Tuesday, May 27, 2008

White Charcoal Experiments

winged white tiger in white charcoal on black paper
This piece was sort of an experiment. I'm trying out white charcoal on black paper, and finding it exciting and challenging. I figured, first, what better animal to test than a white tiger? But then, how to make it interesting? This idea just came to me in an instant: add wings. I have several poses in mind, but chose to do this one first.

Now, I should say one thing here. I hate drawing wings. So why in my right mind did I put wings on a perfectly good mammal?? I still don't have a good answer.

I drew the tiger first. This is probably the most dynamic position I've ever drawn a cat in. But I couldn't add just any kind of wings. To the quiet, stealthy hunter I gave the quiet, stealthy raptor wings of the snowy owl.

I don't think I'll call this a finished drawing, just a test, which is why I didn't sign it. I like the idea, though, and if I find smoother, bigger paper I might try it again. Even the back of this paper had too much texture. I think the head came out okay, but those delicate wings still have visible lines through them. This is a photo, not a scan, so the black doesn't look as black as it really is.

white charcoal on black paperHere are some of my scribblings before I started the tiger. This is done on the front of the paper with the rougher tooth. I copied this black leopard from a photo I found just to experiment. I think this white-on-black has some real potential, I just need to practice a little, first.

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