This is Cabbage the Tiger! Cabbage was the first name that came up and I love it so much. Here is some interesting facts about tigers in Asian culture. Did you know that the stripes on the tiger’s head resemble the 王 character in Chinese? Obviously they don’t have an exact 王 on their foreheads but I find it so fascinating that humans look for these patterns in nature. 王 means king (or queen) and therefore, tigers are sometimes known as the king of animals in Chinese culture. Pretty cool, I think.
As for my process on creating Cabbage, I revisited one of my daily doodles from December 2020 and wanted to bring him to life on a bigger scale. I used acrylic gouache on wood for this. I love that I was able to go back to my old doodles and refine an old idea. I guess this is what they (other artists) mean when you have to keep creating and eventually something will stick out. Cabbage is living proof! The more you create, the more you have to work off of!
Here are some fun facts about Cabbage. He’s kind of a representation of me. Even though tigers are a symbol of bravery and power, I feel like this scared and anxious looking tiger is a representation of how I feel on the inside. I am told that I can look pretty intense but I am unaware of this. I am like squishy jello on the inside, I swear. Behind this “intense” countenance, I hide a lot of anxiety, insecurity, and fear.
Cabbage definitely has a lot of things to be scared about. First of all, he’s an endangered species and is constantly worried about the fate of his kind. He really hates being wasteful and finding plastic bottles being discarded improperly. He hates litter as well. In a tiger growl voice, he wishes humans could be more mindful about where they throw their trash.
More to come on Cabbage and his story!
