Pocket Motif for Vintage Surfer silk Shirt

We measured the pocket of a size Large Kahala shirt before sketching and painting this motif onto paper.

It looked nice when it was completed and hanging in a small clothing shop in Kailua, Oahu where I saw it for sale for first time.

Pakeke,pa'eke,'eke 'eke : Hawaiian for pocket

Aloha from Kailua,where we've had some thunder in last hour,

Emma Howard

Silk Aloha Shirt with vintage surfer

On page 198 of The Aloha Shirt book by Dale Hope, you'll see the original shirt that was copied from a photograph for Kahala Men's line in silk.

I xeroxed the reference photograph, enlarged it, scanned it into my computer,studied it and finally did copy this image. The pansy flower lei surrounding this surfer is what took so much time to draw and paint. Even after I was sure that it was a good match, I would see one difference and put it back onto table and made the change.

On the pocket of the shirt was a smaller surfer standing up.I'll post this image another time. He was small but complex also.

I really like the red ,pink and reddish van dyke brown in this design ,giving it an unusual and warm color palette. The soft, round elements in water are very easy to look at. The surfer's lei is tossed back as he speeds through the water on his board.



Aloha from Kailua Oahu,Hawaii,

Emma Howard

Dry Brush technique for "Silk Pineapples" printed onto linen fabric

For "Silk Pineapples" I used different shades of one color with the Master painting being done in muted blues. with 5-6 shades used in the design.

I painted the entire piece of paper with the lightest shade and then used this same background color as part of the motifs, giving the pineapples and their crown of leaves shape. Using a dry brush going from lightest to darkest is how I created this piece.

This technique is one of my favorites to paint. I am relaxed and lose track of time when wearing my jeweler's visor as I work on a piece like this one. I enjoy fine details,having a "tight painting hand".

Originally the art director asked for a pineapple design for silk fabric and wanted to call it "silk Pineapples" for indentification purposes during our communication throughout the process of designing in pencil and then showing a painted sample: color croque.They ended up using this for linen and kept the name anyway.

I never tire of looking at this print. It will always be one of my favorites.

Aloha,

Emma Howard