Day 15 - Sumatran tiger cubs

[vilakins]

Today's entry for the naarmamo National Art Making Month challenge is three Sumatran tiger cubs from Auckland Zoo who were in the paper a couple of weeks ago.

Tiger Cubs



They were not that easy to draw and I'm not that happy with it. But yes, their eyes really are that blue!

My NaArMaMo 2008 Gallery is here.

Comments

[bramblyhedge.livejournal.com]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! <3

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

That's what I said when I saw them in the paper!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Oh, adorable!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I scanned them in to post but it was a terrible scan with print showing through, so I thought hey, draw them!

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

My reaction when I saw them in the paper! There's a competition to name them and I'm going to have a go.

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

I was going to ask if they were the cubs you cuddled when I saw your title. They aren't but they are sooo cute, and they look fluffy.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

The cubs I played with and cuddled were white, and they're all grown up and in South Africa now. They were swapped for white lions as part of a breeding program.

I think I failed a bit in conveying their fluffiness compared to the kitten with the frog, but I didn't have time. They all have fine black hairs sticking up, but drawing them looked wrong. And their stripes were really hard!

[kerravonsen]

Cute!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

They are! Six-week-old tiger kittens!

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

OMG, so cute! Their fuzziness and stripiness and their pretty, pretty, pretty blue eyes! Awwwwwwwwwwwww!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

They're very fuzzy in the photo, with very fine black hairs standing straight out from their profiles, too fine to draw! They're only six weeks old so their eyes will change colour, apparently to a pale green.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

Aww they are soo cute!
And rare too!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

We got a male tiger from Israel to breed with our female and it worked! We're doing well with rare felines with the white lions and tigers up at Zion Gardens too.

[san-valentine.livejournal.com]

You've done a lovely job depicting the stripes - very natural looking.

maybe you should suggest calling one of them Blake - after William Blake, who wrote "Tyger, tyger burning bright" - no other reason of course :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

The stripes cause me a lot of trouble--at one point I had to delete that layer and start again--so thanks!

That's a nice idea! I already have Jaya which is Indonesian for magnificent. I'm not sure if it's $10 ro enter one name or three; must check the site out.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

That is beautiful, I love the softness you've captured, and the beautiful bright blue eyes :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

The eyes are stunning. Adults appear to have green eyes so I suppose they change. They're only six weeks old.

The white tiger cubs I played with and cuddled (see icon and these galleries (http://pics.livejournal.com/vilakins/gallery/00015wqz)) had ice blue eyes and they remain that way.

[entropy-house.livejournal.com]

Aww, I love how you've got across the feeling of plumpness and weight. And the *smile* on the one cub's face is just so sweet!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thanks you!

That's what grabbed me about the picture: that smile is even cuter in the paper. They're only six weeks so they're half the age of the ones I played with and fed. Maybe the size of a cat? They hadn't even been sexed yet, but probably have been now. :-P

[daiseechain.livejournal.com]

Beautiful! And I love the way one of them is looking directly at the viewer. And they have such soft looking fur.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I spent a lot of time on their stripes so I'm glad it worked.

[lizamanynames.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeeeeee!! He's looking right at me!! Little tiger face just says "Hello!" and brightens my day.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

He (or she) brightened mine too! It's a gorgeous photo. I was going to post it but the print came through from the other side in the scan.

[popcorn-oracle.livejournal.com]

Wow, they really do have some blue eyes. So cute though! I really like the way the fur came out all around, but the just right amount of blurring on the stripes gave it all such a nice effect.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I used a soft-edge brush for the stripes, then the merge thingy to elongate some of them more finely.

[nautile26.livejournal.com]

They're totally adorable. You've done a great job with a very difficult subject. It's very animated and the striping is excellent.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :-D They were a lot more difficult than I'd anticipated, mostly their stripes.

[jacteest.livejournal.com]

Wow! Great job. Pity the eyes will change. They're so cute.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thanks! They're still very blue; I have no idea when they change. :-)