TigerTake 2

Actual colors on this one are less grey, it has a nice range of secondary and tertiary tones.

Had another go at the tiger after doing some cutting and tinkering. I'm getting closer, the tail needs a bit more work and the face too. I am doing two passes on the body to get the color and this seems to be compromising the registration on the eyes and elsewhere.  Tried some different background approaches, the colors are a bit brighter than what seems to showing on my screen....The more light parts on Mr. Tiger seems to be better and his foot no longer bothers me unless I fixate on it. I bring these proofs to my "client" today and see what he thinks. 

Trying just blue in the background with more lighter bits on the tiger

Once again the actual purple is brighter, the paint bottle said Magenta!

Tiger Proof

So impatient/eager was I to proof the tiger that I didn't even finish clearing the blocks properly. You can see some extra orange smudges here and there. There will be some wrestling with this one. The tail is not lining up right, whether I can change that or I have to carve new block(s), remains to be seen. 

And I am not happy with the black foot. It looked OK in the sketch, but now it sticks out like a sore thumb, I think it should have a similar treatment to the front grayish leg. And I'm not so sure about the ruff on the far side coming out of the black side of his face. The ruff may just have to go, although it makes it more graphically interesting, I think it is too visually confusing.

 And I'm not even quite happy with the colors, the tiger might be too orange and real tigers have a bit of white. I am wondering about the green foreground, some Japanese prints use a gorgeous red earth tone and I am wondering what the would look like....Wouldn't this all be easier if I would just learn Illustrator or PhotoShop? That's a long answer, perhaps another time. I am just a bit under the gun because this tiger is to be used as a label for Kung Fu Teas, a tea line marketed by my Ba Gua teacher. I don't want to be the one holding things up...........

Monday Bunday

There's nothing the Spots like better than a good snuggle, unless it's a good treat or something challenging to chew. Sydney flopped a magnificent flop with almost complete rollover just previous to this shot. No picture of that, of course, you'll just have to take this reporter's word for it.

Here The Spots contemplate what I could possibly have in common with Charlotte Bronte, Queen Elizabeth, Anthony Quinn, Micheal Franti and Iggy Pop. Do you know?

A pencil sketch for the black block of the next print. Next year is the year of the Tiger and it is vaguely possible that my tiger and some, as yet, unrealized animals may be used for something .....

Enjoy the Spring and give yourselves and your rabbits green treats.