Tiger-head in flames

There are several different kinds of Tigers: Bengal, Indochinese, Malayan, Sumatran, Siberian and the South China Tiger. They all have special features and looks. The things they have in common are their stripes. I have used the stripes in this design too - just so one gets the feeling of the Tiger’s characteristics. The flames round about are also based on the Tiger-stripes. They also resemble Asian dragon designs that usually have clouds and flames surrounding the different beasts and animals that they have illustrated. The eyes are small and focused. I made the flames frame the tiger’s head. Showing the teeth too, gives a warlike and more aggressive look. The Tigers’ sharp teeth make them fearsome hunters – so I had to enhance that feeling.

Compared to cats, tigers really enjoy spending time in water. I’m not sure if they even like swimming – but they certainly like cooling down in the shallow end. I even saw this the last time I saw a whole bunch of tigers. Now it would have been very impressive to see these big cats in the wild, but I thought they were pretty impressive in captivity too! They were super active and had very large grounds to hang out in – at least compared to the first time I saw a real tiger in a cage. It was literally a cage. Like one you would see in a story-book. There were only a few square feet that first time and the Tiger didn’t look like he was feeling very good.

If you get the chance to see a tiger – I hope you get to see it where it has lots of space to move around in. Then you can see how quick and strong they are too!