A Battle of Wills

(Yet again, I was unsure of just where to put this... )

An experiment. Yes, that is what this is, not a finished piece, but more or less a colored concept sketch. In an A4 Moleskine.

So the concept.... warring personalities/ mental facets, more or less. In this case, a tiger and a bull, which I took from personal astrology: The bull for Taurus, and the Tiger from the Chinese zodiac. A rather dangerous sounding combination, right? Anyway, I put a lot of my own symbolic sort of meanings in here, and strove to create a sense of unchecked chaos. The two entities spring from the same source, and yet desire nothing more, it would seem, than to destroy one another once they are provoked. Sometimes my thoughts chase one another in such a manner: The one thinks, reflects, feels, imagines, creates, while the other strikes them down, bringing cold, detached logic, rejecting emotion, fueled by irritation, frustration, and a need to smother the other half into silence. We are, more often than not (never have I seen it otherwise) our own worst enemy.

I have been thinking entirely too much lately, but at least interesting ideas have been coming from it. And hopefully no one thinks I am in an ill tempered mood... I'm not. Though I am suffering through a headache, likely triggered by some atmospheric changes. Or something.

Oh yes. The piece itself: gouache, acrylic sepia ink and colored pencils in A4 size Moleskine. The acrylic sepia ink crackled a bit when laid over the gouache and made quite a lovely texture. I'll have you know both of these animals were a total pain to draw. But I guess they could pass until I re-learn. Oh! And mind the blood.

Also... I felt inspired to finish this piece after seeing one of ~xdragonflyx's beautiful works, featuring a pair of tigers. [link]

Art (C) April Schumacher (pallanoph)
All Rights Reserved