Tigers (and for that matter) lions are kind of interesting, because we're so used to the head-on view that I think folks tend to forget (or not realize) how long headed these animals really are. The iconic lion door-knocker, which considerably flattens the face, not to mention the average housecat with its considerably flatter face, doesn't help. Another difficulty is that the animal's complex patterning—both in terms of shading from brown/orange to cream and the stripes—tend to distract from the actual shape of its skull. And, like male African lions, tigers have ruffs, furthering adding to the confusion.
All this adds up to a great many errors on my part. (The irony is that I have a little clay sculpture I made of a tiger over 20 years ago in which the head is shaped more or less correctly.)
7 tigerheads. Effetre; 2008? — 2009. Most about an inch.
So taken in chronological order, we have:
- tiger made in class
- another tiger made in class, unfinished
- a side drill tiger—and oops the stripes go the wrong way
- missing tigers (sold, or currently on etsy)
- cutesy lopsided tiger
- fairly decent tiger, but with holepop in back
- tiger with two black eyes & lopsided nose
- tiger with one eye sliding down its face...
Obviously, I kind of lost track that sculptural beads, unless one is wanting to make gargoyles or other monsters, must be worked cold. Also, it makes a lot of sense to get the underlying structure of the head right before doing decorations, and I'm still figuring out the nose/muzzle/cheek transition.
One way to focus on the shape of the animal's skull without getting all distracted by the stripes and white/brown color zones, would be to make lion heads, since they're basically one color. And it just so happens I have all this tan glass in lead. If only I had some matching black for eyes...
photo 24apr09, file 24apr09.
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
