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Kountzyro Shows off his Polystyrene Tikis |
kountzyro
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jul 02, 2008
Posts: 49
From: Brooklyn, NY
|  Posted: 2008-07-20 7:19 pm Permalink
Thanks for the comment Seeksurf, it's good to know my illusory abilities as a paint slinger are effective.
The technique I use works well over a porous textured surface. Basically its a build up of three subsequently lighter dry brushings of raw umber or warm grey applied in a manner that covers less and less of the surface area which has an initial deep brown base coat, then everything is pushed back and/or tinted with a build up of washes.
Here's a new work in progress, still in the raw foam phase and ready for hard coating. He'll have a similar look to Stoney in my first post, but will be keyed to a slightly cooler hue:
I am also considering putting one of those flickering cellophane "flame" lights in his lower jaw opening.
[ This Message was edited by: kountzyro 2008-07-20 19:26 ]
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greentikipat
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 08, 2006
Posts: 324
From: st. pete fl
| Posted: 2008-07-20 10:57 pm Permalink
real nice stuff, Count- definatly a fresh style; harking back to true polypop! thanks for the informative bits- foam seems to be an expensive material, nevermind the finishes. i've been waiting to carve a very large moai fountain for my backyard, but just can't come off the prices i find. your tips on different finishes are already a great step foreward!
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kountzyro
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jul 02, 2008
Posts: 49
From: Brooklyn, NY
| Posted: 2008-08-02 11:33 am Permalink
Hi Greentikipat,
You might try using re-bar, pencil rod, stucco lathe and a spool of wire, to build an armature structure for your exterior tiki fountain. If the structure is not too large or complex you could get by without welding the armature just by tying the bent re-bar and pencil rod together with a thick enough gauge of wire in the right spots. You then cut peices of the lathe to form the surface areas connecting wire frame outline. The next step is to trowel on layers of cement. The hardened cement will ultimately give the structure its stability in the long run, as long as its not supporting too much weight. This would be the cheapest method for making a decent exterior tiki, and the way I myself would attempt going about it.
When I think of concrete tikis in your area I immediately recall the giant moai at Polynesian Putter ("Home Of The Tiki")! I lived in St. Pete for a while in the late '80's, before moving to Ybor City. I have very fond memories of Tiki Gardens, and all the great thrift stores and flea markets, especially the Sunshine Drive In at six a.m. on Wednesdays!!
Here's an update on the finished look of my latest Moai inspired piece:
This is how the figure looks with its under-painting. As I described previously, it is a deep brown base coat with three dry bushed layers of consecutively lighter valued, tinted raw umber. I then applied colored washes for variations in hue and to delineate shadows. Everything was finally pushed back with multiple white washes to give the overall grey stone appearance.
Skeptical during our lunch outing, my girlfriend Nicole is non-plussed at this time about having yet another Tiki moving into our living room, but it is a spacious tiki-themed loft, so there is little she can effectively object to in the long run...
[ This Message was edited by: kountzyro 2008-08-02 14:31 ]
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kountzyro
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jul 02, 2008
Posts: 49
From: Brooklyn, NY
| Posted: 2008-12-21 09:14 am Permalink
Hello again.
I've finally had some free time after months of overtime at my job and was able to knock out another foam sculpted tiki.
Here's a photo of the sculpt after hard-coating and before it was painted:
Thanks for your attention and I'll be posting some pics of the finished object soon.
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seeksurf
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 27, 2007
Posts: 2144
From: Buckley, WA
| Posted: 2008-12-22 9:37 pm Permalink
Nice! I like the large bold lines you come up with.
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Grapa-RuHa
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 21, 2008
Posts: 174
From: Netherlands
| Posted: 2008-12-23 01:06 am Permalink
Love your work, that BIG mouth Moai is great. A couple of led lights emulating a lava like glow would make him a centerpiece. Maybe you should have put some flowers in its mouth before presenting it to your girlfriend 
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TikiMango
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 17, 2008
Posts: 798
From: Satellite Beach, FL
| Posted: 2008-12-23 07:22 am Permalink
Very nice work! Keep those creative juices going.
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kountzyro
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jul 02, 2008
Posts: 49
From: Brooklyn, NY
| Posted: 2008-12-26 09:23 am Permalink
Grapa-Ruha, Seeksurf, and Tiki Mango, thanks for your kind words of encouragement.
Many of my friends seem to like my work, but real validation truly can only come from other tiki-philes! It is my hope that by sharing my work I can provide some inspiration to you all, my virtual peer group.
So, anyhow, here's my latest piece with his wood-grain paint job.
Basically my technique is to base coat the object in a light, warm, neutral color. Then, in this case,
I watered down some burnt umber to about the consistency of ink and used a somewhat bedraggled 2 inch
chip-brush to trace on the graining. Once that is dry I used a 2 inch foam brush to top coat. The top coating is a glaze made by mixing some satin clear poly-acrylic into burnt sienna paint. I applied two coats. Then I pushed back the recessed areas by applying a burnt umber wash to those areas after the glazing had thoroughly dried. Finally, a thin black wash was laid over the deepest recesses.
and voila!
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seeksurf
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 27, 2007
Posts: 2144
From: Buckley, WA
| Posted: 2008-12-26 10:42 am Permalink
Nice work on the stain color looking good.
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kountzyro
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jul 02, 2008
Posts: 49
From: Brooklyn, NY
| Posted: 2009-02-22 2:16 pm Permalink
Hi.
Here's the beginning of a new white bead-foam tiki:
Updates to follow.
And, as always, thanks for looking!
[ This Message was edited by: kountzyro 2009-02-22 14:20 ]
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big daddy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 02, 2008
Posts: 325
From: houston
| Posted: 2009-02-23 06:06 am Permalink
i can see where your scenic artist talents come into play with your painting technique. very nice. the big mouthed moai looks like he's getting ready to steal your girlfriends lunch! do like the simplicity and lines of your pieces. nice work.
bd
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TheBigT
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 1155
From: Fabulous Houston
| Posted: 2009-02-23 1:47 pm Permalink
Wow, great designs and absolutely amazing painting and texturing skills! Some of your work really does look like old weathered stone.
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kountzyro
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jul 02, 2008
Posts: 49
From: Brooklyn, NY
| Posted: 2009-02-24 3:56 pm Permalink
Thanks BD and BT!
I try and post a bit of a "how - to" when showing my paint finishes. And my years in the business have shown me that almost anyone can be taught some basic scenic painting techniques.
That being said folks can feel free to P.M. me with some specific questions or requests for pointers.
Mahalo.
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seeksurf
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 27, 2007
Posts: 2144
From: Buckley, WA
| Posted: 2009-02-24 5:02 pm Permalink
foam must be a bitch to cut into?
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kountzyro
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jul 02, 2008
Posts: 49
From: Brooklyn, NY
| Posted: 2009-02-24 5:31 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2009-02-24 17:02, seeksurf wrote:
foam must be a bitch to cut into?
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On the contrary, foam is quite easy to carve. The real hassle is all of the mess that it makes! Much worse than sawdust! Bead particles get EVERWHERE and they have an annoying static charge that makes them love to cling to stuff. A good shop vac and an air nozzle from a compressor are a must for cleaning up.
I use a variety of tools easily found at your local hardware store: snap-off blade box cutters of various sizes, wire brushes, shaping rasps, and sand paper. Larger sculpts can see me using reciprocating saws or even chainsaws. And nothing beats a good band saw for getting basic component shapes knocked out.
Also I use hot wire kits that melt the foam away. Always with very good ventilation and a respirator as the fumes are highly toxic.
Here's a hot wire foam cutting kit:
http://hotwirefoamfactory.com/product.php?productid=16139&cat=0&bestseller=Y
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