How Could I Forget About the Tiger?!

It just occurred to me that there's one drawing from my sketchbook that I haven't shared yet, and it's a really important one. As I was working on this one, I started to think "Hey-it would be great to do this kind of thing for a living!!!" The wheels started turning and I really started to consider seriously working toward a career in illustration. After all, the kids will eventually grow more independent and move on from homeschooling. Then what? How great it would be to spend the time I have while they're still young improving skills and building a portfolio. And, when they're a little older, I might have something worth presenting. Of course, finding the time is another story...



Anyway, this tiger drawing began as a doodle - I think with one of the elliptical lines around what became the eye and the straighter line that defined the left edge of the nose. What's funny is that the cat-like nose came into being almost immediately. But, I resisted - I didn't want to do a cutesy kid-like cat. So, I kept erasing and changing the doodle in the hope that it would start to become something else.

However, this tiger was determined to exist. After several changes that went nowhere, I finally gave in and went with the original image. Funny thing is, it's probably one of my favorite drawings in the sketchbook. It helped me to get past some of ideas that kept me from pursuing illustration in the first place - to not worry about what category my work fell into and just let it develop in its own way.