Howdy! Some of you that were at Tikis and Terrors 2 have been asking about the scribbles I displayed there. All three designs will be Tiki Farm 2007 releases. Here's the first to come to fruition:

(edited to b&w photo, better detail)

Yup, it's a lidded model! The straw hole will be on top where the big crack is. There will be some time in figuring out the glaze(s) for this one as I want it to look like it's been buried for a century or two.
Big Mahaloz to Benzart and Little Lost Tiki who inspired me to do some really tedious tattoo work. After working on their mugs, I was warmed up and ready to go!

I'll keep you posted on the other new ones as I squeeze 'em out.

[ Edited by: squid 2006-10-20 08:12 ]

[ Edited by: squid 2007-01-30 15:43 ]

[ Edited by: squid 2007-01-31 16:34 ]

[ Edited by: squid 2007-05-21 12:40 ]

[ Edited by: squid 2007-08-24 23:57 ]

Dave, that is incredible! Glad that you're pushing this art to a limit! Can you shoot a reeeeeeal close up? Just of the top or part of the face! I wanna see the detail and get all Tingly!That mug is perfect! I wouldn't change a thing!Rawk on!

On 2006-10-19 22:18, little lost tiki wrote:
Dave, that is incredible! Glad that you're pushing this art to a limit! Can you shoot a reeeeeeal close up? Just of the top or part of the face! I wanna see the detail and get all Tingly!That mug is perfect! I wouldn't change a thing!Rawk on!

Damn whiny artists...always wanting more....

Notice my skull has nothing in it!

Beautious.

i want i want i want i want!
i really like your work. thanks for the heads up on what you're doing. you're a mean drummer too. lisa and i really enjoyed your sitting in at crazy al's show.

bought!

Wow. Man, that's really takin it to a new level. Mr. Moko.

very nice :)

Eclectic Squid, modern yet with a nod to the past? A hardtop convertible with etched pinstripes...SsweeetT! I can't wait to see it with wheeels!! Fatties in back & skinny up front? :lol: RAD!!!

Flip-flOp-fLipPp...

Squid has a 2002 start on date but its just lately that I believe I have ever seen him post. Its like he hangs out here now and is around. Maybe there is a connection of when Smogbreather changed his name?! I wonder, maybe its the new Tikifarm bar. Just like the rebirth of tiki there seems to be a rebirth of Squid.

I have been wanting a skull like this. Seriously it was all last weekend that I was thinking this. The BOT talks about headhunter and tiki mug connection and there isn't a better symbol of headhunter than the skulls that he collects.

Picture this: And I think someone needs to do this. Maybe the Tikifarm bar should or they could just a big discount to whoever does. Have a big pile of these skull mugs or strung up somehow, or even stacked in rows like in all the old books.

I could talk more of this because that is very exciting but I'll wait until closer to 2007.

You guys is all too kind! Thanks for the kudos and enthusiasm! It's been a hoot meeting some of you recently and playing as well! Did Jones say "fatties"?.....

Anyhoo...it was bound to happen. Some wise-ass emails me and sez: "You must have made a mold from one of those Halloween plastic skulls." My 7th grade art teacher made a similar accusation of "cheating" on a project which caused me to be seriously mentally impaired for life (JUST ASK GROG). Or maybe it was the "fatties"? Hmmmm......what were we talking about? Oh yeah....

While I'm not beneath using reference models and even molding found objects as part of a sculpture, I never directly "sample" another persons work. What am I, some 2-bit rapper from the '80s?....OY!

I do the initial sculpt in plasticine clay. Then make a plaster mold into which I cast the wax. All the detail carving is done in the wax cast.

Here's the proof for Mr. Doubting Thomas:(real name tastefully withheld)

More as it happens!

Ah man, we know you got mad skilz!

For those who may not know, I think just about every Tiki Farm mug was created by Crazy Al or Squid. Yeah, someone out there may design a mug, be it Shag or Derek or Benzart, but it comes down to a sculptor to make it into a mug. That's a tricky thing. So, an artist like Squid turns a painting or a drawing into a 3-D design that will work as a mold. No small feat.

Other artists may come up with a design, but Squid makes it into something you can hold and drink out of.

What percent of Tiki Farm mugs have you scultped?

I've done very little TF mugs.... This Squid guy loves to sculpt i guess.... dang good at that! practice makes perfect, maybe i should practice more!!! this bastard (in a good way) just beat me to a design i've been developing, if only with the bats in the bellfree.....

Squid's the MAN!....fish? is a squid a fish

i will make mine and play second fiddle, but now it has to be really good..... practice practice practice

Squid is a Cephalopoda, not a fish at all.

Whatchoo talkin 'bout Al? Second fiddle to NONE baby! I can't wait to see your sick skull afer it's been festering in your whacked cranial cavity for this long!

What are the chances of you carving an insane log drum for me? (In you "spare time" of course)

SWANKY SEZ: "What percent of Tiki Farm mugs have you scultped?"

First of all...HEY SWANKY!

Holden and I were mulling that over at the new bar and he whooped out his trig function slide rule. The result was something like 94.875%. Mind you, this was after working on draining the water cooler of Mai Tais for a while so the results may be a bit off. Another 2-3% have been designed on paper for his factory to sculpt for custom client jobs, usually non-tiki items.

My new jingle: Squidco....we bring flat things to life!

I love doing my own designs but I also dig the challenge of bringing great 2-d designs to 3-d. Especially the likes of Derek, Flounder, Shag, Benzart, Ruzic, etc. These guys are all top-notch and make my job enjoyable. Even though Ruzic calls me all the freakin' time and he owes me 5 bucks and a ciggy.

teaKEY sez: "Squid has a 2002 start on date but its just lately that I believe I have ever seen him post. Its like he hangs out here now and is around. Maybe there is a connection of when Smogbreather changed his name?! I wonder, maybe its the new Tikifarm bar. Just like the rebirth of tiki there seems to be a rebirth of Squid."

Perhaps the previous percentage discussion will address that. I have been totally wrapped in work for 4 years or so now. The Farm keeps me uber busy. Mrs. Squid and I are both musicians and we gig whenever possible too. I've also been developing fonts for fontbros.com. (Look for those soon!) I have other clients as well but I'm slowly being able to say "no" or "it'll have to wait".

It's time to stop and smell the tiki occassionally and go to events, meet folks and relax a bit.

Plus since 2002 I have raised my typing skills to 4 fingers!!! Sometimes I don't even look at the keyboard!!!

For grins, here's a sculpt I did recently for THQ video games. It's a promotional incense burner that will be sent out to vendors with Destroy All Humans 2.

Hey, buddy- don't post pictures of things that I can't have. It's not polite. Grrrr... Now I am going to pine away for an alien incense burner. At least I will be able to get a skull. But I still want an alien.

Pouting Kitty

On 2006-10-20 10:28, Kitty wrote:
Hey, buddy- don't post pictures of things that I can't have. It's not polite. Grrrr... Now I am going to pine away for an alien incense burner. At least I will be able to get a skull. But I still want an alien.

Pouting Kitty

Sorry Kitty :(
Alas, the sadness brought forth by the dreaded "commercial" job!

On 2006-10-20 09:20, crazy al wrote:
I've done very little TF mugs.... This Squid guy loves to sculpt i guess.... dang good at that! practice makes perfect, maybe i should practice more!!! this bastard (in a good way) just beat me to a design i've been developing, if only with the bats in the bellfree....

i will make mine and play second fiddle, but now it has to be really good..... practice practice practice

Aw man!! Crazy Al is making a skull mug, too. There goes any chance of GROG making an Easter Island Moai Skull mug.

Well, maybe GROG should just stay with the Bamboo Ben mug.

Hey Squidster, if Al doesn't want to sculpt the Bamboo Ben mug, do you want to take it on?

[ Edited by: GROG 2006-10-20 11:48 ]

squid you are the man, uh.... er the cepholopod? uh..... er manopod!?!!? Whatever you are that skull is very nice. I like it, I like it alot. Oh and squid if you post a pic of Al's whacked cranial cavity can you make it a reeeeeal close up? Maybe you know just of the top or part of cranial cavity.

Jeezus freakin Donuts man! I'm trying to type through the tears! I'd mud-wrestle Al to be able to sculpt that! You're killin' me Grog!
Is that what you do at "work"?

The Moai Skull is a contender! Let's talk.

That moai skull would make a very kool mug. Do it squid.

net-tiki, you're like the classic Tex Avery style cartoon devil sitting on my shoulder...."Do it! You know you want to. It'll be fun and no one will ever know...Mwaaaahahahahaha!!"

Let's see what happens....

squid, i just love the moko skull. also, i wanna moai skull mug! great design, grog. i think i'll pass on the bamboo ben mug though. i can't see drinking out of a toilet, no matter how good my dogs say it tastes! :o

god kingstiedye is soo lucky...a sweet tiki collection AND a talking dog!!

GROG's Moai Skull is fantastic, get Squid and Tiki Farm on it ASAP!!!

The Skull is PERFECT! When can I get one!

I want to drink out of the toilet!

I nominate this as Thread of the Month!

Is there a Thread of the Month?

If there isn't there should be just so this one could win.

WoW!! The skull is really perfect!!!
and I know is obvious saying this but I'm saying it anyway,you're very talented!!!!!

I second that nomination! "Fattie" agrees! Ernie's moai skull,an alien incense burner,an incredible old incised skull that rattles even Crazy Al,and a Bamboo Ben mug that is perfect for Kahluas! GROG and Squid are on fire! Great work! It's like a Tiki Renaissance,but without the stuffy pompous types!Thread of the Month!Thread of the Month!Thread of the Month!

Love dat skull buddy! You never fail to amaze.

AMAZING! :D

Thanks to all the great artists here that constantly inspire me to step it up a notch! :roll:

Something to look forward to!

Best Skull Mug ever!!

Squid Strikes again, and with an empty skull.
This is an excellent thread, chocked full of cool Squid info and stuff. All I can say is that No one could have sculpted those Benzart mugs like you did. It seems that Everything you do is Top Shelf Excellence! Can't wait to see this skull.
PS: it IS nice to have you hangin' around TC motre.

On 2006-10-20 11:47, GROG wrote:

On 2006-10-20 09:20, crazy al wrote:
I've done very little TF mugs.... This Squid guy loves to sculpt i guess.... dang good at that! practice makes perfect, maybe i should practice more!!! this bastard (in a good way) just beat me to a design i've been developing, if only with the bats in the bellfree....

i will make mine and play second fiddle, but now it has to be really good..... practice practice practice

Aw man!! Crazy Al is making a skull mug, too. There goes any chance of GROG making an Easter Island Moai Skull mug.

Well, maybe GROG should just stay with the Bamboo Ben mug.

Hey Squidster, if Al doesn't want to sculpt the Bamboo Ben mug, do you want to take it on?

[ Edited by: GROG 2006-10-20 11:48 ]

BACK TO YOUR CAVE..........GROG!!!!!!

Arrrr!!!!!

But GROG like calamari!!

On 2006-10-20 10:00, squid wrote:

For grins, here's a sculpt I did recently for THQ video games. It's a promotional incense burner that will be sent out to vendors with Destroy All Humans 2.

Cool I hope the new game has a bigger and better anal-probulator.

Hey Squid Word!!

Arrrrsome CRANIUM!!

You ROCK!!!!

Grog sent me this and I was wondering if you could sculpt it into a mug for me?

Maybe I could get Ruzzzznic to glaze em. ( I'll brainwash him with never ending video loops of the DI.)

There seem to be a lot of incredibly good mugs being designed and posted lately that are pushing the boundaries of what a "mug" actually is. Thanks for posting the progress pics, even if they do somewhat de-mystify the magical process by which these ritual vessels are formed.
I, for one, welcome our new mug overlords!

Damn! You Hipsterz amaze me! that IS the best scull mug ever! Throws cig's & mai tai's at yaz. Is it a production mug? Do tell~

Just wanted to move this up so people don't have to go to page 1 to see this little marvel. (But you should still check out pg1 for making-of pics)

On 2006-10-21 17:37, RevBambooBen wrote:
Hey Squid Word!!

Grog sent me this and I was wondering if you could sculpt it into a mug for me?

Sorry Reverend, I'd love to but Grog beat me to the punch. Damn, his detail work is gettin' outta hand!

Benzart, Paipo, MakeDaMug, and all y'all: Thanks for the props. You guys rock!

On 2006-10-22 03:26, Hiphipahula wrote:
Is it a production mug? Do tell~

Not sure at this point. MakeDaMug is el jefe. I'm sure he'll make an announcement.