In the spring of 2008, I was asked to make a chalk art mural at a science museum that was hosting the official “Earth Fest” celebration for Earth Day. This presented an interesting situation, as up to this point I had mostly created comic book character murals for public appearances. I tried briefly to figure out how I could force a comic character into an Earth Fest mural project. The DC Comics character Poison Ivy came to mind, but two details made me reject that idea pretty quick.
- She is a villain.
- She is almost always drawn as smokin’ hot and barely clothed (not that I have anything against that, but this was going to be a family event after all.)
So I decided to move out of my chalk artist comfort zone and create something entirely different. I often find the first image that jumps into my mind is what I end up creating, even if I spend days rejecting other ideas only to come back to that initial concept. The first image that came to my mind was a tiger. Don’t ask me why. I SAID DON’T ASK!!! Jeez you just don’t listen!!! I really don’t know, I think it was the thought of those penetrating feline eyes. I figured such a majestic looking animal was perfect to encapsulate the natural beauty I wanted to use as my theme for the chalk art mural.
The finished piece was based on photo reference, and was my most realistic street chalk art to date. Here is a gallery of the final art.
