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

A L O H A Tiki Tribe!

Jeepers Creepers ~ Mondays totally suck!
But, THIS sure helps... ( sigh )
Big Mahalo World!

ALOHA~ & Mele Kalikimaka, TIKI TRIBE!
Working on more Low-Brow Tiki Art for my next Art show...

"Revenge of the Kreature from Kona"

Here's a more roughed out Kreature, with a Surf Board this time.
Maybe a wave or a tiki over his shoulder… hmmm…
I watched the classic film again today, & had an idea of putting a cool Tiki in his sub-mariner cave-lair.

"Christmas CHEERS!"
I'm having a Blow-Out Sale on my new SHOT GLASSES in the Gift Shop at the Royal Kona Resort.

Another beautiful December Sunset in Kona…
ALOHA!

ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!

I just watched one of my Favorite Christmas Movies!

It reminded me of how much fun I had last time I was at FORBIDDEN ISLAND Tiki Lounge!

So I called Michael and asked if I could do it again, he said sure!
So hope to see you at FORBIDDEN ISLAND on Dec 20th - a Christmas Tiki-Shark Swag BLOW Out Sale, and sign-o-Fest!

ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!
So, see ya on Dec 20th…
Other than that I've been working on the Night Marcher's EPIC piece again.

Some rather dramatic changes took place. I re-engeenered the Stairs, as they were not working as Menehune or M.C. Escher structures for me.
This is looking better and better.

Brad's Imaginary Low-Brow Art Muse Sez;
"Yeah, No worries! All he had to do was re-paint almost everything, and now it's staring to look better. Easy!"

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Workin' on da' "REVENGE OF da' CREATURE From KONA"!

Just watched the 1st & the 2nd CREATURE films.
~ Research... don't ya' know! Yeah, it's a hard and tedious part of this job, but SOMEONE has to do it. ~
So, THIS time instead of the Creature being on a beach… I'm putting him in his SUB-Marine LAIR.
I think I will put him in his Tropical-Underwater-Cave, and I really want to put an old TIKI in this sunken hideout as well, like it's partially the ruins of an old temple.
Then, add in some more rotting old skulls, a small water-fall, some strange rock formations, Giant Crawlly Bugs, some Bats, maybe even a pirates treasure (?)
...well, what ever we have room for on this tiny small canvas.
Cool lighting effects from the pool of water for sure!
We shall see…

Then I wanna' do ONE MORE Classic Movie Monster in Hawaii - and because I am going here:

I am inspired to make it about Robby the Robot:

But, of course my version , it's a TIKI that carries the Girl. , natch!
Anyways...

Remember to come see me at the ForBidden Island Tiki Lounge December 20Th
Ask me if 've starting on the Forbidden Island "Tiki and the Girl" painting yet!

Mele Kalikimaka!

ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!

Making Art for my 2nd wave of skate board designs from Made on Mars http://www.madeommars.com

"The Flying Tiger Shark Mo'o (Dragon) "
I am looking for a black & white iconic Skate image.
Powerful, exciting, Epic even! Like the things I saw in the 80's.
the thing about reproducing million color painting images is the vast cost in printing, and the many things that can go wrong in the printing process.
If I can create a hand full of solid really darned good B & W images, translated intone vector graphics for easy reproduction in many sizes, and with much less the printing cost,
that will take me farther down the road to a more secure financial statement in the skate world of Low-Brow and Tiki Art. It'll help pay for the million zillion proper printing of
my more elaborate full color paintings onto boards. I really want to hit both side, have graphics of limited color I can reproduce on boards, t-shirts and many other things with ease, and not only
the expensive full color board graphics.
Also I really dig powerful B & W Art! Reminds me of my roots and the indy comic books where I started. to this day, I prefer b & w comic books to full color ones.

"The Flying Tiger Shark Mo'o - Dragon"
Here I'm transferring the image to a better quality paper.
Bigger, heavier, more clay than rag content, ...and suitable to create an elaborate ink drawing on instead of the small cheap pepper of my sketch book.

"The Flying Tiger-Shark Mo'o ( Dragon )
This image should be inked in as a full on black and white illustration for a deck.
Then I'll scan it in and re-create it again in Adobe illustrator so I can reproduce and print in in a variety of media and on many things without loosing any details.

More laters!

Looking good Brad, I think you are on the right track! I know a couple little skate punks that would be stoked with that image on a deck!

sirginn - Awesome news!
While I'm traveling fer da' Holidays I'll have my sketch book, and my good inking paper to work on such things.

ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!
Hope all your Holiday plans R going GREAT!
I'm traveling, and sketching…
I had an idea for a new TIKI souvenir. VERY "Low Brow & Pop-Culture". I would love to translate it into "Tiki Art" and an actual Souvenir you could buy in a Gift shop on da' Islands.
Don't know if it'll happen. BUT, that's exactly what I said about…

...the "Monsters in Hawaii Post Cards" !

Submitted for your approval...

"The Forbidden Souvenir Tiki"

More laters as it all develops!

"The Forbidden Souvenir Tiki"

WOW!

That would be an awesome Mug design!!

[ Edited by: Kraken007 2015-12-18 06:29 ]

Kraken007 - Thank you! I'm working on that version too. First just wanted the basic idea down.
Had this as a print long ago…

A b & W

Then this color version…

Always wanted to do more...

Aloha tiki Tribe!

I am fear full.
Full of Fear.
Fear of falling on my face.
I gotta big art shaw July 1st. I have a reoccurring nightmare that I am not ready and I blow it.
Hope it's not a prophecy.

I awoke last night about 4 Am and scrawled this in my sketch book.

I think I know why it means…
gonna try to paint it now.

..why it is? Or WHAT it is…either I guess.
I think it's got to do with this…

remember this?

Now it looks more like this.

The dream sketch is about the one with the skulls.

It is cool for me to think that the greatest of artists also worry about their work, but fear not Tiki Shark for you are one of the best!

cy - Well, I went fishing for some kind worlds of encouragement, and I've very happy to have nabbed a few.
I kinda' needed them that day. Thank you! They helped.
( I had a "yes, you are getting older..." check-up at the doctor. Nothing wrong, for a guy my age. A guy MY AGE... sheesh, I anit a kid no more! )
OK….
Deep breath. I get scared out of my wits before EVERY art show!
Especially at an art show at known gallery - the bigger the gallery the bigger my nervous-artist "freak-out!"
Just part of makin' da' Art, I suppose.

I spend 99% of my time alone, trying to focus on that nebulas thing that will get me to a place where I can "MAKE da' ART"… not always easy.

So, when I suddenly have to deal with one, or with a room full, of folks who all wanna' talk about MY art, or MY paintings, I have a bit of that "introvert" gets thrown into a an "extrovert" environment.
Yep, I get sweaty hands, loose my voice, nervous twitches, say stupid things I groan over inside, every time.
Maybe one day it'll all seem normal, but this whole ARTIST thing is still like a strange dream. Hard to grasp whats happening. What am I supposed to do next? I keep thinking will sit down to make art and nothing will come out of my hands! Like I "USED UP" all of the "ART" I was allowed. This "no more art left " is a reoccurring nightmare.

….Onto nightmares, and dreams.
A old friend, who is known for his writing, told me his best stories came from his dreams.
He keeps a diary next to his bed, and he jots down every dream he can recall.

This painting on this Skate deck is following a "Dream" I had about painting this skate deck! I'm trying to pant it like it was in the dream - really tricky stuff! Nothing seems like the dream, sort of! Then sometimes it all does! Weird!

Here's where we are now. Still painting the skulls. I have a few things left to do to them...

I found out after my first pass of the "wall of skulls" that many of them went off in a "goofy looking" direction, and I had to go back over each and every one and make sure it "looked" serious, or at least, as good as that particular skull could look.

Yes, I have read H. P. Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu". It's one of my favorite stories; it inspired me as a teenager, and is still doing so now.
It's about an overly sensitive artist who dreams about a great giant monster rising up from a sunken city in the South Pacific, and taking over the world…

I look out at this every scenery night; watching for "Dreaming Cthulhlu"!
I was just re-listening to an audio-book of many of Lovecraft's horror/fantasy stories.
Fuel for the fire!

More laters!

Nice to see you back to posting, love the last sunset photo.

Thanks hiltiki!
ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!

U can get lost in the FB rat race if not careful. But I feel I can talk more freely here. Let folks see my REAL neurosis!
so been RE-Designing some Tikis for the souvenir market.
seems the Poem was too many words, especially for folks who do not know english. and if the TIKI is shrunk down in size, makes the
words very hard to read.
so trying to make a more universal symbol Tiki with directions on how to play with
what my Hawaiian artist friend refers to as "a Hawaiian 8-Ball" toy.
Exactly, I said!

We had the directions on a "HANG TAG" but the business owner said hang tags are things that kids just rip off in stores, and a waste of time and $!
So we thought how to make the directions ON the TIKI without being in the way.
Simple.
check out theBottom solution…. whata ya think?

ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!
working on new TIKI ART on a new medium - a Japanese Newspaper! It will be held suspended tween two plexi-glass sheets.
I got the idea from a Russian Gallery owner and Artist Elena Bulatova.

I bought here pop-art new-paper art, liked them soooo much, asked permission to do something like ti, she said yes - on Japanese Newspaper

Scaredy Cat on his Ukulele is the first subject.

Rough start…
more to come!

Aloha Tiki Tribe!

It's been a long hard eye-screaming frozen rocky-road. Battles bare-neked-&-bear-fisted were fight-ed. Still Are being fighting-ed.
Yep, and even another mother-ofa' new Law Suit in the way.
"The Dark Side" is seeking to stop the forces of "TIKI" any-way they can…
but despair not...
However…
Mean while….
My buddy, Hawaiian comic book (and all around amazing ) artist is now the ART DIRECTOR a the company where I am trying to get my TIKI souvenirs made. Now, the stars are in the right spot for REEL for shire dis time!! I think finally The TIKI gods have smiled down on us. Things are starting to happen! So very very very happy to be working with the amazing, and inspirational Sam Campos.

He just sent me photos of Alex, his son, playing with the prototypes of the Tiki-Toys.

THIS, my tiki-brothers and sisters, THIS is is what it's all about.

Big Mahalo and ALOHA!

ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!

In da Studio -
Heard from my Brother-of-Hawaiian-ancestry, and fellow Artist, SAM today. Remember him? I got him a gig as AD at the Hawaiian Company that is making the TIKI souvenirs I have been working on for, oh quite a while now. Good news, after these last few rounds of re-draws, it seems like the TIKIS are FINALLY just about all done being poked and prided with sharp sticks!
We are gonna' go in to production, ( unless SOMETHING ELSE goes wrong! )
YIPEE!

The big La Luz Art show:

"Scaredy Cat in progress on a Japanese Newspaper

Backwards check to make sure the art is not totally f-ed u

Artist at work

Piece so far…

"Needs A Tiki and some SKULLS!" - advise from my agent. so here's a sketch of the ghostly trio- o' Skullz dat Scardy Cat is Sacred of.

The volcano must be emitting something truly unearthly due to my summoning the great "DARK-ART GAWD Cthulhu-Farquahr" the other night, ( see LLT's Blog on TC ) as... when I took a photo of the sun-set tonight, duplicated it, and hit "Multiply" on photo-shop... it brought out some really strange colors ( not of this earth).
Hmmmm….

More Weird Tiki Tales to come…..

Aloha Tiki Tribe!

"SCAREDY CAT" on Newspaper and and Pulp.

http://hppodcraft.com/2011/07/13/reading-4-the-cats-of-ulthar/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwN_dgZaUFk

http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/thecatsofulthar.htm

So, I discovered if I made a big mistake on the painting on the New paper, it's best, because the medium is so thin, to use another layer to cover the mistake and paste it down and re-paint over that. I decided to use some pages from an ancient paper back book of horror stories from my favorite American Horror/fantasy author: H.P. Lovecraft. I occurs to me that this story was written about 100 years ago now. Stands the test of time. One of my all time favorites.

[ Edited by: swizzle 2016-03-17 17:08 ]

Swizzle don't take over where Atomic Tiki Punk left off. I for one comment on Tiki Art Sharks thread. The amount of effort that goes into making a thread is a lot of work. Especially for a very busy artist. I love this thread and even when I don't comment each time I look at every post. I feel as if I keep my painting skills fine tuned by looking at his step by steps. I also love the sunsets of Hawaii and every thing else he shares.

If you watch the number of views rather than the number of posts you'll see this is a very popular thread.

Please Tiki Art Shark keep posting. Swizzle I love you too. Wendy

Wow Brad, that's PURRRRty cool!
I had to paws and look at the deTAILs you're putting in there with a whisker of a brush.
I'm not kitten around, it really is the cat's pajamas.

sorry...

Just what Heath said!!!

Cats of Ulthar!
lovecraft!
this approach is a great way to
present your work in a new way,a new medium
some new pizzazz and excitement for you
and us!
Been following this thread,but ,like the others,am guilty of
look and bail....
There's artwork to be done,eh?
Keep your chin up and back straight,buddy!
miss you!

LLT ~ Thank you for the kind words. It's the scariest thing to put your art out into the world and have it looked at, and judged, especially before finished. I started posting on TC because of you. Your posts inspired me. You ARE my hero.

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2016-03-17 08:02 ]

Hi, I was wondering if you treat the newsprint with a sealer before painting? Wendy

Time for an update please.

On 2016-01-23 04:54, swizzle wrote:
Are you aware that nobody comments on your posts/thread??? Think about why. You are actually a talented artist, but you are a wanker.

What? I don't even know what a "wanker" is.
I thought TC was a place here I could mingle with my Tiki Tribe in friendship. I considered it a world wide artist collective where I could share my struggles to create art with other tiki artists and collectors.
TC is like an Artist's Collective of many many many Art studios all over the world, with a different Tiki Artist working in each; you can stroll through this part of TC and see what they are all doing.
LLT ( Ken Ruzic ) is always making amazing original Tiki Art at an incredible pace we all marvel at. Robb Hamel is maybe one of the few painters in the world creating new beautiful Black Velvet Art. VanTiki is breaking all stereotypes of what a Tiki Mug is and creating a whole new kind of Fine Art Sculpture! There are very major talents here like Big Toe, Doug Horne, Crazy Al, Eric October, Thorsten Hasenkamm, THOR…. it goes on and on, just take a look. You don't need to comment on every art studio.

If you see stuff you may not dig, don't freak-out and be an idiot, just go on till you find a studio with Art that you like. Talk to that Artist if you want to. Ask how they do what they do. Let them know you love their Art. Information shared. Support given. Maybe even buy a piece. ( ! )

Artists here are struggling. It's extremely hard to make a living as an artist. Some here are still fighting to turn a hobby into a career. It's a hell of a lot of work. To become a successful gallery artist is one of the hardest job paths you will ever find. You have one in a thousand chance of making it, if that. The work is crushing. It takes away most of your life. No more TV. Ever. Your personal life suffers. You are painting all the time. You are fighting to keep your space in a gallery that excepts you. You agonize over every new piece - is it good enough? Is it Low Brow Art? Does it have a meaning? Is it "Tiki" enough? Is it offensive to Hawaiian culture? Is it as good as the new piece by so-in-so who's hanging in in the same group art show? The mental pressure and stress destroys people. What do you think happened to The PIZZ? He was hanging in Museums! Still he battled stress we could not fathom.

I show my "art in progress" here, if you like it or not - you can look or not. If you got questions or criticism about my art, I am happy to listen & answer & even take advise. I never require responses from folks who just wanna' watch. I enjoy critiques from folks, who know me, or know about Art, or know about Tiki. LLT often tells me exactly what I'm doing wrong, and I cherish Kenny's criticism. GROG gives the greatest Art Direction and has helped me greatly many many many times.

But, being told I'm a "wanker"?

First off, I'm still not even sure what that word "wanker" means.
Hey, maybe it's an Art term I never heard of? I google it… hmmmm…. I guess it means I "masturbate" overly much… ? Still not really understanding it.
Okay, maybe I go on and on about my obsession with obscure pop culture references. Like TIKI? I know. Hey, I'm weird. I totally know that. I'm a "Low Brow Tiki Artist". I'm supposed to be weird. That's the one up-side to being a Low Brow Artist. The biggest part to being a Low Brow Artist is a LOT of HARD WORK, 10 hours a day or more, alone in your studio, struggling to make ART. Worrying if it will be real "Art", or just crap. No social time. You tend to go of the deep end. Artists are strange folk. Read Art History, you'll find every great artist was some kind of freak, drug addict, drunk, criminal, or maniac.

What are these bad feelings about having to get more replies or not? When did the art studios on TC become a popularity contest?

Ya' know what? This has taken the fun out of TC for me. I got way too much pressure in my life to create Art now. I really don't want to worry about these bad vibes from non-artists, about why or how I'm using TC.

I have a horrific amount of Art to create before April 1st. I don't have time for this. Not sure I'll post here anymore.

Brad, please don't let one random, negative comment make you upset. You have way over one and a half million views on this thread and this should be an indication that more people love your art and come here to enjoy it and read what you have to say. I know I love your artwork & I have one of your prints on my wall. Hope you change your mind. We love your posts.

Yeah Brad, don't punish everyone that loves to see your work here on TC because of one uncalled for and confusing comment.

My original comment has been removed at the request of another member (before i saw the new post), even though i now see Brad has quoted me so it still remains. I have sent Brad a PM explaining why i made that comment and although i'm not going to explain why i said it here in the open, i made that comment for my own personal reason/s which i stand by.

The comment was uncalled for, but what is done is done. If he can't get over it and chooses to no longer post here then that's his choice.

[ Edited by: swizzle 2016-03-17 18:00 ]

It's over and I hope everyone will rally to get one of our favorite artists to post again.

Come on Brad we are waiting to see what you have been up to. Bring Tiki Central back to life.

Cheers, Wendy

I like to watch. ~ Chance

13 days - 10,500 views.

[ Edited by: komohana 2016-05-02 16:55 ]

We just flew on Hawaiian Airlines and were so lucky to get to read Brad's article during the flight.

Start posting again brother. Wendy

It's about time! It's always fun when you pop in here with new art. I've been keeping up on facebook but Tiki Central is more special. Where was this photo taken? Wendy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmIWHb4TZao&feature=share

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUbUJjZ1Elw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmIWHb4TZao&t=11s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJW1Ung15EU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJW1Ung15EU

Hey, it's a great surprise to find you here tonight. I haven't been to U-Tube very often but after watching your first video listed I searched out and watched #1 through #7. Are there others?

Congratulations on getting a full page and many quarter pages on Spectrum. Also in one video I saw your 6 pack, impressive for both of these accomplishments.

I too like sunsets but I've not painted very many. I think that doing the pug dog to go with your cat painting is wonderful. I like the tiki in the background looking like a black velvet painted tiki.

I am bummed that I forgot you were on the Big Island we were there in November. We did visit Kozy's gallery which was so cool.

Anyway keep these coming. It was almost like a visit with you, Wendy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYlbvXng_-4

[ Edited by: tiki shark art 2018-02-02 00:02 ]

Happy Aloha Friday Tiki Tribe!
submitted for your approval…
A vid from the TIKI-ZONE!
• A brief explanation about "Low-Brow Art"
• What & why I paint this kinda' stuff.
• N' (if you like) where you can get it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYlbvXng_-4

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2018-02-01 23:30 ]