"I got the eye of the tiger, a—"

Ah, hello! It's about time to sing this song because, you know, 2022 is Year of the Water Tiger!

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

I learned somewhere before that there are couple of ways to say this greeting but I saw our province's post on social media use these words, so Kung Hei Fat Choi to everyone celebrating the Lunar New Year! Since Chinese New Year begins on February 1st and this month being my birth month, I have decided to create a special art.

This does not happen often and maybe never again. People, I present to you, Tiger Takyarts!!!

Tiger Takyarts

Can you hear her roar? Lol. First of all, I would like to apologize to my alter ego avatar for making her wear a swimsuit. It's something I wouldn't dare to do in real life so she must do it in my behalf. Though I guess she's liking her new costume. She's now like a legit Instagram babe! Haha!

The original plan was only to draw her in swimsuit with tiger print but then it looked really simple so I added the tail and ears. It was a right choice after all because she turned out a lot cuter. I also adorned her with some gold accessories to make her look extra fancy.

I think it's obvious why I drew in a swimsuit. Yeah, because the element for this year is water. And I drew her doing a cat's pose with her hands because it's Tiger Year, of course! Tigers are giant cats, right?

And also, I know one of the first things you've put your eye on when you saw this drawings was this:

Takyarts' very own tiger stripes! She doesn't have to wear a clothing with tiger prints on it because she already have it naturally on her body. You may be surprised seeing this. The reason why I added stretchmarks, a.k.a. tiger marks on her bum, was to show and express the natural body of a woman (and men because they have that too.) Social media has blinded our standards on beauty, that one has to look this and that to be considered beautiful and gain the approval of many. Of course, it's not wrong to improve or enhance your appearance but if you're doing it for the wrong reasons, then it's wrong. Ah, the things we do for the internet and attention.

Of course, this post wouldn't be complete without the icing! Time to sing along!

I was literally listening to this song during and after drawing. You wonder what I'm doing after drawing? Of course, staring on the finished drawing while Katy's song play on the background. :) I'm thinking of changing my profile photo with this, I didn't expect I would be making a nice version of Takyarts this time!

Drawing Process

You know, I am still amazed of how doing the rough sketch went so easy for me. Such a rare occurrence. If you watch the timelapse video above, you see I started with her legs and made my way up to her head. Guess the lesson here is to just start on the part that is easiest for you or where you could easily connect and scale the other parts.

I also used a pen with textured edges for the lineart and tried a new style of drawing the eyes. I learned this from LavenderTowne on one of her Youtube shorts. The pen I used has Korean characters and I'm sorry because I can't read Korean letters. Maaaan, I should've taken my Korean language subject seriously back in college! Could be very useful in times like this!

I know the difference and jump of progress from the third and fourth photo is huge. I got lost into drawing and forgot to save wips in between. Sorry! Just watch the timelapse for the full process. Thank you!