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

GEEEEEZE! save some talent for the rest of us hacks!

looks amazing,man!

You should entitle this one "Creepy Eyes and Chiclet Teeth".

Aloha Tiki Tribe~

Thanks guys! It's done.

Diga Diga Doo

18" x 24"
Acrylic on Canvas

Diga Diga Duuuuuuude!
Awesome Brad,Awesome!
that piece is CRISPER
than a newly picked up Prom order at FRIAR TUX!
you da man!

sooooo.....what's next?

The new piece is excellent. It has such a Muppet Babies, childlike quality to it: maybe you could start a "Baby Tiki Shark" line for young and old alike?

The drinks, of course, would be non-alk!

Just kiddin', but I can picture your logo for the line. Outstanding work, of course.

I've gotta see your work in person some day.

Sorry.

[ Edited by: Robb Hamel 2009-01-19 06:20 ]

More sorries.

[ Edited by: Robb Hamel 2009-01-19 06:21 ]

WHOA - quadruple post - the server FREAKED....

[ Edited by: Robb Hamel 2009-01-19 06:20 ]

Wowsers!
That's a really snazzy piece, Brad.
The colors are so incredibly vibrant.
I love the flower. It adds a weirdly erotic element
to the image (please don't let it just be me who thinks that). :oops:
The treatment of the sparkly foreground is unique. It reminds me
of the way cities look when viewed from an airplane at night. It's a
very cool effect.

Your work is always a delight for the eyes.

LLT~ Thanks so much! Ha, Diga Diga DUUDE! That's an even better title. What's next is I'm rethinking the lighting on the surfer piece, and I got a sketch going last night for another piece similar to the last one.

Tiki cat roughed idea.
Robb~ Big Mahalo velvet king! Yeah, Tiki babies, but they drink and smoke and hang out in tiki bars!
artosaurus~ Thanks Mr. Carpenter - the foreground I wanted to be a totally different texture and the pointalizim sort of just happened as I was adding in different colors from the rest of the piece. I had to dab in some of that radioactvice lime green for balance.

Aloha~

sweet sketch brad- really look forward to seeing this one get some color.
favorite animal too

Amazing stuff, I need to start checking in more often I'm missing some great art here.

Great freaky surrealist stuff going on in the Cat sketch and the tiki Mug of a "mug"!
Flawless execution as usual!

Hi Brad - I just saw the finished tiki piece, and it's beautiful. I always dig your lighting details, and this is rich with it. That cat layout is going to look fine I'm sure too. Now if I can only learn to love cats! :wink:

Aloha Tiki Tribe~
TD~ Thanks. Yeah, I like cats. There is something H. P. Lovecraftian about cats. Like the character Constantine says "They're half way."
Toshii ~ Thanks so much. It's nice hearing such kind words.
Sneakytiki~ Mahalo!
Sam~ Thanks! Glad you liked the last one. I changed the look as the sketch went to canvas.

I changed the cat. I wanted it to look more cartoon like, and thus, more Low Brow. To do that, I figured I'd make the eyes farther apart and larger until they would sufficiently creep out GROG. Then it'd be correct.

Aloha Tiki Tribe,

I worked out some of the lighting with raw umber and black. Or as
my old art teacher used to say, "Made a right and proper mess of it."

MEEEEEE-OW!

I'm happy already just looking at that lil kitty!
You could stop now and have a successful piece!
:)

Man dat Kat can play! He Beach boy fo sho! Senor Gato!
Love your composition and lighting (as always)!

i had to sing that "Senor Don Gato" song for a HUGE crowd when i was 6-7 back in Illinois in elementary school!

Oh Senor Don Gato was a Cat
On the high red roof
Don Gato sat
he was there to read a letter
Meow Meow Meow
where the reading light was better
Meow Meow Meow
twas a love note for Don Gato!

wow....Major flashback!
why is my brain retaining that inane song?

just came back to look at your kitty again...
looks even better the second time...

Almost forgot...
Congrats on the SHAGPILE coverage!
Stoked more people are finally noticing your awesome work!
:)

Are we there yet?
http://www.kenruzic.com
http://www.myspace.com/kenruzicdotcom

[ Edited by: little lost tiki 2009-01-28 08:06 ]

Sneakytiki~ Thanks!
Kenny~ Thanks! Oh yeah.. I remember that song...
I found this online, (seems a lot more gory than I remember it though!)

Oh, Senor Don Gato was a cat.
On a high, red, roof Don Gato sat.
He was there to read a letter, Meow, Meow, Meow
Where the reading light was better Meow, Meow, Meow.
Twas a love note for Don Gato.

?I adore you,? wrote the lady cat
Who was fluffy white and nice and fat.
There was not a sweeter kitty, Meow, Meow, Meow
In the country or the city, Meow, Meow, Meow.
And she said she?d wed Don Gato.

Oh, Don Gato jumped so happily!
Then fell off the roof and broke his knee,
Broke his ribs and all his whiskers, Meow, Meow, Meow
And his little Solar plexus, Meow, Meow, Meow.
?Aye Carumba!? cried Don Gato.

Oh, the doctors they came on the run
Just to see if something could be done.
And they held a consultation, Meow, Meow, Meow
About how to save their patient, Meow, Meow, Meow.
How to save Senior Don Gato.

But in spite of everything they tried,
Poor Senor Don Gato up and died.
Oh, it wasn?t very merry, Meow, Meow, Meow

Going to the cemetery, Meow, Meow, Meow
For the ending of Don Gato.

As the funeral passed the market square,
Such a smell of fish was in the air!
As the smell of fish created, Meow, Meow, Meow,
He became reanimated, Meow, Meow, Meow!
He came back to life, Don Gato!

(So it'a song about a zombie cat?!)

layed in some colors on the sunset. And some flying saucer clouds!

If anyone wondered about the mention I got on SHAG-pile, you cna find it here
... take a look at http://theshagpile.blogspot.com/

ALOHA!

This one is cruising along beautifully. Nice.

ZombieKat's re-animating!
the sky and clouds are establishing some mood...

Thanks for diggin up those lyrics
total flashback!
:)

Lookin Sweet, Brad-- sunset is Killer!
:lol: i like the lil guy's paws on the frets

Great Stuff !!

Rob~, LLt~, TD~ Big mahalo for the kind words. Been busy here, and I just got a little time in on smoothing out the sky.

ALOHA~

here comes another beautiful creation, tiki shark love your work

kroozzn62~ Big Mahalo, (and I hope you're right!)

I still worked on the sky and clouds last night. I'm learning more about layering in semi transparent layers of acyclic. I want a nice soft hazy look to the sky and clouds. So, I've been mixing my paint with more glazing medium instead of water. I think it's starting to get there.

Big Aloha from the Big Island!

Rockin' composition - lots to look at.

I really like the large size of the cat's eyes and their oval shape - different style than I've seen before, and I've looked at multitudes of books featuring cats styled for young people.

I think the youthful quality of the last two paintings is a very nice and fresh new facet to your tiki work. There is no guessing what you may do next!

Aloha tiki Tribe,
Robb~ Hey, thanks Robb. Yeah, the last two paintings have a very specific composition on common. I don't think artists should over explain their work, because looking at it SHOULD explain everything the viewer needs to enjoy (or hate) it. However, since it's you, I'll prattle off a little bit. I had this idea that I wanted the aumakuas (tiki creatures/animal-nature spirits) depicted to have that currently popular pop surrealistic toy quality. To be a very specific object resting on a very specific spot, at a very specific time. I think it started with the idea that the Menehunes come out at night. Evening, sunset exactly, the supernatural creatures in Hawaii issue forth. Also, evening is traditionally when the drinking starts. And the consumption of tropical drinks helps one to more clearly see that which is invisible to the normal (sober) eye during the day.
In short: heavy drinking at night may cause you to see some strange shit in Hawaii.
or...
"Welcome to the Mai Tai light Zone". :)

Still smoothing out the damn clouds, and starting the jungle.

Big Aloha from the Big Island!
B~

[ Edited by: tiki shark art 2009-02-09 13:43 ]

Great progress pictures, B!
it's like watching the art unfold...backwards

:D
lata, CoolCat!

Wow! I've always wanted to do a Tiki/Cat painting.
I really like the concept.
Looking forward to seeing this one finished.

i wanna go to the MAITAIlight zone!

Brad, this piece is fantastic! I really enjoyed seeing how the painting changed from the original drawing, all for the better!

Is the bird making a comeback, or gone for good?

Aloha Tiki Tribe~
(Happy Aloha Friday!)
TD~ Thanks!
Swampfire~ Thanks, and hey don't let me stop you from making a tiki cat painting. I'm sure it'll be a completely unique swampfire vision and hey, there's room for interpretations of everything by everybody in the Low Brow/Tiki art scene as far as I'm concerned. I'd love to see your version. My original idea looked nothing like what I'm doing now.
Tobunga~ Oh yeah, I forgot about the dead rare nearly extinct Hawaiian bird in the foreground. I was gonna put it in there as a side statement about how the feral cat populations has wrecked the native bird population. Now.... I'm not sure.

It's a bit gray and vogy out side today, so this shot is a tad dark. But here's the new paint slappings.

Here's a closer look at the wave, and Diamond head in the distance.

Big Aloha from the (grey and voggy) Big Island~

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2009-03-06 12:14 ]

Aloha Tiki Tribe!

Here's what I accomplished last night - a bit on tiki cat, and seeking a balanced shape in the palm tree.

This is a pencil study for the tiki in the jungle behind tiki cat.

Big Mahalo from the (gray and rainy) Big Island~

Aloha Tiki Tribe~
Hey it's raining in Kona today, so I couldn't get very good light to take a photo of the art. Colors are off.

I worked in some blue tones into tiki-cat. Once again I'm using the Greg Hildebrandt teachings of opposite light sources. Warm sunset in the background opposite cool light on the foreground.

Here's the beginnings of the tiki roughed in.

Mahalo from the wet gray rain-soaked Big Island.

This baby's coming together beautifully. I really dig the graphite work.

kitty's coming to life!
glad you picked this back up
after a short,but too long, break!

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Well the rain clouds parted for a few minutes this morning, so I grabbed the painting and ran out side to get a shot in good light.

I'm moving the palm trees into a purple color, sort of mid way between the orange sunset to the cool green/blue foreground. Well, it makes sense on the color wheel, not sure if it makes sense on the painting... oh well. That's the plan and I'm going with it.

RobbThanks buddy, that pencil study was like a weird automatic writing session. I had just hada really crazed business meeting, and I sat down and scribbled it out.
LLLT I wasn't planning on taking a break, but work got in the way, then this darned cold bug lurking around the islands dropped me off and on for about a week or so. Feels so good to be back and painting. I think artist's get addicted to the act of painting, and if you deprive them of it too long they get start to jonze for it! I certainly was!

Good thing I live on the "dry side", I hear Hilo over on the wet side is having record setting rain fall! Sheesh! Hilo is known to be the rainiest city in the state of Hawaii! I'd be scared to see what record setting rains are like!

Big Aloha from the still gray and rainy Big Island!

Hey Brad, lookin good as usual. I can definately see the Hildebrandt influence here. Good job....screw that, GREAT JOB!!!!! Can't wait to see the finished piece here.

TiKiMaN77~ Big Mahalo, u just made my day!
So here's what it looks like this morning...

did some work on the purple palms...

Giving them that warm back lite from the sunset.

Kailua-Kona weather report: Hey, the sun is almost breaking through the clouds today! Yipee! On my morning walk I saw some big 8 to 10 foot waves down at the beach! A few brave boogie boarders out there catching a few before going to work. ( ...or the emergency room if you don't catch it right!)

Big aloha from the Big Island!

Aloha tiki Tribe!

I'm working out the colors. Now that I've toned the foreground more to the cool tones, it's separated from the sunset and it's making more sense to me. (Once again rain clouds rolled in over the island, so the shot is a tad dark because of the light.)

Artasaurus~Thank you so much for your comments and sage suggestions. I took everyone to heart.

looks incredible, Brad~
i really like the lighting and color on the palms
reminds me of some trees from Dr.Seuss books :lol:

Aloha Tiki Tribe~
TD~ No, palm trees look just like that here on the Big Island..... after you chowed down on some shrooms and puffed some paca lolo! (Just kidding.) :) Yeah, the palm tree is sorta' Seuss-like,... or is it very Tiki Tony-like who is in turn very Dr.Seuss-like?

While you ponder that, here's a nice pencil study I did from an image I had in a dream last night. (no comment on paca lolo help or not) Could be on it's way to growing up someday to become a painting.

Big Mahalo from the Big Island. (Still raining!)

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2009-03-14 22:06 ]

looks like quite a "trippy" dream, Brad :lol: :P

dream inspiration is always intriquing

Cool sketch man! And the kitty is coming along nice :D

I reckon the sketch would work better if he was facing the same direction as the sharks, like they all travelling to the same supernatural event - but what is it? are the sharks aware of the tiki? Why does that damn puppy with the bug eyes still haunt me?

And schools of hammerhead sharks are so much cooler than regular sharks

Aloha Tiki Tribe
TDDreams are great sources for art ideas. Wish I could remember more from them.
HeweyHammerheads are weird and intriguing fish for shure! I think that photos is from the famous hammer head schools around Cocos Island in mating season. I know a few friends who dove there and they said it was intense!

Mid-ground foliage roughed in.
B~

Tiki Shark

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

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2009-03-15 13:13 ]

hewey~ He could be going the same direction as the fish... and why be on a raft on the ocean with out a tropical drink?

On 2009-03-15 16:12, Tiki Shark Art wrote:
hewey~ He could be going the same direction as the fish... and why be on a raft on the ocean with out a tropical drink?

What about sharks circling the raft - do they want to eat the tiki and his delicous cocktail, or are they just drawn to his mystical power? :D

So do sharks like cocktails of burley and rum? :lol:

What about a sea of glowing pufferfish illuminating the night time ocean-scape from below?

Guess who's got a cold and is completely out of it, and coming up with wacky ideas :lol: :lol: I'd go and lie down but its only lunch time at work :lol: