Ok, so this piece didn’t exactly come out as a ZIA (zentangle inspired art). The more I looked at the image, I realized how difficult it was to incorporate different patterns into this animal because it’s basically a giant zentangle all on it’s own. I didn’t want to take away from the tiger’s natural pattern so I went for a more classic pen and ink drawing. I used hatching, parallel lines to create tone and texture, throughout most of the piece. I have always liked how this looks and haven’t dabbled with the technique anymore than this drawing and some random sketches I did for “Inktober” last year.

Hannibal Lecter from “Silence of the Lambs”.

I don’t know why but I really enjoy drawing bones, especially skulls.

I have always admired elephants. They are wisdom keepers. The whales look after the sea and the elephants look after the lands.

Chucky from the movie “Child’s Play”. Just like puppets, I hate dolls! Pediophobia, the fear of dolls.

I want to work with this technique more and I also miss doing my pointillism or stippling. I’ll be squeezing a couple of those in as well while I continue to work on my totem animals.

As for my tiger, the ink is finished. Next, I will be working on the color. This piece is considerably larger than my other totem animals, going from  5.5 in. x 8″ to 12″ x 18″. I had much more space to work with and I think it is paying off. I was sticking with the smaller size because I wanted to be sure I completed them in a timely manner. The tiger doesn’t seem to be taking any longer than the smaller pieces do and it is coming out so much better.

The next time you see the tiger, it will be completed and we will check out what symbolism they hold. Thanks for stopping by this week. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Until next time,

“It is not part of a true culture to tame tigers, any more than it is to make sheep ferocious.” -Henry David Thoreau