New work posted! Inexplicable business card holders! Tiki Bob keychains! More Islander! Pg. 15!

Really nice work :D

Bachman Tiki Overdrive ?

Bachman Tiki Overdrive ?

Yes, Tikiyaki... LOOK!

TikiTres, Surfintiki and Hewey - Glad you like my work! Mahalo!

Tikishark- Thanks for the vote of confidence... my stuff is scribbles compared to your awesome work... I'm sure I'll eventually work my way around to doing more realism in my tiki stuff, but I have so many ideas and only so much time in a day... now, if I can learn to paint with both hands simultaneously, I may get somewhere!

The Tonga Hut anniversary poster is too cool, and the pillow-tiki made me laugh! Very nice.

Yea...TIKI Care of Business...EVERY DAY !

Hey, really like the Marchers! really really cool!

Your 50th anniversary Tonga Hut painting/print looks totally awesome. GROG is DEFINITELY getting one of those.

Eric, Kuddly Ku arrived safe and sound today (super fast shipping!) and is adjusting to his new surroundings! Many thanks, the whole family thinks he's very cute :)

Dang, TikiTres! That doll is enjoying a swankier lifestyle than I am! Glad he arrived safely. Maybe I should mail myself to you... wouldn't mind lounging by your cool tiki-pool!

Tikiyaki - yer killin' me!

Robb, always appreciate your comments... your new website is great!

Tiki Duddy, glad you like... should have prints available soon!

And GROG, mahalo for the complement! You don't know what an ego boost it is!

Heya Eric!

Man, what a treat to go through your thread--it's inspiring and fun!!

The Tonga Hut poster looks awesome--you nailed the feel and look.

And that Kuddly Ku...ah. Makes me smile. :)

Take care,

I.

On 2008-08-01 20:05, tobunga wrote:
Dang, TikiTres! That doll is enjoying a swankier lifestyle than I am! Glad he arrived safely. Maybe I should mail myself to you... wouldn't mind lounging by your cool tiki-pool!

LOL! Thanks :) The pool is the only way we can handle all the 100+ days we've been getting around here :o Stop by if you ever happen to be passing through Forney, TX; I don't know how to make a Mai Tai but we have a margarita machine :)

So as I said, I feel like I'm in Tiki Overdrive... or, if you will, I'm Full Throttle Tiki, which is the name of this new painting:

Full Throttle Tiki

It's 11x14, acrylic on canvas. Sort of my homage to those Weird-Ohs Silly Surfer model kits from the 60's.

I had a slight mishap when I discovered that the digital file I had created for a drawing I did called The Tiki That Carved Itself has gone missing. The photographer who is shooting and scanning my work misplaced the file, and it could be anywhere in his thousands of folders of photos.

The original is sold, so it's indefinitely lost...
It motivated me to redo the image as a painting, which I had been considering anyway. This was one of the first tiki pieces I did, and my take on tiki has changed a little, so I did the painting in my tiki style now...

The Tiki That Carved Itself 20x24, acrylic on canvas

I also did a painting based on the Hawaiian War Chant.

Hawaiian War Chant. 16x20, acrylic on canvas.

It's sort of a work in progress at the moment, as I want to add the original Hawaiian lyrics to the canvas, around and between the two tikis. The image references the original title of the song in Hawaiian, which is called "We Two In The Spray"... I believe it's a love song, actually.

I'll post the painting with lyrics added when it's done.

Oh, the Tonga Hut 50th Anniversary giclee prints are here! The came out AWESOME!!!PM me if you're interested!

That's it fer now, thanks fer lookin'!

http://ericoctober.com

[ Edited by: tobunga 2008-08-06 17:45 ]

Full Throttle Tiki is awesome, i love that piece, can imagine it as one of the model kit covers. Beautiful man!

Hey OceaOtica!

Thanks for the comment... that's the look that I was trying to capture, glad you think I got it!

Your art is fantastic! I love it. :)

New works are looking good. You are solidifying your "tiki" painting style!

GREAT NEW WORK ERIC!
YOU ARE IN OVERDRIVE!
All three of those are ACE!
Keep up the great work!
hi Manuel!
:)

awesome stuff eric! your paintings are allways killer, the motion in it is so vivid you can easily picture the tikis in them bouncin around. bummer to hear the tiki that carved itself is now gone, but the painting is killer, i think that would make for a killer t-shirt!

On 2008-08-06 17:43, tobunga wrote:
It's 11x14, acrylic on canvas. Sort of my homage to those Weird-Ohs Silly Surfer model kits from the 60's.

Wow, that's really awesome! I love it! And in an odd "It's a small world" twist, I collect vintage cartoony models (mainly Deal's Wheels and Zingers) and was contacted a while back by Elizabeth Campbell, daughter of Bill Campbell who did the Weird-Ohs artwork. She was selling prints of some of his work that he did for Hawk back in the day. Most of them were for proposed models that never got produced. I created a web page on my site for her to use to try and drum up some business. I don't think she sells the prints anymore, but I still have the page up:

http://www.treswright.vervehosting.com/Campbell/Prints.html

Aloha kâkou !!

I am impressed!! You are really good, killer style and execution... love it all!! Keep the new work coming!

Tiki Dirk

Thanks for the feedback!
Savage Daddy - glad you like, saw your thread... your tiki carving is awesome!
Brad and Kinny - thanks for the encouragement, always appreciated from talented tiki veterans like you two!
tikithomas08 - yeah, t-shits emblazoned with my art would be cool!
TikiTres- thanks for the great Bill Campbell/Weird-Ohs link.
Dirk Yates - Thanks! I dig your cool work too!

Here's a new series of paintings on which I've been working the past few days.

I decided to document the process and post it all here. The idea came to me somehow that a pattern on a butterfly or moth could be adapted to look like a tiki face. I know the idea isn't terribly original, but I did some sketches, and came up with some images I liked.

Then I drew out the actual images i was going to paint. I blocked out the size of the canvases on paper, and to keep the paper use to a minimum, I drew the sections touching. That gave me the idea to have all three pieces form one big image, and the series became a triptych.

After transferring the image to canvas, I started painting the insects, then the flowers. It's sort of ironic for a work in progress presentation, but this is actually the reverse of how I normally paint. I usually start with the farthest layer and work my way up to the foreground, or the main focus or the image. (I saw a photo of Kinny doing it this way, and thought I'd give it a try).

Then I painted in the leaves. This part took the most time to complete.

Then I went back and added the final details to the insects. This photo shows the tops of the canvas, where more of the tikis in the background are visible. The image continues on all four sides of the canvases.

Here are the individual pieces:
Mothtiki 1 8x8, acrylic on canvas

Mothtiki 2 8x8, acrylic on canvas

Mothtiki 3 8x8, acrylic on canvas

Well, that's it fer now! Hope these pieces aren't too stupid!

http://ericoctober.com

[ Edited by: tobunga 2008-08-12 14:45 ]

What an awesome combination of elements: lepidoptera, flowers and tiki! I take it those are 12x12 works? How did you find painting the subject first? I tend to switch back and forth, really depends on my mood.

Hey TikiMango!
They're 8" x 8"... I actually went back and put the sizes in the description...

Working in reverse was interesting, it worked out well for these, because the canvas was not so large. I probably wouldn't do it this way on a larger piece, or one with a large background.

Whoa! THAT's cool!
different too!

Great idea and well executed :D

Aloha!!

Very cool stuff, like a trip throught the looking glass ... Tikify the world!!!!

Friggin' awesome stuff, really,really different. We need more breath-of-fresh-air work like this to stop the stagnation.

Eric, your work is so nice, I love the flowers, they would make a nice design for beach towels.

That's a wicked idea. They are really nice.

I love your work!
The content is fun and the pieces are well executed. I particularly like Tobonga, and I think Tobonga's Revenge is better that the From Hell It Came movie!
A Creature From A Black Lagoon is brilliant, but I think your best concept here, is The Tiki Who Carved Its' self.

Keep up the kewl stuff!

Kelly

Very cool flowers!
you've got a great style and sense of joy in your pieces!
Just keep going up your path and examining and challenging things
I see more awesome work that awaits you and us!

Hey everybody! Thanks for the great feedback, it's most appreciated.

I found an interesting bamboo lamp shade at a thrift store for two bucks, and I figured I could make something out of it... so I made a lamp!

Here's the lamp shade (1)
I had a shadow box from the Dollar Tree Store that was perfect for the base. (2)

I popped off the back of the shadow box and unscrewed the door to make it easier to handle (3). Then I attached it to the bottom of the lamp shade (4).

I didn't have any authentic tapa cloth, so I decided to make my own version of it. I drew out the pattern I wanted to use, and then made stamps of the separate elements. The original drawing is on the left. I changed the shape of the tiki, to make it a simpler shape. I liked the re-design better!

I stamped a piece of cloth to make the pattern(6). When it was dry, I tied it to the lamp shade with twine and glued the bottom to the base. The clamps are holding the cloth and base together to dry. (7)

I made a wire support to hold the light in place and re-attached the door to the bottom and painted the wood. I also painted a tapa design on the glass. The cool thing about the door is that it opens easily to replace the bulb!

Here's the lamp lit:

Not bad for three bucks!

Thanks fer lookin'!

That's gorgeous! I love that you made your own tapa.

Dude, what CAN'T you do!?! Make more!

Wow Eric! The tapa is incredible!! I can't believe those stamps you made!

Tobunga, you are so creative and your work is very refreshing and different.

Nice work Eric! the faux tapa you made would make a great shirt, got a sewing kit in the arsenal?

Come to think of it I would love to have a small tablecloth with this pattern on it.

ERIC!! Great how to thread on a sweet little idea...thanks for taking the time to share all of this with folks...you rock dude!

Holy sh*t! This is so cool! And for three bucks??

Wow.

I.

Hey everybody!

Sorry I've been out of it latley... I was prepping for the Forbidden Island Parking Lot Sale, and had my nose to the tiki grindstone for the past few weeks.

The event was pretty awesome, too! Met some great NoCal Ohana, and even met Changolio in person! Way cool!

So here's what I've been slaving away creating lately:

Tiki Buttons

Tiki On A Stick

Sort if like deluxe tiki drink garnish holders... skewer a cherry on one, and adorn your favorite libation! Ku is 4" high, Lono is.5" high.

Tiki Bar Protector Gods

The idea for these and the Tiki On A Stick came from a little vintage bar decoration that I have. He's a pipe cleaner figure wearing a top hat and holding a cane and a martini glass, looking completely soused. I thought a tiki version of this concept would be cool.

Tiki Votive Candle Holder

Then I got into doing linoleum-block prints. The image is a print on textured paper, wrapped around the glass candle holder.

Aloha Greeting Card

More with the linoleum-block prints! The card is 4"x6" on a textured, fibrous paper.

Mahalo Greeting Card

You can see how I can go nutty with an idea... This card is 4"x6" on a textured, fibrous paper.

Mele Kalikimaka Card

I also created a Tiki Christmas Card. I had them printed by a great company I found on line. I was selling them individually, and in sets of 10.

Mini Tiki Masks

I found these shaped plaques and converted them into New Guinea tiki masks. I attached little wooden circles for the eyes. They're about 5" in diameter.

Tiki Topped Boxes

I found some little resin bamboo patterned boxes and I thought I could tikify them, so I sculpted (out if Sculpy) little tikis and attached then to the tops. Originally, I wanted to make a mold, so all the tikis would be the same, but I didn't have time, so each one is individually sculpted.

Tiki Tapa Boxes

And more linoleum-block prints! This time, I had some little wooden boxes that I painted with tapa cloth designs. The tops of the boxes have a little window, so I did a lino-cut to fit inside. So the piece is like a little print, framed in a box... two pieces of art in one!

Tiki Lamps



I recently acquired some awesome vintage tiki shirts, but the all needed a little taloring before I could wear them. I took the left over material and made tiki lamps!
These took the longest to make, as I had to figure out the logistics of access to changing the bulb, and wiring that wouldn't burn down the house.

I also have FINALLY receive the first giclee prints of my work. The first four prints are:
The Tiki That Carved Itself

March Of The Tiki Gods

Hawaiian War Chant

Full Throttle Tiki

Signed and numbered edition on 25.
Each is 11" x 14", printed on acid-free Somerset Velvet Watercolor Paper with archival inks. They are all sized to fit into an 11" x 14" frame without matting (There is a border around the edge that acts as a mat), or the can be matted for a larger frame. Prints come in a protective plastic sleeve.

That's it for now... working on more stuff, which I will post soon.

Thanks fer lookin'!

http://ericoctober.com

[ Edited by: tobunga 2008-09-20 13:40 ]

Great seeing you guys at Kona the other night. The work looks marvelous! Keep cranking out the stuffs!

Wow Eric!
You're like the Martha Stewart of Tiki!
Incredible ideas/Conversions and Creations!
great economy of effort with the linoleum block /stamps!
A thousand uses!
You're on fire!
great seeing you and Manuel at KONA!

Hi, Great stuff. You never posted a price on your 4 part set of prints. Do you have it somewhere else? I like the series of famous places turned into tiki world. You should do the Colosieum in Rome. That would be a great subject and how about Mt.Rushmore as well. Lincoln Memorial is another. Just thinking out loud here.

Every time I start thinking that the creativity on TC can't possibly get any more diverse, I come across a thread like yours that proves me wrong!

Fabulous work, Tobunga!

Hey Kinny! Thanks for the feedback! The Martha Stewart of tiki, Huh? Well, I did go to prison for insider trading, but I never got my line of home furnishing at K-Mart off the ground...

Tuscon Tiki - I posted all this new stuff in the Marketplace forum as well, with prices. (they're $40.00 each, 6.00 shipping, all can ship for the same 6.00)

I actually have the last three images for the "In A Tiki World" series drawn out on canvas, I just haven't had a chance to start painting them yet... although I did consider the Coliseum and Mt. Rushmore, the final three will be: The Parthenon, St. Basil's Cathedral and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio.

Bowana - Thanks so much for your complements! Your carvings are pretty damn impressive, so I'm humbled by your comments!

Veritable!

dang eric, ur OOC!!

great stuff...i particularly dig the little sculpy box handles and the lamps!

i am also loving the 2 new paintings!!

Ur on fire!

alohas, t