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

ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!
HAPPY ALOHA FRIDAY!
Working out the tiki hut. Had it be a mysterious green to stand out against the orange sun set.

the Trader Vics Sign was at the request of the art patron who commissioned this piece. It's the place where he first had a "Zombie".

Here's a closer look...

Lots more to go.
ALOHA!~

I would so go there!

Atomic Tiki Punk. Have you ever read a story called "The Strange High House in the Mist" by H. P. Lovecraft?

On 2012-03-09 18:44, Tiki Shark Art wrote:
Atomic Tiki Punk. Have you ever read a story called "The Strange High House in the Mist" by H. P. Lovecraft?

Checking my Lovecraft collection, Brad....I don't remember the story off the top of my head.

It's about this house way up on a cliff over looking the sea. No one ever sees anyone go up there from the town below. But every night lights go on in the house. One tourist climbs all the way up to the house, and discovers the front door opens onto nothing... on to the open sky high above the sea. No one could get to the front door from the land. He walks around the house, finds no other doors, trying to see in the dark old windows... when he hears the front door open and someone walking inside...

Coming along LURIDLY,Brad!
your Lovecraft quote above evokes scenes from the Haunter of the Dark
with that abandoned Church...
Excellent!

ALOHA TIKI TIRBE!
LLT - it's from "The Strange High House in the Mist". But, I guess my take on it is this... imagine you are on a remote tropical isle. An ancient tiki bar sits high up on a sea cliff. Only way in or out is a door that opens onto the open space high above the sea. You can't get to the door from the land. Yet, every night, lights appear in the bar, a band plays exotica music, and the sounds of people at a party, rum drinks flowing, are heard coming form the glowing establishment through darkened the jungle. It's an idea that got stuck in my head after I read "The Strange High House in the Mist" by H.P. Lovecraft, and it seems to have almost crept in to a few paintings I did before, but it seems it's fully visualized in this one. Even though that was not my intention of what I was painting when I started.

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2012-03-10 13:22 ]

I'm thinkin' a drink from that mug'll be the key to that mystery party~

"Then the shadows began to gather; first little furtive ones under the table, and then bolder ones in the dark panelled corners. And the bearded man made enigmatical gestures of prayer, and lit tall candles in curiously wrought brass candlesticks. Frequently he would glance at the door as if he expected someone, and at length his glance seemed answered by a singular rapping which must have followed some very ancient and secret code. This time he did not even glance through the peep-hole, but swung the great oak bar and shot the bolt, unlatching the heavy door and flinging it wide to the stars and the mist."

You can read the whole story here:
http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/shh.asp

Dig IT!

ALOHA tiki tirbe.
I love that story.
STEP !!-

Working on the flora. Gottta work on the big tiki. the girl, the drink, and pick out orchids.... thanks for watching the paint dry.

ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!
Ok, step 12. I got to work on the fun part, the big tiki. getting the wood texture, and working on the weathering and wear and dramatic lighting.

Still have lots to do with the flora. The Woman. The Zombie. The big hawaiian orchids I'm gonna put it on the front.
More to come...
ALOHA!

ALOHA TIKI TRIBE & Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
Step 13-

OK, I got a good wood texture going. Now to put in all the age marks, the weathering, the cracks, the pits and worm holes to make this tiki look more....TIKI.
And the hole in his head? What to go in there? A Skull? Gold Skull? Gold Skull with gem eyes? Whatdoyathink?

B~

Brad (Tiki Shark) Parker
"Brad Parker creates lurid paintings that pull in influences from tiki, comics, and rock."

• Honolulu Magazine "The Best Of" 2012 January Issue
  
  http://www.tikishark.com

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2012-03-17 20:28 ]

Brad, I really appreciate all the time and craftsmanship that you put in each of your lovely pieces! Keep the paint flowing and the brush moving!

ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!
Sneakytiki - Thanks for noticing! I know it's not the faster easier way to sketch out every thing every little detail, but some how I can't do that. My paintings grow organically, layer on layer as I build the base structure and then tear it apart or add on or take away... like the TIKI: I got a good wood grain flow going... now it's being beaten up, gouged, weathered, cracked, soon I will lay in semi-transparent layers of green like sea mold has latched onto the wood. I think of this as me being Father Time, taking a fresh beautifully carved tiki, now, I destroy it.
Step 14

The long slow way to paint an old tiki, but it makes sense in my creative cycle. I build and then tear down. More work, but I can see where it'd look better weatherized and worn. I find things I would not have thought of at first sketch. And I discovered one basic rule - the longer I get to spend time painting on a very an object in a painting, the better I will make it look, This is especially important when it comes to Tikis. They should be painted slowly, with love and care and I savor every bit. Making sure it all looks just right.

But, Sneakytiki, no vote on the Hole in da' head? What should be on this tiki's mind? A Skull? A gold Skull? A gold Skull with gem eyes - sort of Indiana Jonesy mythology thrown in there? Maybe one BIG jewel? A living Eye? What hasn't been done? Whatdouyouthink?
aloha-
B

Why not an emerald?
A precious stone that would also tie in the green, just a thought.

Also a question, why is the face of the tiki two different colors when the light is coming from directly below?
I would think the shading would be working its way up as opposed to across.

Brad,

Dynamite work (as always)

On 2012-03-17 20:26, Tiki Shark Art wrote:

And the hole in his head? What to go in there? A Skull? Gold Skull? Gold Skull with gem eyes? Whatdoyathink?

How about a ghoulish green zombie head to tie back in with the theme?

Keep doin' what'cha do, bra.

Bear

Brad, you know I would paint brains in the hole...but I don't know if that's very Tiki Shark? ;P

Gort! oh wait thats for another time, Looks great Brad...

On 2012-03-18 14:29, Heath wrote:

Also a question, why is the face of the tiki two different colors when the light is coming from directly below?

I know that question. Brad started making his tikis a few painting back all to be a two tone type tiki. That's a tongue twister. His Nine O Cat painting had a wood side and a stone side if I can remember correctly. More challenging and more variety I guess but Brad could enlighten on that part.

Could do a bird in that hole. I favorite Bosko picture of mine was one with a bird I think. This painting has that Adam and Eve "here have this" and a snake would cement that but doubt you want that.

Lost Soul's Brad!

I was in Kona yesterday and made sure to visit the Wyland gallery to see your work in person. Awesome stuff!

ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!
Hey Thanks everybody for all the cool ideas... I went round and round a bit, then went with the Indiana Jones choice and put in a Golden Skull. I always like the idea of discovering lost or cursed treasure...
Heath - good question!
teaKEY - Good answer!
I'm still sort of discovering what the two tones of the split tiki mean really, myself. It all started when I was at "the Place of Refuge" here on the big island, and one of the tikis there nearly has a split all the way down it. That visual idea started bouncing around in my head then. Then It was a little about a Warm light source and a cold light source. then it started being about texture like teaKEY said. I think it still is alot about texture, (I love lots of texture on tikis) but also the weathering of wood. Moldy or discolored old trees and logs have started to intrigue me. I always like it when artist's take a human protait and work in different skin tones, green shadows, red noses.... I guess that started to manifest in my tiki weathering concepts.
On this tiki... it's sort of more subtle now after I layed in some more brown tones to unify it more... I'll get some better shots up when there's some sun light tomorrow.

Working up a big strange orchid in the foreground. then I gotta figure out how all the flora will look behind the elements and bring them together.
More laters!
ALOHA!

ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!
HAPPY ALOHA FRIDAY!

Step 16...

The Tiki...

Closer look at the golden skull.
Now to paint some exotic orchids!
Laters!
Brad~

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Step 17 - after all the fun I had at the shows at the Royal Kona Resort and the Wyland Kona Oceanfront Gallery, it's back to some real studio time and getting this painting done!

Heres a look at the mostly finished part...sky, sunset, cartoon moon, Trader Vics...

Worked in more flora behind everything... roughed out the orchids, the girls iosnstill justan underpainting, and so id the mug, so lots of work to do there... so I better get to it!
ALOHA!

Looking awesome Brad!!

I'm still caught up in the TikiShark vortex of goodness. Start with the gold skull and move counterclockwise: your eyes'll just keep landing on something great to look at.

Thanks Professor & zerostreet! U just made my day!
ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!
Step 18: Almost done....

Finishing up the Tiki Mug, then the Girl...

ALOHA!

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2012-03-31 21:40 ]

Looking very nice there TikiShark!

Thanks Sneakytiki!
ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!
Well, I think it's done. For such a simple idea : I.E. a Girl, holding a zombie cocktail, with a tiki bar in the back ground, this painting is sooooo complicated to look at. It's sort of detail overload. Hmmmm. All eye candy, but maybe I'm getting too insane and lost in the details? It's still a "pretty picture" and so far every one likes looking at it. So.... I dunnno... a collector friend said it was my best. I think I'm just at that place where I worked too long on it for too many long hours. A good break from it is needed then I'll be able to "see it" again.

"Zombie Tiki Girl"
acrylic on canvas
24" x 36"

It's absolutely lovely. I get to the point at the restaurant sometimes where I need other people to check the flavorings on a certain dish; I've tasted it and smelled it and just been around it so much that I've lost a sense of the finished project. Brad, your finished project is delicious. Congratulations.

I need to see a bigger detail of the girl. Love the way the mug came out. I though it was even great in the second to last step but went to many levels past in the final step.

Very cool Brad, love it!!

ONE of your best,Brad!
you have so many!
the vegetation and flowers are STUNNING!!!!

You've been MASTER material for quite awhile
and this one just showcases it so Superbly!

pat pat pat on the back

NOW GET TA CRACKIN ON THE NEXT ONE!
:)

Nice Brad! Everything you do is awesome, but I find the A-frames are sometimes what I spend most time looking at! Can't wait to see what's next!

Thank you so much, my tiki brothers & sisters, I really needed some feed back on this one. I still cringe when I look at it... I dunno, but I think it is best to move on for now.

I am ok with how the drink looks.... It's just, just, the girl may not be amazing enough (?) .I could keep painting for the next 5 months... but that's now really a possibility with teh art show coming up in July. I got 2 more to do and a surf board! Like the wise folks you are, I think u know best.... for now I am going to make like Paul Stanley on his solo album and "Move On!".

Say hello to "Tiki Cat"'s brother "BONGO CAT"!
This one has been jumping around in my head ever since Tiki Cat made such a big splash here last year... it was on the calendars, post cards, refrigerator magnets, greeting cards... everyone went gaga over it, and I really intended to have another figure in a another painting facing him, like book ends. Wouldn't that be cool in a tiki bar? So here we go... roughed in the canvas.
You can see some extra detail on the full sized giclee of TIKI CAT; that's an artist's remarque requested by the cool cats who bought that print. (Their anniversary date drawn in the sand)

ALOHA & Mahalo for the help!

Brad, you spent a lot of hours on that painting but it all shows so its all worth it. YOu didn't even do any redos like in some past paintings.

Oyes, thanks TeaKEY. I recall repainting Bela Lugosi -n his whole face ... and many oher things. Maybe I'm even learning a little.
Step 2 - orange Kona sunset sky...

HAppy Aloha (good) Friday!

B tiki-shark P

ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!

Step #3 - getting the Big Tiki back and roughin in Godzilla

step 4 - Godzilla shaded in a bit more. For you Godzilla nerds out there (like me) I'm using the "Uber-tall-back-spikes Godzilla" from "Godzilla 2000" as reference. It's my fav Big G design.

Decided to make this giant Tiki a split in two 2-toned tiki. Makes him look more like a classic Japanese super hero. And I'm still working through my weird gemini-tiki thang.

BIG ALOHA!

B Tiki-shark P

BAM! that one just popped outta NOWHERE!!!!!!
GODZIRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

this one is gonna be LOUD and PROUD!

Dang it, Shark,

This is one of my favorite things. Once again, Brad, there's great stuff everywhere I look at this one. Actually, after you wrapped up the Zombie Mug, I was thinking, "Godzilla vs. Tiki. Godzilla vs. Tiki . . ." and there it is.

So cool Brad! are you going to have Godzilla's Spikes glowing
like it does just before she spits atomic fire?

ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!
Oh yeah, Great Idea! Did you see "Godzilla vs Destroya" where Godzilla has a melt down, and his spikes melt... a lot of stuff blows up in THAT movie!
Step 6

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Hey check it out... the latest issue of TIKI Magazine is out!

I got a few pages of review for my up coming art show in July.

Big Thanks to Nick Camera (editor of Tiki Magazine) for the great mention! MAHALO!

There's an ad in this issue for my art show too.

So, cruise by your local Magazine stand and look for the issue with the Moritz R. cover. (Swanky!)

ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!

Step 7....

More detail on Godzilla. Now working on the sea and the wave. Still futzing with the sky.
Want to put in some palm trees, the girl on the beach and some super-neat-o tropical flowers in the foreground.
Lots to go (EEK!)
ALOHA
Tiki-shark

The date is 4/20. And, it's a "happy ALOHA Friday"! That's a pretty special day here on the Big Island of Hawaii. The volcano is SMOKING! There are a lot of POT-luck parties going on! DOOBIE good to yourself and don't let your time be WASTED! WEED like to wish you a big Aloha! (hehe)

OK, take a TOKE ...er look at what I'm painting.

"Big Tiki VS Godzilla" step 8: Putting in some effects on Godzilla's spines. Soon... on to the beach, some palm trees and the girl.

ALOHA, MAHALO, and don't Bogart that blunt, pass it around!

This one is all kinds of fun! Brad.