Native American Inspired Polar Bear Illustration

My recent interest in everything Native American has not waned.  In fact, it's pretty much become an obsession.  This new love of mine coupled with animals I adore has been a wonderful and increasingly fascinating path I have been lead down.

My most recent illustration is of the polar bear with tattoo markings inspired by the tattoos warn by the men and women of the Athabascan tribe of Alaska.

As I read about global warming and the current challenges the polar bears face in their loss of land (ice) mass where they hunt and breed, I can't help but see the irony between the Native Americans who were and are misplaced and struggling to sustain their way of life to this animal and many others.

There are definite ties I try to convey in hope that it helps to raise continued awareness of the losses we face when a people, the animals, and the land suffer as a result of our own indescretions.

The process of creating this illustration:

Preliminary sketch of polar bear with tattoos based on Athabaskan tattoos I found in old photos and illustrations from the 1700 and 1800's.

 Now begins the process of filling in the form with watercolor.

The illustration begins to take form and adjustments are made.  So close!

I did not like the tattoos on the polar bear's chest - they just seemed ill-placed, so I decided

to remove them from my final illustration.

My final illustration is scanned and cleaned up using Photo Shop.

Here is a close up of the final product.  

This illustration is available as a print in my Etsy Shop.  You can find this print and many more at www.etsy.com/shop/WildHeartHistories.