Bigcat
276 creative works found
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Cougar taken at Arizona Sonoran Desert Zoo near Tucson, Arizona.
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12×18 colored pencil on “Artagain” paper. Original unavailable. This is a portrait of the Siberian Tiger that resides at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. They have a breeding pair right now that are the parents of 2 cubs born in 2004, I believe. The male cub was sent to another zoo but the female was kept at Cleveland. The Siberian Tiger is the largest of the big cats and, as such, is always in serious trouble by various markets using the animals in illegal trade. The sad part is that everything they can get from the cat can be produced synthetically. Completed in 2004
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12×18 colored pencil on “Artagain” paper (a recycled paper that has a marvelously smooth surface – just perfect for colored pencil work) Original unavailable. / White tigers were once the “pets” of various Rajahs in India. Most of the white tigers that reside in this country right now can trace their line back to those cats. On the other hand, this white tiger lives at the Cincinnati Zoo. / I started doing wildlife around the mid 70’s and found that I had a definite affinity for the predators. There is something about their power and beauty that makes me pick up a brush, pencil or whatever to try and capture it and share it with the world. Complete 2004
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12×18 colored pencil on “Artagain” paper. Original is available. / Cleveland Zoo, in the middle of February, is not known for having wonderful weather. On this particular day, the sun was out and it was absolutely beautiful. When I came upon the lion enclosure, he was in the perfect position, with his head up.. towards the sun. Once my camera was in the right position.. he looked over at me and I got a lot of good shots. He definitely went to “pose” school and it paid off that day. / There was something about him that just said I had to do this piece.. Complete 2004
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12×18 colored pencil on “Artagain” paper. Original is sold. / A portrait of a Snow Leopard, a very rare and solitary animal. There is only one place in the world they live and that’s in the Himalayas! The cat has been rarely photographed in the wild but things are changing. / This particular cat has bits and pieces from cats at the Cincinnati, Cleveland, Akron and Columbus Zoo.. bits and pieces meaning photographs.. not the real cats!! Complete 2004
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10×14 watercolor enhanced colored pencil. The original is available. Please contact me for further information. Double portrait of a Siberian Tiger, now called the Amur Tiger. The captive population of Siberian Tiger comprises several hundred. A majority of these tigers are found in China, with other populations in Europe and North America. The large, distinctive and powerful cats are popular zoo exhibits. The Siberian Tiger is bred within the Species Survival Plan (SSP), a project based on 83 wild caught tigers. According to most experts, this population is large enough to stay stable and genetically healthy. Today, approximately 160 Siberian Tigers participate in the SSP, which makes it the most extensively bred tiger subspecies within the programme. There are currently no more than around 255 tigers in the tiger SSP from three different subspecies. Developed in 1982, the Species Survival Plan for the Siberian Tiger is the longest running program for a tiger subspecies. It has been very fortunate and productive, and the breeding program for the Siberian Tiger has actually been used as a good example when new programs have been designed to save other animal species from extinction. The Siberian Tiger is not very difficult to breed in captivity, but the possibility of releasing animals bred in captivity into the wild is small. Conservation efforts that secure the wild population are therefore still of imperative. If a captive bred Siberian Tiger were to be released into the wild, it would lack the necessary hunting skills and starve to death. Captive bred tigers can also approach humans and villages, since they have learned to associate humans with feeding and lack the natural shyness of the wild tigers. In a worst-case scenario, the starving tigers could even become man-eaters. Since tigers must be taught how to hunt by their mothers when they are still cubs, a program that aimed to release captive bred Siberian Tigers into the wild would face great difficulties. (information from Wikipedia) Completed 2007
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18×24 pastel on pastelboard. The original is available. Please contact me for further information. / Portrait of a South American Jaguar looking so sweet and innocent.. but don’t let that fool you.. she is still a predator. Scientific Name: Panthera onca / Size: Head and body 3.7-6.1 feet (112-185cm); tail length 1.5-2.5 feet (45-75cm) / Weight: 126-249 pounds (57-113kg) / Distribution: From central Mexico through Central America to Northern Argentina / Habitat: Tropical forest, savanna, scrub, swamps – normally where water is available / Diet: Peccaries, capybaras, tapirs, monkeys, armadillos, river turtles, otters, caimans, and domestic livestock / Reproduction: After a gestation period of 13-15 weeks, female gives birth to 2-4 cubs / Longevity: Up to 12 years (20 in captivity) / Population: Estimated at greater than 10,000 / Status: Near Threatened (information from The Big Cats )
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18×24 pastel on pastelboard. The original is sold. / This was taken from a photograph by Rita Groszmann with her permission. The cat was a resident in California at the time. For some reason, the piece almost did itself.. it was almost like I was watching it come together from another vantage point. Really enjoyable.. time flew!! Scientific Name: Panthera tigris / Size: Male Bengal: Head to tail tip 8.8-10.2 feet (2.7-3.1m); Female 7.8-9.4 feet (2.4-2.8m) / Weight: Male: 396-573 pounds (180-260kg); Female: 287-353 pounds (130-160kg) / Distribution: India, Manchuria, China, Indonesia / Habitat: Varied, including tropical forest, snow-covered evergreen forest, deciduous forests, mangrove swamps and drier forest types. / Diet: Deer, wild pigs, buffalo, antelope, and gaurs (wild oxen) / Reproduction: After a gestation period of 13-16 weeks, female gives birth to 2-4 cubs / Longevity: About 15 years (to 20 in captivity) / Population: Estimated at below 2,500 / Status: Endangered (information from The Big Cats ) Completed 1998 I FINALLY found the original scan of this piece.. and here you have it..
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Sumatran tiger emerging from the shadows Portfolio Areas / Tigers / Wildlife / Macro / Landscape / Birds / Abstracts / Cats~wild and domestic
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10×14 watercolor enhanced colored pencil. Original unavailable / Double portrait of the African Cheetah, a beautiful and swift animal. The cheetah has a slender, long-legged body with blunt semi-retractable claws. Its chest is deep and its waist is narrow. The coarse, short fur of the cheetah is tan with round black spots measuring from 2 to 3 cm (¾ to 1¼ inches) across, affording it some camouflage while hunting. There are no spots on its white underside, but the tail has spots, which merge to form four to six dark rings at the end. The tail usually ends in a bushy white tuft. The cheetah has a small head with high-set eyes. Black “tear marks” run from the corner of its eyes down the sides of the nose to its mouth to keep sunlight out of its eyes and to aid in hunting and seeing long distances. The adult animal weighs from 40 to 65 kg (90 to 140 lb). Its total body length is from 115 to 135 cm (45 in to 55 in), while the tail can measure up to 84 cm (33 in) in length. Males tend to be slightly larger than females and have slightly bigger heads, but there is not a great variation in cheetah sizes and it is difficult to tell males and females apart by appearance alone. Compared to a similarly-sized tiger, the cheetah is generally shorter-bodied, but is longer tailed and taller (it averages about 90 cm or 36 in tall) and so it appears more streamlined. Some cheetahs also have a rare fur pattern mutation: cheetahs with larger, blotchy, merged spots are known as ‘king cheetahs’. It was once thought to be a separate subspecies, but it is merely a mutation of the African cheetah. The ‘king cheetah’ has only been seen in the wild a handful of times, but it has been bred in captivity. The cheetah’s paws have semi-retractable claws (1986). “The Cheetah in Genetic Peril”. Scientific American 254: 68-76. (known only in three other cat species – the Fishing Cat, the Flat-headed Cat and the Iriomote Cat) offering the cat extra grip in its high-speed pursuits. The ligament structure of the cheetah’s claws is the same as those of other cats; it simply lacks the sheath of skin and fur present in other varieties, and therefore the claws are always visible, with the exception of the dewclaw. The dewclaw itself is much shorter and straighter than other cats. Adaptations that enable the cheetah to run as fast as it does include large nostrils that allow for increased oxygen intake, and an enlarged heart and lungs that work together to circulate oxygen efficiently. During a typical chase its respiratory rate increases from 60 to 150 breaths per minute. While running, in addition to having good traction due to its semi-retractable claws, the cheetah uses its tail as a rudder-like means of steering to allow it to make sharp turns, necessary to outflank prey who often make such turns to escape. Unlike “true” big cats, the cheetah can purr as it inhales, but cannot roar. By contrast, the big cats can roar but cannot purr, except while exhaling. However, the cheetah is still considered by some to be the smallest of the big cats. While it is often mistaken for the leopard, the cheetah does have distinguishing features, such as the aforementioned long “tear-streak” lines that run from the corners of its eyes to its mouth. The body frame of the cheetah is also very different from that of the leopard, most notably so in its thinner and longer tail, and unlike the leopard, its spots are not arranged into rosettes. The cheetah is a vulnerable species. Out of all the big cats, it is the least able to adapt to new environments. It has always proved difficult to breed in captivity, although recently a few zoos have been successful. Once widely hunted for its fur, the cheetah now suffers more from the loss of both habitat and prey. The cheetah was formerly considered to be particularly primitive among the cats and to have evolved approximately 18 million years ago. New research, however puts the last common ancestor of all 40 existing species of feline more recently, at 11 million years. The same research indicates that the cheetah, while highly derived morphologically, is not a particularly ancient lineage, having separated from its closest living relatives (the cougar Puma concolor and the jaguarundi Puma yaguarondi) around 5 million years ago. (information from Wikipedia) Completed 2007
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10×14 watercolor enhanced colored pencil on Arches satin finish watercolor paper. Original unavailable. / A double portrait of the white Bengal Tiger, which, at one time, was only on a preserve for the “king” in India. All white tigers that you see today, got their start from that one tiger. Mohan is the founding father of the captive bred white tigers of Rewa. He was captured as a cub in 1951 when maharaja Shri Martand Singh of Rewa and his hunting party in Bandhavgarh found a tigress with four 9-month-old cubs, one of which was white. All except the white cub were shot. The white cub was captured and housed at the unused Govindgarh Palace. The maharaja named him Mohan, which roughly translates as “Enchanter”, one of the many forms of the God Krishna. The Maharaja shot a white tiger in 1948, and his father kept a male white tiger in captivity from 1915 to 1920. This white tiger, which was larger than average like most white tigers, was known to have a white male sibling, which continued to live in the wild. After the death of the captive animal it was mounted and presented to the Emperor King George V, as a token of loyalty. This specimen is now in the British Museum. This same Maharaja, the father of Shri Martand Singh, was once suspended by the British while he was under investigation for murder. There was a white tiger in the menagerie in Exeter Change in London in 1820, which was examined by the famous French anatomist Baron Cuvier, and described in his “Animal Kingdom” as having faint stripes only visible from certain angles of refraction. In 1953, Mohan was bred to a normal-coloured wild tigress called Begum (“royal consort”), and they produced two male orange cubs on Sept. 7. In 1955 they had a litter of two males and two females on April 10 (which included a male named Sampson and a female named Radha). In 1956 they again had a litter of two males and two females on July 10, which included a male named Sultan who went to Ahmedabad Zoo, and a female named Vindhya who went to Delhi Zoo and was bred to an unrelated male named Suraj. These early breeding experiments failed to yield a single white cub. A maharaja who was a cousin of the Maharaja of Rewa observed “Rewa was frustrated. I told him the answer-incest of course!” Mohan was then bred to his daughter Radha (who carried the white gene inherited from him) and they produced a number of white cubs, including a litter of four on Oct. 30, 1958, which included a male named Raja, and three females named Rani, Mohini, and Sukishi. These four were the first white tigers born in captivity. Raja and Rani went to the New Delhi Zoo, and Mohini was bought by the German-American billionaire John W. Kluge (who is also known for the John W. Kluge Center of the Library of Congress and the John W. Kluge Prize, and owns the rights to the MASH TV series) for $10,000, for the US National Zoo, as a gift to the children of America, in 1960. In 1989 Kluge was the richest man in the world. Sukeshi remained at Govindgarh Palace, where she was born, in a harem courtyard, as a mate for Mohan. The Indian government made a deal with the Maharaja, under the terms of which Raja and Rani would go to the New Delhi Zoo for free. In exchange the Maharaja’s white tiger breeding would be subsidized and he would receive a share of their cubs. He wanted Rs 100,000 for them. The Indian Parliament used to hear reports on the progress of the white tigers, and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and U Nu of Burma participated in public christening ceremonies for white cubs at New Delhi Zoo. President Tito of Yugoslavia visited New Delhi Zoo and asked for white tigers for Belgrade Zoo, but was refused. A white tiger named Dalip from New Delhi Zoo represented India in two international expositions in Budapest and Osaka. The government of West Bengal bought two white males, named Niladari and Himadri, from the Maharaja for Calcutta Zoo, and an orange female named Malini, from the same litter of three born in 1960, accompanied them there. The Alipore Zoo in Calcutta, recovered the purchase price of the white tigers within six months by charging extra to see them. Calcutta Zoo had a fine specimen of a white tiger in 1920. Six zoos acquired white tigers from the Maharaja of Rewa including the Bristol Zoo in England (a brother and sister pair named Champak and Chameli on June 22, 1963) and the Crandon Park Zoo in Miami acquired a white tigress in 1968. Bristol Zoo’s pair, born in 1962, came from another litter of four, all white, but two (one female and one male) didn’t survive. It’s astounding that Mohan and Radha produced another litter of four white cubs, as they did in 1958. By 1966 the Bombay Zoo had a white tigress named Lakshmi, born in 1964, from the Maharaja. The Calcutta Zoo sold a white tigress named Sefali to Gauhati Zoo and sent a second white tiger there on loan. By 1976 Lucknow Zoo also had a white tiger which was a gift from New Delhi Zoo. A white tigress named Nandni, who was born in New Delhi Zoo in 1971, went to Hyderabad Zoo. This is how the white tiger diaspora progressed. Zoos with white tigers constituted a most exclusive club and the white tigers themselves represented a single extended family. The Maharaja was negotiating the sale of a white male, named Virat, as late as 1976, when he died of enteritis. Virat was a son of Mohan and Sukeshi and the maharaja put him on the market after attempting to breed him to Sukeshi, which would have raised the inbreeding coefficient. India imposed an export ban on white tigers in 1960, in an effort to preserve a monopoly, probably because Anglo-Indian naturalist E.P. Gee recommended that Govindgarh Palace, and it’s white tiger inhabitants, be made a “national trust”, which didn’t happen. After the export ban was imposed the Maharaja threatened to release all of his white tigers into the Rewa forest, and so he was given dispensation to sell two more pairs abroad, to offset his costs. Mohini was only allowed to leave India because President Eisenhower intervened personally with Prime Minister Nehru, to ask for the release of the United States government’s white tiger. A white sister of Mohini’s was brought to New Delhi the year before to show the President, who was no stranger to white tigers. Circus owner Clyde Beatty also bought a white tiger from the Maharaja in 1960, for $10,000 in a deal facilitated by Washington Zoo director T.H. Reed, which had to be cancelled because of the export ban, which made Mohini even more valuable. She was estimated to be worth $28,000. Dr. Reed had travelled to India to escort Mohini to Washington. Years later the Bristol Zoo needed a new breeding male and traded a white female to New Delhi Zoo for a white tiger named Roop, who had been named by U Nu, the Prime Minister of Burma. He was the son of Raja by his own mother and half sister- Radha, born in New Delhi. Radha, and many other tigers from Govindgarh including Sukeshi, were later transferred to New Delhi. Begum went to live at Ahmedabad Zoo and was bred to her son Sultan. They produced twelve cubs in four litters between 1958 and 1961. Bristol Zoo later transferred two male white tigers to Dudley Zoo. In 1951 the Maharaja placed ads in The New York Times and The Times of London, and wrote to the director of the Manchester Zoo, and probably others, offering to sell his captured white tiger cub. He wanted the princely sum of $28,000 for Mohan. The Maharaja was prevented by law from converting rupees into American dollars, and wanted the money to buy a speed boat. Mohan died in 1970, aged almost 20, and was laid to rest with Hindu rites as the palace staff observed official mourning. He was the last recorded white tiger born in the wild. The last white tiger reported in the wild was shot in 1958. Pushpraj Singh, the reigning Maharaja of Rewa, is asking students to sign a petition to ask the President of India to return at least two white tigers to Govindgarh Palace, as a tourist attraction. (information from Wikipedia) Complete 2007
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This is a 16×20 pastel portrait of Tigger, one of the residents of Noah’s Lost Ark Animal Sanctuary. Original is unavailable. / His history is not pleasant.. he was kept in a small concrete enclosure for 9 years. After coming to the sanctuary he would lunge at the fence whenever a man would come near. He would also respond that way if the man happened to be holding anything in his hands. He really did not know what grass or kindness was until his arrival at NLA. / Regretably he died in 2004 from what they believe was a stroke. At least his last couple of years were a definite improvement over all those that came before. / I truly hope that another message comes through.. that these animals DO NOT MAKE GOOD PETS.. that’s why places like Noah’s are in existence. If people would just think before they buy that cute LITTLE cub.. life would be easier on all of us especially the animals. After all.. they didn’t ask to be in the situation they are.. and there are far to many unscrupulous people out there that are in it for the money.. / At least with education, we might make a little difference.. even if we save just one animal.. it’s a beginning!! / All proceeds from any sales will be donated to Noah’s Lost Ark Sanctuary for the care and feeding of the animals.
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20.5×32.5 pastel on felt matboard. Original unavailable. / Nanook was one of the lucky ones.. Noah’s Lost Ark got him when he was a mere cub (he’s quite a big boy now.. over 300 pounds) and has lived there his whole life. Would you believe, he has allergies? Come spring, he gets a big congested and gets some very special treatment because of it.. but he’s a happy boy. / I truly hope that another message comes through.. that these animals DO NOT MAKE GOOD PETS.. that’s why places like Noah’s are in existence. If people would just think before they buy that cute LITTLE cub.. life would be easier on all of us especially the animals. After all.. they didn’t ask to be in the situation they are.. and there are far to many unscrupulous people out there that are in it for the money.. / At least with education, we might make a little difference.. even if we save just one animal.. it’s a beginning!! / All proceeds from any sales will be donated to Noah’s Lost Ark Sanctuary for the care and feeding of the animals. Completed 2003
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Digital Painting Large view recommended Dimensions: 3040×3000
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19×24 Colored pencil and this one’s not going ANYWHERE!! As I was working on this piece, there was such a feeling of calm and joy that every time I look at it.. that feeling comes back. This one visits various rooms in my house but mostly it stays nearby. White tigers are individual specimens of the ordinary orange tiger (Panthera tigris), with a genetic condition that causes paler colouration of the normally orange fur (they still have black stripes). The condition is well-documented in the Bengal tiger subspecies (Panthera tigris tigris or P. t. bengalensis), may also have occurred in captive Siberian tigers (Panthera tigris altaica), and may have been reported historically in several other subspecies. White pelage is most closely associated with the Bengal, or Indian subspecies. Tigers in India are recognized as a single subspecies, but within India, and throughout the tiger’s geographic range they tend to be smaller, darker, and more densely striped the further south they are found, the Sumatran and now extinct Javan and Bali races being the smallest. The Bengal is the nominate subspecies or species type, the definitive tiger. For many years it was the kind most commonly seen in the West. It was the standard issue zoo and circus tiger, and it was the Bengal tiger which conformed most fully to the image of a tiger in the Western psyche. It was the tiger of Kipling and the Raj. The Bengal tiger used to be known as the “Royal Bengal tiger”, after it was hunted by the Duke of Windsor when he was Prince of Wales. Siegfried and Roy sometimes refer to their white tigers as “royal white tigers”, possibly because of the white tiger’s association with the Maharaja of Rewa. The French language version of the white tiger Wikipedia is titled “Tigre blanc royal” or “Royal white tiger.” The white individuals do not constitute a separate subspecies on their own. They have pink noses, white to cream-coloured fur, and black, grey or chocolate-coloured stripes, grey mottled skin, and ice blue eyes. White tigers tend to be born larger and attain larger than average adult sizes than orange tigers which do not carry the white gene. This may have given them an advantage in the wild. White gene carriers, or heterozygotes, also tend to be larger than average in size. K.S. Sankhala, who was director of the New Delhi Zoo in the 1960s, said that one of the functions of the white gene may have been to keep a size gene in the population, in case it was ever needed. In the wild white tigers bred white for generations. It is a myth that white tigers did not thrive in the wild and India once planned to reintroduce them. The condition occurs when inbreeding — usually between parents and cubs — produces offspring with two copies of a recessive gene. This is rare in nature, but with their unusual colouration, white tigers have become popular in zoos and entertainment that showcases exotic animals. For example, the magicians Siegfried and Roy are famous for having used trained white tigers in their performances. However, inbreeding often also leads to birth defects1, which makes breeding for white colour controversial. Although it is actually possible to create white tigers without inbreeding, such cases are exceedingly rare. Nevertheless, there are several hundred white tigers in captivity worldwide, and their numbers are on the increase. The French language version of the white tiger Wikipedia article puts the number at 800. There are about 100 white tigers in India. The modern population includes both pure Bengals and hybrid Bengal–Siberians, but it is unclear whether the recessive gene for white came from any of the Siberian ancestors, or only from Bengals. Another genetic condition makes the stripes of the tiger very pale. White tigers with this condition are called snow-white. (information from Wikipedia) Complete 1995
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19×25 soft pastel on Pastelboard by Ampersand. Original available. Snow Leopards have always been one of my favorites possibly because they were so hard to find when I first started drawing them. A beautiful example of what nature has given us. Complete 2003
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Now.. here’s a story to tell the grandkids!! / There was a man living in a New York city apartment with Ming (a 300 pound bengal tiger, an alligator and I can’t remember the third creature). The authorities found out about the animals due to the neighbors complaining about noise and smell. Must have been a VERY surprised police officer when he actually saw the “little kitty”! They had to tranquilize Ming for the trip out of the apartment (they took him through the window) and all the way to “Noah’s Lost Ark Sanctuary”. / He was NOT a very happy camper when he arrived. He hated everybody! And, once he got to Noah’s he had his first “feel” of the outside and grass under his feet. Over the years, he’s calmed down a lot.. but.. isn’t he beautiful!! / All proceeds from any sales will be donated to Noah’s Lost Ark Sanctuary for the care and feeding of the animals. This photograph was taken by Nina Wolf, a good friend who happens to be a pretty good photographer! I have her permission to do this.
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10×14 watercolor enhanced colored pencil on Arches “satin” finish paper. Original unavailable. This was one of three to be done for a client (unfortunately, he did come by and see the tutorials BEFORE he saw his artwork – kinda took the edge off it for me). If you wish to see how it developed, please go to my Journal and look for the “artwork in progress” clouded leopard. Completed 2008
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10×14 watercolor enhanced colored pencil. Original unavailable. Another one of three to be done for a client (unfortunately, for me, he did come by and managed to see the tutorial). If you wish to see how it developed, please go to my Journal and look for the “artwork in progress” snow leopard. Completed 2008
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For me this is the perfect pose for my favorite animal the Siberian Tiger!!!! I could not have asked for anything better…the fall leaves and the pose was …well i was in awe as i took this! Nikon D50/18-70mm Nikon Lens / !http://images-2.redbubble.net/img/art/framecolor:mocha/framestyle:flat30/mattecolor:black/product:framed-print/size:small/view:preview/1894338-2-perfect.jpg / /
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After a long afternoon of laying around he felt the need to stretsch those tired muscles!! What a huge animal he is! Impressive! / /
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© All Rights Reserved – No Usage Allowed in Any Form Without My Written Consent. The Sumatran Tiger is an endangered species with less than 500 living in the wild. Sumatran Tigers are native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and are the smallest of the 5 remaining sub species of tiger. (The others being the Siberian or Amur Tiger, the Bengal Tiger, the Indo Chinese Tiger and the South Chinese or Amoy Tiger) Unfortunately in the past 70 years, 3 other sub species have become extinct. Photographed at Chessington World of Adventures & Zoo, Chessington, London, England. Canon EOS 400D / Digital Rebel XTi Top Ten Placement: / Beautiful Art of Exotic Animals! – ‘Get Art Promoted’ Group – August 2009.
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