My first tiger

So I decided to try a tiger. Only my 2nd full face attempt. Feed back please, how cam I make it better?

The blending is nice, but there is way too much going on. Simplify the lines. And make them thin to thick to think. All leading to the center of the eyes.

Wow I really like your line work. Still trying to master that myself.
The only thing that I've tried to do differently is the whiskers. I tried flicking them out as you have here. But liked it much better when bringing in the line (thick to thin) from the muzzle. If that makes sense??

I like it, but don't forget the teeth. Kids seem to love the teeth.

Wow really really good for your first! - you could think about not pointing the white on the eyes upwards - more outwards like cats eyes, less like spiderman shape.. and maybe not under the eyes so much?
and maybe make your muzzle white a bit bigger and rounder.
I agree with wm - don't forget the teeth.
Less lines will neaten it up but it depends if your going for a realistic looking tiger or a stylized fantasy type tiger.
Still extremely impressed by your first try.... someones been doing their homework!

This is what I was going off of for and image. I found it through google. It is off mark Reids blog spot But it is not a full face. Glitter and Tash do you two have an example of what you mean with the lines? Are there too many or are they just to thick or not placed right?

ok - I commend you for going for a Mark Reid - he is the Master of cats - no-one can do them like him - so don't epect your line work ( or mine )
to look like his.
I think the cats look better with no chin like above - but sometimes I just make it white so I can paint on the teeth with black - just to speed things up - not surprised Marks doesn't have teeth - he paints a lot of adults.

Not the best examples but all I could find atm..

The stripes aren't a big deal to me... they are angled right, so it's up to you how many you want to put. My recommendation is to look up some pictures of real tigers... instead of doing whiskers and lines like you have, try doing the lined up dots, bigger on the outside to smaller going in. That is what the lines are supposed to emulate, but the dots look nicer to me.

Mark Reid's white pointy things over the eyes are supposed to look like ears I think, but tiger ears are round, so it doesn't work for me. I know he's awesome and his line work is awesome, but tiger ears aren't pointy, so that face has always kind of bugged me.

here' s and example of what I mean with the dots on the muzzle

Lol Ohh I see it now that you said something. I thought the white coming to a point like that looked odd as well but was not looking at it as ears. I defiantly need teeth on there. I have seen some with white and some with yellow. Is there a down side to one vs the other or just preference?

the only thing i would suggest is not to put the little lines under the eye's as they can look like bags. plus i luv to bling mine up with kids colour choice of lipstick for bottom lip covered in glitter for that extra wow. the girls especially love to go crazy with the colours boys mostly gold and red! hope this helps. can't believe this is ur 1st try at a tiger my 1st was just terrible!!!

if you can mix some complementary colours in your base (other than the white on the eyes and the muzzle), it adds some interest and depth to the design. Face painting tigers can be any colour you like... pink, blue, green... anything. I add spots of yellow to my orange tigers to add some highlight spots... it just makes things pop more.

Great 1st tiger... I think Mark Ried has awesome linework, & I love that tier except under the eyes... I also think the lines under the eyes(on Mark's) look like bags. I prefer tigers w/ lines pointing to the center. I don't paint with a round brush near kids eyes, so I skip the back eyeliner. I also always forget the teeth

Great job Un4getable! I love the blending. Your stripes are all angled toward a focal point which is perfect. Cat designs are all totally personal-preference, but I like to see designs that don't involve the chin. I also like the whiskers inverted. I think for your design, I would widen the white at the muzzle, turn the whiskers inward, and restrict the white on the eyes to above the eye only. Again, just personal preference. It's a beautiful and amazing first attempt! Way to go!

I forgot to mention, on wiskers, they pop better if you do them in white.

Ok so here we go round 2. I tried to take all of your advice into it. I painted less lines and I definitely like the white only above the eye. The left side has no liner and whiskers the right has the dots. Which looks better.

Please forgive the blank zombie look on my lil ones face

Your forehead and cheek linework is GREAT! The teeth are a nice addition. I like the dots on the nose. I've seen that on some other tigers and I think it looks more realistic. I'd leave off the whiskers. Great Job!

Obviously, I need to take after you in the linework department ( check out my avatar. ) That was my first tiger and yours is MUCH better.

Thank you so much. I cheated and waited about 2 months before I did a tiger. All I have really been doing besides my butterfly is swirls, lines and flowers. lol I am a slow starter.

Since I had a boy I started with the boy ones. I just started doing swirls. I've only been at it a little less than a month. A real newbie!

LOL, I looked at the pic before reading & though... what's she doing
Very nice, you have good linework! For adults I like the eye liner, but for kids I like the dots(it's more for the sake of mom who has to wash all that black off the eyes). Try using a thinner brush for the whiskers & curving them down instead of up.
Still, very nice & just small detail stuff that will come to you in time & practice.

your dots are looking good... I only do liner on their eyes if the kids aren't wigglers. I don't do whiskers just because I find that it takes away from the stripes.

here is a tiger I do


here is a kitty I do



here is a tiger I do that is not a full face, I forgot to paint the nose didn't realize until after I took the pic

@ Un4gettable--kudos at posting and asking for (and receiving gratiously) criticism. I'm 40 and I swear it has taken me until the last five years or so of my life to be able to take criticism well, much less ask for it.
You're 25? Wow. Go you!

@ChangingFaceDesigns: I love the tiger where you put "liner" just at the inside and outside corners of the eye. I do that a lot, too --seems easier on shaky/squirmy people, when *you* are shaky, or just because eyes are so sensitive and so full of germs.
Good to see someone else more experienced do it...it's a validator, for sure!
Love all the brown/light brown/dark/pink/lightly tan faces here, too--I have a big, multiracial family and the nice mix on this board has made it wonderful for me, being able to see what works on *all* different types of skin tones

It is hard to keep the dots perfectly round , so I usually do whiskers.
I really like those who make the whiskers in white, that way it's not
more "black" lines fighting for attention.

I really prefer the lined eye. It looks great!
As far as the teeth, I try to make them further out on the muzzle.
That way, when the kids eat or drink, they don't mess up the teeth!
Keep going, you are doing well

Fantastic job!! Your blending is great!!
I hate giving "advice" because I don't feel I am qualified.....but I can tell you what I like. I like when the white muzzle covers the upper lip and you add the simple black triangle at the top. It looks a bit cleaner to me. I like a little liner but agree some of the others that with the little squirmy ones a little eye lash flick to the side does the trick nicely. I like doing full faces but I also really like the "mask style I have here too. Kids really like it. only down fall is there are no teeth. Oh and sometimes less on the lips the better at big festivals and things where the kids will be drinking and eating. These are my first tigers too. I haven't got any pictures of an updated one.


This was compliments of another artist on this forum but unfortunately I can't remember her name. Her's is much nicer!


(apparently I didn't realize I was allowed to smile for this picture too! )