Creating Tiki: July theme - Mysterious Island Pier

AVAST ye creators of all things tiki!!! [waves sword]

The theme and this thread for July is:
** "Mysterious Island Pier" **- (gretanicole's winning idea on her poll)

This is a monthly theme for those who wish to participate. We keep it simple, friendly, themed- it's not a competition- it's simply to advance our tiki creation skills. Any and all are welcome aboard, as is your medium of choice... A drunken sketch on a cocktail napkin to that of a carved masterpiece- or both in the same!!

If ye wishes to join in, please respect the code.

THE CODE

• Post your final work here for July's topic by July 31, 2005. (800 x 800 pixels wide/tall max.)
• Include a description or thoughts why you created it and how it relates to you for the topic.
• Creativity is to be encouraged. Pieces do not have to be more than concepts, and can loosely be related to the theme. They don't even have to be completely finished.
• This is not a contest. It's simply for fun.

Responding to the artwork created in this thread is fine- if you wish to respond to this announcement in general/add theme comments and ideas, please post it here to keep this thread focused on the July entries.

Can't wait to see what you all come up with. :)

Aarrrgh!!
-Skully

The Lost Resort

[ Edited by: Capt'n Skully 2005-07-15 10:07 ]

I'm game for a challenge. Besides out on the plank is the best view any way.

Mysterious Island Pier

The lively wind propelled the boat quietly through the night. The warm tropical air carried the sweet salty aroma of the ocean. Patches of stars shone through the cloudy sky here and there, allowing a little moonlight to dance across the inky black wave tops. As she made her headway, the boat was gently rocked by the swell.

I leaned upon the starboard gunwale, clasping my mug of rum. The mysterious looking island was sliding by, foreboding in the darkness. The sound of waves crashing on the beach was carried by the wind. My maritime maps were considerably dated, and this island was not shown.

It was a small island, with a low peak silhouetted against the dark sky. A lone pier extended from the beach out towards the sea. A small fire burned upon this beach, sending a thin tendril of smoke skywards. At the edge of the area illuminated by the fire, I could just make out the bottom of a large carved stone idol. There were people here, but they were not within sight. Who were they? Why were they hiding? Did they know I was there? I sighed as I weighed up these questions in my head.

I returned to the cabin, and poured myself another rum from the old ceramic decanter. The questions would have to remain unanswered. The island would soon be slipping into the darkness behind me, and I was behind schedule. There were people waiting who would have a great interest in some of my new acquisitions.

Whoops - didn't follow the code.

When the topic was announced, this was the mental picture I conjured up. Didn't go for too dark and creepy, but just a little. I also wanted to leave it nice and open for folks to fill in the blanks themselves (being a mysterious island and all that). I aim to get people to imagine what is going on. I want to get them to engage with the story. A good example is I tried to use general terms so that the era was not given away. 300 years ago or 3 days ago? - what do you like to think?

Why a written piece? Well, it said "medium of choice" and "creativity is to be encouraged" :) haha

Everyone laughs at me because I am different. I laugh at everyone else because they are all the same.

[ Edited by: hewey 2005-07-08 05:32 ]

"The code is more of a guide, really..."

Great vision there, Hewey! Very inspiring to the theme. [Raises mug o' grog]

Can't wait to see what everyone contributes this month. I've got a digital image coming- about half way through...

Keep 'em coming!

Aarrrgh!!
-Skully

[ Edited by: Capt'n Skully 2005-07-08 11:04 ]

Hummmmm Maybe Ill sketch something... Nah in 30 days i can build a whole pier!

How is this going to be any good for the carvers? ....

Try not to post replys in this thread, i think the idea is to post your art. if you have comments post herehttp://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=15340&forum=7&start=0

Ok... I'll post my piece so far~

Still in progress...

Aarrrgh!!
-Skully

[ Edited by: Capt'n Skully 2005-07-09 18:02 ]

[ Edited by: Capt'n Skully 2005-07-09 20:38 ]

Nice work captain!

[bump]

15 more days...

Capt'n, that's looking sweet. I noticed your scene has progressed, a pier has appeared, and your latest tiki has also made an appearance. So how did you create this scene? Always curious, and I'm sure this is way over my head... This stuff blows me away, much like Finkdaddy's renderings - mostly 'cause I don't know how you guys do it...

Aaron

Very Nice Capt. If you don't mind, I have a new desktop wallpaper.

Great stuff Capt'n! I know how you feel about posting unfinished work.......I am debating whether to let this one out early or show an in progress! It's so tempting!

Thanks! I'm hoping to see a few more people's pieces start to trickle in this week...

That looks MYSTERIOUS! I like! Which program didja use?

Looks very nice Captain. You are very talented on that keyboard, I really like it.

OK I started mine today. It should be done in the next couple days.

Wow Captain, that looks sweet!!

Here is my entry, although it's not nearly as cool as the Captains!

"Mea Po'ino Island"

Marooned on a Mysterious Island Pier

Ooooh, That's nice! I like the Moai face hidden in there... Didn't catch it at first.

Aarrrgh!!
-Skully

The Lost Resort

[ Edited by: Capt'n Skully 2005-07-20 15:55 ]

Thank you very much! How on earth did you get your torches so realistic? I was just stunned at how real everything looks.

Also, I can't get my pics very large using Shutterfly. Is there a better image hosting site?

Wonderful work, you've just become one of my favorite teachers!

Both of these are cool and haunnnnnting! Thanks for posting these, Capt. and finkdaddy!

I really wanted to participate in this forum, but this month has been way to hectic. Vacation, job, construction and this weekend in the Keys. I'm not complaining just whining a little.

Fink - I love the corpes! Keep up the good work.

On 2005-07-20 16:04, finkdaddy wrote:
Thank you very much! How on earth did you get your torches so realistic?

Finkdaddy- (and AA + Surfintiki)
My whole piece is a collage of images in Photoshop- no 3D like yours... I just tweak each image to fit the composition- Hence the realistic quality. But I can still show you how I do "post" lighting with PSD- It's a piece of cake actually, and way easier and more controllable than trying to light/glow it in 3D...

I think your 3D work is growing by leaps and bounds- Have you started developing your own textures/materials yet?

Also, thanks Sam and Ben for your comments! Aloha- Join us next month if you can't this round!

[bump]

OK! So it's nowhere near finished yet and the picture is crappy but I wanted to show my contribution to the theme! It is titled:

"The Mysterious Adventures of the Mystery Boys and the Mystery of Mysterious Island"!
Sorry for the blur!

Couple of details

much to do still! much to flesh out!

Cool. Love the basics you got there. Can't wait to see it fleshed out

Sorry everyone I finished mine about a week ago but haven't had a chance to take a photo. I'll go do it in a couple minutes.

Is there anyone else who did a piece?

Or has this bombed like last time we tried it?

Suburbanpagan- Nice job. I like the tiki posts on the pier.

Flounder- I've been waiting to see what brings you out of tiki retirement! Please post it!!

"The Mysterious Adventures of the Mystery Boys and the Mystery of Mysterious Island"

What a ridiculously long title! I love it!

I really can't wait to see the finished painting! it looks awesome so far!

I just want to let everybody know that Ravenne is not my version of Oceantiki! Haha!

Ok so it's late August! It was however finished in July but I have been way to busy to take a pic and load it.
Sorry.

Anyhow here is my painting. "Marq 2031"

Damn that's nice Flounder, late addition or not. I really like the mysterious tiki underpainted in the sky.

Actually they are all nice in this thread.

Suburban, did you finish yours yet?

Damn nice flounder.

The thread still lives!

Off the hook flounder,awsome... thanx for posting...

That techno Marq is super sweet- love how you did the framing too! Nice!!

Yeah man. I saw that on your website a couple on days ago and wondered if it was for the contest. You have my vote for best but its late so you are disqualified. Sorry. I think that is some of your best work. Is the computer chip belly real because I believe that you have this as a mix-media. Hey better late than never. Killer.