks...and what fun to see how you develop the tiki heads. ur my hero Brad!!
T tigertail777 Member Oregon Joined: Nov 25, 2004 Posts: 679	T tigertail777 Posted posted on Thu, Dec 15, 2011 11:19 PM I always admire artists that can do detailed pre-sketches. I can't seem to do it myself; I have to only do loose sketches or I will lose what I was going after to begin with. My tight drawings are on the originals themselves. For some reason once I do a tight drawing I can't seem to come even close to replicating it again. I love your pre-sketches of the sharks, this is going to be a very cool painting with a lot of detail. :)
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Fri, Dec 16, 2011 11:25 PM ALOHA TIKI TRIBE! Thanks BigToe! Thanks so much buddy, hearing words of encouragement from you - an artist I respect and whose work I REALLY dig - that helps me slog through when there seems to be waaaay too many sharks to have to paint! tigertail777 - Well it's funny, I sometimes need to really work out the the structure, but I know what you mean, sometimes that kills the freshness of the piece. Sometimes I just want to do no sketches and let the piece organically grow and evolve on the canvas. But this one... with sooo many sharks, I felt I needed to figure out how they were all going to fit, I had to work out perspective and depth and all that stuff, how they were going to look turned just this way or that... at least I'm learning a lot more about how sharks look by having to draw them from all these different angles. ...And this painting is special because it came from a dream image. I was reading "Kon Tiki". I fell asleep, and I had this dream. In the dream all the sharks and fish were so interesting and detailed I really want to get that across as much as I can in this painting. We'll see how close I can get.... probably no where nears, but heck, ya' gotta try n' go for it. More laters!
LLT little lost tiki Tiki Socialite Orange,CA-right near the Circle! Joined: Jun 12, 2006 Posts: 7763	LLT little lost tiki Posted posted on Fri, Dec 16, 2011 11:33 PM Peeks into Brad's sketchbook....PURE BLISS! the teeming depths are taking shape and it seems you're actually getting faster at it... right the freak ON! this one's gonna be an EYEPOPPER! :)
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Sat, Dec 17, 2011 5:16 PM little lost tiki THANKS soooooo much buddy! U da Best! Friends like u keep me going when my creativity tank is on empty. "SPECTRUM 18 The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art" came in the mail today... ... and if you turn to page 270... You can find my winning entry : "The Kreature From Kona"! (Yipee!)
T TikiDaye Tiki Socialite Florida, USA Joined: Mar 26, 2010 Posts: 154	T TikiDaye Posted posted on Sat, Dec 17, 2011 8:35 PM Brad, Congrats on the Spectrum 18... Very cool, bro! Digging the shark sketches.... How big is this painting overall? Peace, Jason <
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Sat, Dec 17, 2011 9:58 PM TikiDaye- thank you. Once again I think I was the only "Tiki" themed like piece in the whole SPECTRUM book. I would like to remind my tiki-artist tribe members that the dead line for "SPECTRUM 19" is Jan 27, 2012. AND... They have a category for Dimensional work. I think it is a CRIME that no TIKI has yet to be in the competition! (ahem, ... hello Crazy Al, Benzart, kirby, and the many, many other amazingly talented tiki carvers we have in our tribe who have not entered in to SPECTRUM. I think we would open a whole new door to Tiki Culture to folks who don't even know it's going on!!) Check it out! http://www.spectrumfantasticart.com/ OK, off my soap box. Size. I like painting 24" x 30" on canvas right now. I know, everyone sez I should paint bigger. Heck, I'm still learning the basics, Tiki Tribe, I promise I will get there, as I slowly get over my insecurity and shyness about about showing my art in it's crappy unfinished forms. More shark sketches ... and speaking of "crappy" here's the current painting looking all half way, and messed up, and loaded with mistakes! (EEEK!) ALOHA!
Z zerostreet Tiki Socialite http://www.zerostreet.com Joined: Feb 06, 2010 Posts: 2411	Z zerostreet Posted posted on Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:29 AM Congrats on the Spectrum Brad! I tried for that volume and was roundly rejected! :D I agree with Ken though....we need to see more of your sketchwork! It's amazing! R.
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Tue, Dec 20, 2011 4:12 PM ALOHA TIKI TRIBE! zerostreet - Thanks duude! Kind words help get a person through the tough parts of a painting.... (like having to paint a bizillion fishes!)I will try to post more sketches. I know, I LOVE seeing other artists sketches. I recently got a new art book "Steve Rude Artist in Motion" and it shows a lot of his techniques and sketches. I wish, I wish, I hadn't dreamed so many fish. So after many hours of getting the sharks and fish-sharks in, now I can think a little more about other stuff. the warm back ground. the sea / sharks should all be blue-green-purples and the Tiki on his Kon-Tiki raft should be warm wood tones, in the dream, I think it had a golden kinda light... but that's more a sky effect too... more to come...
CTIT Chuck Tatum is Tiki Member Southern Cailifornia Joined: May 12, 2011 Posts: 1674	CTIT Chuck Tatum is Tiki Posted posted on Tue, Dec 20, 2011 4:30 PM Damn, That's alot of detail work.
T tigertail777 Member Oregon Joined: Nov 25, 2004 Posts: 679	T tigertail777 Posted posted on Tue, Dec 20, 2011 9:32 PM Beautiful detail... but that looks more like some of my nightmares instead of a dream. :wink: I can't believe how many sharks you packed per square inch in there. Very cool, but I'll view from a safe distance thanks. :)
T TikiDaye Tiki Socialite Florida, USA Joined: Mar 26, 2010 Posts: 154	T TikiDaye Posted posted on Wed, Dec 21, 2011 12:27 AM Brad... those sharks are in a frenzy bro. Looking sweet!
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Wed, Dec 21, 2011 12:41 AM ALOHA TIKI TRIBE... ... and thanks guys.... yes, there are a lot of sharks. And each one is a unique beautiful thing: just like snow flakes.
LLT little lost tiki Tiki Socialite Orange,CA-right near the Circle! Joined: Jun 12, 2006 Posts: 7763	LLT little lost tiki Posted posted on Wed, Dec 21, 2011 1:09 AM fudge.... you are amazing,Brad.
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Wed, Dec 21, 2011 1:51 AM Oh Ken, Mahalo! Big Mahalo! Big Christmas fudge mahalo! And for any in the Tiki Tribe who do not know the story behind the the "Kon-Tiki", (which am sure most of you do, but in case you don't it's worth a look). Well, "Kon Tiki" is a book by Thor Heyerdahl. It's the True account of these crazy Norwegian scientist/adventurers who sailed a balsa wood raft from Peru to Polynesia.. tracing the route of a mythic hero named "Kon-Tiki". The book is a very good read, full of near pulp/fiction adventure, and an important part of the whole modern mythology of tiki culture. (in my humble opinion.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kon-Tiki http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGooopCTmpg I was reading the book. Caught a flu bug. was in bed, feverish, on too much cold medication with arum chaser, and fell asleep and had this really vivid dream. That's the image in the painting. I just hope I can translate a little of the magic of the dream on to the canvas.
TSA Tiki Shark Art Member Joined: Aug 31, 2006 Posts: 3978	TSA Tiki Shark Art Posted posted on Thu, Dec 22, 2011 5:05 PM Aloha Tiki Tribe! Step 10: Painting the fish. more to come... ALOHA
G GROG Grand Member (1 year) Tujunga Joined: Jun 21, 2006 Posts: 7548	G GROG Posted posted on Fri, Dec 23, 2011 9:24 AM GROG really like this composition. You should paint this. Just the sharks and no damned tikis.