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

Yea! The Shell in living color at long last! Your paintin' is lookin' like your getting close to finishin up. Go Shark Go!

Chongolio

man - I LOVE the way the cave is coming together! The colors are fabulous! You need to have a show on Oahu so we can see these wonders up close.

Mahalo for posting the great progress shots -

Henrik "VanTiki"

Mctiki~ Thanks, hey, that's some cool poem. (It's a poem right?) :) The sketch will always have an energy that can never be reproduced in painting I think. It's always a main goal to try o capture some of that freshness, and then elaborate on it.
ChongolioThanks island neighbor! the magic singing shell (as you described) is done! After I put down the orange base, I got a bit nervous on how to make it look more like a shell. It took me a while to get he orange shading where I like it. Ya know, I didn't want to paint in texture or highlights and screw it up, then have to repaint the orange. So, I took a digital photo of the shell, pulled it up in photo shop and tried a few experimental highlights there. I got something I liked, printed it out, and used it a reference when I painted on the shell's highlights.

So this is how It came out.
Vantiki Thanks! I'd love to show on Oahu! Someone suggested to me of having a show of the Hawaiian Tiki artists... like me, Gecko, Thor , Chongolio... and I'm not sure who else. I think that'd be a blast! (of course, we'd HAVE to get Don Tiki to preform!) who knows. Do you think there is enough "tiki peeps" living out here to warrent such a show? Right now I'm focused on getting this one done, and getting something ready for the Tiki Magazine group art show in Nov.

Now, on to the Lobster. Unfortunately the orange and the red are sorta close on the ol color chart. I want to make sure the lobster dosn't just meld (colorwise) too much into the shell. I may push the red on his claws towards a purple/magenta/red.

Have a great week end!
Big aloha from that volcanic tropical island you've heard so much about!

Wow TSA. The grass in the foreground of that last pic - looks so real! Ha - only kidding
Paint the mug........Paint the mug......

Using Photoshop as a more user-friendly testing tool is...

... BRILLIANT !!!

On 2007-07-28 12:09, Tiki Shark Art wrote:
I'd love to show on Oahu! Someone suggested to me of having a show of the Hawaiian Tiki artists... like me, Gecko, Thor , Chongolio... and I'm not sure who else.

That would be awesome :D

The painting is coming along nicely. I check this thread every couple of days to watch it grow.

Aloha!
JPMARDOG~ Oh, but what kind of grass? Yeah, it's the lawn! I prop my canvas up against this lava rock wall out side to take shots of it. In the morning the sunlight reflects off the Condos and creates a nice, indirect, natural light source. That's usually the best way to get he actual colors of the painting to show up on film... er... digital...eh...stuff.
Tikifool~ Hey that stupid program has to be good for something! an I've been using it for, er, since it was created (sheesh) so it's good I finally figured out a use for it!
Hewey~Yes, could you arrange all the details for us please?

Here's a shot with out grass in the foreground. (for jpmartdog)
Aloha~

Tiki Shark

http://www.myspace.com/Lotus_Land

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2007-07-29 00:53 ]

I've been watching this piece evolve gradually, and realized I never once commented!

I love that starfish with the eye, the shell...everything comes together and has a life of its own. The colors are beautiful.

:D Woo!

Yee Ha more color. Nice lobster.

mahalo for the great posts, brad. it is a joy to watch your progress on this piece.

ALOHA TC!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! It's Monday, so now you're probably at your desk at work, sneaking onto the Internet to browse Tiki Central while nursing a hangover. Let's see if I can slap something up here to help you decompress back into the work week.
RavenneThanks so much! It's always nice to hear kind words! Especially on a Monday. (Finally! I was really starting to wonder if you were gonna post a comment or what!) :)
FrostikiThanks! Lobster...Lobster? Is it a lobster? As I was painting it in last night, I realized it's not really a lobster at all. It could be an alien from an aquatic planet. It could be a messenger from a mystic undersea world. I mean if you actually saw this scampering along the beach you might not think it's a lobster. You might think, "Ohmigosh! (gasp-choke) What, in the name of all that is holy, is that THING!" Sure, it's sorta weird cartoony version of what might be a cartoon lobster. I guess. No, no... It is something that you might see while your were at a wild full moon pagan voo doo beach party after having had a few too many mysterious tropical drinks!

Not sure if I'm done messing with it (the maybe-lobster-creature) yet.
Kinstiedye~ Mahalo plenty right back at ya! It's nice to squint at some nice feed back on a Monday!

Here's where it is now. Looks like on to the sea shells next...

Aloha from the Big Island!

Wow, this is really just coming to life. It's amazing how detailed your underpaintings are.. Looks like hard, tedious work!

It's fabulous!!!

I knew this painting was gonna be good....., but now i'd say..........

It's amazing!

Hey Ho and aloha!
TonicacatThanks! Yeah, the color is helping it. And, it is hard work, sometimes, it's like digging a ditch! and other times it just flows, it's effortless and it feels like I'm just watching. Weird!
JpmartdogHey HEY, I enjoy having folks here watch me work. It's a one big fun artist's (and art enthusiasts) collective. But, I dunno if I can take the Miami CSI scrutiny!

Here we see the 5 hours o' paint slapping that happened yesterday. (boy am I slow!) I worked on the lobster-thing, and got the shells going.

Big Aloha!

I'm not sure what it is either, but I bet if you dropped it in a pot of boiling water and served it with some drawn butter it would be delicious. BTW, Aren't the Maybe-Lobster's supposed to have black lifeless eyes?

Frostiki~ Your are so right buddy, the eyes! Big and black. Like a puppy. :)
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Would you boil this cute little guy in water?
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You can see some work on the shells. I took the bumps off the one at the bottom. Just wasn't looking right, so I went for strips. Caught some nice late afternoon sun light to get a good shot. A bit warmer than it should be, but close.

Aloha!

Eyes like a Puppy is right, and Yes I would boil that cute little guy if I had some butter, I might even grill him. Now I want some seafood. I may have to try and convince the wife to go out to dinner tonight. That shouldn't be too hard.

Oh yeah, much better witht he black lifeless eys, and the shell that you took the bumps offf of looks better too. Not that it looked bad the othere way. It just ads a little more variety into the imagery.

Aloha TC!
Frostiki~Yeah, I kinda thought it was funny to give the lobster, relatively, big wet eyes. And I thought I might once again freak out those here who were freaked out over the wet eyed puppy in the last painting! Hey, glad you like the stripes on the shell, I think thye came out okay, and it helps make the Magic (and bumpy) shell all that more unique, and .. I guess, magical looking.
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Here's what it's looking like now. I got most of the cave walls now 99% done. (I think).
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Here's a closer look a the "lava rock" sorta texture I was going for. I think I may go in again and hit a few small areas with hotter high lights.

Mahalo for watching the paint dry!

Tiki Shark
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http://www.myspace.com/Lotus_Land

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2007-08-02 01:20 ]

Brad, I'm sending you my therapy bill. Because of your painting I am now obsessing on how you get so much detail in there. It has led to my inability to perform even the most basic functions. My thereapist says I have issues with artistic inadequacy. THanks a lot

Home stretch Brad!
I love those plumerias poked into the cave wall! the fact they they will never turn brown and will always remain fresh lends to the mysterious otherworldly feel of this piece! The lava walls are splendiferous! Living on the islands,you've seemed to have assimilated all that visual information in your demented genius cranium! Stunning man!

bet you already got the next one painted in your head! :)

Hey TC, and HAPPY ALOHA FRIDAY!
FrostikiNow, now, don't go blaming me for you're "inability to preform". Mrs. Frostiki will kill me! Heck, don't they have pills for that now anyways? Artagra?
LLTHome stretch... soo close, but soo far! I have decided that flowers are the work of the devil. I've never painted flowers before. and what a nightmare! They are all curves bending away at different angles! Sheesh! Can anything be more complicated to render? Well, except a human figure.... and... ohmigosh... I gotta render one of those too! ARGH!
Oh well, nobody said art was easy.
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So the flowers are a tad too intensely red, so I gotta drop a wash on em to tone em down. Just a tad.
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The deal is to have the red flowers balance out the red lobster-thing.

Have a great day sliding through work with out really doing any real work in the great tradition of ALOHA FRIDAY.
I'm going to the beach!

Aloha!
Tiki Shark~

Very well balanced. Truly awesome!

Mahalo

McTiki

All that work on the background which we all have been watching , what is it months now?, and now the foreground takes the cake. How cool is that though.

Think of it this way, every minute that you spend on these paintings will be divided by all the prints that you can run off multiplying this painting to further greatness.

Aloha TC!
MctikiMahalo right back at ya! Yeah the colors are bringing a whole nother level, that will, (fingers crossed) balance it all out. Warm areas separating from the cool areas. Red balancing reds... and such.
tesKEYYeah, Months! Sheesh! I'm really gonna try and be more disciplined and crank the art out a tad faster. LLT and I are on such opposite sides of the spectrum of 'art speed' now! I'm gonna speed up a bit so he doesn't look like such a blur!!
Prints. Yes, prints. I think I will do something special with this one. I'm talking to Honu editions about it.
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The work yesterday was laying ion some color washes over those pesky cave flowers. Bringing up some oranges and toning down some of the reds. So that was watery dabs of orange and Brown. Flowers are so complex, now I understand how people can paint nothing but flowers.
On the mysterious Wahine, I started layering in light tones to smooth out her skin. I think getting a smooth "inner glow" sort of look, is just about putting on many thin watery layers of wash. Slowly smoothing out the tones one to the other. I'm really influenced by the work of Lori Earley on this sea nymph. Just when I think I got her pretty smoothed out, I take a look at one of the women in Lori's work, and I have to layer on a few more smooth transitions!
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So here's where it is so far. Getting close!
What's left? The Wahine, her hair (E-gads! I got no idea how to paint that yet!) and her flowery lei (Yikes more flowers!) and, of course the MUG!

Have a great weekend! Didn't actually make it to the beach yesterday, so we are thinking of going this morning. If we do I'll get a pic for ya.

Mahalo for watching!

ALOOOOOHA!
Okay, back from da beach.
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Work work work! Hey, when you design beach towels for a living, this is called a "research and development meeting!"
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Yeah, we went to my favorite beach. Bit a rough drive down an unpaved road a mile or so across a lava field. But wow, is it worth it when u get there! The beach is so pretty you feel like you walked into a Calendar. You know those calendars you buy in the ABC stores in Waikiki, showing the beautiful places in Hawaii. This must be August. Me and my buddy were watching the sea turtles in the waves, and talking about how it's the perfect beach. Unspoiled nature. It's great. But, you know what would be even greater? A tiki bar within a short walking distance, playing exotica music, and a server that could bring us some Tropical drinks!!! (I know, I know, what a 'tiki-tribe' thing to think!)

So, now that I'm good and sunburned, I'm gonna get a few brush strokes in on the painting....

Mahalo for watching!

Tiki Shark Art wrote:
I'm really gonna try and be more disciplined and crank the art out a tad faster.

The he posts this:

On 2007-08-04 18:31, Tiki Shark Art wrote:
Okay, back from da beach
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Yep, your new work ethic is really shining through mate :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hewey~"Yep, your new work ethic is really shining through mate."
Yeah! Ha! Totally! :) But, now that I think about it... That does bring up a good question. If you wanted a tiki artist to be more productive, could the worst thing you could do is put him in easy reach of tropical drinks and Hawaiian beaches? Maybe I should be locked in a featureless cellar somewhere in Omaha. ( I say that, cause that's where I was born. Er... not a featureless cellar, but in Omaha.) Hmmm... You know, since Chongolio moved to Hawaii he hasn't posted a new coconut wired podcast. Hmmm... So, like, how does Gecko get anything done? And, hey, how does Thor get any art work done?!
Hmm...
Wow, these are all really good and interesting questions.
I think I better take a moment and work this all out.
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Work, work work...

Aloha from the Big Island!

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Work, work work...

Aloha from the Big Island!

Bastard! GROG hate you even more.

[ Edited by: GROG 2007-08-05 00:09 ]

At the risk of aping GROG....you bastard!!
It's cold, wet and dark here. Even if the sun was shining, the beaches are covered in rocks instead of white sand and the water temperature wouldn't be out of place in the Antarctic. I think I'm in the wrong business...

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[ Edited by: Paipo 2007-08-05 00:25 ]

GROG not ape--- GROG groglodyte.

You Suck. Beaches (OK if it wasn't so damn hot and humid rigth now, I could take the 45 minute drive to the beach) painting skills beyond belief and not accepting the blame for my artistic inabilities (I like to refer to it as laziness). BTW where do I find the Artagra.

Oh yeah the flowers are coming along nicely.

Aw, I've missed a lot this last week!

Catching up has been nice, though--I have too much anxiety to watch TV shows and prefer them to be all collected on DVD so I can control the pace of the story better. Yeah, I'm a piece o' work. :)

Brad, love the lobster! The big, wet eyes aren't so much cute as they are deep sea and alive in that creepy way--especially with the shell held in its claws as if it's making an offering to the Cthulu starfish? Brilliant! The whole scene has a sumptuous and disturbing decadence to it, like a ritual you don't want to stumble into.

By the way, nice beach shots. :)

Take care,

I.

Aloha TC!
Oh, thank you all so much for all the encouragement. I'm really feeling the love. :)
Grogy, Paipo~ I feel your pain. (well, not really. And if I do, I just stroll down to the beach, watch a sunset, and the pain ususally goes away, after a few drinks.)
Paipohey, it's opposite seasons down where you are, right? So, your enjoying winter!
FrostikiI got some back ordered! I think u can find it on e-bay next to the suppositories that cures artist's block. :)
Ivanchan~Thanks! I do that too, especially with 24! I'm about this close to ordering the series of "Hawaiian Eye" on disk. I caught a bunch of episodes a few years back on cable. I loved em! Of course, I had hurt my back and I was on major vicodin. "Sumptuous and disturbing decadence"! Thanks Ivan! Wow, I wish you'd write art reviews!
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So here's where we are at now... I did a bit more to the sea, and sky, and fire, and lots of smooth shading on the mysterious wahine.
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Heather said the secret is to get totally obsessive about hiding your brush strokes! So, I'm working on that. I guess that being an artist is one of the few occupations where being obsessive, or perhaps a tad crazy even, is actually a good thing.
I mean, gee, it works for Crazy Al!

Big Mahalo for watching the paint dry!

Hm, writing art reviews...

And yeah, being an artist of any sort--obsessions help, if not make the artist! :)

I've always been fascinated by the dictum to hide brushstrokes. I tend to like to see them--see an imprint of the artist's gestures while painting--but the smooth finish of the old masters is also something I admire.

Take care,

I.

Aloha TC,
Ivanchan~Thanks so much. I dig your art too. I really love that blue cat with the golden aura/halo.
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I had a feeling all those flowers in the mysterious wahine's lei were going to be a lot of work to color in, and I was right! But, I think it's looking like something interesting. So, onward to more flowers tomorrow! (urk!)

Oh, here's an art hint I just learned: keep a spray bottle of water handy to keep your pallet of acrylic paint wet. Helps keep your paint from drying out - especially when you work as slow as I do!

Mahalo for watching~

I just keep a rum drink by my side to keep my palette wet. Oh, you were refering to a different palette. The flowers are coming along nicely.

Frostiki~ mmmmmmm... Rum! Great Idea! That should help make the flowered lei a tad easier to deal with painting!
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Aloha!

Aloha TC!
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Here's the whole thing, I think the lei is balancing it out to the bright magic shell.
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Here's a close up on the lei. Still not quite finished with 'em. brighter highlights on the pinks one, and a bit of a yellow wash to bring the green ones into a warmer realm.

Big aloha from the Volcanic Tropical Island!

Hey-the Volcano is flowing big time again, so this Sat we may drive the "go-tiki" over there and pay a visit to madam Pele. If it's good, I'll get some shots.

Wow TSA! This thread reminds me of issues of Communication Arts or Step-by-Step graphics when they show the process of a great illustrator and the in between steps! Brilliant!

Wow Brad!
You're so almost done! WOOOOOOOOOOOOHAW!
what a Masterpiece! Patience and obsessiveness pay off!

Oh, here's an art hint I just learned: keep a spray bottle of water handy to keep your pallet of acrylic paint wet. Helps keep your paint from drying out - especially when you work as slow as I do!

amother good idea is to put about a 1/16th inch of water in your pallette(you need the ones with the 1/2 inch indentation) then you place a bunch of paper towels on that and keep your acrylics on that...that keeps 'em moist for hours! There's also pallettes that are like tupperware that you canclose at night and they STAY FRESH! Congrats on this beauty!
and Brad.....stay FRESH! :lol:

Stay moist!

Happy ALOHA friday Tiki Central!
SuburbanpaganBig Mahalo! I'm all blushin' now!
LLTOh yeah! I got the tupper wear pallets, and they really help. However, the plastic pallets have compartments so you can mix each color and keep them separate. Well, I actually stopped using the compartment side, flipped it over, and mix all my colors on the lid. This way I can mix one shade into the next and get a steady graduation. So I use them upside down.
Okay....
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Last night, I was staring at the painting. And all I could see was what's wrong with it. I guess this is common. Anytime an artist works on something for a long time, they can get to a place where they just see what they wanted it to look like, or mistakes they've made, things they'd like to fix, but it's too late to try with out nearly starting over. Basically, you look at the piece and it just looks big, ugly, dumb and stupid. LLT told me the scientific name for this phenomenon is called Grog-syndrome. But, I'd not actually ever heard it called that before.

Anyways, so, I think I'll quite on this one, and start over.

:) Just kidding. No, I gotta' realize each piece is a learning experience. finish it. Learn from it. And move on to the next one and apply what I've learned.

So, next, is the TIKI MUG! Oh, yeah, and the hair. Which I'm still not sure how it do.

Big Aloha from the Big Island!

Great stuff. I see so many artistic folks here in the forums. I've never been creative in that way, but I'm working on it. In the mean time, you give me something to work towards.

BTW, I'm from the Big Island. Wea you stay?

As the artist, yeah, you'll always see stuff you want to change or improve on--I forget who said it, and it's been attributed to a few people, but "masterpieces are never finished, only abandoned." Artists are never done and they're always learning.

That said, I still think this is a flippin' amazing painting!! :)

Take care,

I.

Yep, it's called Grog-syndrome because that's how GROG feel about all of GROG's artwork at one point or another (including after it's finished). It ends up looking big, ugly, dumb and stupid, and all you see is what's wrong with it.

i do believe we've coined a new art-term! Indubitably!

On 2007-08-10 10:51, Tiki Shark Art wrote:

So, next, is the TIKI MUG! Oh, yeah, and the hair. Which I'm still not sure how it do.

Big Aloha from the Big Island!

I'll take one! Put me on the list!

Oh very nice! A lot of new color going around, Great! Love to watch your progresses!