Latest Design Theme - Moai Tiki Skulls

For a while now, I've had a somewhat passive interest in tiki art and tiki culture. I love the retro-kitsch aesthetic of those old Polynesian-style restaurants, and places like Caliente Tropics Resort in Palm Springs. We also have some tiki masks that a friend imports from Indonesia, as well as a couple small pieces of tiki-style art around the house, including a decoupage piece that my wife made a few years ago.

As I pursue my informal education in drawing and sketching, I find myself drawing lots of skulls, and in the quest to create something a bit different, I started working on a mash-up of sorts - designing a tiki-tyle skull, modeled after the Moai or Easter Island style tikis - the ones with the furrowed brow and the large nose.


My two latest designs incorporate the tiki skull in two variations. Below are links to the t-shirts in my Zazzle store:

http://www.zazzle.com/lady_tiki_moai_skull_shirt-235985898826600676?rf=238311127868579309


http://www.zazzle.com/tiki_skull_with_flames_shirt-235647319650225983?rf=238311127868579309

To start, I drew the elements of the skulls on paper, then scanned into Photoshop and traced using the pen tool. This helped me get cleaner lines and better symmetry. For the eyes, nose and teeth, I used tracing paper to trace the skull outline, then drew lots of variations of each element overlayed on top of the skulls, until I had ones I was happy with.


The flames were done using a custom shape, which I then colored in PhotoShop using gradients. Then I cut individual pieces of flame out of the original drawing and place them behind the skull.


The tiki pattern in the background was first sketched in pencil, then drawn from scratch in PhotoShop using the pen tool. I then converted each element to a custom shape so I could save for future use. I pasted the shapes into a new document and arranged to form the background. The pink flower behind the lady tiki skull's 'ear' is one of those shapes.