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Monday, August 13, 2012

How to draw a Tiki Head!


As I said in a previous post, I got my son to help me design the tiki stuff I made for the last Retro Romp. So here's is the method I worked out, so he could help me. He picked the features and I drew them out. Its an incredibly easy system, and a great one to do with the kids and for just general doodling. The diagrams I've drawn are a bit rough, but what the hey, you'll get my drift. This is tribal stuff, the rougher the better.

And don't be fussing about the lines! Kids are constantly told in school to stay within the lines, and unfortunately this can stay with us as adults. When one neighbours kid got upset because he coloured outside the line, I just gave him the big black marker and said, change the line. He was chuffed...





Pick out a nose, eyes, eyebrows and a forehead from the following pics.  These are essential features.  Then pick out any other optional features, tongues, hands, feet, chests, etc.




















Follow the diagrams below. I've drawn it out several times so you can see the progress. You obviously don't have to do this. The grid is just a grid for the essential features, and can be altered at will. I drew out the head in pencil first and then went over it in pen.

Step 1:  Draw out a simple 2x4 grid.
Step 2: Draw the nose just above the centre of the grid.
Step 3: Add in the eyes
Step 4: Add the mouth





Step 5: Add the eyebrows
Step 6: Add the forehead
Step 7: Add in any other optionals. Here I have just added hands













I then re-drew the design larger, and just added patterns using 2 thickness of black pen.



So, there you have it! If you have a go, send me a pick/link, I'd love to see what other people come up with.

Here's a few more designs I did using this method with the kids


I wanted the designs to have a more  proper Hawaiian feel, so I did a bit of research on traditional patterns. I came across Kapa, a type of bark cloth. Heres an interesting article, with a list of traditional dyes used in kapa making http://www.hawaiianencyclopedia.com/kapa-tapa-barkcloth.asp. Have now added it onto my list of places to go/things to make. a long list... Anyway, heres a few traditional patterns, if you want to add them into you tiki design


18 comments:

  1. This was amazing! It helped a lot, thanks! :)

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  2. Amazing job and it really helped :)

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  3. i really liked his work. true genius!!!!!!!

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  4. It would be so cool if this was printable. It would be nice to have a set of the sheets in my classroom for students to grab and use.

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    1. Is printable. Tap, make big, click open, right click or long press then save as jpg. Bob's your uncle.

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  5. I JUST finished a unit on Polynesian culture with my 7th graders which culminated with3D Tiki heads of construction paper. This sure would have been helpful!

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  6. I currently live in Hawaii and your tutorial is the best I've found on drawing Tikis! As a side note, I lived on the Dingle Peninsula during the winter of 88/89 and seeing your little blog info blurb brought back some memories =)

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  7. Thanks Natashalh! It is such a rough tutorial, I'm amazed at the reaction. I must do some more. (On the loing list!) And what a coincidence, you lived in Dingle! Fair play to you for doing a winter. I always say to people if you truly want to know Dingle, you need to spend a winter here.

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  8. I liked it some much, it helped me a lot.
    thanks for the great publication,
    hugs

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  9. very great post, i liked it some much, helps me a lot, thanks

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  10. Oh my gosh, these are sooo cool! I'm going to do a tiki art lesson with my 6th graders tomorrow! Thanks for sharing!!!

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  11. Helped me making a totem pole for my daughters party! Thanks!

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  12. I did this lesson with my learners. What awesome results! Thank you for the great step-by-step lesson! Here is a link to a blog post with our final art: http://room5mrps.blogspot.co.nz/2016/07/tiki-art_19.html

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  13. Oh my gosh, this was soooo helpful. Tiki heads for my mom's bday, luau, much appreciated!

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  14. Great tutorial. Thank you for sharing.

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  15. I am a palm frond painter and I was just looking at your designs and they are very helpful for me to do my palm frond paintings. Thank you very much Hank

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