Keeping velvet tiki art alive...? TWO PIECES ARE WRAPPED! YEAH!

Nice Stove! Looks like it's in great shape.

The stove is a Frigidaire Custom Imperial Flair - helluva name, huh.

Here's an oil sketch on canvas I did a while back:

Sorry I didn't take any pics of this being painted, but I did it at DaddyKatz during a Kruze-In, and forgot all about it.

Nice... has a wistful mood.

Nice. GROG like.

Only you would call that a sketch! Great work.

Beautiful.

Nice work Rob!!! :)

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

oh yeah!

THANKS, MUCHACHOS!

Wildsville man requested I do another TIKI VIGNETTE 2 for Caliente with a difference: that it have the official flower of Palm Springs.

I'm waiting to find out what that flower is, but limited time meant that I had to start the painting ASAP, and add the flower later.

Since I've shown this painting being done earlier, I'll just show some highlights.

This painting is tough to do for lefties, so here is my technique for making up for my limited ability with my righ hand.

Vasari's Video Blue is the best color on my palette for velvet. It is abolutely gorgeous.

This is most of the painting roughed in.

Another 3-5 coats, plus the flowers, and this'll be in the bag.

NEED MORE!!!

On 2010-04-28 12:27, Robb Hamel wrote:

Another 3-5 coats, plus the flowers, and this'll be in the bag.

GROG suggest you put it in a frame when finished, rather than in a bag. That way more people can see it and enjoy it.

thanks for the in progress and inspiration!

Beautiful work!

Grog - hopefully plenty of people will see it at Tiki Caliente 2.

Tiki Shark - Doing these series paintings can be painfully repetitive, but I'm trying to evolve this one. I think it'll look nice with Rory's flower suggestion.

zerostreet/tikigodz - thanks!

Here's the pics Wildsville Man sent me of the Palm Springs flower:

Here's my exploratory first brushstrokes:

This is a couple of days later after the paint dried enough to get more to stick:

I'm trying to keep the flowers impressionistic and mostly in shadow so that they don't take over the main subject. I think the painting is done, but I have to look at it after it dries and I brush off the chalk dust.

I have no idea how you do what you do Robb but it is awesome to see your paintings come to life on velvet.

This one is going to be beautiful!

Thanks Liz, as always, for all the kind words. After too long a break I approached this one more boldly than I would have in the past and it turned out better than I expected. I'll post a pic when it dries.

Great to see you back on the velvet again.
This is what you do best!
Hope to see more new works.

Are you going to sell at Festiki?

Wow, this is beautiful. I really like how the flowers had a little more color in the background, but in a subtle way.
Also glad to see you're back on velvets, do more !!

YAY, you you're back!

Welcome back Robb! Look forward to seeing the Palms Springs Velvet!

HOOOOWWWLLL!!! Robb's back! The painting looks beautiful. I admire the fortitude that it takes to re-do a piece of art until it is just PERFECT.

Robb, that's the Mexican Bird of Paradise (Caesalpinia mexicana). Beautiful flower that grows well in the desert. I picked one from my yard last week and used it to grace the dinner table.

(Edit - Chili, Cheese, Fritos, and sour cream :D )

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2010-05-10 17:03 ]

I was in shadows waiting for the moment to stand back in the light - well the light has arrived and I'm thrilled to be warmed again in the light of your velvet artwork, Mr. Hamel...

As others have said before my post its great to see you back and executing one of your great velvet paintings. I'll be waiting for a finished pic.

Rock-On!! G

Another masterpiece comin down the chute!
Always love your magical lighting!
What a great painting for such a great event!

Glad you're coming out of hibernation,Robb!

Painting foliage is very difficult. If you try to put in every single leaf and petal, pretty soon you've got a mess.
Nice job on the impressionism. It's hard to know what to put in and what to leave out. (leave out..get it? haha) :)

Bowie

I'M FEELIN' THE LOVE!!

Thanks everyone so much.

Mike - Fount Of All Knowledge - it figures that you'd know the name of the shrub. Thanks.

Here's the finished piece:

"Tiki Vignette 2" - 18x36" - #3 of a limited edtion of 4 - oil on black velvet. Custom-modified design for Tiki Caliente 2.

Thanks to Wildsville Man for kicking me in the ass to get me motivated to do this piece.

Oh yeah, heres a detail:

A quick note: these pics haven't been retouched in any way, just cropped. There was very good lighting that day!

[ Edited by: Robb Hamel 2010-05-16 08:03 ]

AMAZING!!!

A true inspiration to all lovers of velvet paintings. Bravo!

I loooOOoOoOOOoOve it !!

Beautiful!!

You nailed it !

Looks great! The Palm Springs natives should recognize that flower but they'll be so awestruck they'll probably just stand and drool !!! :)

PS - I like the new sig line

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2010-05-16 12:00 ]

Beautiful work Robb - congratulations!

Master of light and dark! Glad to see you back on the horse Robb.

Awesome Mr H. JUST AWESOME!!!!!!

You are the MASTER of black velvet in my mind.

Rory

I look forward to seeing it in person.

Very Nice!Nice!Nice!

WOW! Thank you all VERY MUCH.

Here is an 8x10 canvas sketch I started a while back:

I only had a vague idea in my mind and tried to play and go with instinct, something velvet doesn't let me do.

This is a terrible pic I took at the 2/3s stage.

The pic doesn't do the sketch justice, but is fine.

http://www.robbhamel.com

Looking forward with hope.

[ Edited by: Robb Hamel 2010-06-04 06:03 ]

Looks awesome Robb! What size is that canvas?

Looks great Rob! Great vibe.

Nice Warmth!
great "sketch: as you call it....
i would beg to differ....
it's a mini-masterpiece!

zerostreet - it is 8x10", thanks for liking it.

hewey - thanks, the vibe is the focus!

LLT - It's pretty simple, but it better in person.

Yes, the mood/vibe in that piece is great. GROG like.

[ Edited by: GROG 2010-06-11 10:30 ]

Hey Robb,

I just saw that you have a few painting in town over at Hank's...I can't wait to see these babies up close.

Just plain fantastic work as always Robb...

That's funny Rick, that was my first thought when I saw that Hank had 2 of Robbs paintings - this is my best chance to see a real life Hamel up close and in person! :lol:

Saw them on Friday whilst dropping off some pieces to Hank
and Robb's work is always so wonderful in person
shrunken heads and Tikis...
BAM!

Sorry guys - I don't have any new velvets coming up, I'm still waiting to get my Black Fuzz Painting mojo back.

People I know who know art have always told me that they could see elements of Classical Art in my work and told me that that quality is what made my work distinctive. I've never let that Classical Art monster fully out with my Tiki work, until now:

I painted this Moai around Jan/Feb of this year but couldn't make up my mind about what to do with it. I decided it's time to put it to use.

This closeup shows how uptight my brushwork was that day. I was trying to cut loose but couldn't pull it off.

I have a clear feeling for what I want, but it isn't visually sharp, so I started out cautiously.

I want one of those incredible Marquesanesque rock pinnacles to make sure this doesn't look like a piece of American SouthWest Art - no buttes allowed!

I'm starting to get a feel for it and my brushwork is nice and loose.

The pinnacle is WAY off, but I'll get there later.

This is crude, but is kind of a unified image now.

Some better values and some surf help out.

I'm happy to still be slopping the paint on and having fun.

I got on a roll and finished a fair amount more than this, but ran out of light to photograph my progress.

A special thanks to the lovely and talented Ken Ruzic for keeping me going through the dark times and inspiring me to Cut Loose a little and not to be afraid to walk away from the velvet for awhile!

Very Classical!
Actually, I don't know enough to really know what the term means, but I like the painting so far! Nothing wrong with doing something different.

I just love your work on a regular basis :).