Sunday, 22 July 2007

Illustration Friday (poem). "Tyger Tyger".


I've always had a hard time appreciating poetry (unless it's Roald Dahl, Spike Milligan or Edward Gorey), but that said I do like William Blake's "The Tyger":

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

and so on...

(& I don't think I've gained "an immortal hand" or eye as a result of working on the image...!) :)

I did another version of this piece a few years back and wanted a fresh look at things now that my working style has changed. With IF having the topic "poem" this seemed as good a time as any to give it another go. You can see the earlier version and sketches for it on my website.
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12 comments:

  1. Sorrel Sparks22 July 2007 at 19:17

    Lovely colour and texture, good choice of poem too! Love it.

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  2. Unknown22 July 2007 at 19:21

    AWESOME design, love the attitude of the tiger!

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  3. Anonymous22 July 2007 at 19:44

    Great work as usual Matt.
    Nice texture and design on the Tiger. I like the original one too.

    I was thinking of using this poem for IF this week but I think you've nailed it with both.

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  4. Nicole Florian22 July 2007 at 20:29

    Beautriful! Very expressive!

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  5. Kevin M. Scarbrough22 July 2007 at 22:30

    While I like them both very much, I do prefer the version in your blog than the original version. I'm a sucker for over simplified backgrounds, I feel it pushes the foreground subject matter so much further.

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  6. janie22 July 2007 at 22:34

    cool grumpy tiger
    the poem reminds me of this one
    spider,spider on the wall
    have you any friends at all?
    let me pat you on the head
    got you spider now you're dead!

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  7. Eli23 July 2007 at 06:09

    Great coloring and expression, and I like the back feet and tail especially!

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  8. pRiyA24 July 2007 at 14:35

    beautiful illustration for blake's poem. love the way you've contrasted the ochre tiger against the grey trees and the black night.

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  9. imwithsully25 July 2007 at 20:05

    Unexpected textures and colors. But they work so well!

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  10. Pickledog26 July 2007 at 04:42

    Fierce tiger! I like the way you over-lapped the light grey bars on top of the tiger.

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  11. Jared Chapman26 July 2007 at 12:24

    Beautiful!

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  12. Anonymous27 July 2007 at 11:28

    Another gorgeous piece, Matt. The texture is amazing (that would be the tissue paper?). I'm with you on poetry too, but yoou just can't knock Blake. I gotta say, I prefer this to the earlier version; it's the quiet intensity.

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thanks for taking the time to comment