May Tiki of the Month

The Tiki of the Month for May is ready to hit the waves with his super-cool surfboard

The Tiki of the Month for May is ready to hit the waves with his super-cool surfboard. He is just waiting for the right surf conditions to head out and hang ten. Except that he does not have ten to hang on with. Just a minor technicality, however.

As spring gets closer to summer, I begin to think more and more about the beach. So naturally, the Tiki of the Month for May reflects that. Last month’s April Showers tiki would logically lead to a May Flowers tiki this month, but who follows logic these days?

Just a note: we have not been to the beach yet this year. So what will the June and July tikis be, when the beach is still very much on my mind during those months? That is an excellent question! And right now, I have no idea what the answer will be.

And another note: the Tiki of the Month was quite a bit late this month. And it looks like next month’s tiki might be the same way.

Not Yet

I have actually never tried surfing. I did try stand-up paddle boarding one time. It did not go all that well, and the waves were not even all that big. Knee paddle boarding was a little better, but not much. So I have not even bothered tried surfing, at least not yet.

However, that does not mean that I can’t enjoy the depictions of surfing here on the site, does it? Some would say that you should not have surfing things on your site because you are not a surfer. But why put that limitation on someone?

We live in a society that likes to put limitations on what you can and can’t do. But don’t set false limits on yourself. If you like surfers, draw surfers. Do your thing. Be yourself. Like what you want to like, as long as it keeps to God’s guidelines, of course.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. - Philippians 4:8

About the Artwork

In my never-ending quest for a style, I once again used a different approach for this one. Instead of mostly flat colors, I used a charcoal look. That gave everything more of a texture than just a flat look. And of course, I am all about a texture.

Actually, instead of drawing everything in charcoal, I did draw most everything in flat colors first, and then I added charcoal on top of it. And I varied the charcoal colors, for example using lighter and darker brown tones on the tiki, to give more of a sense of depth. I also used light and dark charcoal colors to give highlights and shadows instead of using flat colors for those, too.

This charcoal look was fun to experiment with, and I just might use it again in the future, too.

By the way, no charcoal was harmed in the making of this artwork. Everything was done in Procreate on my iPad using an Apple Pencil, as always.


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About Burnsland
Burnsland is Steve Burns, with generous help from his lovely wife Laura. Steve is a husband, father, photographer, webmaster, writer, podcaster, artist, Christian. Steve enjoys sharing his photography, art, and stories through Burnsland.com, from the Burnsland World Headquarters in Tennessee.