Evolution of the 1st tiki face

Everything seems to take longer than I expect with this project- this face took me an afternoon to complete. I started by sewing down the actual eye balls and socket, then sewed together the eye lids. After the lids were sewn together I attached them to the eye sockets. I stuffed the eyeballs slightly to have them protrude a little, and really stuffed the eyelids well to give them definition.

Trial face

I wanted to do a test run on a face before I started on the actual tiki faces, that way if I screwed up it didn't matter. I realized that just sewing the nose and eye shapes on and stuffing them would give me some definition, but not enough to give the appearance of being "carved". So I added panels to the eyes and nose to give it a more structured and 3D look. (those are the eye and nose floating on white fabric to the right of the face.)

Beginning to sew..

Here's a rough idea of what the finished piece will look like- minus most of the background elements. I'm working on getting all the elements in place, including the hibiscus flower that sits at the bottom. Most of the tiki's faces are just cut out and pinned in place at this point.

First steps on the Tiki piece

I cut out the basic shapes for each tiki, and add pieces slowly. It takes me awhile to choose colors, as I modify each tiki's palette to better suit the overall composition. I want to make sure that each tiki is unique, yet integrate colors into all three so that they work as a unit.

Project of the month

I'm deviating from the usual pattern of my blog- I'm working on this big plush piece for the Disneyland "Tiki Room" 40th anniversary art show and it has become my life for the past 3 weeks. I thought I'd post some of the progress.
These first images are the concept sketch of the piece, marker color study, and then the fabric color studies, using the actual fabrics for the piece. The piece itself is a plush wall hanging (the characters will be plush relief sewn to the hanging fabric) that measures approx. 20 inches by 60 inches.

Adele and her twin sister, Arlene

Adele and her twin Arlene have been working at the town diner for almost 30 years. Adele has been happily married for all that time to Officer Chuck Peterson, while Arlene has been living the single life, and loving every minute of it. The only noticeable difference between the twins is in personality. Arlene is a vivacious flirt, and Adele is more calm and collected.

Mr. Smith

Mr. Smith is a cat about town. He loves nothing more than going for a stroll in his local park, catching the new exhibit at the art museum, and having an invigorating lunch of tuna tartare at his favorite restaurant.

Tilly and Blu

Tilly and Blu are cousins who enjoy getting together on the weekend to relax outside and enjoy the sun. Tilly loves flowers and frilly things, while Blu is a very mellow cat content to just curl up and catch some rays.