The Wall of Tiki

I’ve stewed over this last blank wall for months. I knew it needed a mural of some kind, perhaps mimicking a tiki-esque fabric pattern or geometric design…

Then for Christmas I received The Art of Tiki, a fantastic book by two pioneers within the Polynesian pop community, Sven Kirsten and Otto von Stroheim. I opened the book, was hit with this great design right inside the cover, and immediately stated “that’s going on the wall!”

So a few weeks later, it began! I took a photo of the art, and rearranged the elements a bit in Photoshop to best accommodate the dimensions of my wall. “Plan A” was to use our projector and simply trace the image, but space and basement arrangement didn’t allow the projector to sit far back enough to project a 10′ wide image onto the wall. So “Plan B”… measure everything out and draw freehand. This meant less accurate replication, but the design is pretty forgiving so things didn’t need to be exact.

Measuring and sketching

Laying down key dark areas (I was thanking myself later for this.)

First coat of color… I used highly unscientific blends of various interior wall paint and acrylics.

Second coat of color. Notice those key dark areas showing through the lighter colors. Makes the next step so much easier…

And in two evenings, all the detail is complete!

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