#1
Begin by placing a Large Jerzees 50% Cotton/50% Polyester T-shirt on a shirt board. I have my shirt boards cut to the size of the tees. The large shirt fits on a 22" wide board. I pin the sleeves back behind the board. I flatten the fabric and pin the shirt to tighten it and remove the wrinkles. I iron the shirt at the hottest setting, cotton/linen, with no steam to flatten the nap.
#2
I use my hands placed at the sides of the board to position and center my design.
I use soft vine charcoal to sketch out my design. It's best to sketch lightly on the fabric. The lighter the charcoal lines the more easily blown off by the air flow or covered by the paint. All I need to do is size the tiki into the area of the shirt that I think it would look best in, mark the dimensions of the head and body then sketch a teddy bear body with the tiki head that I'm trying to remember. I don't want the design to be floating on the shirt. I decided to frame the design with bamboo keeping the tiki at the forefront like he is hovering in front of the framed volcanoes in the background. I add leaves at the sides.
#3
Start airbrushing by using the lightest colors and build from light to dark. I airbrush Createx Florescent Yellow into the tiki, the leaves I've sketched in, the bamboo frame and the background where the glow from the volcanos and lava will be. I also block in a few more leaves around the bamboo at the top and bottom to add more interest to the bamboo frame. This will give the design more life and color which will contrast with the inner design.
#4
Use Createx Sunrise Yellow (Golden Yellow) to begin the glow of wood of the tiki, the bamboo and the background. I use the Golden Yellow on the leaves which will help to shape and produce a deeper color green on the leaves.
#5
I wanted to add a rosy glow to the tiki. I lightly sprayed Createx Florescent Red into the center potion along the tiki's body. I use Createx Florescent Red and Pink in the clouds in the background. I use the Red and Pink to begin forming the lava flow. I use Transparent Peach (formerly Fleshtone) in the bamboo and in parts of the leaves to mute the colors.
#6
You can see in the close up of the tiki the charcoal lines which are still showing and hadn't been blown away by the air flow. I'm using approximately 55-60 PSI. These lines if painted over properly will disappear into the artwork. They will wash out with the first wash. The best thing is to try to avoid dark charcoal lines to begin with and be careful not to go overboard with the sketch so that you have lines that you can't cover outside the artwork.
#7
I'm using Createx Pure Pigment Iron Oxide with Extender to begin forming my tiki. I'm solidifying the features on the tiki that was a mere suggestion with the charcoal sketch. By now I have the clear image in my head of how the tiki will look. The Yellows and Red I have used previously has helped to define the shapes and forms so I'll know exactly where and how the features and body will look.
Using thin paint and lower air pressure by controlling the air at the trigger, shaking the Iron Oxide mix and extender well, I airbrush the wood grain into the tiki. I am being frugal on the trigger, keeping the air on continuously. producing thin lines I run in an up and down motion along the body. I add a few knot holes and wavy grain to break up the monotony and add interest to the wooden statute.
I spray in very lightly where the skull in the clouds will be and also the volcanoes
#8
The lines in the original sketch for the bamboo were exactly that. Straight lines that were only the suggestion of the bamboo frame to place it into the design. I must make the two dimensional lines into cylindrical bamboo.
Using the thin Iron Oxide, I make the concave sided sections of the bamboo keeping the lengths proportional. I add a few cracks and lines in the sections to make it look more natural. I use shading underneath the tops of the section ends to make it look curved and bowed.
#9
Transparent Light Brown is the next color I add to the tiki. Transparent Light Brown is slightly darker than Iron Oxide. This is a quick step to deepen the color of the wood in the tiki and to add shape to the form. I also deepen the shadows on the far side of the tiki facing at the extreme points away from the volcanoes which are seemingly highlighting the objects in the design. Adding the Light Brown will help in the transition of the colors in producing the deep shadows on the tiki.
I also add Light Brown to the far sides of the bamboo keeping the light sides inward towards the volcanoes.
#10
Continue adding detail and shadowing into the tiki and bamboo with Transparent Dark Brown. I mix my Dark Brown myself using Transparent Colors matching it to the original manufactured by Createx. It's not one of the colors I use great amounts of. I use the Dark Brown to deepen the carved look features of the tiki. I add very strong shadows on the facial features, under the head on the body, at the top of the head and along the limbs, hands and feet. I deepen the shadowing on the far side of the bamboo.
#11.
It is now time to begin to work on the background behind the tiki. Using Florescent Violet I fill in the area inside the frame fading the Florescent Violet into the Florescent Pink, Red and Yellow. We want these colors to blend. The succession of color from center glow to outward dark is Yellow, Red, Pink to Violet. I use irregular spray and hand wiggles along the center to get a fluffiness in the smoke and clouds. I work my way around the inside of the frame keeping my coloring regular and avoiding blotching as much as possible. I airbrush around where the lava is flowing.
#12
Changing to Transparent Violet, I continue with the background deepening the colors. I fade the Violet in towards the center working around the lava and clouds. I add shadowing to delineate the skull in the clouds. I airbrush in the volcanoes.
#13
In this piece we must use a considerable amount of black to achieve the look we want. The violets used as a base will deepen the black that will be layered over it producing a much richer, velvety black than black by itself. I begin with Opaque Black to fill in the area around the frame fading inwards towards the center. I mist the black into the cloud area keeping with the fade. I airbrush in the volcanoes and lava flow keeping my edges strong. I lightly airbrush black into the extreme far side of the tiki away from the volcano at the darkest shadowy areas. I define a few of the carved lines in the features with the black. I add a few black spiked palm leaves in the background at the top coming in from the frame.
#15
The Opaque White is very stark and glaring so we need to tone it down to produce colored highlighting instead of bright white. Switching back to Florescent Yellow, I airbrush over the white in the clouds and on the tiki. I go over the lava once more. I add the Florescent yellow back into the cloud center fading outwards. I change to Sunrise Yellow (Golden Yellow). I spray the Golden Yellow on the tiki moving towards the shadows. I spray the lava heavily giving the paint the chance to dry then hitting it again to deepen the color.
#14
At this point I stop painting and take a break to iron the shirt again. Ironing will "stick" the nap to the paint covered fabric fibers. This will help to make a smoother finish by getting rid of the fuzzies not flattened by the initial ironing. Take care to first pat the iron across the surface. Watch the iron for paint build up.
Opaque White is my next step. I use Opaque White to to begin highlighting, to add depth and definition to the clouds, to form the lava spilling from the volcanoes and the lava flows and to define the skull. I edge the inward facing leaves with white. I use white heavily on the lava coming from the volcano spout and at the bottoms of the lava flowing from the volcanoes to produce the hottest lava glow. I freehand in the airbrush the tiki is holding using the dark background for the shadowing and main features. I define the air hose.
#16
This is now going fast with swift color changes. I once again use Florescent Red and Pink in the clouds and smoke coming from the volcano spraying out into the violet and black. I use Transparent Brite Red (formerly Transparent Red) in the lava pools. I spray it lightly into the clouds around the skull and into the skull. I use Transparent Violet at the top of the pools very lightly to create the coolest crusting of the lava. I switch to Opaque white and with tight lines hit the bottoms of the lava pools again. I use Sunrise Yellow again on the lava bottoms to make the white glow yellow.
#17
The inside of my frame, the bamboo and tiki are almost finished and it is now time to work on the leaves and outside of the bamboo frame.
I airbrush Transparent Forest Green (formerly Pthalo Green) on the leaves creating the ribs and contours. This begins defining the individual leaves and giving them form.
#18
I use Transparent Tropical Green to continue building my leaves. Pushing back some of the leaves and parts of the leaves by adding more color and making those areas darker. I use a Maroon color I mixed from Transparent Burgundy to edge the leaves. I also spray the maroon into the deepest areas of the leaves to further push those few areas back and create the shadowing. I change back to Tropical Green and go over the leaves and edges once again to blend the maroon into the green. I use white to highlight the leaf edges and the leaves on the inside of the frame. I change back to Sunrise Yellow and hit the white on the leaves with a final coat
#19
Using the Transparent Tropical Green I add vines curling around the bamboo frame. I switch to white and quickly hit the vines on the inside part of the frame then hit those small highlights on the vines with Florescent Yellow.
I use white to highlight the hose coming from the airbrush and the far side edges of the tiki. I switch to Florescent Violet and spray it lightly on the hose and the tiki reflection. Changing to Transparent Violet. I spray it on the hose using a heavier spray in the bends of the hose. I use the violet to push back several of the back leaves on the inside of the frame.
#20
Florescent Blue is used around the outside of the bamboo frame. Transparent Brite Blue (formerly Pthalo Blue) is airbrushed very lightly as drop shadows for the curling vines and leaves around the frame.
#21
Final Opaque White highlights are airbrushed sparingly on to the objects in the design. White is used very lightly on the tiki to create a glossier surface making the wood appear to have a sheen. Highlights are added to the eyes. White is sprayed tightly around the lava coming up around the bottoms to float away into the glowing clouds of the background.
#22
The tiki is now finished. I airbrush a good coat of clear over the design. I heat set with the heat press at 325 degrees for 20 seconds. That setting is for my heat press. others may differ. I could also heat set with a hot iron, no steam, using a light cloth to cover the design. The shirt needs to cure. Washing is not recommended for two weeks. I'll have to wait to have the pleasure of wearing it.
ARTIST PROFILE
DATA
Written by: DENISE THURSTON
"Tiki Tee"
Copyright 2007 Airbrushtech.net
A wonderful panel painted by Dennis Mathewson, Cosmic Airbrush, was posted to the Airbrush TECH Forums by Mike Alsa Canada. I was intrigued by the artwork of a Tiki and volcanes. The piece was eyecatching, very bright and colorful. I had not painted a Tiki prior to this so I thought I would do one for the fun of it.
I did not use or copy Dennis's design other than remembering what it was like from looking at it previously. This is what I came up with from memory after viewing Dennis's panel and adding my own flourishes.
