Who Said You Have to Paint the Whole Tiger?

To an artist, it can be humorous when someone asks something like, "Where is the rest of the tiger?" It is also funny to come back with, "That's all I could fit on the canvas." This really throws off the viewer's way of thinking. But honestly, why should an artist have to paint the entire cat? The painting is still a work of art.

When you view other paintings, do you see the entire sky, trees, buildings, and so on? That still life you saw the other day -- where is the rest of the wall? Therefore, painting part of an animal is not all that different from what other artists paint.

Painting part of a tiger may seem like a challenge at first. The actual decision of what should be painted and at which angle are probably the biggest decisions to make first. To pick a colorful section think about painting the back part of the fore leg near the chest as it draws back to the rear leg. Lay out the line work on your canvas first and start painting with yellow ochre. Mix with either yellow, red, white or burnt sienna to obtain your variances in colors.

Use an angle brush for more control or a thin flat can be used instead. Try not to over think what you are doing. If you are painting with acrylics, they will dry rather quickly before you go onto the next color. You can also use a palette knife to paint this picture.

Before you start painting the stripes, you may need to lightly sketch them back in. You can use a deep brown for the stripes. I like the crispness of the black against the colors. Take your time in working in the color you have chosen. Before they dry, carefully go back along the edges and pull out the paint to make the appearance of fur with the edge of your brush. This might take some practice on a paper palette or another canvas.

One unique idea is to lay the paint on thick to not only give the appearance of fur, but the texture as well. This may take some practice to get it to look just right. Again, take your time, and try not to rush through the processes. Every so often step back from the painting to see if there is anything you might be leaving out. You may find you like it much better with the texturing technique.

At last you now have your part of a tiger! Of course it is just a painting. Should you have difficulty with choosing what to paint as part of a tiger, there are plenty of pictures of them on the internet screen through. Be bold with your endeavors in painting, and try not to let the critiques get you down.