I knew I wanted to make a design with tigers! I’ve always loved them. I love cats, and I ADORE big cats!
I started sketching - I had seen some beautiful paintings of tigers swimming in ponds and rivers.
If I made the design from bird-eye view, maybe I could make it into a non-directional pattern.
I wanted to add a person to the boat - inspired by Life of Pi - but I couldn’t see it in my head, and if I can’t see something in my head - then I have no idea how to make it come to life. Also, I’m not very good at drawing people!
^This image is after weeks of work. Moving elements, adding plants, removing the boat ores. Changing the directions of the tigers. Drawing, and re-drawing. Again. And again. And again.
If I made the design from bird-eye view, maybe I could make it into a non-directional pattern.
I wanted to add a person to the boat - inspired by Life of Pi - but I couldn’t see it in my head, and if I can’t see something in my head - then I have no idea how to make it come to life. Also, I’m not very good at drawing people!
^This image is after weeks of work. Moving elements, adding plants, removing the boat ores. Changing the directions of the tigers. Drawing, and re-drawing. Again. And again. And again.
Also - I work mostly soft colour on black background. This is because I’m prone to migraines. When I draw black on white it can cause headaches after a short while. And by working in soft colour on black, it helps me see how it will look when it’s woven with a warp/weft.
For the final design, above, I had redrawn (again) the water swirls - I was worried the previous ones would be too thin, the details would be lost. I also changed the plants entirely - I couldn’t wrap my head around how to draw the reeds in a bird eye view! As much as I wanted to keep them in the drawing.